Would you support trying to add St. Thomas?

[mvfcfan]

Chattanooga would be by far and away my #1 choice if the MVC were to replace MO State. The question would be IF Chattanooga was willing to join as the SOCON is more geographically friendly for them and it wisely has a $2,000,000 exit fee.

If Chattanooga wasn't willing to join, then I'd be fine with holding at 11 for now, as I'm not really thrilled with any of the other current options at the moment.

You guys were asking why. Well they just made it to the NIT Finals last night and beat Bradley and Loyola to get there. They've been a solid program for years. Their attendance is more in line with most MVC schools (they draw more than 1000 a game). Only 2 hours from Belmont. It expands the conference in a direction with a growing population (the SE USA), and with other good programs to replace future defections with down the line, such as ETSU, NKU, Samford and Wright State. Going further north just makes travel harder for those potential prospects.

Chattanooga is still the only school I would support adding, although I doubt they'd be willing to join to be honest. If not them, then staying at 11 is the next best option IMHO.

[TylerDurden]

Chattanooga would be by far and away my #1 choice if the MVC were to replace MO State. The question would be IF Chattanooga was willing to join as the SOCON is more geographically friendly for them and it wisely has a $2,000,000 exit fee.

If Chattanooga wasn't willing to join, then I'd be fine with holding at 11 for now, as I'm not really thrilled with any of the other current options at the moment.

You guys were asking why. Well they just made it to the NIT Finals last night and beat Bradley and Loyola to get there. They've been a solid program for years. Their attendance is more in line with most MVC schools (they draw more than 1000 a game). Only 2 hours from Belmont. It expands the conference in a direction with a growing population (the SE USA), and with other good programs to replace future defections with down the line, such as ETSU, NKU, Samford and Wright State. Going further north just makes travel harder for those potential prospects.

Chattanooga is still the only school I would support adding, although I doubt they'd be willing to join to be honest. If not them, then staying at 11 is the next best option IMHO.

Chattanooga averaged almost 3,200 per game this year or ninth in average home attendance if you include them in MVC figures.

That would put them ahead of only Belmont, UIC and Valpo amongst MVC schools. Missouri State also was lower this year, but they don't count any more.

For perspective and per the MVC stats page, UNI finished with the 8th-best home attendance this year (3,772, all games) and was more than 2,000 fans per game better than Belmont (1,729), and about 2,400 hundred more than Valpo (1,389) and UIC (1,329).

Some interesting attendance numbers, including Chattanooga - using Wiki (mostly, after I decided that would be easier than searching school sites) for arena capacities, MVC stats for home attendance (all games).

Rank School / Home Att. / Capacity / Fill%
1 Bradley / 5704 / 11442 / 49.85%
2 Murray State / 4995 / 8600 / 58.08%
3 Indiana State / 4785 / 9000 / 53.17%
4 Evansville / 4631 / 10000 / 46.31%
5 SIU / 4311 / 8339 / 51.70%
6 Illinois State / 4171 / 10200 / 40.89%
7 Drake / 3982 / 6424 / 61.99%
8 UNI / 3772 / 6500 / 58.03%
9 Chattanooga / 3191 / 10995 / 29.02%
10 Missouri State / 2085 / 11000 / 18.95%
11 Belmont / 1729 / 5085 / 34.00%
12 Valpo / 1389 / 5000 / 27.78%
13 UIC / 1329 / 8000 / 16.61%

By Arena fill rate:
Rank School / Home Att. / Capacity / Fill%
1 Drake / 3982 / 6424 / 61.99%
2 Murray State / 4995 / 8600 / 58.08%
3 UNI / 3772 / 6500 / 58.03%
4 Indiana State / 4785 / 9000 / 53.17%
5 SIU / 4311 / 8339 / 51.70%
6 Bradley / 5704 / 11442 / 49.85%
7 Evansville / 4631 / 10000 / 46.31%
8 Illinois State / 4171 / 10200 / 40.89%
9 Belmont / 1729 / 5085 / 34.00%
10 Chattanooga / 3191 / 10995 / 29.02%
11 Valpo / 1389 / 5000 / 27.78%
12 Missouri State / 2085 / 11000 / 18.95%
13 UIC / 1329 / 8000 / 16.61%

Things that stand out to me:
-Murray State had a sh*t season and still showed up. I can't wait for them to be good.
-Evansville fans deserve an award for most hopeful. They've been terrible for a long time, yet they average more than double their student enrollment. To be fair, there's not much to do in Evansville, but it's impressive nonetheless.

[tribecalledquest]

Would UTC football just stay in the So Con in this scenario?

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Chattanooga averaged almost 3,200 per game this year or ninth in average home attendance if you include them in MVC figures.

That would put them ahead of only Belmont, UIC and Valpo amongst MVC schools. Missouri State also was lower this year, but they don't count any more.

For perspective and per the MVC stats page, UNI finished with the 8th-best home attendance this year (3,772, all games) and was more than 2,000 fans per game better than Belmont (1,729), and about 2,400 hundred more than Valpo (1,389) and UIC (1,329).

Some interesting attendance numbers, including Chattanooga - using Wiki (mostly, after I decided that would be easier than searching school sites) for arena capacities, MVC stats for home attendance (all games).

Rank School / Home Att. / Capacity / Fill%
1 Bradley / 5704 / 11442 / 49.85%
2 Murray State / 4995 / 8600 / 58.08%
3 Indiana State / 4785 / 9000 / 53.17%
4 Evansville / 4631 / 10000 / 46.31%
5 SIU / 4311 / 8339 / 51.70%
6 Illinois State / 4171 / 10200 / 40.89%
7 Drake / 3982 / 6424 / 61.99%
8 UNI / 3772 / 6500 / 58.03%
9 Chattanooga / 3191 / 10995 / 29.02%
10 Missouri State / 2085 / 11000 / 18.95%
11 Belmont / 1729 / 5085 / 34.00%
12 Valpo / 1389 / 5000 / 27.78%
13 UIC / 1329 / 8000 / 16.61%

By Arena fill rate:
Rank School / Home Att. / Capacity / Fill%
1 Drake / 3982 / 6424 / 61.99%
2 Murray State / 4995 / 8600 / 58.08%
3 UNI / 3772 / 6500 / 58.03%
4 Indiana State / 4785 / 9000 / 53.17%
5 SIU / 4311 / 8339 / 51.70%
6 Bradley / 5704 / 11442 / 49.85%
7 Evansville / 4631 / 10000 / 46.31%
8 Illinois State / 4171 / 10200 / 40.89%
9 Belmont / 1729 / 5085 / 34.00%
10 Chattanooga / 3191 / 10995 / 29.02%
11 Valpo / 1389 / 5000 / 27.78%
12 Missouri State / 2085 / 11000 / 18.95%
13 UIC / 1329 / 8000 / 16.61%

Things that stand out to me:
-Murray State had a sh*t season and still showed up. I can't wait for them to be good.
-Evansville fans deserve an award for most hopeful. They've been terrible for a long time, yet they average more than double their student enrollment. To be fair, there's not much to do in Evansville, but it's impressive nonetheless.

Love the trips down to Evansville. Their fans are always so hopeful. Perfect set-up for visitors too with a sky bridge between the hotel and Ford Center.

Evansville’s fan base is why they’re a valuable member of the MVC. Someone’s always going to finish at the bottom - but if that school at the bottom of the standings is contributing via either fan support or a valuable location - then that school is bringing value to the league even when at the bottom of the standings.

[BCPanther]

Would UTC football just stay in the So Con in this scenario?

I can't imagine the SoCon lets them stay and, with the stunts the Dakotas pulled when Murray got it, I can't imagine they get into the MVFC either.

That's before we get to whether or not Drake and Bradley would allow another public football school.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Would UTC football just stay in the So Con in this scenario?

I can't imagine the SoCon lets them stay and, with the stunts the Dakotas pulled when Murray got it, I can't imagine they get into the MVFC either.

That's before we get to whether or not Drake and Bradley would allow another public football school.

Chattanooga would end up in the UAC for football.

But this scenario won’t happen anyway. They’re a 9+ hour ride from majority of the MVC and no one knows how Chattanooga holds up in the NIL era.

The league will either add no one or add the financially loaded St Thomas. I really don’t see any other mouths added to the table.

[BCPanther]

Would UTC football just stay in the So Con in this scenario?

I can't imagine the SoCon lets them stay and, with the stunts the Dakotas pulled when Murray got it, I can't imagine they get into the MVFC either.

That's before we get to whether or not Drake and Bradley would allow another public football school.

Chattanooga would end up in the UAC for football.

But this scenario won’t happen anyway. They’re a 9+ hour ride from majority of the MVC and no one knows how Chattanooga holds up in the NIL era.

The league will either add no one or add the financially loaded St Thomas. I really don’t see any other mouths added to the table.

100%. Ride with 11.

[tribecalledquest]

11 is the way it will go and should go for a while. Double Round Robin. Let’s go.

[BCPanther]

11 is the way it will go and should go for a while. Double Round Robin. Let’s go.

I'm Team 'Go back to 18' but I don't think that will happen. I know the coaches are split so it'll probably stay at 20.

[tribecalledquest]

11 is the way it will go and should go for a while. Double Round Robin. Let’s go.

I'm Team 'Go back to 18' but I don't think that will happen. I know the coaches are split so it'll probably stay at 20.

Jeff Jackson likes the double round robin, FWIW.