Belmont to Missouri Valley

[ColonialBulldog]

I have a few thoughts that I'm sure you would all love to hear. I would like to preface my comments by saying I think going to 12 teams and adding Murray State would be a good thing, but:

1) There are great reasons to stay at 11. A round robin would still be possible with 11 and not practical at 12. Also, I'm of the opinion that the Belmont addition, and Belmont alone,  cements the Valley as a two bid league at a minimum. Adding a twelfth team does not raise that floor. Moreover, I'm not convinced a twelve team Valley is going to get more bids on average than an 11 team valley.   Splitting NCAA units among 11 is better than 12. Everyone eats more.

2) Due diligence requires us to hold off on adding a twelfth until the AAC situation shakes out. I view Temple as the catalyst. The eastern wing of the AAC is gone. The conference they joined no longer exists. Memphis is high on the P5 list for the next round of expansion. I can see Temple making a push for the Big East or make a return to the A10 where they were elite eight regulars. That could open the door for a Wichita reunion or further chaos.

3) The goals the Valley hopes to achieve in adding UTA are more effectively accomplished by adding St. Thomas. The first article to discuss UTA noted that the school is in a big market and has flights to every city in the Valley. The hope was that DFW kids would start to go to Valley schools. I'm skeptical that goal would ever be realized.  Athletic performance was not part of the equation.  St. Thomas checks those boxes. Moreover, I can actually see kids from the cities look to move south for school. I'm sure Coach Jake would love a yearly conference game up north.  (To clarify, I'm not advocating for adding UST, I just think they make way more sense than UTA)

[SalukiWorld]

Why does everyone think Murray State wouldn't be invited to the MVFC? If MSU gets an MVC invite they are in the MVFC Period. We just added North Dakota for crying out loud. The Summit League owes us one. If not then it's time for the MVC to actually sponsor football and bring YSU and perhaps WIU in as a FB Only. Heck if the OVC loses it's AQ in football and becomes a BB only conference we could bring in EIU and SEMO for football only and have a Gateway 2.0.

Murray can join the MVFC as long as they change their name to the . . . "Boat Raced'ers". Can we do like the all the MVC schools and now whine incessantly about travel costs?

By the way, Western IL is in the Summit . . . and Youngstown isn't in the MVC either. Maybe the MVC footballers could merge with the Pioneer.

The Pioneer would be a huge step down for the MVC footballers. It's non-scholarship football which is a huge money loser and basically no hope for doing anything. Better off dropping football.

[Red]

Why does everyone think Murray State wouldn't be invited to the MVFC? If MSU gets an MVC invite they are in the MVFC Period. We just added North Dakota for crying out loud. The Summit League owes us one. If not then it's time for the MVC to actually sponsor football and bring YSU and perhaps WIU in as a FB Only. Heck if the OVC loses it's AQ in football and becomes a BB only conference we could bring in EIU and SEMO for football only and have a Gateway 2.0.

Murray can join the MVFC as long as they change their name to the . . . "Boat Raced'ers". Can we do like the all the MVC schools and now whine incessantly about travel costs?

By the way, Western IL is in the Summit . . . and Youngstown isn't in the MVC either. Maybe the MVC footballers could merge with the Pioneer.

The Pioneer would be a huge step down for the MVC footballers. It's non-scholarship football which is a huge money loser and basically no hope for doing anything. Better off dropping football.

Isn't all football except upper P5 conference level, losing money?

[squirrel]

I have a few thoughts that I'm sure you would all love to hear. I would like to preface my comments by saying I think going to 12 teams and adding Murray State would be a good thing, but:

1) There are great reasons to stay at 11. A round robin would still be possible with 11 and not practical at 12.

Most leagues are moving to 20 or 22 league games. So 12 teams (11 x 2) still works. But the league will have to play better non-conference games at the expense of home games against bottom third DI's and non-DI's.

[letsgoAces]

Honest question. I have heard many opinions concerning market size being the major consideration for MVC expansion - some have said important and some say not as important as we may believe. I guess what matters most is now what the university president's say it is - important.

But in the long run it would seem that Murray State would move the needle into making the MVC stronger on the court. Thus, the chances of getting multiple bids to the big dance are greatly enhanced, let alone the stature of the league. Would not this offset whatever difference there would be in market size vs the revenue that would come from success in the NCAA tournament? I am a lot like E'ville who stated he is "old school". I love a team with passionate fans who will travel and have a great winning tradition. Certainly the Murray fans would remind us during Archmadness the way the attendance used to be until Creighton and Wichita State left. I am all for Belmont in this league, but the Nashville market has already made know how they feel about this school - they don't care. I am skeptical if the MVC brand will change any of that.

[mvfcfan]

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/statu ... 8461911041

Tweet from Dave Reynolds. Academics? Really? I wonder what schools are complaining and coming up with excuses? Cough SIU, Cough Bradley.

[BCPanther]

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/status/1442885758461911041

Tweet from Dave Reynolds. Academics? Really? I wonder what schools are complaining and coming up with excuses? Cough SIU, Cough Bradley.

Yeah it's really weird that a group of University Presidents would care about *checks notes* academics....

[BUDude]

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/status/1442885758461911041

Tweet from Dave Reynolds. Academics? Really? I wonder what schools are complaining and coming up with excuses? Cough SIU, Cough Bradley.

Yeah it's really weird that a group of University Presidents would care about *checks notes* academics....

The presidents are the only ones who care. Let’s be honest that the MVC isn’t comprised of elite schools in US News and World Report rankings.

For those who think this makes us a two bid league at a minimum, how many at large bids has Belmont received?

[BCPanther]

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/status/1442885758461911041

Tweet from Dave Reynolds. Academics? Really? I wonder what schools are complaining and coming up with excuses? Cough SIU, Cough Bradley.

Yeah it's really weird that a group of University Presidents would care about *checks notes* academics....

The presidents are the only ones who care. Let’s be honest that the MVC isn’t comprised of elite schools in US News and World Report rankings.

For those who think this makes us a two bid league at a minimum, how many at large bids has Belmont received?

That's a terrible comparison because they won't have the boat anchor of an OVC schedule hanging around their necks anymore. The Valley had one school over 200 in the NET last year, the OVC had 7.

[smidge34]

How many at large bids have the rest of the MVC teams received in the last decade?