Elgin should resign

[SycamoreMaze]

Time for new blood. Anyone at any school who has anything to do with not expanding with Murray has no idea what they’re doing and should hand their responsibilities to someone competent immediately.

[Drakey]

Assuming the goal of the Valley is to be a basketball conference it would seem that a lot of mistakes have been made.

[IllinoisState]

Assuming the goal of the Valley is to be a basketball conference it would seem that a lot of mistakes have been made.

I want to be there if the presidents/athletic directors get together and say how they should have added Murray State when they had the chance.

[VUGrad1314]

Even Valpo fans agree on this one 11\20 was always the answer.

[Rambler63]

Murray State is a great program. I would like to have them in the MVC.

But there are some problems. Their budget would be second lowest in the league, above only Indiana State based on 2016 numbers. They will have an influx from tournament money, but how much more can a second-tier Kentucky state school add to their athletic budget?

MVC budgets have remained mostly stagnant even as budgets in the A-10, Mountain West, and the American are rising. Big budget/big revenue teams have left the MVC, and the people on message boards want to replace them with the hot commodity with 1/3 the budget of the last team that left the conference.

The "answer" is not looking for a magic bullet to make everything alright again, it's raising our goddamn budgets by 40-50% to get closer to the level of the conferences we're looking to emulate. If Murrray State was a member of this conference this year, maybe they win the conference regular season title and the conference tournament. We're still a 1-bid conference, but this time we don't even have an NIT bid.

But if Indiana State, Illinois State, SIU, Valpo and Missouri State had men's basketball budgets 15% higher instead of 10% less than the likes of Iona, Farifield, Long Beach State, Quinippiac, Bucknell, Hofstra, UC Santa Barbara, and Toledo.... Maybe things might work out better for the conference in the non-con part of the season. The MVC is closer to the Horizon and Ohio Valey in terms of budgets than the A-10 or the Mountain West.

And THAT is your problem right there. Nobody is asking the low budget teams to act like the programs they pretend to be. We just look for another overachiever to come in and add the vitality that the slovenly lay-abouts refuse to contribute.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

63, Murray’s budget would adjust upward. Think how Davidson’s budget expanded jumping from the SoCon to A10. New revenues do the trick. Murray also held a BOT meeting rubber-stamping budget increase contingent on an MVC invite. They’ll turn out mid-pack budget wise post-adjustments - with a 30 year track record outperforming it.

Bids don’t determine revenues. Units determine revenues. Murray would’ve doubled the MVC’s shares. The money the MVC just cost itself is measured in 7 figures. That’s free income that could’ve improved the budgets you speak of.

[Redbirds4Life]

63, Murray’s budget would adjust upward. Think how Davidson’s budget expanded jumping from the SoCon to A10. New revenues do the trick. Murray also held a BOT meeting rubber-stamping budget increase contingent on an MVC invite. They’ll turn out mid-pack budget wise post-adjustments - with a 30 year track record outperforming it.

Bids don’t determine revenues. Units determine revenues. Murray would’ve doubled the MVC’s shares. The money the MVC just cost itself is measured in 7 figures. That’s free income that could’ve improved the budgets you speak of.

Only adding one team 2 years ago, was a big mistake. I still think Valpo was a good add, but I think that Murray should have been the 11th team. I think that the valley came off very reactionary, where they needed to be proactive. You were coming off of a season where, one of your teams went 17-1, and missed the NCAA as an at-large. There is no way you could have argued that replacing Wichita State with Valpo and just business as usual with the 10 team format was going to prove to keep the league rolling. We were on the downward spiral prior to Wichita leaving, and no disrespect to Valpo, but Valpo still has a bit to go, to be compared to WSU.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Only adding one team 2 years ago, was a big mistake. I still think Valpo was a good add, but I think that Murray should have been the 11th team. I think that the valley came off very reactionary, where they needed to be proactive. You were coming off of a season where, one of your teams went 17-1, and missed the NCAA as an at-large. There is no way you could have argued that replacing Wichita State with Valpo and just business as usual with the 10 team format was going to prove to keep the league rolling. We were on the downward spiral prior to Wichita leaving, and no disrespect to Valpo, but Valpo still has a bit to go, to be compared to WSU.

If this year (17th KenPom) doesn’t wave red flags, nothing will. It is heart-breaking to admit, but unfortunately the league seems to have given up ambition of being perceived as the A10/MWC of the Midwest.

What was great about how the Valley used to operate was you had 10 schools working in tandem as 1 and everybody won. The Washington Post would run articles how the Valley used scheduling innovation to beat the system.

Now you have schools working selfishly, primarily focused on public/private equality and maintaining 1/10th shares. The result is everyone loses. 4 peer leagues grab at-large bids while the OVC quadruples the MVC in tourney credits and outdraws our semifinal and final.

If Elgin isn’t a strong enough leader to get the Presidents to look around and see the obvious and formulate a vision, then give Jack Watkins or Barry Hinson a shot. If you’re a president, take leadership, call an emergency executive meeting, and expose the issue immediately. The status quo is unacceptable.

If you’re an administrator who helped cause or enable this season, shame on you. You made a $1.8 Million mistake and would’ve been held accountable in 99% of jobs. The fact this league is nonchalant and too prideful for self-evaluation is why proactive leagues outwit and pass us by.

We got what we sewed this year.

[mvchoopsfan]

Murray State is a great program. I would like to have them in the MVC.

But there are some problems. Their budget would be second lowest in the league, above only Indiana State based on 2016 numbers. They will have an influx from tournament money, but how much more can a second-tier Kentucky state school add to their athletic budget?

MVC budgets have remained mostly stagnant even as budgets in the A-10, Mountain West, and the American are rising. Big budget/big revenue teams have left the MVC, and the people on message boards want to replace them with the hot commodity with 1/3 the budget of the last team that left the conference.

The "answer" is not looking for a magic bullet to make everything alright again, it's raising our goddamn budgets by 40-50% to get closer to the level of the conferences we're looking to emulate. If Murrray State was a member of this conference this year, maybe they win the conference regular season title and the conference tournament. We're still a 1-bid conference, but this time we don't even have an NIT bid.

But if Indiana State, Illinois State, SIU, Valpo and Missouri State had men's basketball budgets 15% higher instead of 10% less than the likes of Iona, Farifield, Long Beach State, Quinippiac, Bucknell, Hofstra, UC Santa Barbara, and Toledo.... Maybe things might work out better for the conference in the non-con part of the season. The MVC is closer to the Horizon and Ohio Valey in terms of budgets than the A-10 or the Mountain West.

And THAT is your problem right there. Nobody is asking the low budget teams to act like the programs they pretend to be. We just look for another overachiever to come in and add the vitality that the slovenly lay-abouts refuse to contribute.

This is 100% the problem with the MVC. It is all about basketball spending. Half the teams in the league aren't even trying right now. The league needs teams that are willing to spend money. Before Creighton left the MVC had 3 teams in the top 100 in spending, now the MVC only has 1. The MVC won't improve until finances are increased.

Here is where MVC teams rank nationally in basketball spending.
84 - Loyola
114 - Bradley
127- Evansville
133 - Missouri State
136 - UNI
157 - Drake
158 - Valpo
187 - Illinois State
197 - SIU
207 - Indiana State

In 2013 here was where the MVC stacked up:
58 - Creighton
79 - Wichita State
95 - Bradley
141 - Northern Iowa
142 - Evansville
149 - Drake
152 - Missouri State
160 - Illinois State
201 - SIU
223- Indiana State
-----------------------
155 - Loyola
163 - Valpo

[Hooper]

SIU should jump a few spots on the spending list given the increased salary for Mullins compared to Barry. I assume that increase counts as “increased budget.” I haven’t heard if Mullins is getting an increased salary pool for assistants or not.