REPORT: Murray to the Valley?

[IllinoisState]

MSU SHOULD go to the CUSA if invited. I don't want to see them leave, but it would be the right move for them. I'm surprised Illinois State hasn't made an attempt to get into the MAC. Obviously SIU, UNI, and INSU are financially not in a position to go FBS.

Missouri State will never win a national title at the FCS level, but I'm fairly confident they could win half of their games at the FBS level and win a bowl game once in a while. The CUSA and Sun Belt are typically rated below the MVFC. I'll be curious to see where the AAC is after they lose their three top schools and add 6 CUSA schools.

Yeah, I would love our twice yearly games against 4 sub 300 NET teams and the one team that barely won 20 games in a season.

Plus, who doesn't get hyped for football games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!?

[mvfcfan]

MSU SHOULD go to the CUSA if invited. I don't want to see them leave, but it would be the right move for them. I'm surprised Illinois State hasn't made an attempt to get into the MAC. Obviously SIU, UNI, and INSU are financially not in a position to go FBS.

Missouri State will never win a national title at the FCS level, but I'm fairly confident they could win half of their games at the FBS level and win a bowl game once in a while. The CUSA and Sun Belt are typically rated below the MVFC. I'll be curious to see where the AAC is after they lose their three top schools and add 6 CUSA schools.

Just curious, why do you say MO State will never win a title at FCS level?

Obviously very difficult but I'd say we will have our chances if we stay and HCBP keeps things headed the way he does

MSU could certainly prove me wrong, but the only school in the MVFC to win a title since NDSU's dominance is NDSU. ILSU, SDSU, and YSU have come close though. I think WKU may be the last MVFC team to win a title besides NDSU.

I guess I shouldn't say never. However MSU hasn't really had too much success until late. However consistent success isn't really part of going FBS. The biggest qualification for going FBS is being willing to spend the money on it.

It may work out like it did for App State, Coastal Car, Liberty, and UTSA. Or it may work out like Texas State or the ultimate dumpster fire called UMASS.

[VUGrad1314]

He didn't outright shut the door but Missouri State's AD has thrown some massive cold water on the FBS speculation. Good. Now let's go pedal to the metal on finalizing Murray State's addition and continue to look for opportunities to make this league a league nobody wants to leave!

https://www.news-leader.com/story/sport ... 184006001/

[VUGrad1314]

Some very interesting stuff RE: the CAA which appears to be imminently losing James Madison to the Sun Belt. They have apparently been vetting Fairfield Monmoth Greensboro Hampton Howard and North Carolina Central. Them taking one (or more) Big South members could be good news for a potential Murray State affiliation if football really is the only thing holding up their MVC invite. Hampton and Monmouth play in the Big South which currently has 9 members but will be losing Kennesaw State and North Alabama next year as the Atlantic Sun starts its football league. Of course if NC Central isn't picked and Hampton leaves for the CAA they are a very logical choice to be a direct replacement for the Pirates in the Big South but still there is room for affiliate members in the conference.

Article about Monmouth Fairfield Greensboro interest

https://richmond.com/sports/college/jam ... e%E2%80%A6

Article about Howard Hampton NC Central Interest:

https://richmond.com/sports/college/jam ... er_RTDNEWS

Also possible speculation though less well sourced (not backed up by an article but from a verified Twitter account that College of Charleston and Elon might be considering a return to the SoCon.

https://twitter.com/CoachTO22/status/14 ... age-6.html

[SalukiWorld]

CUSA looking at New Mexico State, Liberty, and UConn (football only)
https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status ... 3804786690

[BCPanther]

Some rumors floating around out there that the MAC and UMass might get remarried for all sports.

It was a spectacular failure last time so why not do it again?

[VUGrad1314]

CUSA looking at New Mexico State, Liberty, and UConn (football only)
https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status ... 3804786690

Pete Thamel has denied this report. Says UConn has had discussions with CUSA in the past but that there are no active negotiations right now and nothing is imminent.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1 ... 3907118086

Some rumors floating around out there that the MAC and UMass might get remarried for all sports.

It was a spectacular failure last time so why not do it again?

The initial arrangement with UMass was football only. They were given an all sports or get out ultimatum and they chose to get out. Not sure if their thinking will be different this time but I don't understand why that marriage makes sense for either side. MAC schools add a bunch to their travel budgets for a bad program and UMass joins a worse basketball league and adds to their travel budget. If it did happen though that would be HORRIBLE news for the MVC because I guarantee that Loyola is #1 on the A10's call list if they have a vacancy (Okay fine #2 with Temple being the first call). But Temple will likely decline because they are apparently still getting the fat AAC checks for a few more years and can always revisit independence later when that's all done. Loyola on the other hand I am almost 100% certain would accept if invited which would be an absolute disaster for the MVC losing its top program. I hope UMass stays right where they are. Here's what I'm rooting for as an MVC fan:

CUSA dissolves

The MAC passes on expansion WKU and Middle Tennessee are forced to go independent

The MVC swoops in and adds Murray State WKU and Middle Tennessee to create a spectacular and geographically sensible 14 team league with great rivalries!

Even if the MAC does get involved and gets WKU and MTSU and the WAC gets La Tech and UTEP that does increase the depth and quality of those leagues adding value to scheduling those teams OOC so that's still a win for leagues like ours.

[E-Villan]

Like most of you, I have been confused and disappointed in the fact that Murray hasn't been added. I have theorized football holdups, SIU blocking, etc but I stumbled across an interview a few days ago, that may be bringing some logic to all of this.

It was about a 5 minute interview with our AD, Mark Spencer, right after Valpo was announced. He was asked about Murray, and he said he felt they certainly qualified for our league, but 11 was an unworkable number long term, especially for non-revenue scheduling. He stated this several times during the interview...11 doesn't work. OK. well that goes along with what we have all been thinking...get a suitable 12th, and Murray comes right in.

We got a suitable 12th when Belmont finally agreed to make a move. I am sure at that point the league plan was to bring both Belmont and Murray in for our expansion to 12. So what's the problem...we have 11 until Murray joins?

My uneducated guess is while this was going on this summer, the smoke from Springfield about going FBS was thicker than we were aware. Frankly, it should be. For us basketball fans, it doesn't seem appealing to go to Conf-USA or the Sun Belt, but if you are the admins of Missouri State, your goals are well beyond Hammons. Todd Golden had an interesting article about the pitfalls of going FBS, and used Ball State as a comparison. The reality is Ball State is not a good comparison. Indiana, which is only one notch ahead of Missouri in population has 3 P5 programs already, 2 of which are large public universities with statewide appeal. Ball State can never reach that level. They are FBS solely because their longtime conference, which is made up of very similar regional rivals, has elected to play FBS. I don't believe any MAC school has the potential or ability to reach co-flagship status in their respective state. That's not a knock on them. There probably isn't a conference that is more stable, or more compatible across the board than the MAC. With that said, conversely, why can't Missouri State aspire to reach peer status with neighboring P5 schools like Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Iowa State? Missouri, with twice the population of both Kansas and Iowa only has one P5 school. Missouri has two large metro's and Springfield certainly isn't small. IMO, they are the natural rivals for MSU.

If the end game for MSU is to reach P5 status, then you have to start navigating the football obstacle course.

So once again, we can't work with 11, so Murray gets stuck on the sidelines until we can find a suitable 12th.

[VUGrad1314]

Like most of you, I have been confused and disappointed in the fact that Murray hasn't been added. I have theorized football holdups, SIU blocking, etc but I stumbled across an interview a few days ago, that may be bringing some logic to all of this.

It was about a 5 minute interview with our AD, Mark Spencer, right after Valpo was announced. He was asked about Murray, and he said he felt they certainly qualified for our league, but 11 was an unworkable number long term, especially for non-revenue scheduling. He stated this several times during the interview...11 doesn't work. OK. well that goes along with what we have all been thinking...get a suitable 12th, and Murray comes right in.

We got a suitable 12th when Belmont finally agreed to make a move. I am sure at that point the league plan was to bring both Belmont and Murray in for our expansion to 12. So what's the problem...we have 11 until Murray joins?

My uneducated guess is while this was going on this summer, the smoke from Springfield about going FBS was thicker than we were aware. Frankly, it should be. For us basketball fans, it doesn't seem appealing to go to Conf-USA or the Sun Belt, but if you are the admins of Missouri State, your goals are well beyond Hammons. Todd Golden had an interesting article about the pitfalls of going FBS, and used Ball State as a comparison. The reality is Ball State is not a good comparison. Indiana, which is only one notch ahead of Missouri in population has 3 P5 programs already, 2 of which are large public universities with statewide appeal. Ball State can never reach that level. They are FBS solely because their longtime conference, which is made up of very similar regional rivals, has elected to play FBS. I don't believe any MAC school has the potential or ability to reach co-flagship status in their respective state. That's not a knock on them. There probably isn't a conference that is more stable, or more compatible across the board than the MAC. With that said, conversely, why can't Missouri State aspire to reach peer status with neighboring P5 schools like Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Iowa State? Missouri, with twice the population of both Kansas and Iowa only has one P5 school. Missouri has two large metro's and Springfield certainly isn't small. IMO, they are the natural rivals for MSU.

If the end game for MSU is to reach P5 status, then you have to start navigating the football obstacle course.

So once again, we can't work with 11, so Murray gets stuck on the sidelines until we can find a suitable 12th.

Good theory except for three things:

1. Missouri State has never stated that the goal is P5 status. Co flagship status? Sure. But P5 would be ridiculous even though their growth and investment have been impressive. and

2, Missouri State's AD just threw a bunch of cold water on the FBS rumors today. With that being the case I expect the Murray to the MVC smoke to pick up now.

3. Mark Spencer is wrong. 11 can and should work long term especially in this climate. If you find the right programs it's a great idea to eliminate those 2 non conference opportunities (at least one of which is wasted on a Non D1 anyway) and play a quality program home and home. And even if Missouri State does eventually stupidly try to chase FBS football windmills we can just add a program from a long list of publics who would be willing to join if we must have a twelfth team. They won't be as good as Missouri State but there's a couple of decent options (like Northern Kentucky Little Rock the Dakotas if they keep growing their budgets Wright State if they get their finances in order or Milwaukee if they can get back on track as a program) that are worth a look. The Missouri State FBS bullet has been dodged (at least for now) Now it's time to turn up the heat on expansion to make the league better while we're still in a position of strength and make the decision harder for any team that wants to leave.)

[squirrel]

What are Bears fans going to do with all the CUSA t-shirts they've been printing over the last month?

I kid, I kid. Just a joke, for those that may take this as a mean-spirited comment.