If we go to 12 who do you want (choose 2) poll?

[VUGrad1314]

I'll believe the notion that the MVC is considering the membership of far-flung teams accessible by airports or just one Dakota school when GCU UT-Arlington or SDSU join the conference Until then I'm going to assume that geography matters as much as academics and basketball and that this is a four horse race between Murray State (the frontrunner) Belmont Northern Kentucky and Milwaukee. If they really wanted Milwaukee we'd be at 12 already. This is all a ploy to shake Belmont loose (hence the reason public private split wasn't mentioned. They are perfectly content as they should be to take Northern Kentucky as #12 and call it a day. They just want to give Belmont one final chance to come to their senses. Frankly they should take site visits to both if it gets to that point and if you like NKU too and both are interested take a 14th team (Milwaukee or UIC). At that point it really wouldn't matter who you add as long as it makes geographic sense. I'd probably go for the new market although UIC would be a boon to everything but hoops and might mean even greater broadcast presence in Chicago.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

I have assumed for a year it would end up being Murray State and NKU but I'm glad there will at least be conversation regarding Grand Canyon. They are doing their due diligence.

[VUGrad1314]

Right. And due diligence is all that is. I'm sure of it. NKU is a heck of a consolation prize though. Think of them as the GCU of the midwest.

[BCPanther]

We're not taking GCU. There's no way the university presidents are going to sign off on a for profit, religious based, commuter, diploma mill on the edge of nowhere. There's a reason they are in the WAC and will continue to be in the WAC unless somebody like the Big West wants to deal with them...

They do a pregame hymn and prayer ffs. That isn't going to fly.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

http://www.sports360az.com/2017/03/zags ... ing-giant/

Words from Gonzaga's coach Mark Few regarding GCU.

[RacerJoeD]

"For Profit" education is a political football. I wouldn't want to attach myself to that.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

"For Profit" education is a political football. I wouldn't want to attach myself to that.

Conferences like the MVC which are on the verge of being top 8 annual cant let that bother them. you want to be a multiple bid league you do what's best. I want Murray State but GCU is best option basketball wise. It would be great to get NKU with Murray and GCU with NMSU to go to 14. Best of both world. Elgin would never go for it. They need to oust him before they go any further into this process. He's stuck in the heydays and has no vision and doesn't known how to navigate through the changing landscape.

[VUGrad1314]

Simply adding Murray State and Belmont\NKU is going to go a long way toward solidifying this conference within that RPI range anyway without breaking anyone's travel budget or attaching ourselves to a for-profit school. The question is will that be enough to put the MVC consistently in the at-large discussion? In a vacuum with no other moves by other conferences I would say yes it's certainly possible. But I feel very confident that the next few years will see NMSU GCU and possibly more teams to the MWC, NMSU and GCU could also end up in the WCC or Summit FGCU to the Sun Belt or CUSA, UTA to CUSA Dayton and VCU to the AAC\Big East and UCONN to the ACC\Big East. In that increasingly top-heavy landscape would the MVC and even the MWC still be on the outside looking in? Still we need to do it to give ourselves a chance but I really think that we might need to embrace a 14 team model with the right membership to really give ourselves a chance.

[RacerJoeD]

I understand the upside, but allow me if you will to give you the experience the OVC had.

A couple decades ago, the OVC was a premier mid major conference. In addition to Murray State, the OVC had western kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Akron in the conference. The basketball was pretty good. Over time, western kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Akron left and were replaced with Tennessee State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State, Samford, Eastern Illinois, Belmont, and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

These teams combined in their histories have a total of 11 NCAA tournament appearances and 0 (zero) wins.

As a comparison, Akron, Middle Tennessee and western kentucky have in their pasts 35 NCAA tournament appearances and 18 wins.

Whats more, a few years ago, NKU wanted to join the OVC. They had the finances, the facilities, and the desire to be successful. The vote of conference members didn't allow them in, some because they didn't have football, some for other reasons.

The point of the story is that adding someone to the conference isn't just getting their upside, its realizing that they have a possible downside, and that once there, its nearly impossible to get them out, and they get to vote on everything.

Yes, GCU has upside, but they also have a massive downside risk and if the MVC cannot and should not take that risk, IMO.


The other thing to think about is the fragility of the the Sun Belt and CUSA. Both are on the verge of collapse.

[VUGrad1314]

I understand the upside, but allow me if you will to give you the experience the OVC had.

A couple decades ago, the OVC was a premier mid major conference. In addition to Murray State, the OVC had western kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Akron in the conference. The basketball was pretty good. Over time, western kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Akron left and were replaced with Tennessee State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee-Martin, Jacksonville State, Samford, Eastern Illinois, Belmont, and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

These teams combined in their histories have a total of 11 NCAA tournament appearances and 0 (zero) wins.

As a comparison, Akron, Middle Tennessee and western kentucky have in their pasts 35 NCAA tournament appearances and 18 wins.

Whats more, a few years ago, NKU wanted to join the OVC. They had the finances, the facilities, and the desire to be successful. The vote of conference members didn't allow them in, some because they didn't have football, some for other reasons.

The point of the story is that adding someone to the conference isn't just getting their upside, its realizing that they have a possible downside, and that once there, its nearly impossible to get them out, and they get to vote on everything.

Yes, GCU has upside, but they also have a massive downside risk and if the MVC cannot and should not take that risk, IMO.


The other thing to think about is the fragility of the the Sun Belt and CUSA. Both are on the verge of collapse.

They're both on the verge of collapse? Aren't there enough FCS teams looking to move up to keep the Sun Belt afloat even if CUSA keeps eating it? And where would the affected teams go? I always felt that the only conferences in real trouble were the WAC and the Atlantic Sun. Also wouldn't the collapses of the Sun Belt and CUSA only create a more difficult climate for mid majors by creating more conferences and thereby taking away more bids?