REPORT: Murray to the Valley?

[letsgoAces]

A lot of the crap being thrown toward Murray State's fans on this forum is absurd. Embarrassing actually. You would think some here believe the MVC is the ACC. Any explanations that need to be provided for the admission of Murray State are just too plain for me to go over....the naysayers have a different agenda all together.

The delay of Murray State being admitted at this point, we can only speculate. It would seem to me that since neither the OVC, MSU, or the MVC have put to rest whatever the holdup is, it has not been finalized one way or the other. Until then...we wait.

[E-Villan]

I agree. There is no question Murray can bring as much value to the conference as our other smaller market publics, SIU, UNI and INSU.

As far as Belmont jumping ahead of Murray, there is one primary factor I have yet to see discussed in all of these pages of speculation...the NCAA academic guidelines for revenue distribution. UE AD Mark Spencer, after singing the praises of Murray, mentioned this on camera in 2017 when asked what nudged Valpo ahead of Murray. From the NCAA website:

Each school can earn one academic achievement unit per year if its student-athletes meet at least one of the following requirements:

Earn an overall, single-year, all-sport Academic Progress Rate of 985 or higher.
Earn an overall all-sport Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent or higher.
Earn a federal graduation rate that is at least 13 percentage points higher than the federal graduation rate of the student body at that school.
Money will be distributed to the conferences with no restriction on how it is spent.

I think the last sentence gives you the answer right there. The conference will be the recipient of the money, with no restriction on how it is spent. I am in no way knocking the academics of Murray..again, without researching, I am fairly confident they compare very favorably with our other publics. With that, I would also think it is safe to say that Belmont is a much safer bet to maintain those rates. The size of the Nashville market certainly doesn't hurt, but that isn't the primary factor.

From my fan perspective, I would much rather have Murray, their fanbase and facilities in our conference. From the presidents perspective, Belmont gets the nod, and it has nothing to do with the one Nashville resident who may end up going to UNI because of conference affiliation.

I still think Murray is number 12.

[letsgoAces]

Excellent post E-Villan

[Murraygrad05]

https://goracers.com/news/2020/12/14/ge ... -2020.aspx

Just doing a quick google search of APR’s for fall 2020, we are equal to if not better than most MVC public’s, and fared better than Evansville. I didn’t search every schools but saying Murray’s academics is a red flag is plain wrong.

Belmont is highly selective school to get in to and have always been tops in the conference for that reason.

[BigMacAttack]

https://goracers.com/news/2020/12/14/general-racers-continue-tradition-of-academic-excellence-in-fall-2020.aspx

Just doing a quick google search of APR’s for fall 2020, we are equal to if not better than most MVC public’s, and fared better than Evansville. I didn’t search every schools but saying Murray’s academics is a red flag is plain wrong.

Belmont is highly selective school to get in to and have always been tops in the conference for that reason.

Racers Continue Tradition Of Academic Excellence in Fall 2020
"In total, 53 student-athletes registered a perfect 4.0 GPA"
Seems to me to be a very high total. Recruiting the brightest and best or an easier curriculum?

[smidge34]

Lmao at the jabs being taken here at Murray’s program. Straight up history is on our program’s side over just about anybody else currently in the MVC. The crack about “low major” is the epitome of low basketball IQ and these shots coming from SIU fans are comedy gold! I know this, ESPN thought enough of our program to rank it the #28 program in all of D1 just a few short years ago.

[valleydays]

We can debate markets, academics and football all we want but the bottom line for any CEO of a university or business is revenue. And the quickest way to gain revenue for an NCAA athletics conference that doesn't play FBS football is wins in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. So, in the case of the Missouri Valley Conference, what realistic add could be best expected to do that? Murray State.

Yes, Loyola's Final Four run was great, but you can reasonably expect that about once in a generation for this league. But regular Sweet 16 appearances can be a realistic, and profitable, goal. It's all about collecting tournament units and adding revenue to your league. Sure, wealthy donors can add to a university's coffers, but NCAA tourney wins add to LEAGUE coffers.

Murray State has had more than a few teams good enough to win Arch Madness over the past 30 years. Can you say that for better market schools like UT-Arlington, for example? Of course not. The MVC needs to add schools that have the potential to advance in the NCAA tourney, should they get there. Plenty of schools in the MVC can say that -- adding another only makes sense.

So it doesn't matter how good your football team is. It doesn't matter how good your volleyball or baseball team is. Those won't move the financial needle. Men's basketball, and only men's basketball, will. Any CEO (or college president) should know this. It's all about the revenue. That's why it wouldn't surprise me if Murray State is already effectively a member of the MVC, but for whatever reason, the parties can't say anything at this time. Maybe it will be after spring, but I still believe the Racers are in, or will be soon.