Hopefully this is just phase 1 of expansion

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Also, bad example with UCLA and USC. That's like Duke and UNC in Chicago. A better comp is Loyola Marymount and Cal State LA. They share the LA market together like Loyola and UIC share Chicago but Chicago is Illinois and northwestern.

[PurpleAcesFootball]

I've read some crazy stuff on message boards, but Grand Canyon to the MVC may be the craziest one yet.

No. No. No.

There is a 99.9999% chance they would be invited. That 0.0001% would be if their ownership group joined some venture capitalists and bought out the other 10 member schools of the Valley, converted them to for-profit divisions of GCU, and then voted themselves an invitation.

Most university presidents and academic administration loathe the for-profit educational model. That alone will prevent GCU from ever being invited. Even with some talk of GCU trying to convert to a non-profit (they have been denied in doing so), the history will still be there.

Although the University of Phoenix might provide a great travel partner for them. So there's that.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

I've read some crazy stuff on message boards, but Grand Canyon to the MVC may be the craziest one yet.

No. No. No.

There is a 99.9999% chance they would be invited. That 0.0001% would be if their ownership group joined some venture capitalists and bought out the other 10 member schools of the Valley, converted them to for-profit divisions of GCU, and then voted themselves an invitation.

Most university presidents and academic administration loathe the for-profit educational model. That alone will prevent GCU from ever being invited. Even with some talk of GCU trying to convert to a non-profit (they have been denied in doing so), the history will still be there.

Although the University of Phoenix might provide a great travel partner for them. So there's that.

phoenix doesn't play sports

[Mikovio]

I've read some crazy stuff on message boards, but Grand Canyon to the MVC may be the craziest one yet.

No. No. No.

There is a 99.9999% chance they would be invited. That 0.0001% would be if their ownership group joined some venture capitalists and bought out the other 10 member schools of the Valley, converted them to for-profit divisions of GCU, and then voted themselves an invitation.

Lol given the financial difficulties some states are experiencing, that might not be so far fetched. "Southern Illinois University, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand Canyon University, Inc."

I do think GCU is a bad idea. So they're doing well now, and investing millions in their program but that cuts both ways. What if it turns south and they don't get the ROI they're hoping for? The shareholders will want to slash the budget, maybe even disband athletics altogether. They don't care about the student experience or long term dividends.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

There is a 99.9999% chance they would be invited. That 0.0001% would be if their ownership group joined some venture capitalists and bought out the other 10 member schools of the Valley, converted them to for-profit divisions of GCU, and then voted themselves an invitation.

I would love that. The for-profit model doesn't scare me away

[uniguy]

Eventually Grand Canyon is going to become such a good program that someone is going to want them, despite the for-profit model. They're going to force their way in.

Will that league be the MVC? Probably not. But if your goal is to add programs that will make the league stronger and give it a better chance for multiple bids in men's basketball, there aren't a lot of options out there for us that would do that better than Grand Canyon will in the long-term.

[uniftw]

Eventually Grand Canyon is going to become such a good program that someone is going to want them, despite the for-profit model. They're going to force their way in.

Will that league be the MVC? Probably not. But if your goal is to add programs that will make the league stronger and give it a better chance for multiple bids in men's basketball, there aren't a lot of options out there for us that would do that better than Grand Canyon will in the long-term.

I don't see it.

Look at Liberty. Liberty is doing the exact same thing. The only difference is they are a private/regligonutbag institution. Liberty is the like the 5th or 7th largest higher education institution in the US with something like 110,000 and 2nd largest undergrad enrollment in the nation at 50,000 (only UCF has more). They are the largest private Christian college in the world. Liberty's resident/campus enrollment? 14,000.

They have more money than they know what to do with. They have athletic facilities that crush all "peer" institutions (peer is based on the fact they've been FCS football and low major in other sports).

Basketball/volleyball - 9,500
http://manrymission.com/wp-content/gall ... arena_.jpg

SECONDARY VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE FACILITY
http://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/facil ... ll_250.jpg

Football - 20,000 - building IPF as well
http://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/footb ... _photo.jpg

Baseball - 3,000
https://www.liberty.edu/archives/public ... MB%20(Copy).jpg

Softball - 1,000
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a8c6 ... 00_jpg_srz

Soccer/outdoor track
http://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/facil ... _small.jpg
https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image ... estern.jpg
https://dailytrackpic.files.wordpress.c ... ersity.png

Lacross/Field hockey
http://www.liberty.edu/archives/public/ ... DP%20(Copy).jpg

Indoor track
https://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/faci ... er_version).jpg

Tennis
http://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/facil ... omplex.jpg

Swimming/Diving - opening this year
https://www.liberty.edu/journal/wp-cont ... ljs16g.jpg

Offices for track, soccer, lacross and swimming...
http://www.liberty.edu/media/1912/facil ... er_250.jpg

Private golf club house for the team
http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=31760

60,000 square foot athletic complex - opening soon
http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm?PID=33357


There isn't a facility on campus that is older than 9 years old. I guess technically the basketball and football stadiums are older, but they've gutted and remolded both in the last decade. They've literally spent over a billion dollars on athletics facilities over the last decade.

Liberty has spent the last 6 years BEGGING for an FBS invite. They were passed over for programs start up programs like Georgia State, UTSA, South Alabama, Charlotte. They were behind programs like App State, Georgia Southern, Texas State. Heck, Coastal Carolina got an invite and CCU has horrendous facilities and don't even meet the requirements for FBS football with their stadium.

Liberty was behind at least a dozen current FCS programs in terms of when they'd get an invite. Literally no one was going to invite them to their conference - actually no one has yet. They petitioned the NCAA to let them move FBS as an independent, bypassing the rule of requiring a conference invite. No one is sure if Liberty is going to be allowed to stay in the Big South for other sports yet. They might end up in the ultimate purgatory of independent in all sports.

Maybe people are scared because of the resources they have, and if they get into a P5 conference they dominate the world (ROFL). Maybe it's because they are a religonutbag institution.

If Liberty, with those resources. Those facilities. That everything isn't getting invited to a larger conference, I can't image GCU getting one. They are one in the same, one just happens to be private and the other public.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Liberty didn't focus on sports until recently. They are making a push too. Grand canyon though has come out guns a blazing. No doubt in my mind they will be the next Gonzaga, Butler, wsu, etc

[Mikovio]

Liberty is a nonprofit tele-evangelical school founded by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and reliably funded by old ladies' Social Security checks that might erstwhile have gone to Oral Roberts. Different beast altogether.

[All-MVC Fan]

Liberty is a nonprofit tele-evangelical school founded by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and reliably funded by old ladies' Social Security checks that might erstwhile have gone to Oral Roberts. Different beast altogether.

Actually, I believe the source of Liberty's cash is the genius decision a long time ago to get heavily into online courses, and a $29,000,000 life insurance policy on Jerry Falwell that paid off every red cent of the school's debt. Say what you want about the school's religious viewpoint, but it might be the best managed non-P5 school in America.