Air Force to the MVC?

[Coogles]

Well, his full article says Elgin will activate the league's expansion committee, but obviously whether or not they act is a different matter, and probably unlikely.

Good to see from Elgin. Air Force adds absolutely zilch to what the Valley already has. AF rarely has good teams. They averaged fewer than 2,200 fans/game last year. If they can't sell tickets to their own community/fanbase, why would other fanbases care?

If there's a school out there that's open to being a member of the Valley and actually adds some cache to the MVC brand or helps the league earn multiple bids ever year, that's great, but otherwise the league has a great thing going as-is.

[MVCfans]

In an email discussion that I've had with Frank Schwab, who follows Air Force for the Colorado Springs Gazette, he states the following (which I asked if I could quote him on and he consented):

I'd be surprised, based on everything Hans Mueh and others have told me, if Air
Force doesn't move its Olympic sports to the Missouri Valley Conference, barring a
change of heart or some unforseen issue. During my half hour discussion with Mueh on
Saturday, he never mentioned another conference but the MVC, and he seems set on
moving his sports out of the Mountain West. I've never gotten any indication from
anyone I've talked to that the WAC is a possibility at this moment.

and followed with:

BTW, I should have said, the MWC was the only other conference Mueh mentioned for
the Olympic sports. We obviously discussed Big 12, Big East for football.

I'd encourage you to follow Frank on twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/GazetteAirForce) as he has been very quick in answering my questions during this most interesting discussion regarding Air Force and the Valley.

[BirdmanBB]

I'm all for AF joining the MVC if............They play road games in football at MVFC schools (like a serious commitment of one every year or two). It would be unfortunate for non-fball schools, but it will bring in some good cash and increase exposure for those that are, especially if they land fball in the big east.

[Ali]

I'm all for AF joining the MVC if............They play road games in football at MVFC schools (like a serious commitment of one every year or two). It would be unfortunate for non-fball schools, but it will bring in some good cash and increase exposure for those that are, especially if they land fball in the big east.

Football games at MVFC sites won't happen. No way.

I'm fine with AFA joining. The WAC wants them but in the Valley we think we're too good?

[DoubleJayAlum]

I'm all for AF joining the MVC if............They play road games in football at MVFC schools (like a serious commitment of one every year or two). It would be unfortunate for non-fball schools, but it will bring in some good cash and increase exposure for those that are, especially if they land fball in the big east.

No, no, no! MVFC should have nothing to do with conference expansion. They are separate conferences for a reason.

This is really getting a little silly. We have one Shocker fan claiming that baseball should be considered when evaluating one school against another. Now we have a Redbird fan indicating that a willingness to to play road football games should be considered. What's next - a Panther fan demanding a strong volleyball program or a Creighton fan demanding a top ranked soccer program?

This is a basketball conference. Decisions should be made around basketball, not marginal spectator sports like baseball, soccer, volleyball or what used to be called D2 football.

[BirdmanBB]

I'm all for AF joining the MVC if............They play road games in football at MVFC schools (like a serious commitment of one every year or two). It would be unfortunate for non-fball schools, but it will bring in some good cash and increase exposure for those that are, especially if they land fball in the big east.

No, no, no! MVFC should have nothing to do with conference expansion. They are separate conferences for a reason.

This is really getting a little silly. We have one Shocker fan claiming that baseball should be considered when evaluating one school against another. Now we have a Redbird fan indicating that a willingness to to play road football games should be considered. What's next - a Panther fan demanding a strong volleyball program or a Creighton fan demanding a top ranked soccer program?

This is a basketball conference. Decisions should be made around basketball, not marginal spectator sports like baseball, soccer, volleyball or what used to be called D2 football.

the baseball thing is crazy, but you have to admit, having air force play at MVFC schools would generate cash for those schools as well as exposure. If they say no, then I don't want them. If they want to be a part of the valley, then they have to offer something in return. Just having them in the league is not worth it.

They are seperate conferences, yes, but if they approach voting schools like both ISU's, MSU, UNI, and SIU (and even Drake too) and said we will come to all of your places for football on a rotation as long as their olympic sports are in the valley I think they would have a yes vote from all of those schools. By my count, that looks like a majority. Like another poster said above it would never happen, but like others are mentioning, they don't offer anything to the valley besides longer travel.

We should hold out and see what happens with teams like Temple and see if we can finally get SLU and maybe Dayton in the MVC.

[DoubleJayAlum]

the baseball thing is crazy, but you have to admit, having air force play at MVFC schools would generate cash for those schools as well as exposure. If they say no, then I don't want them. If they want to be a part of the valley, then they have to offer something in return. Just having them in the league is not worth it.

They should only have to offer things to the schools with football?

[bigdawg]

The MVFC isn't part of the Valley. It has nothing to do with Air Force's decision. People are getting crazy here.

[Drakey]

I'm all for AF joining the MVC if............They play road games in football at MVFC schools (like a serious commitment of one every year or two). It would be unfortunate for non-fball schools, but it will bring in some good cash and increase exposure for those that are, especially if they land fball in the big east.

Football games at MVFC sites won't happen. No way.

I'm fine with AFA joining. The WAC wants them but in the Valley we think we're too good?

The WAC has bowl division football. The air force Basketball program is valueless. The Valley should not even consider this.

[unipanther99]

If you compare Air Force to UNI for example, I think it's fair to say Air Force would have a much greater ability to contribute to the conference than UNI when the Panthers came in --- and look what UNI has been able to do. Granted, it took some time.

Unless you are New Mexico or UNLV - where football really sucks - basketball is mostly an afterthought in the MWC. Participating in a conference where basketball is king might really help Air Force rise up to the occasion, especially with recruiting. And they recruit such a unique kind of student-athlete that they usually wouldn't be in direct competition with most other Valley schools.

Air Force is a strong national brand, exposes the Valley to a wider footprint, and has real potential to be competitive in the Valley. And having a school in the Mountain Time Zone could help us get a few more games on the ESPN family as well.

There is zero chance a strong FBS school like Air Force will play road football games at FCS schools. It doesn't make sense financially and if they end up in a BCS conference it's usually forbidden in the conference bylaws (it may already be in the MWC anyway). If they want to offer schools guarantee games to come play in Colorado Springs, that would probably make sense --- but a home and home with Illinois State is not going to happen. They are not Ball State.