MVC in preliminary talks with ORU?

[Shocktop42]

I will ask again, has NDSU suddenly moved south of Iowa's north border? If not then PLEASE go away. NDSU isn't coming to the Valley, get over it.

I'm not sure that the dakota schools would be a good choice for expansion HOWEVER location should absolutely not be considered a reason to keep them from the conversations.

I've said it before but we really need to decide what we want to be. We are arguing over who we should add, throwing out names like SLU, Belmont, Denver, Etc with the idea that this would build our conference. The very next sentence we talk about how many of our schools can't afford to go somewhere because of geography...

Not sure if you've noticed but conferences are becoming more and more spread out. If we have schools in our conference that cannot afford send their olympic sports by plane on occassion then we have bigger issues. Personally i want our conference to be as good as possible.

If NDSU and SDSU can afford to fly their olympic sports all around the country, wouldn't they be BETTER candidates than half of our existing schools????

[TheAsianSensation]

My only question is this: we know ORU isn't a home run hit. It's more like a seeing-eye single. It gets you on base.

What add out there really IS a home run? Outside of the Dayton/St Louis scenario, which various people have in in varying stages of possibility....what really is out there? That's why I don't mind ORU. They're not a strikeout. There are other candidates with strikeout potential.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I actually have similar concerns about Belmont. They've moderated their position in the last year or two, but in 2010 they fired their soccer coach for being gay. I'm uncomfortable having my alma mater associated with a university that does something like that. I understand people have a difference of opinion on this issue, but I would have to imagine actions like these are concerning to at least some of the university administrators who will be making the decision on expansion.

So you've already blacklisted the two leading candidates because of politics. Since Loyola is Catholic, you might as well add them to the list too.

See how easy this is? You'll end up with UNOmaha in no time!

[TheAsianSensation]

Anyone got another interested school that is better?

The New Mexico St fans want in pretty bad...they are moving football to the Sun Belt and want their other sports out of the WAC

I'm keeping an eye on this. There's still an outside chance a full invite to the 'Belt is coming (The A-12/CUSA/Sun Belt chain reaction in realignment is currently underway), but I'm not sure if they're willing to leave the WAC high and dry.

In terms of pure basketball product, Belmont and NMSU are the two clear runaway candidates. In terms of basketball product only.

[DoubleJayAlum]

With that said, I am surprised to see all the ORU hate from WSU fans on here. I swear the last 5-10 years reading message boards and stuff that ORU was one of the schools that many shocker fans were always fond of adding to the Valley. Maybe I'm totally misremembering but that was certainly my perception.

I remember that too, although in all fairness, that talk revolved around expansion candidates. I get the impression that WSU liked ORU as an expansion candidate, but not as much as a replacement for Creighton. There is a difference.

I get the impression now that WSU fans want the best basketball program that is possible, and if that school doesn't have a football team, even better. Personally, I think NMSU is the best option and was suggesting them as an add as far back as last summer.

[indymoon]

ORU plays FOURTH fiddle in the city of Tulsa (OSU/OU/Tulsa....then ORU in the distance). That alone gives them the lowest ceiling of any expansion candidate.

We are truly becoming a garbage league if the Presidents think that adding the 4th most popular school in a city of 400,000 and an undergrad enrollment of 2,700 is the best we can attract.

I am skeptical of ORU as well. While geography is arguably a consideration for expansion, it should not be the #1 factor.

If the target is a private school, then Dayton and Valpo seem like better candidates from a pure basketball perspective. I'm not familiar with other sports.

[unipanther99]

So you've already blacklisted the two leading candidates because of politics. Since Loyola is Catholic, you might as well add them to the list too.

See how easy this is? You'll end up with UNOmaha in no time!

I'm not blacklisting anyone, just voicing my concerns. It seems to me the political and often newsworthy actions taken by a university should be just as much of a factor in determining who we want to associate with as other factors we often discuss like geography.

Most Catholic schools others affiliated with mainline denominations have a much more reasonable approach even if they do limit some rights of their students and faculty. For example, they don't tend to kick students out or fire people based on who they are, but rather for academic and legal violations.

In the case of ORU, I also listed my basketball related reasons for opposing their membership. As I've said, people are free to believe what they want, but if you think the eggheads that run our universities and will be making this decision don't care about diversity and fairness in opportunity, you're fooling yourself.

[flybird1]

I actually have similar concerns about Belmont. They've moderated their position in the last year or two, but in 2010 they fired their soccer coach for being gay. I'm uncomfortable having my alma mater associated with a university that does something like that. I understand people have a difference of opinion on this issue, but I would have to imagine actions like these are concerning to at least some of the university administrators who will be making the decision on expansion.

So you've already blacklisted the two leading candidates because of politics. Since Loyola is Catholic, you might as well add them to the list too.

See how easy this is? You'll end up with UNOmaha in no time!

I agree don't inject politics into the thread. Prospective members should be analyzed on their sports merit alone.

[TNMSUFAN]

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-sp ... remain-wac

Boston did say he'd prefer all Aggie sports - football and non-football programs - to be aligned in the same league.

"I'm not so sure that one day that won't happen again," Boston said. "There are lots of discussions that we continue to have. I'm not so sure that the Sun Belt we're moving into to will be the Sun Belt that we signed up for tomorrow. Western Kentucky could be out within a week."

Said Boston: "Conference realignment remains volatile. The WAC continues to have conversations with people and those conversations obviously has implications for us. I'm not hanging up the phone and not talking to people. At the same time, we're doing what everybody else is: Trying to figure out the next step in the world of volatility, in conference realignment."

[isumvc1]

I will ask again, has NDSU suddenly moved south of Iowa's north border? If not then PLEASE go away. NDSU isn't coming to the Valley, get over it.

I'm not sure that the dakota schools would be a good choice for expansion HOWEVER location should absolutely not be considered a reason to keep them from the conversations.

I've said it before but we really need to decide what we want to be. We are arguing over who we should add, throwing out names like SLU, Belmont, Denver, Etc with the idea that this would build our conference. The very next sentence we talk about how many of our schools can't afford to go somewhere because of geography...

Not sure if you've noticed but conferences are becoming more and more spread out. If we have schools in our conference that cannot afford send their olympic sports by plane on occassion then we have bigger issues. Personally i want our conference to be as good as possible.

If NDSU and SDSU can afford to fly their olympic sports all around the country, wouldn't they be BETTER candidates than half of our existing schools????

Shocktop42, another reason the dakota schools won't be coming to the MVC is because they currently hold their league tourney in south dakota, and it will be there for about the next 100 years. It's a home game for both the south dakota schools. No way no how are they giving up home court advantage for men's and women's BB to come to the MVC, where they would be perennial Thursday one and done teams year in and year out.