Conference Realignment - impact on MVC?

[DoubleJayAlum]

UE AD John Stanley just denied the report.

http://www.courierpressblogs.com/sports/ue/?p=2099

Is there an echo in here?

[MVCfans]

This report is the first I've seen saying Creighton might be above Dayton and SLU in the pecking order, which becomes important if the new league only goes to 10 members:

While the talks are still in their infancy, two highly-placed individuals with knowledge of the plans of the seven schools, say that the initial targets have already been identified. Xavier and Butler of the Atlantic 10 Conference and Creighton of the Missouri Valley Conference are high on the seven schools' wish list, with fellow A-10 members Dayton and Saint Louis being considered. Another possibility is the addition of Gonzaga.

http://www.nj.com/college-basketball/in ... roots.html

[Drakey]

Is there any logic in these teams playing a bunch of east coast teams when so many of them are in the midwest? I've never understood why the private schools in the midwest have never formed a conference. Travel expenses might not matter to FBS schools with millions in Football revenue, but I don't see how other schools can afford to fly their Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Soccer etc. teams to the east coast.

[CBB_Fan]

Is there any logic in these teams playing a bunch of east coast teams when so many of them are in the midwest? I've never understood why the private schools in the midwest have never formed a conference. Travel expenses might not matter to FBS schools with millions in Football revenue, but I don't see how other schools can afford to fly their Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Soccer etc. teams to the east coast.

It does seem odd that Marquette and Depaul joined with the Big East, but it probably was because at the time many of the other private schools in the Midwest were not established basketball powers.

If the privates had all decided to join as a group, you could have:

Creighton
Drake
Evansville
Bradley
DePaul
Marquette
Butler
Dayton
Saint Louis
Xavier

That group would be stable in the Midwest, and the Big East could have joined with the private schools in the A-10. But the thing is, the old Big East could afford to fly its non-revenue sports. I did some number crunching, and if you assume every athlete had to fly to every event off campus, it be about 1300 flights per school. Many of those flights are already being taken, so it is something like 800 added flights.

When you are making $2-3 million a year from your media contract alone, flying is not a problem.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Is there any logic in these teams playing a bunch of east coast teams when so many of them are in the midwest? I've never understood why the private schools in the midwest have never formed a conference. Travel expenses might not matter to FBS schools with millions in Football revenue, but I don't see how other schools can afford to fly their Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Soccer etc. teams to the east coast.

One interesting thing to consider is that Omaha has nonstop commercial flights to most of the cities of the schools being considered for this new conference. They wouldn't need to charter flights to get to remote locales like Terre Haute, Carbondale, Cedar Falls, Evansville, so airfare costs won't be as expensive as you'd think at first glance. It is conceivable that travel costs for the basketball team only may even be a wash.

[getreal4]

Money differential would eliminate the non revenue sports increased travel costs.

This is happening. valley presidents and elgin have been clueless for a very long time. History and tradition don't matter, money and bigtime tv are the relevant drivers of today.

[havoc]

Is there any logic in these teams playing a bunch of east coast teams when so many of them are in the midwest? I've never understood why the private schools in the midwest have never formed a conference. Travel expenses might not matter to FBS schools with millions in Football revenue, but I don't see how other schools can afford to fly their Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Soccer etc. teams to the east coast.

It does seem odd that Marquette and Depaul joined with the Big East, but it probably was because at the time many of the other private schools in the Midwest were not established basketball powers.

If the privates had all decided to join as a group, you could have:

Creighton
Drake
Evansville
Bradley
DePaul
Marquette
Butler
Dayton
Saint Louis
Xavier

That group would be stable in the Midwest, and the Big East could have joined with the private schools in the A-10. But the thing is, the old Big East could afford to fly its non-revenue sports. I did some number crunching, and if you assume every athlete had to fly to every event off campus, it be about 1300 flights per school. Many of those flights are already being taken, so it is something like 800 added flights.

When you are making $2-3 million a year from your media contract alone, flying is not a problem.

What is now the Horizon League at one time consisted of Evansville, Butler, Oral Roberts, Xavier, Detroit, Loyola, Saint Louis, Dayton, and for a brief moment Marquette. Most of the schools you've listed every have or had have associations with each other.

[MSUBear42]

What would you all think of:

- Creighton
and add any 3 of the following:
+Tulsa
+SLU
+Butler
+Dayton

To make it 12 teams?

[DoubleJayAlum]

What would you all think of:

- Creighton
and add any 3 of the following:
+Tulsa
+SLU
+Butler
+Dayton

To make it 12 teams?

I think that Tulsa has FBS football and at least two, if not all three, of the other teams you have listed will get an offer from the Catholic conference.

[unipanther99]

I think the main question about adding or replacing any team will always center around TV contracts. Will Butler or Dayton bring something to the table to improve the TV contract? I kind of doubt it, so then they just become another mouth to feed.

I really don't like North Dakota State, and at a glance they don't make a lot of sense. But if bringing the Bison on board would guarantee our regular package gets shown on Fox Sports North --- expanding advertising viewership to areas some of our usual sponsors are trying to break into, it could make sense. That, and Minnesota has been fertile recruiting ground for the Panthers. We would love to have Valley games featured there.

I have no idea if such a guarantee could be made with Fox Sports North, but I just use that as an example of what the league office should be looking for when/if making recommendations about new schools.