Belmont to Missouri Valley

[siudawgs]

I am excited for Belmont, and presumably Murray State, joining the Valley.

That said, I am a little surprised - daresay, disappointed - that we have not had a single Belmont fan join in the last 24 hours to celebrate with us. I have seen some commentary online that Belmont fans do not travel well and might not represent at Arch Madness. I guess we will see if that is true or not.

I don’t think we have to wait for that verdict. Belmont has an underwhelming fan base, likely at least partially due to their success being relatively recent as opposed to over multiple decades/generations. That is a con for Belmont as compared with Murray.

[ColonialBulldog]

I don't want to throw a damper on this, but how reliable is this Matt Brown guy? Just because some random guy tweeted that it's happening doesn't mean it's a sure thing.

In any case, if Belmont joins the MVC, I'll be very happy with that, especially if Murray State comes along, too.

He is kind of the authority on this realignment stuff, especially when it comes to non-P5 schools. He's reliable and appears to have known about this for a while, but sat on it until he had confirmation.

[83Ace]

Belmont’s average attendance for 2020 was 2320, which would put it at last in the Valley. Murray averaged 4887, which would have been 3rd in the Valley. Belmont is a good add, but we are not talking about a hotbed of college basketball.

[squirrel]

To be fair, Loyola didn't have much of a fan following either, prior to joining the Valley. They averaged 2277 in 2012 and are only about 3200 now. But their fans do travel now. There's a difference between travelling for a one-and-done scenario when you've been there before, and when you expect to make a run, as well.

[letsgoAces]

This is very happy day for the Missouri Valley Conference. I have been advocating for the addition of Belmont for awhile, and they will be such a positive addition. With what has been happening to the OVC, there were going to be other schools who would be jumping ship and it happened - now let's hope Murray State will follow - I think they will. The addition of those two makes an already great mid major conference, now, a premier mid-major conference.

Truly, for the life of me, I don't understand the mentality of some, who believe this does not help the league get multiple bids for the MVC. In most years, you will see two of our schools (maybe more) have outstanding seasons which will warrant an At-large bid to the big dance. Take a look at the Atlantic 10 and see what they have done! They are a large collection of solid, if not outstanding, mid-major schools - very similar to our league. If the MVC now adds Murray State the MVC is going to be one hellacious conference. Adding great schools makes your conference better - not hard to figure out.

[squirrel]

Wright State, as an institution, is a hot mess. I'd welcome Scott Nagy, but hard pass on Wright State.

https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news ... -2021.html

I'm in the hard no camp, as well. I doubt they'll even be DI in a couple years. I like the idea of the Dayton market, but unless it's Dayton specifically, I'm a no, until Wright can get their house in order-if they even want to, which appears to be doubtful.

They have about a year and a half left to demonstrate financial viability for athletics AND add 3 more sports to get back to the DI minimum.

[Kip Dynamite]

I was told last night that Murray State is very likely to join the MVC. Their president was apparently in Dallas last week visiting with the Southland conference as well. The issue has been football but I think they will ultimately end up in the MVFC.

[BEARZ77]

I was told last night that Murray State is very likely to join the MVC. Their president was apparently in Dallas last week visiting with the Southland conference as well. The issue has been football but I think they will ultimately end up in the MVFC.

That would make pretty much everybody happy. Again, no doubt adding teams like Belmont and Murray State improves the Valley , I don't think anyone disagrees with that. As to adding NCAA bids, time will tell.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

I was told last night that Murray State is very likely to join the MVC. Their president was apparently in Dallas last week visiting with the Southland conference as well. The issue has been football but I think they will ultimately end up in the MVFC.

That would make pretty much everybody happy. Again, no doubt adding teams like Belmont and Murray State improves the Valley , I don't think anyone disagrees with that. As to adding NCAA bids, time will tell.

Both teams bring very different things to the conference. Murray, for one, brings a lot of fans. Probably brings fans to Arch Madness. Belmont will probably bring about 20 fans there. Their fan base is pretty pathetic in my opinion. But they bring in a really good recent history with a good market as well. Hopefully if they’re brought in together, it has something for everyone to be happy about.

[TBS_20]

When we went through this a few years ago I tried to go to the Belmont message board. I found nothing, not even a reddit focused on sports.