BEARZ77 wrote:MissouriValleyUnite wrote:BEARZ77 wrote:I think if I was a Bradley fan, I'd be looking at taking some risk or whether sitting safe in a cocoon has been smart given almost all your original constituents in the MVC have found their way to better settings while Bradley stayed pat. Look at Cinn., Memphis, WSU, SLU, Louisville, Tulsa, etc ; all gone and much higher status Even later adds like Loyola and Creighton, in and out of the Valley to better settings. I started following the MVC in the 60's and I think only Drake and Bradley were members then that still are. Nothing wrong with that, but you have to think about why have all those other schools been able to move up and not Bradley. Perhaps the same small mindedness .
All of those schools are located in metro areas considerably larger than Peoria. Has nothing to do with “small-mindedness” at Bradley — that’s just a surface-level buzzword. It’s simply economics and tv.
And WSU/Tulsa’s “much higher status” is in a league who’s next membership iteration has a worse 10-year KenPom than the current MVC iteration. In fact, you yourself have pointed out this verbatim in prior posts.
Perhaps, but Tulsa and WSU still made attempts at improvement , did reap some benefits from doing so, and are in a better position for the next phase of transition than many Valley teams; now maybe they end up in a similar conference with other Valley schools, who knows. My point was simply some teams like Bradley like to stand pat , others are more willing to take some risks, and no one outside the inner circles know fully what goals and values are driving those decisions and whether they are satisfied with their moves. If Missouri State chooses to move, it will be because they feel it's in their best interest, plain and simple, and it'll be based on a lot more factors than we here have privy to.
Bradley has never really had any opportunity since the late 1980's/early 1990's to do anything. Had Molinari been able to sustain success or more time, the program likely would not have tanked the way it did this century. The school kicked a guy that averaged a top 3 finish in favor of a guy where much less was celebrated. That's not going to impress too many potential suitors.
Butler and Loyola were afterthoughts in the region and they both polevaulted Bradley in the region.
While yes, market share is an important driver here, had Bradley prevented Butler from dominating the region in the 2000's, Butler likely would have never had the A10/Big East opportunities they have had.
It's a coin toss if Bradley would have ever had the opportunity had they been competent, but at that time, they were still usually averaging 10-11K fans, an independent out-of-state firm was floating a concept to build an arena that would have been big enough to host NCAA games, and while Peoria isn't a huge market, Bradley still had some visibility in Chicago and the Quad Cities (but is obviously dominated by Iowa).
