The MVC going into 2020 and beyond....

by **mvfcfan** » April 8th, 2019, 11:24 am

I think it is time for a new poll. It's been nearly two years since Valparaiso was added and the same "expansion" teams have been named over and over again. Finally two years later one must wonder what the MVC should do going forward as it heads into 2020.

1) Stay at 10.
All ten teams in the MVC have at one point or another had basketball success. I remember in 2011 when the MVC was a one bid league and received a 14 seed in the NCAA tournament. In 2011 Creighton and Wichita State were still in the MVC and neither of those schools were the 14 seed (Indiana State was). Now we are almost at the same point we were 8 years ago. My guess is that the MVC will once again improve and eventually get an at-large bid again within the next few years.

2) Expand to 12.
Almost everyone seems to want to see Murray State in the MVC except for the MVC leadership and the university presidents. Let's pretend that "11 doesn't work". Who is the best #12 out there? This is when the little fun (or maybe not so fun) arguments begin to break out. The public vs private and football vs non-football steam begins to build which will lead into option #3.

3) Publics and Privates should split.
Remember two years ago when the finger pointing was going on. Fans of public schools pointed at the privates for not winning and the fans of private schools pointed at the publics for throwing money into a "FCS moneypit". It's almost a given that the publics and privates don't want either side to have too much power. In this case is it time that each side joins other schools with similar goals? If they did split who could they join with?

**Sponsor**

by **MissouriValleyUnite** » April 8th, 2019, 11:50 am

My goal and agenda is the same as it’s always been - for the MVC to try to be the best it can be.

All I ask is one headline:
“Murray State to Missouri Valley”

When that happens, I’ll know the league is committed.

by **ACECARD** » April 8th, 2019, 12:13 pm

Think we can get 92 pages out of this one?

by **SycamoreMaze** » April 8th, 2019, 12:33 pm

ACECARD wrote:Think we can get 92 pages out of this one?

MVC targeting Valpo and Murray State to create 11 team league = 63 pages
Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll = 92 pages
The MVC going into 2020 and beyond.... = 121 pages
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...
...
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MVC reportedly adding Murray State = ...150 pages?? :huh:

by **racerlover** » April 8th, 2019, 2:52 pm

...or the OVC could add NKU and Lipscomb and (very possibly) become a multi-bid league each year.

Since the mow-rons at the MVC head office can't wrap their heads around 11 teams (so difficult to comprehend), I see the MVC staying as is.

by **glm38** » April 8th, 2019, 6:34 pm

MissouriValleyUnite wrote:My goal and agenda is the same as it’s always been - for the MVC to try to be the best it can be.

All I ask is one headline:
“Murray State to Missouri Valley”

When that happens, I’ll know the league is committed.

That's my thinking exactly. It's such a no brainer to add Murray State. It needs to happen soon.

by **VUGrad1314** » April 8th, 2019, 6:43 pm

A public-private split would be so stupid... For the private schools... And this is coming from a fan of a private school... We are stronger together and need to work together... The publics would have any number of options to create a great league the privates? Belmont? Lipscomb? UDM? Robert Morris? Bellarmine? Yuck. No thank you to any of that. Unless the A10 does a similar split off and the A10 MVC private schools merge (even then not a spectacular league but definitely not bad) Not interested. We need to do what we can to make the public schools happy. If they want Murray State give them Murray State even if it means less "power" It means more power for the MVC and that's what we all want. Murray State to the MVC is good for everybody.

by **Mikovio** » April 9th, 2019, 7:18 am

VUGrad1314 wrote:We need to do what we can to make the public schools happy.

WTF no.

I think calling it a public/private split is less accurate than a football/non-football split. Wichita was a non-football public and wouldn't have been happy adding MVFC teams.

But in terms of who would miss who more, let's take a look at the most successful Valley programs the last decade. Creighton (non-football) dominated the conference until they moved up. Wichita (non-football) then dominated until they moved up 2 years ago. And since then? Loyola (non-football) has won the regular season twice and tournament once, Drake (non-football) shared the regular season this year and Bradley (non-football) won the tournament.

If the 5 non-footballs needed to start their own conference of at least 8, they would try to join the A10 or peel off the westernmost of that conference, but if not, there's plenty of decent replacements who would jump at the chance, and you only need 3:

Northern Kentucky
Belmont
Wright State
Oakland
UIC
Green Bay
Milwaukee
Detroit
New Orleans
Oral Roberts
UT Arlington
Lipscomb
Cleveland State
Arkansas-Little Rock
Grand Canyon
New Mexico St
Denver
Omaha
IUPUI
Seattle

I'd add the top 3 and call it a day. Or Grand Canyon and NMSU too if you want to get travel crazy. And maybe the Colonial non-footballs would be interested (Charleston, Drexel, Northeastern, Hofstra, UNC-Wilmington).

Bottom line though is the Valley as it's situated is a pretty good mix of schools with a shared commitment to basketball first even if there are some differences. Murray State shares that outlook even though they have football.

by **Redhawk** » April 9th, 2019, 8:39 am

As our most famous resident from Illinois once said:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand....It will become all one thing, or all the other."

A drastic change to the MVC is on the Horizon. It's inevitable!

by **Sir Sci** » April 9th, 2019, 9:31 am

Mikovio wrote:
VUGrad1314 wrote:We need to do what we can to make the public schools happy.

WTF no.

I think calling it a public/private split is less accurate than a football/non-football split. Wichita was a non-football public and wouldn't have been happy adding MVFC teams.

But in terms of who would miss who more, let's take a look at the most successful Valley programs the last decade. Creighton (non-football) dominated the conference until they moved up. Wichita (non-football) then dominated until they moved up 2 years ago. And since then? Loyola (non-football) has won the regular season twice and tournament once, Drake (non-football) shared the regular season this year and Bradley (non-football) won the tournament.

If the 5 non-footballs needed to start their own conference of at least 8, they would try to join the A10 or peel off the westernmost of that conference, but if not, there's plenty of decent replacements who would jump at the chance, and you only need 3:

Northern Kentucky
Belmont
Wright State
Oakland
UIC
Green Bay
Milwaukee
Detroit
New Orleans
Oral Roberts
UT Arlington
Lipscomb
Cleveland State
Arkansas-Little Rock
Grand Canyon
New Mexico St
Denver
Omaha
IUPUI
Seattle

I'd add the top 3 and call it a day. Or Grand Canyon and NMSU too if you want to get travel crazy. And maybe the Colonial non-footballs would be interested (Charleston, Drexel, Northeastern, Hofstra, UNC-Wilmington).

Bottom line though is the Valley as it's situated is a pretty good mix of schools with a shared commitment to basketball first even if there are some differences. Murray State shares that outlook even though they have football.

Drake is a non-scholarship football program, but I wouldn't describe them as "non-football."

I don't think many people seriously think that splitting the public and private schools into different conferences is a good idea. It also wouldn't be a good idea to split the conference along football and non-football lines. What needs to happen just comes down to getting the best programs available. Right now, Murray St looks like the best program. To get to twelve, we need to identify who the next best program is, regardless of if it's a public or private institutions or football or non-football institution.