Sounds like Wichita St to the AAC... Who gets an Invite?

[MidWestMidMajor]

I think the replacement of Wichita is crucial for the MVC because it will signal what is its vision for the future. That vision can strengthen schools' commitment to the MVC ... or weaken it. The MVC can "swing for the fences" or "play small ball" (to use a baseball analogy).

Small Ball has been mentioned as a strategy to economize, tighten the footprint, cut costs, settle for 1 bid as the new reality in a P-6 dominated environment. Swing For The Fences means that since there is no one school that can replace Wichita, chose a couple of schools that together can raise the MVC. Maybe the A-10 is the model which at 14 teams earned 2 at larges this year and were 8th in rpi behind the P6 and the AAC. More teams = more chances that some will have good years.

So instead of asking, "Is it Murray, Valpo, or Belmont?", try to get all 3 (would bring the MVC to 12 members). Somebody already has proposed going to 14 and playing divisionally to reduce some travel costs.

I think this is the moment of truth for the MVC: "Who are you? Who are you going to be going forward?" Go big. Or go small. But don't go middle of the road and play it safe (UMKC?) which in the long run might be the most unsustainable option. (The danger is that committees aren't really known for making bold decisions. Committees tend in the direction of the safe compromise.)

edit: unipanther99 above mentioned 14 teams playing divisionally; maybe someone else has as well.

[VU2014]

http://www.inforum.com/sports/4240837-k ... and-valley

Kolpack: Key departures closing the gap between Summit and Valley
By Jeff Kolpack

It was around 2008 and 2009 when the tour of North Dakota State football took us around the Missouri Valley Conference. Before heading to the stadium on Saturday mornings, it was always a priority to check out the basketball arenas at Valley members Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Indiana State.

The initial impression was usually the same: NDSU is way out of its league, so to speak, to be a part of the Valley in all sports. Those schools had curb appeal. NDSU had the 1970s Bison Sports Arena.

So here it is several years later and Valley member Wichita State is rumored to be bolting for another conference—and thus the Valley will be searching for another league member or two.

Here's the question: Would NDSU even want to go?

I can't believe I just wrote that, but think about it. The Summit League is trending up and is adding the University of North Dakota in 2018-19. It's geographical friendly and everybody seems to be on board in investing in athletics. It has one of the best mid-major basketball conference tournaments around at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., and the caliber of overall play has taken a noticeable leap in recent years.

How else do you explain Oral Roberts finishing last?

The Missouri Valley would be trending down with the loss of Creighton three years ago and now Wichita. The hands-down, No. 1 powerful mid-major basketball conference would suddenly have lost two powers.

The Shockers are strongly rumored to be headed for the American Athletic Conference, which would be an upgrade with the likes of Houston, Cincinnati, Connecticut, SMU and Memphis. Creighton left for the Big East Conference to join a mostly-private consortium that includes St. John's, Butler, Marquette, Georgetown and DePaul.

Make no mistake, even without Wichita and Creighton, the Missouri Valley is a better basketball league than the Summit. But is a conference that includes Drake, Evansville, Loyola (Ill.) and Bradley all that appealing anymore? The difference in conference RPI this year between the Valley and Summit is not all that big and it was just a couple of years ago when the Summit was hanging around No. 11 of the 33 Division I leagues.

The word out there is the Valley will consider adding Belmont in Nashville, Tenn., Valparaiso and Texas-Arlington. That doesn't exactly look sexy on the top line of a league website.

The Valley fell victim to the bigger-market chase when it added Loyola after Creighton left. Get the big media market in Chicago, the theory goes. The Big Sky did the same thing when it added Northern Colorado and not NDSU and South Dakota State in 2006. The Sky liked the Denver market.

The problem is Loyola is down the food chain quite a bit in the Chicago sports scene and the care factor for UNC in the Denver can't be that great.

For the most part, market arguments at mid-major schools are a curiosity at best anyway. This isn't the Big Ten Network. IUPUI doesn't exactly blow up the Indianapolis market. A good mid-major league is more about a good core of schools that have some resources behind them.

NDSU, South Dakota, Omaha and IUPUI have new arenas. About the only Division II gym in the Summit now is Western Illinois.

The stakes are going up. Last week, it appears the Summit won a head-to-head coaching battle with the Missouri Valley when USD's Craig Smith declined the head coaching job at Valley member Drake. In prior years, if Drake, or any Missouri Valley school for that matter, offered a Summit coach a job, it would have been a no-brainer. (Ah, Horizon League's Wright State stole Summit League South Dakota State coach Nagy)

Moreover, it appears the Coyotes are upping their pay scale, too, giving Smith a raise to $275,000 a year in a three-year deal.

The gap is closing, financially and aesthetically, between the Valley and Summit. That didn't seem possible 10 years ago.

[Cdizzle]

I think the replacement of Wichita is crucial for the MVC because it will signal what is its vision for the future. That vision can strengthen schools' commitment to the MVC ... or weaken it. The MVC can "swing for the fences" or "play small ball" (to use a baseball analogy).

I keep seeing this, and things like it. Here. On other message boards.

If the MVC was capable of 'swinging for the fences' and they waited until now to do it, they are getting what they deserve.

[FeartheQ]

I kind of hope The Shockers leave this year. That may give the Bears an actual chance of dancing again sometime soon. Creighton left and Wichita St filled that void. Someone will have to fill Wichita States spot among the top. It's ripe for the taking! Just wish we had a better coach right now.

[Cdizzle]

I kind of hope The Shockers leave this year. That may give the Bears an actual chance of dancing again sometime soon. Creighton left and Wichita St filled that void. Someone will have to fill Wichita States spot among the top. It's ripe for the taking! Just wish we had a better coach right now.

Creighton leaving hurt the league, perhaps irreparably. But they were not dominating the league on their way out. Creighton left because the absolute perfect opportunity for their program came in to existence, and wanted them. WSU is trying to leave because the conference is holding the program back and a better but not perfect option might be available.

[Svoboda]

ACC will make more than $100 million off schools' NCAA tourney runs over past 3 years

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... hree-years

The Valley is never going to be a multi-bid league again. That ship has sailed. It doesn't matter who you add because of the P5 consolidation, the creation of another HM conference (AAC from BE split) and the autonomy vote where all of the small schools voted against their best interests.

There are 68 total openings when you have your 64 seeds and the 4 extra "first four" game opponents. There are 32 Division 1 hoops conferences so 68 participants minus 32 automatic qualifiers gives you 36 "at large" (might as well drop the at moniker) bids. Between the 8 high major conferences, you have 100 total teams. This year, those conferences received 43 total bids. Subtract the 8 automatic qualifiers and that means 35 of the 36 available bids went to power conference schools. There was literally 1 bid up for grabs by mid-major conferences and it went to Saint Mary's, who was ranked the entire year going 28-4 and suffered 3 of those 4 losses to Gonzaga.

I don't consider the Big East, A10 or AAC mid-major conferences, either. Most of those schools have basketball budgets that rivals power conference schools with a large majority being private schools where they don't have to deal with funding football, which is a financial albatross for most schools. I know I'm in the minority on a lot of this stuff (most of my Sycamore Pride members want the strongest basketball school) but I think that is counter productive and against the best interests for those programs still in the Valley.

[Red]

We're a one bid league now. WSU leaving doesn't change that.

And while I agree with your assertion that the AAC and A10 aren't power leagues, there is no question the Big East is a power basketball league. They have 7 NCAA teams this year, the defending national champ and their own TV network which pays millions of dollars a year to each school.

[Redhawk]

The Valley is never going to be a multi-bid league again. That ship has sailed. It doesn't matter who you add because of the P5 consolidation, the creation of another HM conference (AAC from BE split) and the autonomy vote where all of the small schools voted against their best interests.

Great post Svoboda! If the Valley is a one bid league going forward...why add anybody to replace WSU if you can't convince Saint Louis to come home?

[MidWestMidMajor]

The Valley is never going to be a multi-bid league again. That ship has sailed. It doesn't matter who you add because of the P5 consolidation, the creation of another HM conference (AAC from BE split) and the autonomy vote where all of the small schools voted against their best interests.

I understand the logic of that. There was speculation that the power schools might opt out of the NCAA. But it seems that they are de facto creating their own association WITHIN the NCAA given their overwhelming financial advantages. We have division 1A (group of 5), 1AA (mid-majors), and 1AAA (low majors), and now 1A+ (the power conferences). Add in divisions 2 and 3 and their are effectively 6 divisions within the new NCAA.

But can the A-10 be a model for MVC 2.0? The A-10 has a mix of publics and privates, high enrollment and low enrollment, strong academics and... not as strong academics. Can the MVC be the midwest A-10? Let's borrow their playbook.

[Svoboda]

We're a one bid league now. WSU leaving doesn't change that.

And while I agree with your assertion that the AAC and A10 aren't power leagues, there is no question the Big East is a power basketball league. They have 7 NCAA teams this year, the defending national champ and their own TV network which pays millions of dollars a year to each school.

Who's assertion?

I believe the AAC is a power league and the A10 is right on the fringe. I've been going through the OpEd data for other conferences and here are how the men's basketball budgets look along with the Big Ten for an equalizer.

Big 10 Average: $8,139,166
Big East Average: $7,881,564
AAC Average w/Wichita: $6,213,184
American Athletic Average: $6,148,843
Atlantic 10 Average: $4,126,925
West Coast Average: $3,858,831
Missouri Valley Average: $2,987,375
MVC Average w/o Wichita: $2,550,313

I plan on going through and determining the budgets for all 32 conferences and then once I have an all-conference average, I think it will be easier how to determine a cutoff for "power" leagues and the have nots.