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

[Lakesbison]

NDSU averaged 4128 fans this year.

last 2 years ndsu was in a hockey arena with a 3000 max capacity, so its an unfair argument.

2009 Ben Woodsides year (put up 38 vs Kansas in big dance) they averaged 3800.

in late 80's - early 90's NDSU averaged over 5000.


with a MVC schedule its easily gonna be 5000-6000

[squirrel]

I'm not necessarily advocating for certain schools, but when it comes to the travel argument for "all sports," Bradley, Drake and Loyola already regularly ship their non-profits all over the country. Evansville really tries to stay within a five-state and league radius. But the others do not.

All other league schools have no problem sending their teams to the Pacific Northwest, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, Texas, California, NY or Arizona ROUTINELY, often times multiple trips to different areas in the same season.

So that argument really is or should be a non-starter. Playing a national schedule is part of the cost of business for participating in DI athletics, at least if you want to be in a relevant league like the Valley.

I understand it and do recognize some schools actually mean it when they say it, like Evansville and Belmont. However, I don't believe the current Valley membership should shy away from the best prospective members because of that.

[squirrel]

I'm OK if the league wants to get in the hockey game. Most of the current members won't be affected by it, but it is a growth property, and ever since the Big Ten started their own league a few years ago, it opens up the possibility for more restructuring.

[BirdsEyeView]

All the shocker fans are saying let's leave the weak MVC because it hurts our rpi.
And it's obvious that top to bottom the teams in the new conference have higher rpis.
Now instead of Wichita playing tougher teams in the preseason will they schedule weaker
teams now.
Do you think they will schedule any of the valley teams after they leave.I can't remember
The last time Creighton has played a ex valley team.So maybe the valley isn't as weak
As everyone has thought. We'll see if Wichita schedules Drake, Bradley,or theAces
To get that EASY pre conference win

Just as a point of clarification, the bottom of the AAC (current members) is putrid. Teams 9-11 (USF, ECU, and Tulane) compare with Drake and Bradleys RPI. Teams 1 and 2 are similar across the conferences. Where the AAC offers a real advantage is that teams 3-7 are better than #3 in the MVC.

I hope WSU plays a couple of Valley teams every year!

Yup AAC has a few true bottom feeders. Last season two teams were 300+ RPI teams. However, the top of that conference is very good. Marshall also gets reunited with Mr. former coach in waiting himself, Tim Jankovich.

SMU, UConn (won multiple national titles), Cincy, Memphis, Houston, UCF and Temple (if they get their heads out of their arse).

I would trade them in a heartbeat.

[TheAsianSensation]

I attempted to score all candidates and see what would happen. Some of these individual scores are definitely arguable, so feel free to move numbers around as you see fit.

Warning: tl;dr follows:

After careful study, I think a reasonable case can be made for any of the following 14 schools:
Arkansas-Little Rock
Belmont
Illinois-Chicago
Milwaukee
Murray St
North Dakota St
Northern Kentucky
Oakland
Omaha
Oral Roberts
South Dakota St
UMKC
Valparaiso
Wright St

I have knocked out the following:
New Mexico St, Denver, UT-Arlington - schools who are simply too far away geographically; some of the league simply won't allow it
Green Bay - too marginal of an addition, if we want Wisconsin we get Milwaukee instead
North Dakota, South Dakota - only would be in play in some sort of nuclear scenario where the MVCF needs to merge with the MVC proper
IUPUI, IPFW - we already have 2 Indiana schools and Valpo is sitting out there
Detroit - gets outclassed by Oakland
Cleveland St, Youngstown St - probably too far east and just simply not good enough
Austin Peay - same as CSU and YSU, only in the southern direction instead
Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Chicago St - technically fit the map, but c'mon man

Let's score the 14 candidates on the following:
Basketball prowess (40%) - the most important part
Market (20%) - we'd rather not play in podunkville
Budget capability (20%) - the MVC represents a step up for these programs
Travel considerations (10%) - cheap members want to stay cheap
Fan base/attendance (10%) - we want a program with fan support

Basketball prowess:
5: Belmont
4: Murray St, Valparaiso
3: Oakland
2: Wright St, SDSU, NDSU
1: everyone else
Belmont is a tier of its own, and Murray and Valpo aren't far behind. What I'm looking for here is consistent winning. So it's a bit harsh to Milwaukee and NKU to be ranked where they are, but I'm rolling with this for now.

Market:
5: ....no, I can't give anyone a 5.
4: UMKC, Omaha, Milwaukee, Oakland
3: Belmont
2: Wright St, NKU, Valpo, Oral Bob, UALR
1: UIC, Murray St, XDSUs
Kansas City, Omaha, Milwaukee, and Detroit score the highest. Then Nashville. Then southwestern Ohio (WSU/NKU), northeast Indiana, Tulsa, and Little Rock. Bottom tier is a doubling up of Chicago, and the wastelands of Murray/XDSU.

Budget capability:
5: NDSU
4: SDSU, Omaha, UIC
3: Murray St, Oakland, UMKC, NKU, Milwaukee, Belmont, Valpo
2: Wright St
1: UALR, Oral Bob
Given incomplete information, I'm kind of eyeballing some of these placement. Feel free to kerjigger around.

Travel considerations:
5: UIC, Valpo
4: Milwaukee, Omaha, UMKC
3: Murray St, Oakland
2: Belmont, NKU, Wright St
1: UALR, Oral Bob, XDSUs
UIC and Valpo are the best. Omaha and UMKC score well because of our previous members; we've done those locations before. NKU and Wright St get a bump if they come together. The southern schools are a bit of an outlier.

Fan base:
5: Wright St (4k+)
4: UALR, Valpo (3.5k+)
3: Oakland, Murray St, UIC, Oral Bob (3k+)
2: NDSU, SDSU, Belmont, Milwaukee (2.5k+)
1: Omaha, NKU, UMKC

Add up the scores!:
Belmont 4
Valpo 3.5
Oakland 3.2
Murray St 3
Milwaukee 2.6
Omaha 2.5
NDakSt 2.3
Wright St 2.3
UMKC 2.3
SDakSt 2.1
UIC 1.8
NKU 1.7
UALR 1.5
Oral Bob 1.4

Well this says mostly what we already know. Belmont is the best add on paper, and Valpo is also very reasonable. Murray St and Oakland make reasonable backup options (although Murray's football is a possible compications). After that, it's a pretty jumbled mix of programs who have their strengths but also their fatal flaws.

This exercise rules out UALR and Oral Bob (if they're going to be geographic outliers, they have to bring other strengths to the table). This also takes out Northern Kentucky - who have a lot of potential, but they need to post results first to build their fan base more. This also takes out UIC, whose only real advantage is their current location. They're the lazy add which would represent that the MVC isn't trying (at least with the other 3, they're more institutional fits or upside plays).

Again, some of these individual scores are definitely arguable, so feel free to move numbers around as you see fit.

[SalukiHoops]

I would hope for one of NDSU, SDSU, or SD to join. Id only want 1 at the moment bc I feel 3 in 1 year is too big of a transition.

[municup14]

I can see the Valley possibly going after N. Kentucky.
They just became elegible this year to play in the tourny
After playing D2.And they made the tournament.

[Rogers101]

I like the idea of adding 2 now and holding that 12th spot to see if anything better opens up. I think Belmont, Murray, and Valpo/Oakland would be a homerun.

[Lakesbison]

well.. we are waiting...

any news?

[Dean Wormer]

Judge Smails.jpg (43.76 KiB) Viewed 2629 times

[quote="Lakesbison"]well.. we are waiting...

any news?[/quo