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

[SMUfan]

Surprisingly things have gone dead on this subject.

Looking at the map of potential candidates, UALR doesn't look as far out as I previously thought. Little Rock to Missouri State is around 220 miles.

What are some UNBIASED opinions on UALR? Facilities, crowd support, arena, etc

[MidWestMidMajor]

Allegedly Doug Elgin's laptop was left in the backroom at the Applebees by the airport where the MVC presidents & ADs met on Sunday. Someone got a glimpse of Doug's talking points:

"There's no need to worry. We can proudly say that we are still one of the better conferences in the entire Midwest."

"Our research shows conclusively that we will continue to be stronger than the Horizon and Summit for at least the next couple years."

"Yes, we are sliding as a conference. But the MVC staff is absolutely committed to making it as easy and comfortable a slide as possible."

"You know, there is nothing really wrong with being a 1-bid league. Heck, the Ivy League is a 1-bid league. So we can say that the MVC schools are now at the same level as the Ivy League!"

"We are committed to the Iowa-Illinois-Indiana bus league model. In fact, we've got our eyes on some good candidates. Have you noticed the improvement in facilities taking place at Mount Mercy Univ.? We could really penetrate the Cedar Rapids market with them."

--

Yeah, it's gallows humor. The silence from Doug is deafening. I'm on pins and needles. I fear that at a moment boldness is needed, the committee will get bogged down by narrow competing interests and so make the least objectionable choice rather than the best choice.

Here's to hoping the silence means that there are good things going on in the background ("Alright OVC Commissioner, our final offer is we get Belmont and Murray and in return we will give you 1 tournament credit, 1 slightly used team bus, and a division 2 transitioning school to be named later.").

[Redhawk]

I am tired and disheartened in talking about Valpo, Murray St and Belmont.

Based on the map that uniftw provided there are other quadrants that touch the
Valley footprint that we could pursue to add 3 teams to the Valley.
The one that intrigues me the most might be going Southwest towards
New Mexico State.

NMSU was a good Valley member that has been really strong in the Sun Belt & WAC since they left.
It's a long way away so they need to be paired with a travel partner to bridge that distance.
Therefore we could also look at the long term potential for UT-Arlington and Arkansas Little Rock.
Both are Sun Belt teams that have really nice facilities.

Arlington has averaged 20 wins for the last 5 years while UALR has been up& down lately they did win 30 games two years ago. Could they succeed in the Valley? Probably at least as much as Murray St.

The Valley stretched to New Mexico & Texas in the 80's...maybe it's worth considering that option again?

[MOST]

New Mexico State is FBS FB. Understand they are booted from the Sun Belt after this year. Does NCAA allow a mix of FBS and FCS teams in one conference. N Mex State should naturally be a member of the Mountain West but they have been denied membership there??????????

U Ark LR had a down year after their coach 2 years go left to coach UNLV---and then quit that job 90 days later to go to Texas Tech. Ark LR had total new BB coaching staff for 2016/17. Think they will recover/return in 17/18. A very possible add to the MVC, especially a western MVC replacement conference (Grand Forks to LR). Even a better conference with Texas Arlington---but a lot more miles from Grand Forks to Dallas area--but Dallas adds a new area for the MVC/???? conference.

[Redhawk]

New Mexico State is FBS FB. Understand they are booted from the Sun Belt after this year. Does NCAA allow a mix of FBS and FCS teams in one conference. N Mex State should naturally be a member of the Mountain West but they have been denied membership there??????????

The MVC does not offer football! The Aggies will be independent in football
just like BYU who plays FBS football and is in the West Coast Conference.

[MOST]

OK, MVCFB. An FBS independent sticks out like a sore thumb. Let some other conference wrestle that problem.

[Redhawk]

New Mexico State is FBS FB. Understand they are booted from the Sun Belt after this year. Does NCAA allow a mix of FBS and FCS teams in one conference. N Mex State should naturally be a member of the Mountain West but they have been denied membership there??????????

U Ark LR had a down year after their coach 2 years go left to coach UNLV---and then quit that job 90 days later to go to Texas Tech. Ark LR had total new BB coaching staff for 2016/17. Think they will recover/return in 17/18. A very possible add to the MVC, especially a western MVC replacement conference (Grand Forks to LR). Even a better conference with Texas Arlington---but a lot more miles from Grand Forks to Dallas area--but Dallas adds a new area for the MVC/???? conference.

How did Grand Forks get in the conversation? That's a hard pass!

[arkstfan]

Surprisingly things have gone dead on this subject.

Looking at the map of potential candidates, UALR doesn't look as far out as I previously thought. Little Rock to Missouri State is around 220 miles.

What are some UNBIASED opinions on UALR? Facilities, crowd support, arena, etc

Arena is 6200ish modeled on Gonzaga's. Baseball facility is not good at all but the AD has secured approval to start fundraising for a new baseball stadium on property the university acquired across the street from campus (old Coleman Dairy property) only thing likely to derail that would be if the very modest calls for adding football were to get traction, then they would have to hold the property to build football practice facilities unless they want to share a field with women's soccer. The women's soccer field is a nice but nothing of note in seating. That's also home to the track, good surface but not capable of hosting a significant event. Swimming and diving which is already in MVC, doesn't have a facility capable of hosting the conference meet. Golf has been able to use Chenal Valley to host (nice) and at times Alotian which is really just a vanity project for the former chairman of Augusta National to have a local course to use. It's seriously world class.

Basketball at one time was "the thing" in Little Rock but they lost two coaches to better pay hired a couple duds and more importantly got caught in the mid-major nightmare. A long extended run by a coach who wasn't good enough to get hired away but not bad enough to get fired until the new AD just gave up on him and pushed him out. Fans need something to energize them again, thought they had it but Beard was one and done as coach.

Women's hoops was down this year but normally very good. Volleyball upper part of Sun Belt pretty consistently.

[Redhawk]

Surprisingly things have gone dead on this subject.

Looking at the map of potential candidates, UALR doesn't look as far out as I previously thought. Little Rock to Missouri State is around 220 miles.

What are some UNBIASED opinions on UALR? Facilities, crowd support, arena, etc

Arena is 6200ish modeled on Gonzaga's. Baseball facility is not good at all but the AD has secured approval to start fundraising for a new baseball stadium on property the university acquired across the street from campus (old Coleman Dairy property) only thing likely to derail that would be if the very modest calls for adding football were to get traction, then they would have to hold the property to build football practice facilities unless they want to share a field with women's soccer. The women's soccer field is a nice but nothing of note in seating. That's also home to the track, good surface but not capable of hosting a significant event. Swimming and diving which is already in MVC, doesn't have a facility capable of hosting the conference meet. Golf has been able to use Chenal Valley to host (nice) and at times Alotian which is really just a vanity project for the former chairman of Augusta National to have a local course to use. It's seriously world class.

Basketball at one time was "the thing" in Little Rock but they lost two coaches to better pay hired a couple duds and more importantly got caught in the mid-major nightmare. A long extended run by a coach who wasn't good enough to get hired away but not bad enough to get fired until the new AD just gave up on him and pushed him out. Fans need something to energize them again, thought they had it but Beard was one and done as coach.

Women's hoops was down this year but normally very good. Volleyball upper part of Sun Belt pretty consistently.

Thanks for the insider info. Their arena looks really nice and the other facilities are on a par
with most of the Valley...(UTA's facilities are even better!)

Do you think the Trojans could compete in the Valley? How is the fan support?

[Drakey]

I'm almost thinking there is no real reason to add anybody, unless something really good just comes along at some point. The schools in the Valley have as much if not more potential than the schools we are talking about to have success in the future. I think the bottom feeders from this year will all be better next year. I am fine with getting a program or two that can add something to the conference, but there does not seem to be any reason to add for the sake of adding.