I'm just gonna drop this here

[PantherU]

Eh? Eh?

I can already taste the beer at Hoops in Peoria or The Library on the Hill in Cedar Falls. I understand they've redone Hamilton's to become "Bar 63" at Loyola. As long as my money's good there, you'll see me every year.

Seriously, I'm planning road trips. Let's make this happen.

[All-MVC Fan]

Could certainly do worse...

[IllinoisState]

If they are definitely going to 12 since Belmont isn't happening and ETSU isn't either I would be okay with this.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Love hoops in Peoria.

I just got finished watching the Murray State Board of Regents meeting and I came away realizing how fortunate we are in the MVC. Of course, we're used to the MVC so we're blinded and can't see how good we have it. We want more. And, we should. But, we shouldn't forget that it could be much, much worse. It's was painfully obvious how bad Murray State wants in the MVC and that should tell us something about our conference.

[PantherU]

Love hoops in Peoria.

I just got finished watching the Murray State Board of Regents meeting and I came away realizing how fortunate we are in the MVC. Of course, we're used to the MVC so we're blinded and can't see how good we have it. We want more. And, we should. But, we shouldn't forget that it could be much, much worse. It's was painfully obvious how bad Murray State wants in the MVC and that should tell us something about our conference.

Seriously, the MVC is like heaven to some of us.

Do you want to play Youngstown State every year?

[BEARZ77]

A guy on our board who usually has good info says he was told the list of schools the Valley has been in some level of discussion with is:

Murray State
Valpo
UW-Milw.
Belmont
UT-Arlington
Nebraska Omaha
SLU

Nothing surprising there. Am encouraged with the two western schools and SLU. I think Murray is probably a certainty and Valpo maybe. Will be interesting who that 3rd is if so. Obviously SLU would be favorable for MSU, as would UTA.

[squirrel]

I like that Arlington is on that list. A lot.

[TheAsianSensation]

squirrel randomly liking Arlington is the least surprising thing ever.

One hidden factor with Milwaukee - the scheduling might actually be more complicated with them in. I tried to build scheduling models where each team had 2, 3, 4, or 6 protected rivals, and it kind of gets messy. Those 7 northern teams, each with different sets of rivalries, makes it pretty complicated.

But that probably won't stand in the way if a candidate is superior. I'm not sure Milwaukee is the right #12 but I'm willing to listen to the case.

[ValpoTX]

Why do you guys like UTA? As someone who grew up in DFW and moved back after graduating from Valpo, I can tell you that they have absolutely no visibility in this area. It is a 90% commuter school, and absolutely no one in area cares about their sports teams. You basically have UT, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, Houston, SMU, and even UNT ahead of them in the sports landscape. My wife graduated from UTA with her Bachelor's degree, and didn't even know that they had sports, when I told her about the recent NIT bid. The MVC does not 'gain access' to the DFW market with UTA, anymore than if Dallas Baptist became a full-time member. Both schools are great baseball programs, however, and I played with several people that had good success at each.

[BEARZ77]

I like them because it gives us another footprint west and south as opposed to everything being East of the Mississippi. Whether they have a great following or not, it gives us exposure in Texas which can aid recruiting and Texas has no shortage of athletes. And they seem to be trending up with their basketball programs and gives us another warm climate decent baseball program.