MVC targeting Valpo & Murray State to create 11 team league

[TOPSTRAIGHT]

If this holds true the MVC is only hurting itself.

[Mikovio]

I'll wait for official word to get upset but if true this is a missed opportunity to boost our basketball strength for better seeds and more bids and weaken our peer conferences (OVC, Horizon).

I have no idea if it's the case but if the Dakotas vetoed Murray State over sour grapes then football just became a huge problem in this conference.

[IllinoisState]

I agree that it is doubtful that UE would try to block Murray State. The Aces have a nice rivalry with them. Aces fans and Racers fans travel well to each others' home games in the series.

If anyone blocked Murray State, I think it would be Southern Illinois and/or Illinois State. They miss out on a lot of in-state students who go to Murray because it cost them less.

ISU is a better school and is cheaper as an in-state student as opposed to an out of state student at Murray State. Plus ISU has had record freshman enrollment so I don't think they need to worry about that.

[ValpoTX]

I really hope valpo makes the MVC better, but in my biased opinion Murray State would of been the better add. We have more history of success and a fan base that is ready for something new. We are all passionate about our Racers. If the MVC wanted a team with better attendance , better facilities, a longer history of promoting power 5 coaches, and a team that would compete at the top of the MVC they would have picked Murray. I guess they didn't. I never wanted to get my hopes up on this because I didn't think there was a chance. From the outpouring of fans and administration in support of this i know there was a chance. Just didn't happen. Im really dissapointed.

I get your first 3 comparisons in favor of Murray State, but not that you would compete immediately better than Valpo. Our RPI over the last 7 years is higher than yours. We are 3-0 against Murray State in the last 5-6 seasons, including winning by 35 on a neutral floor, against one of your better teams in a long time. You can't say that we would not compete better than or any differently than Murray State, or blame that loss on needing to gel, as we were going through the same thing. I truly hope that you get in, so we can continue to beat you

[Bjhracer]

I really hope valpo makes the MVC better, but in my biased opinion Murray State would of been the better add. We have more history of success and a fan base that is ready for something new. We are all passionate about our Racers. If the MVC wanted a team with better attendance , better facilities, a longer history of promoting power 5 coaches, and a team that would compete at the top of the MVC they would have picked Murray. I guess they didn't. I never wanted to get my hopes up on this because I didn't think there was a chance. From the outpouring of fans and administration in support of this i know there was a chance. Just didn't happen. Im really dissapointed.

I get your first 3 comparisons in favor of Murray State, but not that you would compete immediately better than Valpo. Our RPI over the last 7 years is higher than yours. We are 3-0 against Murray State in the last 5-6 seasons, including winning by 35 on a neutral floor, against one of your better teams in a long time. You can't say that we would not compete better than or any differently than Murray State, or blame that loss on needing to gel, as we were going through the same thing. I truly hope that you get in, so we can continue to beat you

Like I said i hope Valpo does well in the MVC. You are right. The last 2 seasons have been rough in Murray its not indicative of our history. It is getting tougher to recruit, and compete in a terrible conference. Murray state needs this move. The Horizon League would be better.

[musiccitybulldog]

Anyone see any formal announcement? I didn't see any. Recently most "unofficial" reports I hear are usually wrong.

[valleydays]

I agree that Valpo has been better than Murray in recent years in men's basketball (not that Murray has been bad), but when you look at the other MVC-sponsored sports, Murray looks way better. I know this is likely a basketball (or football?) decision, but overall, Murray would look to be more competitive across the board.

That's what makes me think the public/private or even football/no football issues may be a bigger factor than the overall athletics program strength. If so, that's pretty sad and reflects poorly on the Valley leadership.

Then again, we're still going off of rumors so who knows what will really happen. But anything less than taking both Valpo and Murray is a big mistake.

[Bjhracer]

Boy Im surprised our AD has taken to Twitter to dispell the false reports that it was confirmed. Our AD said specifically no vote has taken place and we were still in the running. He also said the MVC visits were very strong and also told an Indiana St fan he hoped to be playing regularly very soon .

[RacerJoeD]

Rpi is a terrible indicator of team quality. Ours is killed by playing in our conference.

[Fargobison]

I'll wait for official word to get upset but if true this is a missed opportunity to boost our basketball strength for better seeds and more bids and weaken our peer conferences (OVC, Horizon).

I have no idea if it's the case but if the Dakotas vetoed Murray State over sour grapes then football just became a huge problem in this conference.

Zero chance we would vote against Murray. The MVC schools voted in whatever schools we wanted in, I have no doubt we would do the same. There are no sour grapes in the Dakotas over what is going on, not how our leadership operates.