Hopefully this is just phase 1 of expansion

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

I don't think the Big East adds St. Louis. If the Big East is only interested in Catholic schools then they have a good chance. But, if they are interested in best programs then its going to be Catholic Dayton and either public VCU or UConn, probably VCU since UConn plays FBS football and is gunning for P5. Plus, the Big East already has those annual doormats that are good once ever fifteen years in St. John's and DePaul. That's what St. Louis is. Why add another and weaken the conference? St. Louis started to have success under Majerus before he passed away. His assistant, Jim Crews, coached Majerus' recruits well and made a couple of NCAA's but he could not recruit and they tanked. St. Louis is now hoping Travis Ford is the savior of the program. 12-21 in the A-10 is a joke. St. Louis has been bad in every conference they have been in and would be bad in the MVC, too. No thanks. I'm not big on Belmont either but I'd rather have Belmont because at least they've shown they can be continually successful even when moving up in conference strength. If St. Louis were smart they would join the MVC, however, because the Big East invite is never going to come and the A-10 WILL eventually be raided of VCU and Dayton. At that point, they're in a conference that might not even be as good as the MVC (without Dayton and VCU) and they'll also have more travel expenses to basically be in the same conference. I fear it will be St. Louis and Murray State. I love the Murray State addition. I just hope another, currently unmentioned, team proves to be worthy because Nebraska-Omaha, Milwaukee, Oral Roberts, Illinois-Chicago, Missouri-Kansas City, Southeast Missouri State, and Alabama-Birmingham, Northern Arkansas, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, East Tennessee State, and Arkansas State do absolutely nothing for the conference and the Dakota's have been deemed too far out by the people in charge of the MVC. Some people wonder why everyone is talking about wanting St. Louis and Belmont. Well, that list is the reason why. They are sadly the current best options. On a personal note, I would like to take a closer look at Northern Kentucky.

[TheAsianSensation]

I don't know why St Louis continues to be discussed.

They fancy themselves as a national university. They want students from all across the country. They don't want to play in a league that limits their athletic exposure to 4 states. It's that simple.

[VU2014]

This is my wish-list:

Tier 1:
-Dayton (Not happening)
-SLU (unlikely, but if the A10 gets raided by the Big East then the chances greatly increase and they'd "begrudgingly" maybe join)

Tier 2:
-Belmont (seems unlikely for now, may change its mind in a year or two)
-Murray State (they badly want into the MVC, probably would have been invited if they found the "right" #12)

Tier 3: (Teams that you'd NEED to see improvement or a longer track record of success the next 2-3 yrs, still not too excited at the prospect of adding any of these teams)

- UW-Milwaukee - need to see the product on the court the next 2-3 years greatly improve & see if they actually draw fans again. Attendance has been brutal.

- Oakland - they will be very good next year. They've seen program success the last few years from landing high major transfers, but it could be rough after next season once they graduate a very heavy senior roster.

-Northern Kentucky - They are a very very young program that has a good coach and a few nice players. They won the HL Tourney without playing any of the top seeds. Nice Facilities, but still has a lot to prove in the HL. If they dominate the HL the next few years then they'd a more serious contender for an invite. Haven't even dealt with their 1st D1 coaching yet... still a very young program with lots to still prove but could be a someone to look out for in the future.

- Omaha - in the same mold as NKU but never even made the Tourney yet and lots to still prove in the Summit. They are also extremely in-debt on their brand new arena. It's more of a hockey school then a basketball school and don't draw well in Omaha.

Tier 4: (Little to no interest in these schools. Would rather stay at 10 then add them)

-Oral-Roberts - school is in financial trouble and has been struggling. Received very bad PR lately. And they are all the way in Tulsa and out of the footprint. They have some history.

-UMKC - Not a great basketball school and the market is a "pro-sports" market. Missouri is cutting funding.

-Alabama-Birmingham - absolutely 0 interest
-Northern Arkansas - absolutely 0 interest
-Tennessee State - absolutely 0 interest
-Tennessee Tech - absolutely 0 interest
-East Tennessee State - absolutely 0 interest
-Arkansas State - absolutely 0 interest

[CheeseheadCrusader]

Where optimism meets realism, I would love Belmont and Murray.

If I had to choose any schools from our former conference, NKU would be my pick, as their coach was hands down the best in the HL last year, imo. If they can pony up and lock him down for the next 3-5 years, they have some real potential. UWM has the most potential, but their department is a dumpster fire as discussed in another thread. Oakland will be one of the best mid major teams in the country next year if they stay healthy (and out of jail). But after that the future is murky, especially with Kampe's time winding down.

[Make MVC Great Again]

Have a general question and some you might know.

We are discussing St. Louis and how they play so far away from home.

I want to know how much it really is for a D1 basketball team for a road trip.

I assume they have a charter plane for a discount, and get discounts on hotel rooms.

Maybe I am naive but could someone really tell me how much a trip costs.

[uniftw]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/ ... ef342.html

SLU

Travel has been an issue since the Billikens joined the Atlantic 10. Budgetary issues have limited the number of charter flights the team can make (three trips this year). The team books its charters through Charter Search and CSI Aviation, two national companies that transport several teams. Otherwise, SLU flies commercial, often on Southwest.


So, commercial tickets for a travel part of probably 25-30 plus whatever it costs for equipment that may be needed to be checked.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Not Happening
Saint Louis - east coast 4 life
Belmont - OVC/SoCon 4 life
GCU - not busable
NMSU - not busable
Arlington - not busable
NDSU - not busable
SDSU - Summit tourney
Little Rock - Sun Belt 4 life
Oakland - Horizon tourney
Denver - not busable

Vying for Valley Love
1 Murray St
--------------
2 Northern Kentucky
3 Oral Roberts
4 Wright St
5 UIC
6 Milwaukee
7 UMKC
--------------
8 Omaha


Travel partners with Murray+ORU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
UE/ISUb
MoSt/ORU
SIU/Murray

Travel partners with Murray+NKU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
MoSt/SIU
ISUb/NKU
UE/Murray


If you add Oral Roberts, all 6 travel pairings are less than 3 hours apart.

If you add N Kentucky, 5/6 travel pairings are <3 hours except MoSt/SIU.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

[VU2014]

Not Happening
Saint Louis - east coast 4 life
Belmont - OVC/SoCon 4 life
GCU - not busable
NMSU - not busable
Arlington - not busable
NDSU - not busable
SDSU - Summit tourney
Little Rock - Sun Belt 4 life
Oakland - Horizon tourney
Denver - not busable

Vying for Valley Love
1 Murray St
--------------
2 Northern Kentucky
3 Oral Roberts
4 Wright St
5 UIC
6 Milwaukee
7 UMKC
--------------
8 Omaha


Travel partners with Murray+ORU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
UE/ISUb
MoSt/ORU
SIU/Murray

Travel partners with Murray+NKU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
MoSt/SIU
ISUb/NKU
UE/Murray


If you add Oral Roberts, all 6 travel pairings are less than 3 hours apart.

If you add N Kentucky, 5/6 travel pairings are <3 hours except MoSt/SIU.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

I wouldn't classify Belmont as an OVC for life, but unlikely for now. Whenever their next TV contract comes up and they see $'s drying up for the tiny Mid Conference is when they will feel the "urgency" jump conferences.

"The package is part of a five-year agreement with ESPN. The new deal runs through the completion of the 2017-18 season and also includes a minimum of eight football games to be carried on ESPN3 annually as well as the ability for the OVC to receive additional national exposure."
http://ovcsports.com/news/2013/10/4/MBB_1004131552.aspx

The MVC is locked in a better TV deal "for now" losing Wichita State will probably hurt the MVC down the road if they only stay at 10 whenever it comes up (my guess is they expand 12 eventually).

As for Oakland: the Horizon League Tournament won't be in Detroit forever... Olympia Sports is treating the HL tournament in their arena as "guinea pig" & test-run for the Big 10 Tournament eventually.

Just Today:
https://twitter.com/chrissolari/status/ ... 2219158528
"Delany says Big Ten hoops tourney could go to new venues (including Detroit) but feels Indy is stable site for football title game."

Not saying Oakland is an obvious add, but if offered they would probably accept for multiple reasons. Oakland Basketball is Greg Kampe and he's slowly approaching retirement soon... as CheeseheadCrusader mentioned. They'll be good next year but they'll be in rebuild mode.

As for NKU, they could potentially be a good add down the road but it would be a pretty big reach for the MVC to add a member who has only been D1 program for 1-2 yrs. Their coach is the lowest paid coach in the HL and has already been rumored to be interviewed for other jobs. Not sure how they respond after losing their coach if they can build off their 1 yr of success. (its the nature of Mid-Major success).

[Majik45]

Have a general question and some you might know.

We are discussing St. Louis and how they play so far away from home.

I want to know how much it really is for a D1 basketball team for a road trip.

I assume they have a charter plane for a discount, and get discounts on hotel rooms.

Maybe I am naive but could someone really tell me how much a trip costs.

I think the real problem for SLU and travel costs is all the other sports that are not the basketball team. There are a lot of East Coast trips for Soccer, Cross Country, Tennis, etc. which add up.

[uniguy]

It is too bad Oral Roberts has been terrible. They would be a pretty good add to go along with Murray if they still had a halfway decent program. They would be a nice travel partner with Mo State too.

We are either going to have to stay with ten, think outside the bun on this, or add someone with a lot of warts. Another good option isn't going to appear out of thin air (unless....maybe Saint Lou.....but that is doubtful).

An outside the bun option would be a school like Grand Canyon. I have been there and seen it in person. They have an outstanding setup and great support. They are going to be a very good basketball program in the near future. They would make the league stronger. I understand there are logistical reasons not to add them, but that is the kind of thing we are going to have to do if we want to expand, without adding a mediocre program.