Hopefully this is just phase 1 of expansion

[RacerJoeD]

GCU- yuck.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Grand Canyon will be a top 50 program very soon. But the MVC will never add them because travel expenses and academic-minded presidents.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

GCU- yuck.

I'd love gcu in the mvc regardless of distance. They are the next gonzaga, Butler, Wichita State, VCU. Great fan support, recent success (although crap conference), getting decent recruits,ex nbaer, dan marjele, is their head coach, oh yeah, and they have the money for sustained success. They would need NMSU as a travel partner. I love murray state but if this were an option this would be my number one. Gcu is a home run.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

With the money they make though maybe they wouldnt need a travel partner and Murray could still join.

My list:

1. Grand Canyon
2. Murray State
3. Northern Kentucky
4. North Dakota State/South Dakota State
5. Milwaukee

[Mikovio]

No for-profits.

Give me SLU and Murray State. Failing that replace SLU with NMSU if feasible, or if not, UWM or UIC.

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

Is anyone in Kentucky even aware there are basketball programs other than Big Blue and maybe Louisville? Also Western Kentucky is still out there.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

No for-profits.

Give me SLU and Murray State. Failing that replace SLU with NMSU if feasible, or if not, UWM or UIC.

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

Is anyone in Kentucky even aware there are basketball programs other than Big Blue and maybe Louisville? Also Western Kentucky is still out there.

NMSU would require a travel partner in the southwest. Who would you suggest? Arizona State, Arizona, New Mexico, and UTEP aren't coming. Texas Tech isnt coming while within distance. San Diego State is too far from NMSU and wouldn't come. Baylor isn't coming. TCU isn't coming. I imagine Arlington is too far away to be a travel partner since they're in Dallas. That leaves Northern Arizona, no thanks, and Grand Canyon.
UIC? Already have Loyola. That's pointless.
SLU is bad. Theyre usually bad. Bad idea. Only good when Majerus was there and the couple of seasons his recruits were there after he died. Pass.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Yes, arlington is too far away. 9 hours. Texas is a huge state

[BEARZ77]

SLU is bad. Theyre usually bad. Bad idea. Only good when Majerus was there and the couple of seasons his recruits were there after he died. Pass.

I don't agree with that at all; while I don't see them coming, SLU would be a major asset. They can be a little full of themselves, but they would be my first choice among reasonable options. Like most mids they've been good when the coaching has been, and with Travis Ford recruiting St Louis area aggressively, they will be a good program very soon. They were good under Spoon and Majerus, have a great facility, can get 10,000 plus a night when putting quality product out. Their other programs are decent [WBB,BB,VB] They're as much a no-brainer as we could hope for.[9 NCAA appearances, 7 since 1994; 16 NIT]

[Mikovio]

No for-profits.

Give me SLU and Murray State. Failing that replace SLU with NMSU if feasible, or if not, UWM or UIC.

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

Is anyone in Kentucky even aware there are basketball programs other than Big Blue and maybe Louisville? Also Western Kentucky is still out there.

NMSU would require a travel partner in the southwest. Who would you suggest? Arizona State, Arizona, New Mexico, and UTEP aren't coming. Texas Tech isnt coming while within distance. San Diego State is too far from NMSU and wouldn't come. Baylor isn't coming. TCU isn't coming. I imagine Arlington is too far away to be a travel partner since they're in Dallas. That leaves Northern Arizona, no thanks, and Grand Canyon.
UIC? Already have Loyola. That's pointless.
SLU is bad. Theyre usually bad. Bad idea. Only good when Majerus was there and the couple of seasons his recruits were there after he died. Pass.

The only other one is Denver which is also 9 hours away, although it's a hockey school. Looking at a map, you could charter flights out of and into Albuquerque or Santa Fe maybe. Still a lot of bus time for teams coming in. Obviously there's no good travel partner for NMSU sans Grand Canyon. Even Grand Canyon to Las Cruces is 5.5 hours. That's why I said "if feasible", meaning the schools in a financial squeeze now find some extra cash lying around. Probably not going to happen.

NMSU is the best bet for helping raise the profile of the conference and get multiple bids. NMSU's RPI the last 8 years--

59
110
103
71
56
59
139
51

Probably would've looked better if the terrible WAC wasn't dragging down their SOS. It's a gamble but maybe you consider GCU and NMSU. Add SLU and Murray State to go to 14 and you've really got something.

The Valley would be crazy not to want SLU. Their basketball budget is nearly as big as Wichita's and they have a billion dollar endowment. A nice new arena. Of course their budget is so big because they have to fly everywhere in the A10 but if they came to the MVC maybe they could use the money saved to make a Majerus like splash hire again.

If SLU remains a firm no I don't see why already having Loyola prevents UIC. Ideally, yeah, you'd like to expand your reach to more markets, which is why UWM is preferable, but for whatever reason the Presidents didn't bite and UIC is a lot better than the alternatives I see floated around. If UCLA and USC can share LA then surely Loyola and UIC could share Chicago.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

I, for one, would be all in on 14 with gcu, nmsu, slu, and murray. Play everyone in your division twice for 12 and everyone in the other division once for 19 conference games.