Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll

[ACECARD]

Update: Murray State and Northern Kentucky would both lead the MVC today in KenPom.

Meanwhile, UWM is being outdrawn in-state by D3 WIAC schools (seriously, look it up) as their RPI has fallen to 247. Fortunately, their 69-55 loss to Concordia-St Paul doesn’t count.

I saw Belmont beat Murray St. 79-72 on Thursday. Neither team would probably be a Thursday team in the Valley. Ken has Murray St. rated at 70, and Mo. St. at 72. Belmont at 92 as of yesterday.

[VUGrad1314]

An NKU fan's thoughts on the state of the program:
In respect to everyone elses questions. I think NKU is at a very early point in building their fan base. There are so many competing schools in the region that most NKU students and alumni have always had other favorite teams because NKU was at the Division II level. Now that they have gotten DI and have had some success, a lot of old and new alumni have started to get excited. The thing is that NKU actually has graduated a ton of the local media people and in fact one of the key members of our board of regents is the CEO of EW Scripps. I actually think there has been a wish by many people in the area for NKU to be competitive and it is finally getting realized. We just got our own beat reporter from the Cincinnati Enquirer who is also the reporter for the popular soccer team FC Cincinnati. They get talked about on local tv a lot more now as well. They have formed partnerships with several bars in the area to be official bars. Braxton Brewing which is a major craft brewery in Northern Kentucky has made a Norse Pale Ale which is the official beer of the Norse. The local tv station CW Cincinnati is showing the broadcast of 5 or 6 of the games this season so you can watch them on over the air television. All of these changes have happened just in this offseason. Something that is kind of fascinating is that Cincinnati is going through a major growth phase right now and is one of the fastest growing economies in the region. That growth is spilling into northern kentucky because we are much more closely tied to Cincinnati than we are to the state of kentucky in terms of culture. So there is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for NKU. It is a step by step process but i think something to look at in terms of the attendance too is that last year we had a lot of games that were under 2000. THis season we have not had a single game under 2000 even including the exhibition game. Our average attendance has gone up by probably 700 this season alone. I think as long as the program is competitive in the Horizon League and does not tank they will be able to grow it and there are enough people willing to give money to the athletics department in the area to make sure it keeps growing.

Read more: http://horizonleaguefans.freeforums.net ... z54ro8VdHR

[VUGrad1314]

If his thoughts are representative of the fanbase at large, then it seems the Norse are quite happy in the Horizon League, and may have some qualms about potentially moving up to the MVC. However, by the sound of it, the university administration would be totally on board. They look like they're fully intent on really building something in the ultra-competitive Cincinnati area.

[VUGrad1314]

As we near the expansion committee meeting here are some thoughts about what I could see happening:

Murray State will receive its long-awaited invite but will either join in 2020 To coincide with North Dakota's entry into the MVFC, or they will join immediately in all sports except football while the football team competes as an OVC associate member (to minimize scheduling concerns) or as an independent until 2020

The second invite will either be announced immediately and be one of the following (in order of MVC interest): Belmont NKU Milwaukee UIC Oral Roberts Wright State

Or the committee will announce that they are convening another meeting in 2 years to announce the 12th member and give the candidates another season or two to build their case as well as evaluate other realignment trends and events throughout the NCAA. No decision HAS to be made until 2020, and that is what I believe the MVC will do. Whether waiting turns out to be the right decision remains to be seen.

[mvfcfan]

I found this article from last year that was rather interesting. https://www.underdogdynasty.com/2016/5/ ... nch-or-new

Apparently Idaho was considering trying to get NDSU and SDSU to go to the WAC (FBS). Neither school was interested and there was a lot of speculation that both XDSU schools might join the MVC.

[VUGrad1314]

I found this article from last year that was rather interesting. https://www.underdogdynasty.com/2016/5/ ... nch-or-new

Apparently Idaho was considering trying to get NDSU and SDSU to go to the WAC (FBS). Neither school was interested and there was a lot of speculation that both XDSU schools might join the MVC.

Yet no one seems to be mentioning them now and they didn't get site visits. SDSU seems like they're good enough but is NDSU? Would USD be a better add? What about budgets? Can they (or will they) spend to compete? I honestly don't know how worthy this is as a topic of discussion since all our attention seems to be focused on Murray State (and the Racers are kicking butt in the OVC), and we need a 12th football member, Murray State makes by far the most sense but they add little value as a football member. We need their other sports to realize value from adding Murray State. To make the addition of the Racers make sense the 12th member needs to 1. make geographic sense and 2. Not play football.

[mvfcfan]

I agree that NDSU and SDSU are probably not joining anytime soon, if ever. It should be Murray State and Northern Kentucky.

That being said I have a gut feeling that Murray St and NKU won't be joining anytime soon either. I see us staying at 10. They might want to go to 12, but I just feel like in the end it will be all talk and no action.

[VUGrad1314]

I firmly believe that we will be at 12 members by 2020 or sooner. The MVFC isn't going to want to have an odd number which they will be when North Dakota joins, and the MVC isn't going to want its full members in the MVFC to be at the mercy of the non-full members. Murray State brings balance to both situations, and they'll need a travel partner for their sports in the MVC. That means that the MVC will select the best school who can fill that role. We'll be at 12 by July 1, 2020. We have to be.

[municup14]

I don't think they will vote to add any other teams.

[BCPanther]

Murray was told by the OVC that they couldn't leave football. Once they're gone, they're gone.

I think Murray gets an invite for this year and since schedules are already set they'll play this year as an independent in football with the same OVC schedule they are set to play anyway.

They'll go to 12. They have to hear another 'No' from Belmont first and then look elsewhere. I actually like SDSU and USD a lot but they aren't leaving the plush setup of basically getting to play their conference tournament at home and I don't think they'd leave NDSU and we aren't taking NDSU.

My vote at this point, assuming Arlington and NMSU are off the table, is Northern Kentucky. You balance your adds with an established school in Murray and potential in NKU. NKU should also get the TV network on Fox Sports Ohio and add the Cincinnati Market which extends the media footprint quite a bit...