Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll

[RacerJoeD]

If the money "calms down" I.e. value drops, how many schools like West Virginia start looking for the best place for them in a college sports arena that has less revenue?

2023 is the next big period. But conference realignment has stopped, it has merely moved below the MVC. The Big South has been involved in conference realignment as recently as this year. So has the Summit and the Horizon. Doesn't seem like conference realignment has calmed any, we are just seeing some dust settle, as I said before.

Again, the question to ask is where is my conference going to be when the music stops? For us in the OVC, we know, the OVC will not have a seat, and that is what drives our desire to move.

[jacksfan29]

On a SL radio show they were interviewing Watkins (associate commissioner) about the Arch Madness contract extension. He said they're looking to go to 12 for the 2019 tournament which would be next season's tournament.

As far as NDSU and SDSU to the MVC goes I started polls on booth their message boards a while back.
NDSU is in favor 73-14, while SDSU is opposed 52-34. I think SDSU fans have too much blue in their glasses when it comes to their precious tournament.

I think the tournament is part of it and for some, all of it. There is a lot of money tied to that tournament, and a lot of sponsorship cash SDSU pulls in based on that tournament averaging in excess of 9K per session. A number which will likely be much higher this year with SDSU and USD heading towards a #1 v #2 championship games on both the Men's, and Women's side. This year's tourney will average over 10K per session. We will likely out draw every mid-major Men's championship game, with our Women's, which will draw over 9K on a Monday afternoon. And the tournament is right out most fans back door. I'm not sure the MVC is a big enough draw for the average SDSU fan who like, and would enjoy being in an all sports league with the MVC public schools, not so much the private schools.

I also think SDSU fans are patient and see jumping to the MVC as a move the school may later regret.

Alas it is is a moot point anyway. There is ZERO chance any of the private schools in the MVC want anything to do with SDSU. None, nada, zip.

[squirrel]

Myron Medcalf Grand Canyon article:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... ter-desert

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Myron Medcalf Grand Canyon article:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... ter-desert

I actually voted for GCU. Been a big proponent of adding them. I suggest everyone going to espn.com because this isnt just an article it's their top story right now on the front page.

Headline: It makes more money than WWE and the Cowboys, but what can make Grand Canyon a power?
As the only for-profit Div. I school, Grand Canyon plays by different rules. It also is building a serious basketball program, one that comes with big goals and big controversy.

You can say what you want about the university but that one bold phrase above is all I care about when thinking about MVC expansion.

[CoolArrow]

So here is my question.

Why are we hell bent on a 12 team league?

Look at Conference USA and a few other leagues that used to be comparable. Now they have 12-14 teams and they suck. It’s still a 1 bid league with just a lot more teams.

C-USA failed because more than half its members jumped to the American. They then had to fill in the rest of their conference with Sun Belt teams. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky were the only good additions from the Belt. UNT and the Florida schools are a real drag on the conference now. UTEP has fallen off a cliff and is no longer competitive. You can't compare adding some programs like Murray St to programs like FIU and FAU that average less than 1000 fans per home game and haven't been relevant in basketball... ever.

[Redhawk]

So here is my question.

Why are we hell bent on a 12 team league?

Look at Conference USA and a few other leagues that used to be comparable. Now they have 12-14 teams and they suck. It’s still a 1 bid league with just a lot more teams.

C-USA failed because more than half its members jumped to the American. They then had to fill in the rest of their conference with Sun Belt teams. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky were the only good additions from the Belt. UNT and the Florida schools are a real drag on the conference now. UTEP has fallen off a cliff and is no longer competitive. You can't compare adding some programs like Murray St to programs like FIU and FAU that average less than 1000 fans per home game and haven't been relevant in basketball... ever.

C-USA is driven by Football. The MVC is driven by Basketball. Football conferences need 12 for a Championship game. The Valley doesn't need 12 for basketball. They could add Murray St and have a 20 game round-robin conference schedule. Everything else could be worked out. Women's B-ball & V-ball and travel partners should not be the reason we add a 12th team that might not be ready for the jump.

The jury is still out on our latest addition. They finished dead last, have terrible facilities and seem to have little fan support or enthusiasm! Let's move more deliberately with #12

[BCPanther]

So here is my question.

Why are we hell bent on a 12 team league?

Look at Conference USA and a few other leagues that used to be comparable. Now they have 12-14 teams and they suck. It’s still a 1 bid league with just a lot more teams.

C-USA failed because more than half its members jumped to the American. They then had to fill in the rest of their conference with Sun Belt teams. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky were the only good additions from the Belt. UNT and the Florida schools are a real drag on the conference now. UTEP has fallen off a cliff and is no longer competitive. You can't compare adding some programs like Murray St to programs like FIU and FAU that average less than 1000 fans per home game and haven't been relevant in basketball... ever.

C-USA is driven by Football. The MVC is driven by Basketball. Football conferences need 12 for a Championship game. The Valley doesn't need 12 for basketball. They could add Murray St and have a 20 game round-robin conference schedule. Everything else could be worked out. Women's B-ball & V-ball and travel partners should not be the reason we add a 12th team that might not be ready for the jump.

The jury is still out on our latest addition. They finished dead last, have terrible facilities and seem to have little fan support or enthusiasm! Let's move more deliberately with #12

I think there will be some buyer's remorse on Valpo and soon. The ceiling is middle of the pack, they have terrible, terrible facilities and the Drews aren't coming back.

UNI has played Volleyball in that 'arena' when it was 110 degrees and it was almost 90 degrees in there the other night because they had a warm day and no A/C. I also think the high school style concession stands at floor level at the base of the bleachers are a nice touch. That builiding either has to be replaced or redone quickly, it makes the Knapp Center look like a palace. The Dome was terrible for basketball but at least is was a college building with climate control.

Murray should have been the add last summer but football got in the way. Add Murray now and you have to go to 12 because you can't hang the women and more specifically Missouri State out to dry. Volleyball produces enough revenue at about half the league's schools to justify it as a major sport that must be taken care of as we look at the future.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Valparaiso has little support this year because they’re in last place. If they’re winning, Valpo has one of the louder mid major environments. (See: this game against Saint Mary’s.)
https://youtu.be/Y-5QzOSVS2Q

Crusaders had a better 5 year rolling KenPom average than anyone in MVC (sans Northern Iowa) with a recent NIT title game. It might just be Lottich isn’t the answer.

[Blers]

Valparaiso had a young team this year and I think they have a ton of upside. I agree the facility needs to be improved but they have a good name brand and recruit well (book Javon Freeman for at least the all freshman team). Evelyn is a stud as well. We won 10 games our first year but they've been far more competitive with the jump. I definitely expect them to make their way up the ranks before long.

[VUGrad1314]

Bash the facilities all you want You can even criticize the fanbase for poor attendance but you're treating Valpo like they're some kind of terrible program that got lucky for a few years. That's just not true. This is just our third losing season since 1993, we've won 20+ games 15 times in that span. 14 League titles. And just one fewer tournament win all time than Missouri State Illinois State and Murray State between 2010-11 and last year we amassed 171 victories for an average of over 24 wins per year failing to reach the 22 win mark just once in that span all in a conference that never ranked lower than 17th in RPI. Murray State's OVC where the Racers have been impressive wishes it could be that strong consistently. Along the way we beat teams like Belmont Murray State Rhode Island Alabama BYU Florida State Oregon State and St Mary's in just the last three years leading up to this season. Yes we had a bad year but we also had lost (I believe) the greatest amount of PPG of any team in the MVC had (by far) the youngest roster had to learn every team in our new League and everything about it while using a roster built to go against Horizon League competition and a young coach still learning the ropes. On top of all that we had injuries and illnessesthat cost multiple games to Tevonn Walker and John Kiser as well as Joe Burton washing out academically. Despite all of that we STILL beat every team in the top half of the MVC except Loyola and lost 5 MVC games by 7 points or less. Also our 5 wins eclipsed Loyola's first year total of four and no less than their own coach acknowledged that we are ahead of where they were after year one in the MVC. I'll go ahead and trust his opinion. How soon we forget that it took Loyola until their fifth year (this year) to get above.500 in MVC play. As for attendance if my memory serves we are still going to outdraw the MVC champions despite a terrible season by our program's standards. I think there's a good chance that we'll do just fine here in the MVC one day hopefully very soon.