BEARZ77 wrote:Jsnhbe1Birds wrote:My point is they aren't doing ANYTHING! They are sitting on their ass while conferences make moves. Eventually, they are going to watch conference move past them while they're idle. Again, doing nothing is taking a step back because other conferences are moving. Just to maintain position they have to do more. To improve position they need to do A LOT more.
While I agree that I would like to see the league in a more proactive role, just doing stuff to be doing it because other leagues are is silly. I've always been in favor of selective expansion and Murray is fine by me, but I've never equated that with increased bids or status just as Valpo didn't result in that this year; and Valpo is a fine program. Much of what I see being suggested here is just so much rearranging the deck chairs on the Titatnic, with likely similar impact. I don't have the answer other than under the current structure[ NCAA] individual teams will have to carve out their own increased opportunities thru aggressive scheduling and winning. That's what works when a team does it; it's hard to do, becoming incresingly more difficult to do, but it does work when done. Getting more wins against Valley teams , even quality Valley teams, doesn't sway the moment. When MSU got snubbed with a 21 RPI, they had more top 50 wins than many other teams selected to go, but a majority were against other Valley teams and so they were discounted. Creighton also had a similar year that season and people forget they also got snubbed & we could have had 6 teams based on RPI and top 50 wins criteria. Didn't matter.
A valid and reasonable point. I guess the reasoning would be that the goal of changes should be to narrow the perceived gap (and it is a perception not a reality) between the MVC and the A10/AAC. Much of the changes made by the NCAA that have positively effected conferences like the Valley have been pushed by public outcry. If the Valley creates the narrative that they are the preeminent MM basketball conference, the narrative changes. Adding Valpo helps in that, no matter what the early results have been.
It may seem like rearranging deck chairs, but in the perception game, sometimes a new paint job is enough, especially when there are runs to the final four involved.
