Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

Maybe Murray replaces Northern Iowa, per BCPanther’s post yesterday on his team’s board:

Only realistic one would be the Mountain West if they'd decide to add non-football members, which they've talked about in the past. Their current 12 plus Gonzaga, BYU, Wichita and UNI makes that an easy 3 or 4 bid league every year.

[BCPanther]

Maybe Murray replaces Northern Iowa, per BCPanther’s post yesterday on his team’s board:

Only realistic one would be the Mountain West if they'd decide to add non-football members, which they've talked about in the past. Their current 12 plus Gonzaga, BYU, Wichita and UNI makes that an easy 3 or 4 bid league every year.

Yep, because that is TOTALLY going to happen and wasn't people just messing around on a message board.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

The only non football they have talked about adding is Gonzaga and that's because they have 12 football members but only 11 basketball because Hawaii plays all other spots in the big west.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Plus byu, Wichita, Grand canyon, New Mexico state, and St Mary's comes WAAAAY before UNI lol. Delusional. Uni has literally 0 chance.

[just ducky]

Both Belmont and Murray St have paths that could take them into OVC play with only 2 or fewer OOC losses. If they could split with each other and win out over the rest of the league then both could have an at-large chance on selection Sunday.

While I am not predicting that there will be an OVC at-large, their play, results, and remaining schedules give them a 10X greater chance than anything I can now see for the Valley.

[Redhawk]

I have been wondering the same thing as well. Yes, Murray has Valley level facilities, not to mention their basketball performance through the years. Also, I doubt we would have a Murray poster taking over the board, talking in circles about adding non-Valley level members or the impending doom of the MVC. How that vote shook out would be interesting, but I don't think it was strictly along football lines. I remember seeing a video with the Evansville AD where he was pretty adamant about their desire to add Murray.

SLU and Murray are the ONLY two programs that are potential candidates that are currently Valley worthy. Guess what, we don't need 60 pages telling us how SLU feels their interests are better served with eastern exposure, or how we all have agreed over and over that Murray belongs in. WE KNOW. And we certainly don't need talk about commuter schools, or Arizona schools, or whatever other flavor of the day he comes up with. Valpo fan needs to understand the history, and more importantly, the make up of the Valley. 5 public schools that are very similar, and 5 private schools that are also very similar. All except one have above average facilities and fan bases. All are the primary program in their respective markets, with the exception of Loyola, and frankly, they may be now as well. That pie can be divided a little, but grabbing the lesser school in places like Omaha, Tulsa or Dayton should never be considered. And, contrary to his belief, the Valley has been relatively stable. I see nothing in the future that would change it.

It is up to the 10 members of this conference to improve the league. No addition will magically do it, not even MSU or SLU by themselves. Valpo fan needs to worry about getting his programs performance and facilities up to Valley levels before telling us that we have to expand or die. His concerns about improving the MVC should begin and end in Northwest Indiana at this point.

This pretty much sums up the current landscape of the MVC!

[mvfcfan]

Adding Murray State, SEMO, WIU, and EIU will solve all of our problems.

All have travel partners, lots of football, kick the Dakota schools to the curb, bring fans to St Louis.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Adding Murray State, SEMO, WIU, and EIU will solve all of our problems.

All have travel partners, lots of football, kick the Dakota schools to the curb, bring fans to St Louis.

Bahahahaha ha

Congrats mvfcfan you have the dumbest post in this thread

[VUGrad1314]

Pardon my hot take here:

Maybe it should have been Murray instead of Valpo? I think non-football school paranoia got in the way and we ended up with the worse option.

I'm not sure how you can walk into the non-air conditioned ARC that was last renovated in 1984 around the bones of a building built in 1939 and say 'Yep, this is a Valley facility'. Murray has also been able to maintain success through a series of coaching moves and changes. Valpo hasn't exactly been successful without a head coach named Drew.

I have been wondering the same thing as well. Yes, Murray has Valley level facilities, not to mention their basketball performance through the years. Also, I doubt we would have a Murray poster taking over the board, talking in circles about adding non-Valley level members or the impending doom of the MVC. How that vote shook out would be interesting, but I don't think it was strictly along football lines. I remember seeing a video with the Evansville AD where he was pretty adamant about their desire to add Murray.

SLU and Murray are the ONLY two programs that are potential candidates that are currently Valley worthy. Guess what, we don't need 60 pages telling us how SLU feels their interests are better served with eastern exposure, or how we all have agreed over and over that Murray belongs in. WE KNOW. And we certainly don't need talk about commuter schools, or Arizona schools, or whatever other flavor of the day he comes up with. Valpo fan needs to understand the history, and more importantly, the make up of the Valley. 5 public schools that are very similar, and 5 private schools that are also very similar. All except one have above average facilities and fan bases. All are the primary program in their respective markets, with the exception of Loyola, and frankly, they may be now as well. That pie can be divided a little, but grabbing the lesser school in places like Omaha, Tulsa or Dayton should never be considered. And, contrary to his belief, the Valley has been relatively stable. I see nothing in the future that would change it.

It is up to the 10 members of this conference to improve the league. No addition will magically do it, not even MSU or SLU by themselves. Valpo fan needs to worry about getting his programs performance and facilities up to Valley levels before telling us that we have to expand or die. His concerns about improving the MVC should begin and end in Northwest Indiana at this point.

Let me begin by saying that I sincerely apologize if you feel that I represent my fanbase poorly or if you find my posts grating or annoying. It is not my intention to annoy only to discuss and I strive to represent my fellow Crusader fans well. Now on to my main argument:

I have no idea why you have such a vendetta against me for realignment speculation. I enjoy seeing the pieces move and thinking about how these moves affect the college sports landscape particularly with respect to mid majors and the MVC at large and somehow that makesungrateful or anti-MVC. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love this conference and have since I was very young. I want the best for it. I had dreamed of seeing Valpo in the MVC and have called it a dream come true that we're here. I take plenty of heat on my own board from those who were more skeptical about the move for how passionately positive I have been about this move and how great it has been for Valpo. There is nothing I want more than to see my Crusaders become a credit to this conference I took every close loss last year and Valpo's poor metrics this year very personally. Furthermore, I have been very aggressive pushing for Valpo to do more on the facilities front but I understand that it's going to take time. You don't fix 35 years in one year and we ARE making strides, and that goes to attendance as well.

My school has benefited greatly from realignment and I want to see other deserving schools get the same benefit. I want to see the top mid major leagues strengthened so that we can take it to those P5 bullies and take back the bids that should rightly belong to us. That's why I advocated so strongly for at least an 11\20 format (which was my preference anyway unless the 12th was a really good addition) but said if the presidents want 12 give them 12 as long as that 12th doesn't hurt the Valley too much competitively (which is why my favorite non-Belmont\SLU additions assuming Murray State is a given are NKU and SDSU. Anything else is about strengthening other relevant MVC sports like baseball and expanding recruiting reach which is the primary reason why I even mentioned Wright State and why Milwaukee was considered. The Omaha take was the hottest of hot takes and was posted out of emotion. I wasn't serious.) The only flaw in this logic is the possibility that the 12th school hurts more than Murray State helps but ultimately I can't see a school like NKU or even Wright State hurting the MVC as much as Murray State helps it. Since neither is established enough yet I too favor 11 teams \20 games.

A big reason for this is because I remember hearing a high level college hoops analyst (I think it was one of Rothstein Norlander or Pomeroy) say that Valpo+Murray State made the MVC stronger than it was with just Wichita State. I can't imagine the travel costs increasing that much for any member but I figured the SOS boost would be worth it. It all boils down to a simple question: if you have a golden opportunity to make the league better why wouldn't you do it and figure out how to lessen any inconveniences?

I know plenty about the history of the MVC and it is glorious which is a big reason why I consider it an honor that we have joined and why I was a vocal supporter of the move. The programs have tremendous histories and basketball pedigree and it is humbling to compete alongside them. I have NEVER questioned the league's stability only its continued viability as a multibid basketball conference which is something we should all be fighting to preserve and it's something many of you question as well. I am in support of any move that increases those chances. I know that the MVC has been a remarkably stable league for decades, almost the picture of stability. But even that stable league recognized the need to expand given the emerging realities of the time back in the early 90s and that's why Missouri State and UNI are here. My argument is that the realities have shifted again with the P5 becoming more insular and going to their own 20 game formats.

I am not now nor have I ever predicted doom for the MVC. That was more of a Shocker fan\ national pundit thing until Loyola's run thankfully bought us respite from that false narrative. In contrast, I've been as optimistic as anyone about the MVC. I even went so far as to think we'd get 2-3 bids for sure this year because everything seemed to be aligning If you're referring to my "dead cat bounce" post that was me expressing disappointment at the lack of signature wins this year and the apparent underperformance of the predicted top teams and fear that that awful narrative about the MVC's demise would come back. It was in reference to tournament bids and credits not league stability anyway.

As stated before the realities in the sport are shifting and we should be shifting with those realities. Yes we need internal improvement but as quality nonconference games get even harder to schedule, complete inaction is the surest way to 100% ensure permanent 1 bid status. Whether that means 11 or 12 is a matter for the decisionmakers to decide but leaving a program that can help our league reasonably within our footprint that's knocking on the door out on the doorstep doesn't feel like the right move The Creighton\Wichita State poachings were about one thing: fear. The P5 leagues fear the MVC. So why not make ourselves more dangerous? Isn't a H and H with Murray State better for the league than non-D1s and low major buy games? This would solve so many scheduling issues for the MVC.

The crux of my argument is this: I enjoy realignment because it's fun to speculate on and think about how the landscape could shift and how the league could be strengthened and because my school has been frequently involved in discussions and actual realignments. Some were great like this one and some were for our very D1 survival. I am beyond grateful to see my school in the MVC but just because my school is new doesn't mean we shouldn't join the chorus advocating for positive change. The bottom line is I'm posting topics for discussion's sake on a discussion board for fans of the MVC of which I am one. You can read them and comment on them or not as you like. You can find my posts grating and annoying as many people do on both this and my own board but I love good discussion and will continue to share my thoughts with those who wish to exchange views and ideas with me. However, I will not have my passion for or my loyalty to this conference questioned because I'm strongly pro-expansion. And I will not tolerate you making up crap I never said about the league being unstable.

[VUGrad1314]

Adding Murray State, SEMO, WIU, and EIU will solve all of our problems.

All have travel partners, lots of football, kick the Dakota schools to the curb, bring fans to St Louis.

Bahahahaha ha

Congrats mvfcfan you have the dumbest post in this thread

He was being sarcastic.

Adding Murray State, SEMO, WIU, and EIU will solve all of our problems.

All have travel partners, lots of football, kick the Dakota schools to the curb, bring fans to St Louis.

Nice sarcastic post. If this was a swipe at the realignment scenarios I wrote on based on real rumors then I'm not sure why you did it. I've read in multiple places that the SL might start football if they can get the membership. I'm not personally convinced of it myself because I don't think that's what NDSU\SDSU and the MVC football members want but I at least posted a plausible scenario grounded in real rumors. Not sure why that should be subject to ridicule. Frankly it's kind of embarrassing that SEMO is even listed among these choices and even more embarrassing that they actually got votes.