Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll

[VU2014]

This thread just keeps running around in circles. I'm not saying don't talk about it but there hasn't been any expansion buzz via sources and legit MVC media for a while. So maybe we should pump the breaks for now. This thread is 66 pages deep of verbal repetition.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

This thread just keeps running around in circles. I'm not saying don't talk about it but there hasn't been any expansion buzz via sources and legit MVC media for a while. So maybe we should pump the breaks for now. This thread is 66 pages deep of verbal repetition.

What fan forums are for

[PurpleAcesFootball]

(In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Murray State fan. Not only that, but I am an outspoken advocate for Murray State's inclusion into the MVC. This is my bias.)


Hold on, the Big Sky has an 11 team conference, as does the Big South, MAAC, and Mountain West. This isn't something never done before.

So how do you schedule it? Well, that's already been done too. In fact, its already being moved towards.

You can utilize an off balance 18 game schedule. Thats what the Big South, MAAC, and Mountain West do.
You can utilize a 20 balanced schedule. That is what the Big Sky does.

And 20 game schedules are already announced for the Big Ten and the ACC.

This isn't rocket surgery here.

And that is before you get into the pod scheduling model Mark Adams is proposing and using for Conference USA.

You're telling me that there are already conferences in Division 1 basketball doing this kind of thing, but it's just too difficult for the MVC? I find that hard to believe.

Great info. I wasn’t trying to imply it was an unsolveable problem, although posting in a hurry over lunch it might have come across that way.

Let me ask another way. In your opinion what would you give up?

To explain- Arch Madness is on March 7-10 this year. Big Ten, Big Sky, and Mountain West have their conference championships on March 17th and 16th, which means they have another week of conference play built into the back end that the MVC does not have.

An 11th team means a bye has to built into the schedule, extending the season a full week if the twice a week schedule (Wednesday/Saturday most weeks) is maintained. You can’t give up the big CBS payday for the championship March 10th, so that extra week gets added on the front end. Conference play started 1/2 this year, so those 2 games would have to be added pre-Christmas. Is that what you prefer? Going to a 20 game, would almost definitely mean 4 conference games in December pre-Christmas. (Big Ten currently does 2 games, so not unheard of)

The other option is to get away from the 2 games a week mentality and add in games on odd days. Something like Saturday - Monday- Thursday- Sunday. That results in a condensed schedule but competitive imbalance issues like Team A has had 4 days to prepare while Team B had a road game 2 days ago. Not a huge deal, but that is one of the things that would pop up. Plus any additional missed class time that a condensed schedule causes would be met with resistance from the privates.

So which do you prefer? Adding pre-Christmas games or the condensed schedule?

[RacerJoeD]

My mistake on the reading of the tone.

Good questions.

I think if the current push toward 20 game schedules in the big $$$ conferences continues, adding games pre January will be the easiest path forward. That’s true for 18 or 20 game schedules, but with a 20 game schedule you keep the same schedule going forward.

In a perfect world, that squeezes out non D1 games while students are not on campus. That’s what you give up. Now some teams will try to eke some wins out by still scheduling non D1s but that’s on them

[VUGrad1314]

Might the 20 game schedule be the start of a new scheduling mandate?

[uniguy]

FWIW the MVC has had odd scheduling before when we had the bracketbuster. We would have a week or two with 3 games. But this would be for everyone, so there was no imbalance in prep/recovery time.

With 11 teams you now need 22 game days instead of 18 (two account for the two extra games and two open periods per team), so you probably have to do some sort of combination of the two. One week earlier and a couple weeks with extra game days.

[municup14]

This thread just keeps running around in circles. I'm not saying don't talk about it but there hasn't been any expansion buzz via sources and legit MVC media for a while. So maybe we should pump the breaks for now. This thread is 66 pages deep of verbal repetition.

I agree,it's a dead subject

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

Then don't even click on the thread to read it. It's a choice. Just ignore it. This is a fan forum. These are the kind of things on a fan forum. I didnt think that concept was hard.

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

I'm issuing a challenge.

Disclaimer: I want the Valley to add Belmont and Murray State. I hope that brings the profile of the Valley up enough to potentially compete for two bids annually. As it is constructed now, the MVC will be a one-bid league for the foreseeable future. It's possible with the new NET rankings, adding two more members won't even matter as the metric might have been designed to shut out mid-majors from March Madness. (But that may be another thread for another day.)

Here is the challenge. If you are a "add Murray State only and go to 11 members" supporter, I'm challenging you to tell me how you work the schedule. It is possible to do. I just don't think some of you have really thought about all that would entail from a scheduling standpoint. It's not as easy as it seems.

This was posted on CSNbbs today:

However assuming it is considered, Elgin is insistent on even numbers, which I think is a combination of laziness and lack of imagination. An 11th means creating a Monday/Tuesday game slot every week you sell as a TV game. You form one triangle a week and two sets of four. That is a league office not wanting to use scheduling software, preferring to do things by hand, so finds it difficult ("nightmare") to handle that level of complexity -- no wonder the league is suffering with that kind of outmoded "leadership."

[RacerJoeD]

I’m old enough to remember when the Washington Post had a headline that said in effect that the MVC had cracked the RPI. THATS the MVC the Racers wasn’t to join. A conference with teams that will work whatever system the NCAA puts for to their advantage. We want a conference with some vision. If all we will get is a more expensive OVC we might as well stay put.