Updated 1/6/18: MVC Expansion Poll

[mvfcfan]

Denver is too far, as is UT Arlington, and neither school is all that great. DBU works well for baseball, because they are a baseball-only school, and a really good one that adds value to the league.

I think most of us agree on Murray State. Beyond that there aren't a lot of good options. Oral Roberts is probably the best 12th option. Besides their run this year, they have a history of actually being good, particularly in the first decade of this century, and they spend like an MVC school. And believe me I'm well aware that the ORU haters will come out in full force.

You could make an argument and say that if Belmont is under consideration, then maybe ETSU and / or Chattanooga should be too. However Tennessee is probably just as far from Iowa as North Dakota is from Illinois, so there's that.

I've actually never understood the fascination with Belmont. I follow the OVC so maybe it's because I know them better. They are good, but they have no fans at all and they play in a city that couldn't care less about them. My fear is that if they are ever not good, they will be a major liability down the road. The fact that they have turned down the MVC twice should tell everyone all they need to know about them. If they played in the MVC, I also believe that they wouldn't have the gaudy and often deceptive records they have (that also includes Murray St). Playing on the road at UT Martin or SEMO is a lot easier than playing on the road at Illinois State or Bradley. I'm a big OVC fan and I enjoy their hoops, but facts are facts.

For what it's worth I'm to the point where I don't really care if we expand or not. No one out there really excites me other than Murray State and the two XDSU schools that will never be considered.

[Salukimadness86]

No thanks to Denver, U T Arlington, Grand Canyon State, and UMKC. Absolutely zero tradition or history relevance. It would be difficult financially for numerous schools in the MVC to travel to those locations as well. Murray makes sense, but I believe the Belmont ship has sailed.

That's the point of Arlington and Grand Canyon being in the discussion. They're easy and cheap to get to.

No their not, and once again, these schools and their athletic programs specifically basketball, offer zero tradition, and or history. NO thank you !

[BCPanther]

No thanks to Denver, U T Arlington, Grand Canyon State, and UMKC. Absolutely zero tradition or history relevance. It would be difficult financially for numerous schools in the MVC to travel to those locations as well. Murray makes sense, but I believe the Belmont ship has sailed.

That's the point of Arlington and Grand Canyon being in the discussion. They're easy and cheap to get to.

No their not, and once again, these schools and their athletic programs specifically basketball, offer zero tradition, and or history. NO thank you !

Yes they are. Dallas is an American hub and Phoenix is incredibly easy and inexpensive to fly into. I'm not saying it's definitely one of those two but I expect more outside the box thinking.

The hire we made, led by UNI and Loyola, is all about moving forward as a league. The status quo is going to be challenged hard core. The new Commissioner is pro-expansion and ran Big 12 Basketball and was on their TV liaison committee.

[RacerJoeD]

I think it should be noted that the Big 12 is made up of the old Southwest Conference with teams from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and...(checks notes) West Virginia. If that is a clue, then footprint (as its traditionally understood) seems to matter very little.

[Drakey]

I think it should be noted that the Big 12 is made up of the old Southwest Conference with teams from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and...(checks notes) West Virginia. If that is a clue, then footprint (as its traditionally understood) seems to matter very little.

It doesn't matter with Big 12 budgets. It does matter in the Valley. Let's face it. Their is nobody to add at this point. Maybe if we can get the conference to get multiple bids for multiple years we would be more appealing, but the power conferences are doing everything thy can to make sure that does not happen.

[E-Villan]

I've actually never understood the fascination with Belmont. The fact that they have turned down the MVC twice should tell everyone all they need to know about them.

Again, when were these two times? I am calling BS. Just because the Valpo fan has posted this for 108 pages doesn't make it true. They may prefer traveling to Martin and Cookeville, but I have found zero evidence we ever made any type of offer to them.

[BCPanther]

Our peer leagues stretch from:

New Mexico to Boise and San Diego to Cheyenne

Rhode Island to St Louis

Texas to the Carolinas and Florida

Seattle to Los Angeles

The idea that footprint is important is REALLY outdated. Time for a new perspective and I fully believe that's why Jackson was hired.

[RacerJoeD]

Our peer leagues stretch from:

New Mexico to Boise and San Diego to Cheyenne

Rhode Island to St Louis

Texas to the Carolinas and Florida

Seattle to Los Angeles

The idea that footprint is important is REALLY outdated. Time for a new perspective and I fully believe that's why Jackson was hired.

I don’t know that I agree with it, but I think this may be the thinking.

[VUGrad1314]

I hope if we do decide to expand this year we will remember that we don't have a huge TV contract and a presence in markets like Denver DFW Milwaukee etc. isn't going to get us one. We can't afford to think like a P5 conference or even an FBS G5 conference. The only thing that might increase our TV revenue potential is bringing in good programs that beat P5 schools in the non conference can provide Q1 games (or at least Q2) and win in March. The list of programs with that potential is very small and those are the programs we need to be looking at. I could not care less about media market or the wing and a prayer hope that we could attract students from some far flung city. This should be about getting the best programs full stop. If they also happen to be in a decent market (like Belmont or Milwaukee if they ever got their program back up off the mat or ORU though I'd prefer to wait on them to see if they can sustain their success) that's better but if the best program that adds to the athletic profile of the league is in a place like Murray, Kentucky or in the Dakotas then that's where we should be looking. The list of programs that are worth adding or that we should be looking at with serious consideration is pretty short. And outside of Murray State and Belmont it's really hard to justify making the move right now. If we can't get both of them it's hard to make the move. Maybe we can consider ORU if Belmont won't come but that's only because of their recent tournament run and even then it would be hard to extend a conference invite to a flavor of the month program. Again I feel like we'd need to see more consistency from them first. The big facilities upgrade they have planned there is a positive development though.

[SalukiWorld]

The MVC reached out to UT Arlington:
https://twitter.com/MattBrownEP/status/ ... ged%2F3%2F