Belmont to Missouri Valley

[MiddleTnRacer]

If you guys invite Murray, we’ll bring 3k-5k fans to Arch Madness and we’ll bring a good time with us.

[BCPanther]

I believe we need to add a team that is geographically close to all mvc teams.Thats why I'm not a big fan of adding a team from Texas or Arkansas .Reason why js ALL our teams must travel these distances, not just basketball.

Little Rock would be closer to Missouri State than any other current Valley school and is incredibly easy to get in and out of. It's actually closer than Wichita was for everybody except UNI and Drake.

I haven't made it a secret that Little Rock and Arlington would be my preferred next two. Arlington specifically has said they will invest more in athletics, and especially MBB, once they get conference affiliation figured out.

[pafan]

I believe we need to add a team that is geographically close to all mvc teams.

Sure. So who's close enough to fit in that category?

There are 4 D1 programs in Iowa, two are already in the MVC and I don't see Iowa or Iowa State joining up this decade.
There are 10 D1 programs in Indiana, three are already in the MVC. Let's rule out the 4 FBS teams, so that leaves Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW), IUPUI and Butler.
There are 5 D1 programs in Missouri, one is already in the MVC. Again, let's rule out Mizzou, so that leaves SLU, SEMO and UMKC.
There are 13 D1 programs in Illinois, four are already in the MVC. Setting aside the 3 FBS teams, you have DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, EIU, SIUE, Western Illinois and Chicago State.

So, given that menu, what's your choice?

[Redhawk]

Murray State makes a ton of sense if you want to bring in a basketball-ready school with a passionate fan base that will help out Arch Madness tremendously but if they don't adjust to the Valley like Valpo then you'll see the fanbase begin to taper off and now you've got a school in an extremely small media market with meh academics and an enrollment that's been declining.

Now the critics to that would point out that I'm an SIU fan and SIU is in a tiny market with budget problems and a rapidly declining enrollment and way less success than Murray State in basketball recently. But SIU isn't looking to be added to the league and SIU wouldn't be added to the Missouri Valley in 2021, not even close to it really. Same could be said for a Indiana State and maybe Northern Iowa too.

This is the issue with Murray St. It's not the past...it's the future potential in the Valley.

I wanted Murray over Valpo before because I thought they were more prepared to compete long term with strong facilities & a rabid fan base. Also my fears on Valpo have played out as expected.

Still think the Racers would be a good add but I could also see greater potential for UTA (and to a lesser extent UALR) to thrive in the Valley!

[IllinoisState]

I believe we need to add a team that is geographically close to all mvc teams.

Sure. So who's close enough to fit in that category?

There are 4 D1 programs in Iowa, two are already in the MVC and I don't see Iowa or Iowa State joining up this decade.
There are 10 D1 programs in Indiana, three are already in the MVC. Let's rule out the 4 FBS teams, so that leaves Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW), IUPUI and Butler.
There are 5 D1 programs in Missouri, one is already in the MVC. Again, let's rule out Mizzou, so that leaves SLU, SEMO and UMKC.
There are 13 D1 programs in Illinois, four are already in the MVC. Setting aside the 3 FBS teams, you have DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, EIU, SIUE, Western Illinois and Chicago State.

So, given that menu, what's your choice?

Butler, SLU, and DePaul are not leaving their current conferences. Picking only based off your other listed options I would choose UIC.

Murray State is still a good location for traveling and they are the best option.

[squirrel]

I can see SLU being a possibility, but ONLY if the Big East bypasses them (probable) and the A10 loses key more members like UMass, Richmond, Dayton and Duquesne. I don't think either or both scenarios are out of the realm of possibility. So I would at least still keep the dialogue with SLU going.

[Sir Sci]

I believe we need to add a team that is geographically close to all mvc teams.

Sure. So who's close enough to fit in that category?

There are 4 D1 programs in Iowa, two are already in the MVC and I don't see Iowa or Iowa State joining up this decade.
There are 10 D1 programs in Indiana, three are already in the MVC. Let's rule out the 4 FBS teams, so that leaves Fort Wayne (formerly IPFW), IUPUI and Butler.
There are 5 D1 programs in Missouri, one is already in the MVC. Again, let's rule out Mizzou, so that leaves SLU, SEMO and UMKC.
There are 13 D1 programs in Illinois, four are already in the MVC. Setting aside the 3 FBS teams, you have DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, EIU, SIUE, Western Illinois and Chicago State.

So, given that menu, what's your choice?

Butler, SLU, and DePaul are not leaving their current conferences. Picking only based off your other listed options I would choose UIC.

Murray State is still a good location for traveling and they are the best option.

I remember when Loyola was being added, but before they announced Loyola there had been rumors it was a school out of Chicago and a whole bunch of people thought it was gonna be UIC.

Gotta say, the right choice between those two schools was made. And now it still wouldn't make any sense to add a school that is essentially redundant to Loyola geographically but that's inferior when it comes to athletics. Don't see them adding anything to the conference. With agreement that Butler, SLU, and DePaul would never leave their conferences, I'd choose UMKC or IUPUI out of those options...

... but none of those options are near as good as Murray State as you said, which was really the point of the post by pafan. The MVC already has all of the MVC quality teams that are "geographically close" to the existing MVC teams. None of those teams are good options. If we want to push the conference forwards rather than just adding for the sake of adding, expanding the geography a bit is going to be necessary.

[Mikovio]

This is a great video taking a deep dive into why Belmont was a good add and exploring resumes of expansion candidates --

https://youtu.be/3en4npeWKZ4

I'm in favor of Murray next, as distasteful as doubling down on Carbontucky sounds. *adjusts monocle*

Arlington/Milwaukee would be next on my list but both programs may not be where we want them to be just yet.

The Grand Canyon/New Mexico State duo is my pipe dream, but they may not be interested and current members may balk at all the travel. I think that would elevate the MVC over A10.

It's all about the bids, baby.

[VUGrad1314]

Arlington would ruin the distinction of the MVC being one of seven conferences in which every team has won a tournament game. Their plans to invest had better be freaking impressive in order for the conference to give that up. Yeah being in tow of the top four markets is interesting but Arlington has less than zero pull in that market so I'm leery of adding them. I want to see a heartbeat in Milwaukee's program first. GCU\NMSU would be awesome but too far and if Murray's academics aren't good enough then for darn sure GCU's aren't. Murray is by far and away the best add. I am certain they will be a competitive program in the MVC and let's be honest if Murray was in Milwaukee they'd be in right now. If Murray had the academics of Milwaukee\UIC with that resume they'd be in before Belmont and maybe even before Valpo. As that video pointed out Mid-2000s Milwaukee would be way higher on this list probably 1 or 1A with Murray State. I really hope Murray is the choice. Not sure about Little Rock as a team that would thrive. There's potential there but some of the warts that video exposed gave me a bit of pause on them. I think if the MVC goes to 14 Little Rock would probably be a prime candidate.

[SalukiWorld]

https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio/statu ... ged%2F8%2F

Hearing Murray State will be announced as a new member of the Missouri Valley Conference soon