Poll: If not Murray State as the 12th, then who?

[SalukiWorld]

Like the other poll but with Murray State looking less likely, who would be your 12th school?

[mvfcfan]

Of that list in order of preference for me.

1) NKU- They have a relatively new arena, recent tournament appearances, and have upped their spending recently to around $2.5M. People south of the Ohio River don't really like being associated with the city of Cincinnati, so there's a chance they would embrace their local team. They also have a decent enrollment size at 15K.

2) UWM- They are far behind NKU for me. I wouldn't be excited necessarily if they joined, but there are worse options. The biggest negatives are that their athletics department has been a disorganized mess in recent years and that they play across the street from where Marquette U plays. Positives are that they spend over $3M in BB and that they have a large enrollment of 27K.

3) Oakland- They have had success before. I'm not sure what they've done lately.

4) UIC- The lesser mid major in Chicago and do we really need 2 Chicago teams?

5) Wright State- They are below the D1 minimum in sports sponsored. The only reason they aren't last on my list is because of location.

6) UALR- Too far away in my view and not enough success. The only good year they've had that I'm aware was under Chris Beard and he left right afterwards.

7) UTA- UALR is too far and UTA is way too far. DBU, for baseball, should remain the only school from Texas that has any connection to the MVC.

Honorable Mention: I also like Oral Roberts and they'd probably be second on my list behind NKU. I don't view them as a reasonable option though, because I think school presidents and boards would oppose being associated with them.

[usmcsaluki]

If those are the only options then the Valley needs to hold at 11.

[ColonialBulldog]

Here's my preferences on the matter:

1) Add Murray State
2) Do nothing
3) Add NDSU, SDSU, and St. Thomas

[VUGrad1314]

Here's my preferences on the matter:

1) Add Murray State
2) Do nothing
3) Add NDSU, SDSU, and St. Thomas

Option 3 is REALLY interesting. I have to say that. I would give ORU a look as a private school addition but I would imagine academics would be an issue there. I strongly favor option 1 though. I hope this is going to end up happening.

[IllinoisState]

Here's my preferences on the matter:

1) Add Murray State
2) Do nothing
3) Add NDSU, SDSU, and St. Thomas

Option 3 is REALLY interesting. I have to say that. I would give ORU a look as a private school addition but I would imagine academics would be an issue there. I strongly favor option 1 though. I hope this is going to end up happening.

Never Oral Roberts. Give me Detroit, St. Thomas, Bellarmine, or Lipscomb among others before ever adding Oral Roberts.

[VUGrad1314]

Oral Roberts is the best athletic add but they have a lot of warts academically and culturally. I am primarily assessing it from an athletics lens but there are plenty of reasons why they would face significant obstacles to potential inclusion in the MVC.

[Mikovio]

ORU had serious financial issues not that long ago though perhaps it's been resolved. You gotta make sure they're not going to join and then make athletic dept cuts like Wright is doing.

I still think Grand Canyon would be the best add if it's even remotely feasible with Phoenix flights. Huge budget, rabid support and they've recently become nonprofit. Presidents would balk but it would strengthen basketball which is of course our bread and butter.

[letsgoAces]

Though I don't think they would be a bad add, I do like Northern Kentucky. But I would just assume stay at 11 if Murray is not admitted (I still think are going to get in, until I hear differently directly from the league office or MSU). Admitting UTA and ALR is a little intriguing, but still represents too much of a gamble and just too far. Wright State is a mess, and Milwaukee lacks leadership. I would never admit Oral Roberts - as alluded to in an earlier post culturally it would not be a fit in any way, and I personally, would not want to be aligned with them in any way. The addition of Belmont makes the MVC a league that would get multiple bids most years. You add Murray State and the MVC gets multiple bids perhaps every year.
The way being conferences are now being shook up there could very well be some good programs that would welcome coming to our league.

[UEACES80]

With the news of 6 teams leaving CUSA to join the American. I would think Wichita is getting a little sick to their stomach Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB & UTSA to their formerly thought of P6 Conference. Got to think they would be willing to come back home to MVC.

My longshot but unlikely due to football would be WKU as they are in the sinking CUSA soon to be down to 8 teams.

How about 3 teams and keep the balance of Private / Public by adding two of the three Wichita State, Murray State or Northern Kentucky and on the private side take a flyer on St Thomas.