municup14 wrote:Belmont was decisive and quick,Murray is up in the air and slow.
So one of two things happen. One the conference stays at 11 and rewards
the conference champ with a 1st round bye.And two the conference starts
courting other schools and if one joins then Murray doesn't have a date for the prom.
If true it is a stunning reversal from the attitudes of these two institutions just a few short years ago. I don't think it's true though. There's too much ancillary stuff going on around Murray State (the facilities upgrades the partnership with the same group the MVC uses the reticence on the part of anyone associated with the university to comment much at all one way or the other). I think the football issues might be a significant hurdle here as has been suspected by several people. I would be supportive of them just finding any old home for their football program (even the Pioneer) just to get this done but that is clearly not what they want. This would be so much easier if WIU would just make the sensible move and join the OVC and have Murray State take their spot on the MVFC schedule but that's not what WIU wants apparently. I sincerely hope they will find a football home soon and we will have a robust 12 team league going forward. I'd prefer that this be resolved before the season starts but we are running out of time. This might be an offseason thing as it takes time to set up affiliate relationships. Short of a return of Wichita State there is no public school add that could have the same potential positive impact on the league that Murray State can. I would rather stay at 11 and realize the scheduling benefits of having a Belmont home and home replace non D1s on our schedules rather than just add a public school just to add. For me on the public end it's Wichita Murray State or pretty much nothing. I guess I'd be okay with NKU SDSU or Little Rock but I would be disappointed and felt like we left meat on the expansion bone by not waiting to add Murray State (unless the prize is Wichita State in which case I would advocate a 14 team model that's how much I believe in Murray State's potential impact). As impatient as I have been I am willing to wait to let them sort out their issues because I believe they are sincere about joining. If they weren't they would have said they were staying or would have gone somewhere else. And they wouldn't be preparing or positioning themselves the way the few leaks that have come out of Murray State have shown them to be positioning themselves. I just hope it happens soon
