New Expansion Poll Thread

[BCPanther]

The OVC is now the old AMCU/Mid-Con.

Nothing more than a foot in the door to DI that every member is instantly looking to get out of an improve on.

I'd imagine that's the kind of league that the new DI rules will look to get rid of.

[VUGrad1314]

The OVC is now the old AMCU/Mid-Con.

Nothing more than a foot in the door to DI that every member is instantly looking to get out of an improve on.

I'd imagine that's the kind of league that the new DI rules will look to get rid of.

I'm torn on this. On one hand I'm all for more at large bids being possible in the tournament even if that means culling some lower level conferences. Though I prefer tournament expansion as the means to accomplish this goal. I still think too many deserving teams that could go on runs get left out of the current 68 team format. I don't know what the final number should be but I know it should be higher and I believe that when we finally do hit that number we'll know we've hit the sweet spot for overall competitiveness and rewarding the teams that deserve to be rewarded. Plus the games are such a draw I don't see how having more of them doesn't make more money for the NCAA and by extension the participating schools\conferences.

On the other hand programs have to start somewhere and a great success story could be birthed from these conferences like Valpo out of that old AMCU\Mid-Con. We owe our program development and subsequently our progression to the HL and onward to the MVC to that conference and I believe that any school should have that kind of opportunity to get their foot in the door if they want it. Southern Indiana could be one such case out of the OVC just as Bellarmine and NKU were before it when the A-Sun kind of had that role for a little while before deciding to focus on football and becoming more of a proactive player in realignment.

[Khan4Cats]

The OVC is now the old AMCU/Mid-Con.

Nothing more than a foot in the door to DI that every member is instantly looking to get out of an improve on.

I'd imagine that's the kind of league that the new DI rules will look to get rid of.

I'm torn on this. On one hand I'm all for more at large bids being possible in the tournament even if that means culling some lower level conferences. Though I prefer tournament expansion as the means to accomplish this goal. I still think too many deserving teams that could go on runs get left out of the current 68 team format. I don't know what the final number should be but I know it should be higher and I believe that when we finally do hit that number we'll know we've hit the sweet spot for overall competitiveness and rewarding the teams that deserve to be rewarded. Plus the games are such a draw I don't see how having more of them doesn't make more money for the NCAA and by extension the participating schools\conferences.

On the other hand programs have to start somewhere and a great success story could be birthed from these conferences like Valpo out of that old AMCU\Mid-Con. We owe our program development and subsequently our progression to the HL and onward to the MVC to that conference and I believe that any school should have that kind of opportunity to get their foot in the door if they want it. Southern Indiana could be one such case out of the OVC just as Bellarmine and NKU were before it when the A-Sun kind of had that role for a little while before deciding to focus on football and becoming more of a proactive player in realignment.

There are now 4 of the original 8 members of the AMCU in the MVC.

[BCPanther]

The OVC is now the old AMCU/Mid-Con.

Nothing more than a foot in the door to DI that every member is instantly looking to get out of an improve on.

I'd imagine that's the kind of league that the new DI rules will look to get rid of.

I'm torn on this. On one hand I'm all for more at large bids being possible in the tournament even if that means culling some lower level conferences. Though I prefer tournament expansion as the means to accomplish this goal. I still think too many deserving teams that could go on runs get left out of the current 68 team format. I don't know what the final number should be but I know it should be higher and I believe that when we finally do hit that number we'll know we've hit the sweet spot for overall competitiveness and rewarding the teams that deserve to be rewarded. Plus the games are such a draw I don't see how having more of them doesn't make more money for the NCAA and by extension the participating schools\conferences.

On the other hand programs have to start somewhere and a great success story could be birthed from these conferences like Valpo out of that old AMCU\Mid-Con. We owe our program development and subsequently our progression to the HL and onward to the MVC to that conference and I believe that any school should have that kind of opportunity to get their foot in the door if they want it. Southern Indiana could be one such case out of the OVC just as Bellarmine and NKU were before it when the A-Sun kind of had that role for a little while before deciding to focus on football and becoming more of a proactive player in realignment.

There are now 4 of the original 8 members of the AMCU in the MVC.

And only 1 actually left in the AMCU/MidCon/Summit and they're probably on their way out.

[VUGrad1314]

I'm torn on this. On one hand I'm all for more at large bids being possible in the tournament even if that means culling some lower level conferences. Though I prefer tournament expansion as the means to accomplish this goal. I still think too many deserving teams that could go on runs get left out of the current 68 team format. I don't know what the final number should be but I know it should be higher and I believe that when we finally do hit that number we'll know we've hit the sweet spot for overall competitiveness and rewarding the teams that deserve to be rewarded. Plus the games are such a draw I don't see how having more of them doesn't make more money for the NCAA and by extension the participating schools\conferences.

On the other hand programs have to start somewhere and a great success story could be birthed from these conferences like Valpo out of that old AMCU\Mid-Con. We owe our program development and subsequently our progression to the HL and onward to the MVC to that conference and I believe that any school should have that kind of opportunity to get their foot in the door if they want it. Southern Indiana could be one such case out of the OVC just as Bellarmine and NKU were before it when the A-Sun kind of had that role for a little while before deciding to focus on football and becoming more of a proactive player in realignment.

There are now 4 of the original 8 members of the AMCU in the MVC.

And only 1 actually left in the AMCU/MidCon/Summit and they're probably on their way out.

You're talking about WIU right? Yeah I've thought they were going to move to the OVC for quite a long time now especially after Belmont and Murray State left. It just makes sense for them from a financial\competitive standpoint. I know they love competing in the MVFC but you have to think about the health of your athletic department and institution as a whole. I hope it happens because I think it will be a really great and beneficial move for the Leathernecks. They will compete well in that conference and even probably make the FCS Playoffs with greater frequency assuming the OVC retains a football autobid.

[BCPanther]

Western and the OVC are currently having a pissing match over an entrance fee. It's ridiculous because its in the best interest on both sides for it to happen.

From an MVFC perspective it makes the Murray add so much easier because they just get Western's schedule and you don't have blow up everything from 2023 forward.

[VUGrad1314]

Western and the OVC are currently having a pissing match over an entrance fee. It's ridiculous because its in the best interest on both sides for it to happen.

From an MVFC perspective it makes the Murray add so much easier because they just get Western's schedule and you don't have blow up everything from 2023 forward.

Seriously? That's just stupid. The OVC should absolutely waive that to get the Leathernecks to join and if WIU can't afford that then they have far bigger problems and should probably consider dropping to a lower division.

[05Racer]

The OVC is now the old AMCU/Mid-Con.

Nothing more than a foot in the door to DI that every member is instantly looking to get out of an improve on.

I'd imagine that's the kind of league that the new DI rules will look to get rid of.

I'm torn on this. On one hand I'm all for more at large bids being possible in the tournament even if that means culling some lower level conferences. Though I prefer tournament expansion as the means to accomplish this goal. I still think too many deserving teams that could go on runs get left out of the current 68 team format. I don't know what the final number should be but I know it should be higher and I believe that when we finally do hit that number we'll know we've hit the sweet spot for overall competitiveness and rewarding the teams that deserve to be rewarded. Plus the games are such a draw I don't see how having more of them doesn't make more money for the NCAA and by extension the participating schools\conferences.

On the other hand programs have to start somewhere and a great success story could be birthed from these conferences like Valpo out of that old AMCU\Mid-Con. We owe our program development and subsequently our progression to the HL and onward to the MVC to that conference and I believe that any school should have that kind of opportunity to get their foot in the door if they want it. Southern Indiana could be one such case out of the OVC just as Bellarmine and NKU were before it when the A-Sun kind of had that role for a little while before deciding to focus on football and becoming more of a proactive player in realignment.

The OVC has had poor leadership and made poor decisions for most of my lifetime. I won't go into that history because it's a whole thread of its own, and others with more information can speak better than I, but I wouldn't waste a great deal of sympathy on them. There's a reason all the good teams, and even the halfway decent teams have already left or are leaving. Sooner or later, you reap what you sow and the OVC has been sowing for a long time.

[Campbellproud]

For all of you realignment nerds, I have been geeking out over this map of every D1 school and their respective conference, color-coded:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _teams.png

I can’t see a single school that would improve this 12.

[Herd]

Should the MVC expand during the next round of alignment I think if St. Thomas comes so will NDSU and SDSU. Can't really keep them out due to distance if you're adding St. Thomas. St. Thomas, NDSU, SDSU, and NKU.

This isn't accurate. I don't think people realize that UST would be the 2nd shortest road trip (3.5 hours) for both UNI and Drake by a good half hour. By comparison, it takes a full 7 hours to get to Fargo for both Iowa schools. That would be tied with SIU for the 2nd longest trip for Drake when you look at current Valley members. Also, it's a good 4.5 hours to Brookings from Des Moines. Plus, MSP is obviously one of the largest commercial hubs for airlines with flights to basically every city in the Valley..

Belmont and Murray were excellent no-brainer additions. My vote is we stay put until a school similarly shows that they are too good to be left out. I will say that I'm really really hoping that NKU is not the next addition. The geography of this conference has shifted south and east and I'm starting to get jealous that fans of 9 out of 12 teams can make easy daytrips to at least 4-5 other conference games.

Exactly. People have no idea how far away the Dakota schools actually are. I know I've beat it to death but Fargo is closer to Winnipeg than it is to the Twin Cities.

Every UNI Football trip up there is a flight except for USD which is right on the very edge of the bus/flight line and we're by far the closest to them in the MVFC. That's before you get in to how awful being in an all sports league with NDSU is.

Yes, we are all well aware of your obsession with keeping NDSU out of your precious conference, and that burr in your saddle that you are still grinding away on from 1975. The only thing I’ve seen lately from UNI being in the MVFC with NDSU is a lot of losing. It must really hurt your feelings, sorry about that. It’s pretty arrogant of you to continue to badmouth NDSU on this board.