University of Southern Indiana moving to D1

by **Chuck A** » February 7th, 2022, 1:34 pm

The USI Board of Trustees just voted unanimously to move to D1. What is the sentiment of this board about USI? I realize they probably got an invite from the OVC, but what about down the road when the Valley expands again? Are you guys, if the conference expands again, holding out hope for Wichita State and/St. Louis, and if not those two, the league stands pat?

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by **unipanther99** » February 7th, 2022, 1:59 pm

I think if the conference needs to expand or replace again, it should be to the west. Not just another short bus trip for the eastern schools.

by **IllinoisState** » February 7th, 2022, 2:24 pm

unipanther99 wrote:I think if the conference needs to expand or replace again, it should be to the west. Not just another short bus trip for the eastern schools.

I would want the best school realistically available. Unless the Valley was going to add SDSU there are currently no other good schools to add in the west.

by **VUGrad1314** » February 7th, 2022, 2:38 pm

Need to see how USI handles the transition. I think they can end up in the Horizon League at some point but beyond that is asking a lot especially in the short-medium term. Remember their current budget stands at like $6.6million which is way below the HL let alone the MVC plus we already have a presence in Evansville. As for expansion candidates I agree that the next adds probably have to be to the west of the footprint unless the likes of Wright State or NKU become viable and probably then they only work as a package because that is such a large expansion of the footrpint. I actually think that outside of (potentially) Bellarmine (and they need some time to grow into themselves as a candidate if they want to get into the MVC) that the best realistic candidates (unless we get something unexpected from a reshuffling of D1 or a return of a former program)are in the west (South Dakota State St Thomas and Oral Roberts come to mind as the best candidates from an athletics perspective unless Wright State recovers financially and NKU decides they want to make the investments necessary to become a viable candidate and even then I'm not sure if I like those candidates more than the western candidates especially if St Thomas makes good on its potential.

by **RacerJoeD** » February 7th, 2022, 2:40 pm

The good part of this happening is that the Valley has time to see who actually is getting better before expansion needs to happen.

by **unipanther99** » February 7th, 2022, 3:16 pm

IllinoisState wrote:
unipanther99 wrote:I think if the conference needs to expand or replace again, it should be to the west. Not just another short bus trip for the eastern schools.

I would want the best school realistically available. Unless the Valley was going to add SDSU there are currently no other good schools to add in the west.

There is no reason to believe Southern Indiana will be a significantly better option than St. Thomas, Omaha, Kansas City, Arlington, or others in a few years. The Valley footprint in that region has become extremely dense. Unless Evansville leaves (why would they?), I can't really see any reason to add Southern Indiana.

by **RacerJoeD** » February 7th, 2022, 3:29 pm

No reason to think that Belmont could do what they did in the short amount of time they did it either, but they did. Im just not willing to write off anybody just yet.

by **TBS_20** » February 7th, 2022, 3:45 pm

I would imagine they keep an eye on St. Thomas more since it's a private school. It'll keep the split somewhat close

by **05Racer** » February 7th, 2022, 3:55 pm

No, just no. There should be no more OVC schools going to the MVC. That league is going to be bottom five conference bad for the foreseeable future so even if somebody does well there it means essentially squat.

South Dakota State strikes me as the best add at the moment, but I have to think if they wanted to be in, we would have heard something during the last few rounds of expansion. They may be satisfied where they are, don't want to spend more on travel, etc. Given current demographic trends, it would make more sense to move south than west anyway. UTA was the right direction geography wise, just not a good choice for a number of other reasons. I feel bad for MoState. They need a travel partner but I don't know what schools are in that area. Some MoState fan should enlighten us who might be on their wish list.

by **Chuck A** » February 7th, 2022, 4:11 pm

Not to highjack my own thread, but I guess I will. I get the reasons for the hesitancy of USI: region is dense, should expand west, won't be much if anything, etc. Why the love affair though, some of you have (especially you VUGrad1314) with the Dakotas and St. Thomas? Travel to the Dakotas would put a strain on the budgets of the southern schools and keep students out of classes for a couple days or so. Why St. Thomas is getting so much mention over Bellarmine is beyond me. They are private and a better program right now than St. Thomas; they're in the Valley footprint and don't have football to complicate matters. I don't get it.

Right now I think the MVC has a nice geographic fit of drivable trips with a couple 2-3 flights or so mixed in.