University of Southern Indiana moving to D1

[IllinoisState]

I'm in favor of anything to get the Eastern Schools more bus trips. We need to dominate the highly coveted Evansville market.

If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?

Nobody. Why would we do that?

This is a hypothetical more meant for BCPanther because of their previous comments.

[IllinoisState]

Best? NDSU, SDSU, NKU, St. Thomas

Likely? UTA, UMKC, Milwaukee, Oral Roberts

But, I agree that we should wait it out or better quality. Someone will be left out we want to snatch up.

NDSU isn't good enough/consistent enough. St. Thomas is in their first season and is only 8-14 playing in a DIII gym. I would not take them on potential. I also don't know if realistically the XDSUs would leave their in state counterparts after they are finally all together.

[Roberts Stadium]

"If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?"


The only reason I hate to expand is that it messes the schedule up but now that that has happened my dream scenario would be the flagship feeder universities in the big markets. Universities of Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska-Omaha, and Wisconsin- Milwaukee,. Then add maybe Oral Roberts. I would like The Valley to regain some lost areas plus the Dakotas make for a better Summit League tournament.

[So iLL 24]

"If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?"


The only reason I hate to expand is that it messes the schedule up but now that that has happened my dream scenario would be the flagship feeder universities in the big markets. Universities of Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska-Omaha, and Wisconsin- Milwaukee,. Then add maybe Oral Roberts. I would like The Valley to regain some lost areas plus the Dakotas make for a better Summit League tournament.

Wichita State, Oral Roberts, Northern Kentucky, Milwaukee

[Chuck A]

If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?

My 4 best options are: Bellarmine, NKU, Kansas City, Wichita State

Don't hate on Kansas City. Billy Donlon has those guys playing quite well (15-9 as I post). He' the right man for the job at this point in time. Kansas City and Wichita moves the league back west as well.

[VUGrad1314]

KC is still a no from me. They're moving in the right direction as a program the metrics are improved from where they were and the win over Missouri is really nice but they have no tradition and their facilities might honestly be worse than ours. Moreover, a whopping FOUR of those wins are against non D1 teams. They've done well to beat some teams that I am surprised to see that they have beaten but I would need to see more from them before we consider them for the MVC. Much more. I'm not going to say never on them but it'll take awhile before they build a strong enough resume and facilities profile to say yes to.

[Action10]

I think the important thing for me in conference realignment is the fit of the incoming school with the rest of the league. The A10 seems to have good institutional fits, including the Loyola add. All of the WCC members make sense. Everyone in the Mountain West fits. I hope the MVC considers this going forward and realizes that everyone fits together CURRENTLY. Too many additions that skew the league in one direction (football / non-football and public / private being the problems that come to mind) can cause major problems. The league has teams that all make sense together because it is a very regional league with basketball being the main event.
Think about the American Athletic Conference. They are all over the place and clearly dysfunctional.

[IllinoisState]

If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?

My 4 best options are: Bellarmine, NKU, Kansas City, Wichita State

Don't hate on Kansas City. Billy Donlon has those guys playing quite well (15-9 as I post). He' the right man for the job at this point in time. Kansas City and Wichita moves the league back west as well.

Wichita is coming back as soon as Creighton does. You can't convince me UMKC would be a good addition. Their fans don't care, they play in a tiny gym, they refused to make financial commitments when asked just recently.

[VUGrad1314]

I think the important thing for me in conference realignment is the fit of the incoming school with the rest of the league. The A10 seems to have good institutional fits, including the Loyola add. All of the WCC members make sense. Everyone in the Mountain West fits. I hope the MVC considers this going forward and realizes that everyone fits together CURRENTLY. Too many additions that skew the league in one direction (football / non-football and public / private being the problems that come to mind) can cause major problems. The league has teams that all make sense together because it is a very regional league with basketball being the main event.
Think about the American Athletic Conference. They are all over the place and clearly dysfunctional.

In addition the AAC was little more than a marriage of convenience between left out former P5 schools and schools that had P5 aspirations but hadn't reached that level quite yet. Virtually every member except like Tulsa Tulane Temple and East Carolina had higher ambitions than the AAC and that was clear from the start. Wichita State might have no choice but to look for a more basketball-friendly home soon because their conference clearly showed that its priorities lie as they always have with football at the forefront. I agree with the general point and premise of your post though. Our (the MVC's) regional identity and institutional balance are important factors to weigh in any expansion decision and I hope we are smart about it going forward. We nailed it this time and I hope that continues to be the case should any more new members be added.

[VUGrad1314]

If we were to expand to 16 teams for the 23-24 season who are the 4 best options currently available?

My 4 best options are: Bellarmine, NKU, Kansas City, Wichita State

Don't hate on Kansas City. Billy Donlon has those guys playing quite well (15-9 as I post). He' the right man for the job at this point in time. Kansas City and Wichita moves the league back west as well.

Wichita is coming back as soon as Creighton does. You can't convince me UMKC would be a good addition. Their fans don't care, they play in a tiny gym, they refused to make financial commitments when asked just recently.

I don't know RE: Wichita State. They may not have a choice. I mean what if the AAC keeps declining in basketball strength and their media deal gets reduced in the future and the MWC says no to them. What other option would they have?