New Expansion Poll Thread

[Buxcies]

St. Thomas is going to have to up its game a bit if we think they’re going to develop into a Missouri Valley Conference candidate. Only giving out a hat for making a half court shot?

https://www.fox9.com/news/st-thomas-stu ... t-wins-hat

[Chuck A]

Look, in many respects, I'm sorry I weighed in. As I said in a previous thread, UIC is an outstanding school academically. I just don't think it measures up athletics-wise to the MVC...at least the MVC of old that I grew up being a fan of.

Right now UIC doesn't measure up BASKETBALL-wise to the MVC. I'd venture to say the rest of our sports do as evidenced by our Championship women's tennis team defeating Bradley and MVC Preseason pick Iilinois State in non-conference play. Our Men's Soccer, Baseball, Softball and Volleyball teams will come in looking to claim Championships or at the very least, top 3 finishes.

[BCPanther]

Look, in many respects, I'm sorry I weighed in. As I said in a previous thread, UIC is an outstanding school academically. I just don't think it measures up athletics-wise to the MVC...at least the MVC of old that I grew up being a fan of.

Right now UIC doesn't measure up BASKETBALL-wise to the MVC. I'd venture to say the rest of our sports do as evidenced by our Championship women's tennis team defeating Bradley and MVC Preseason pick Iilinois State in non-conference play. Our Men's Soccer, Baseball, Softball and Volleyball teams will come in looking to claim Championships or at the very least, top 3 finishes.

Agreed other than volleyball. The Valley is a bear and UNI is going to be back to where they've been historically next year. Who knew that having all 3 of your scholarship setters unavailable was a bad thing...

[MoneyPower]

UIC's main problem is going to be getting fans to go to the games. There's a really nice Blue Line stop less than five minutes from the arena and a parking garage directly adjacent.

The neighborhood is absolutely fine. North of campus is Greektown, with good parks and restaurants. Some decent bars closed on Taylor St but it's still a good place to grab a drink before a game. It's not until you go South of Roosevelt that things get dicier. And even that small pocket is shrinking due to the growing affluence in Pilsen. New Condos are sprouting up north of the viaduct, which was unthinkable 15 years ago.

I lived a stone's throw from the arena in 04 and never felt unsafe. I worked on UICs campus five years ago and commuted fairly late at night. Never felt unsafe. Absolutely zero reason for a fan to go South of Roosevelt as the arena is a good jaunt North from there. One of the nicest high schools in the country is right there as well.

Biggest thing is gonna be fan involvement.

[Campbellproud]

UIC's main problem is going to be getting fans to go to the games. There's a really nice Blue Line stop less than five minutes from the arena and a parking garage directly adjacent.

The neighborhood is absolutely fine. North of campus is Greektown, with good parks and restaurants. Some decent bars closed on Taylor St but it's still a good place to grab a drink before a game. It's not until you go South of Roosevelt that things get dicier. And even that small pocket is shrinking due to the growing affluence in Pilsen. New Condos are sprouting up north of the viaduct, which was unthinkable 15 years ago.

I lived a stone's throw from the arena in 04 and never felt unsafe. I worked on UICs campus five years ago and commuted fairly late at night. Never felt unsafe. Absolutely zero reason for a fan to go South of Roosevelt as the arena is a good jaunt North from there. One of the nicest high schools in the country is right there as well.

Biggest thing is gonna be fan involvement.

I agree. I watched a few UIC games this year and while the arena is beautiful there were exceedingly small crowds. From an institutional standpoint, I wonder how you raise interest in the program from here. Most alums won’t care that basketball went from the Horizon to the MVC. They might be a little more familiar with some of the schools so that might help a bit. It would probably take a tournament run to catch people’s attention. I dunno.

[letsgoAces]

UIC has got the facilities to be highly successful, plus they are paying Yak a heft salary. With a school that size and an alumni base that features more than 1 in 10 Chicago college graduates coming from their school, I get the feeling they might be a "sleeping giant". I am optimistic about them, and plan on going up to their arena when the Aces play....plus walk across the street at eat their Italian restaurants.

[BEARZ77]

Look, in many respects, I'm sorry I weighed in. As I said in a previous thread, UIC is an outstanding school academically. I just don't think it measures up athletics-wise to the MVC...at least the MVC of old that I grew up being a fan of.

Right now UIC doesn't measure up BASKETBALL-wise to the MVC. I'd venture to say the rest of our sports do as evidenced by our Championship women's tennis team defeating Bradley and MVC Preseason pick Iilinois State in non-conference play. Our Men's Soccer, Baseball, Softball and Volleyball teams will come in looking to claim Championships or at the very least, top 3 finishes.

Bold statement; don't see that happening [ claim championships] in soccer, baseball, or volleyball . Have no idea about softball, but there are top level MVC programs in those others . Dallas Baptist, MSU, and UNI would be the top programs in those 1st three. But ultimately, you gotta be good in basketball or football to gain much traction image wise.

[Chuck A]

UIC's main problem is going to be getting fans to go to the games. There's a really nice Blue Line stop less than five minutes from the arena and a parking garage directly adjacent.

The neighborhood is absolutely fine. North of campus is Greektown, with good parks and restaurants. Some decent bars closed on Taylor St but it's still a good place to grab a drink before a game. It's not until you go South of Roosevelt that things get dicier. And even that small pocket is shrinking due to the growing affluence in Pilsen. New Condos are sprouting up north of the viaduct, which was unthinkable 15 years ago.

I lived a stone's throw from the arena in 04 and never felt unsafe. I worked on UICs campus five years ago and commuted fairly late at night. Never felt unsafe. Absolutely zero reason for a fan to go South of Roosevelt as the arena is a good jaunt North from there. One of the nicest high schools in the country is right there as well.

Biggest thing is gonna be fan involvement.

Win and the fans will come. It's as simple as that. We used to do quite well Fan-wise when we were winning, most notably under Jimmy Collins' regime during the time the HL was still a tough conference. We average about 2,000 fans now as bad as we've been. I do realize that would be dead last in the Valley. With pro sports to compete with we'll probably always bring up the rear compared to the current members. Having alumni from most every Valley school will definitely help attendance, but again, win and the fans will come.

[TBS_20]

Bellarmine won the ASUN in only their second year of D1. They're not eligible for the tournament yet but still impressive and something to keep an eye on

[squirrel]

Yep, pretty cool. Bradley is still contracted for a H-H with Bellarmine (this year's game got canceled, so I believe both schools are wanting to just slot the series back a year). Bellarmine moved into Freedom Hall with their move to DI, as well, which may be of interest to Valley fans.