Poll: Would Missouri State accept a Sun Belt invite?

[BUFanatic]

I wouldnt be surprised if Missouri jumps to the Sun Belt after this season

Hey now, Auburn looks winnable this Saturday

[Mikovio]

You seem to have a lot invested in arguing against a school considering moving up. I get many of your arguments, have made some of the same myself over the years. And I'm one of those who thinks FBS and high level FCS will all be together in the [near] future. But I also think you overstate some of the points. All schools besides about 50-60 lose money on sports , including Bradley , so it's really just a matter of how much you lose and what your sense of the benefit is in doing so. Some of that benefit is blue sky, but many see value in that, and some have tangible value like a football booster contributing to other building projects. Missouri State is in , I won't say a unique situation, but one different than many at our level. We have a large enrollment and are the second largest university in the state, and there really is no competitor except MU . We have great facilities and a great campus overall, so no real issues with football robbing us of that; actually it's football that needs more attention that way[ facility wise] . We've always had a well rounded athletics department , made the NCAA's in baseball, softball, soccer, wbb, the FCS playoffs and the mens NIT last year, have dominated swimming and diving for a decade in the valley; the point being, we have healthy programs established, so I'm not overly concerned football will crash everything. It's a risk, but what's wrong with risk.

I think if I was a Bradley fan, I'd be looking at taking some risk or whether sitting safe in a cocoon has been smart given almost all your original constituents in the MVC have found their way to better settings while Bradley stayed pat. Look at Cinn., Memphis, WSU, SLU, Louisville, Tulsa, etc ; all gone and much higher status Even later adds like Loyola and Creighton, in and out of the Valley to better settings. I started following the MVC in the 60's and I think only Drake and Bradley were members then that still are. Nothing wrong with that, but you have to think about why have all those other schools been able to move up and not Bradley. Perhaps the same small mindedness .

Also I think some of you look at bowl games as the payoff in FBS; it's the noncon games . Missouri State got $450,000 I think for the Arkansas game,if we were FBS it would have been more like 1.4 million. Again , who knows what it all will look like in 5 years, I just like our options and the fact we are open to their consideration.

I'm not invested in anything but Bradley being good as a donor/STH. To the extent the MVC plays good basketball and helps us get a respectable NET to be considered for an at large in a great season, I'm invested in the MVC being good. And I think the MVC's best shot at being good is for its public programs to follow Murray State's model of emphasizing basketball instead of spending tens of millions chasing the Power 5 (or 4 or 3) football programs. Long-term, I think it's a losing proposition as they get richer and richer while the lower G5 programs eventually give up or have the door shut in their faces. And when that happens, your Louisiana-Lafayette's will be carrying massive debt as compared to Murray which will have a healthy athletic department. You can put debt off, especially when interest rates are low, but it will catch up to you. I think it's why NDSU hasn't jumped to the Mountain West or MAC yet.

There's a reason why Bradley has poached a MAC coach of the year and a Sun Belt freshman of the year in the last 11 years. In a word, football. So while MSU has a great well rounded athletic department now I wouldn't expect it to continue if they shift resources to build up football.

It is true that you get substantially larger payouts as an FBS for guarantee games but their budgets are still in terrible shape. The lesser bowl games are often money losers for lower FBS teams because a good share of the advertised payout is in the form of thousands of tickets they must eat if they can't sell. Maybe MSU fans would sell it out though.

Maybe it's my small mindedness but I think Bradley made the right decision not jumping to the Great Midwest in the early 90s. I think DePaul, Marquette etc would not have taken us along when they formed CUSA. Or if they did, we would have been stuck in a continuously diluting CUSA. Tulsa has been riding that rollercoaster for 25 years and I doubt they're thrilled where it's taking them.

[BCPanther]

Feels like a good time to point out the most successful public Valley basketball school of the last 20 years is also the most historically successful football school of the Valley publics.

It doesn't have to be an either/or. With the right hires, you can be good at both.

[Mikovio]

Feels like a good time to point out the most successful public Valley basketball school of the last 20 years is also the most historically successful football school of the Valley publics.

It doesn't have to be an either/or. With the right hires, you can be good at both.

The most successful public Valley basketball school-- if you don't count non-football Wichita State, as much as I don't care for them.

[Drakey]

Feels like a good time to point out the most successful public Valley basketball school of the last 20 years is also the most historically successful football school of the Valley publics.

It doesn't have to be an either/or. With the right hires, you can be good at both.

The first two schools that come to mind when i think of the most successful Valley teams are Wichita State and Creighton.

[BCPanther]

Feels like a good time to point out the most successful public Valley basketball school of the last 20 years is also the most historically successful football school of the Valley publics.

It doesn't have to be an either/or. With the right hires, you can be good at both.

The first two schools that come to mind when i think of the most successful Valley teams are Wichita State and Creighton.

Not sure when Creighton became a public institution but you learn something new every day I guess...

I'll grant you Wichita but they've also been gone for 6 years now and they also don't play football.