If Missouri State leaves, who do you add?

[tribecalledquest]

Fantastic. NDSU, SDSU, and St. Thomas are destined to be MVC team

Yes on St Thomas. This is a move to get into the Big East and I'd happily sign up to be their pass through.

I could be convinced on SDSU though I don't think they'd consider leaving the massive advantages they have in the Summit League and they're a flight for everybody.

Hardest of hard no on NDSU. They're a flight for everybody. There isn't a Valley school with a significant alumni base in Fargo/Moorehead. There really aren't 'regular students from there for the privates to recruit. It's closer to Winnipeg than it is the Twin Cities which we don't need anyway if St Thomas is around. Lastly, you guys bitch about schools funding football at the expense of basketball and, hoo buddy, do I have a story to tell you about NDSU.

I'm all aboard the St. Thomas train. People who are against it have probably never been to the campus or know much about the school. Get them before someone else does.

[ColonialBulldog]

Who is better? Would you rather have the Omahas and UMKCs? Then some of you will say grand canyon, Texas Arlington, Denver like it's not much, much further yet. Obviously, right now it's not an issue. Doesn't matter anyways. The xdsus will be in the mwc once it gets raided. Then they'll join the montanas

While understanding that what I want doesn't matter at all, I'd revisit a potential NKU or Bellarmine through new lenses if UST was joining. UST/UNI/Drake is a pretty sturdy anchor for a boat that was drifting pretty swiftly south and east.

But there's no reason you can't sit at an odd number.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

I don’t think the MVC plans to be sitting at an odd number. St Thomas’ $175 million arena (for comparison, Northwestern’s was $110 million!) opens in 2025. That’s around the timeline Missouri St likely moves up to FBS. I think the MVC will target St Thomas as Missouri St’s replacement.

Now if we get to 2025 and nothing’s happened with Missouri St, then I think the MVC will just proceed on St Thomas.

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

I don’t think the MVC plans to be sitting at an odd number. St Thomas’ $175 million arena (for comparison, Northwestern’s was $110 million!) opens in 2025. That’s around the timeline Missouri St likely moves up to FBS. I think the MVC will target St Thomas as Missouri St’s replacement.

Now if we get to 2025 and nothing’s happened with Missouri St, then I think the MVC will just proceed on St Thomas.

Just curious, what is the fan support like at St. Thomas? I, like other people, don’t know a thing about St. Thomas.

[BCPanther]

Quick reminder for non-northerners, UST would be the closest valley road trip for Drake/UNI. UST (MSP) has direct flights to all Valley teams with an airport.

NDSU would be among the longest and most expensive for Drake/UNI. It's really far north and west lol. I only point this out because it might not be totally accurate to consider them a group deal based on region.

This right here. Once you get West of the Mississippi, people lose all sense of distance. SDSU and NDSU are both flights for UNI and Drake. It's a REALLY long way west and north.

Who is better? Would you rather have the Omahas and UMKCs? Then some of you will say grand canyon, Texas Arlington, Denver like it's not much, much further yet. Obviously, right now it's not an issue. Doesn't matter anyways. The xdsus will be in the mwc once it gets raided. Then they'll join the montanas

If the Mountain West had any interest in the Dakotas, they'd be there already. The CLOSEST school to either one of the Dakotas is Wyoming which is 672 miles away from Brookings. They are boned by geography plus there are more people in the Des Moines Metro than the entire state of South Dakota. They aren't attractive adds for anybody.

If Missouri State stays (and I think they will) the add to balance UST is either Bellarmine or Omaha.

[Red]

If Missouri State stays (and I think they will) the add to balance UST is either Bellarmine or Omaha.

Was told by a St. Thomas alum that they fully expect to be in an A10 or better league in 10-15 years. They are a private school with deep pockets in a large metropolitan area with very little competition in the state.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Just curious, what is the fan support like at St. Thomas? I, like other people, don’t know a thing about St. Thomas.

St Thomas draws ~5k for football. The St Thomas Tommies and St John’s Johnnies enjoyed a symbiotic relationship where games against each other would draw overflow crowds at home and up to 37k if at a neutral, larger-capacity venue. The two were definitely the class of the MIAC in fan support. (Anecdotally, I went to a Johnnies game in Collegeville last year and it was legit 13k people with more fans sitting on grass than permanent seats.)

That fan support never translated to basketball, but UST has never invested in basketball and was playing in a gym in a D3 conference. Once this P5-caliber arena opens, I anticipate fan support will follow naturally. According to the article, this donation is the 9th largest college athletics gift to a university in US history. These alumni are loaded:

this latest donation is the ninth-largest known gift to college athletics nationally.

[BCPanther]

If Missouri State stays (and I think they will) the add to balance UST is either Bellarmine or Omaha.

Was told by a St. Thomas alum that they fully expect to be in an A10 or better league in 10-15 years. They are a private school with deep pockets in a large metropolitan area with very little competition in the state.

Oh absolutely. We'd be the pass through but I think you still take it.

[ColonialBulldog]

If Missouri State stays (and I think they will) the add to balance UST is either Bellarmine or Omaha.

Was told by a St. Thomas alum that they fully expect to be in an A10 or better league in 10-15 years. They are a private school with deep pockets in a large metropolitan area with very little competition in the state.

I think you're right on this point. But I also think it's worth pointing out the school is presently letting football take a backseat to other sports as a practical matter during the transition to D1. The school and alumni that I know consider themselves to be a football school.

Pioneer League is really their only option for football if they join the Big East or A10. And maybe they are fine with that. But my hunch is that they want more. For that reason, the Valley could be the best of both worlds.

[Khan4Cats]

I am a St. Thomas alum. 30+ years ago when I was there and they moved from "College" to "University" they were talking plans about moving to D1. The MIAC forced their hand a little but they have definitely been making moves in that direction. Football has been a recent strength but they have D3 basketball championships, hockey is a massive draw, baseball has been up and down-but sports in general have generally had support. Going D1 will only increase popularity and visibility.

This was their second full year of D1 football and they went undefeated in the same conference as Drake with juniors and seniors who were recruited as D3 athletes.

As far as money. It's there. They wanted to expand from their landlocked campus so they bought a building in downtown Minneapolis and opened a campus there. They wanted to add a law school so they simply bought an existing one in the cities. There has been discussion about buying a nearby country club in order to build a new football stadium. They have been long the top MBA program in the cities for the major corporations based in MN.