Another Expansion/Realignment Thread

[LMS]

I have it on decent authority that St Thomas is not interested in the Valley. They think their potential upside is much greater and I might agree. Rumor is they are already angling for an eventual A10 invite with the hope of one day landing in the Big East if the whole system comes crashing down and league realign significantly.

[IllinoisState]

I have it on decent authority that St Thomas is not interested in the Valley. They think their potential upside is much greater and I might agree. Rumor is they are already angling for an eventual A10 invite with the hope of one day landing in the Big East if the whole system comes crashing down and league realign significantly.

Good luck to them joining a conference that already has 15 teams.

[VUGrad1314]

Good luck to them joining a conference where they'd be even more geographically isolated than SLU is. Let's see how they feel about the MVC once the Big East takes 1-3 of SLU Dayton and VCU. I doubt the Valley would look so bad after that. And here's the thing about upside: It's great to have it It makes you an attractive candidate for a conference looking to grow (like ours) but at some point you have to make good on it. St Thomas has been making great strides but they'll have to be better than they've shown so far in basketball for the MVC or any conference about the Summit League for that matter to invite them. I don't believe they are in any position to turn their nose up at an MVC invite should one be forthcoming in the near future. But that's fine. They can stay in the Summit League if that's how they feel. It took a Final Four and a Sweet 16 in a five year period for the A-10 to make a move on Loyola a school in Chicago. If they think the A-10 is pining to add the Minneapolis market so much that they'll accept them before they've achieved such a resume then their administration is delusional and we don't need schools like that in this conference. It's fine to have your institutional preferences but "we're too good for the MVC" when you're coming off a 17-14 season with a 196 NET rating which is your best in D1 so far (impressive considering it's only year two I will grant them) is a preposterous and untenable position.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

MSP isn't Chicago and Tommie Nation isn't the Dayton or SLU fan base.

Good luck to them convincing a dozen East Coast schools without a demonstrated at-large candidacy or quasi-major fan base.

[tribecalledquest]

MSP isn't Chicago and Tommie Nation isn't the Dayton or SLU fan base.

Good luck to them convincing a dozen East Coast schools without a demonstrated at-large candidacy or quasi-major fan base.

Yeah. As my boss would say "St. Thomas is like a gnat floating down the river with a hard-on saying - RAISE THE BRIDGE!"

[Chuck A]

I have it on decent authority that St Thomas is not interested in the Valley. They think their potential upside is much greater and I might agree. Rumor is they are already angling for an eventual A10 invite with the hope of one day landing in the Big East if the whole system comes crashing down and league realign significantly.

Delusions, or false beliefs, comes in several types. Delusions of grandeur are one of the more common ones. It’s when you believe that you have more power, wealth, smarts, or other grand traits than is true. WebMD

I think maybe that unprecedented run they had at the D3 level has indeed gone to their head. It's absolutely great to shoot for the stars, but reality and perspective need to come into play. D1 is another animal. P6 (in basketball) teams make it extremely difficult to rack up possible wins/upsets by simply not scheduling you. Minnesota will probably never play them, thus keeping them the #2 D1 team in that state. That's where their focus should be: angling for an eventual takeover as the state of Minnesota's D1 top dog.

[mvfcfan]

I have it on decent authority that St Thomas is not interested in the Valley. They think their potential upside is much greater and I might agree. Rumor is they are already angling for an eventual A10 invite with the hope of one day landing in the Big East if the whole system comes crashing down and league realign significantly.

Good. I don't want them in the MVC anyways.

[VUGrad1314]

Some of this might be a bit farfetched since not every conference is going to be replacing one with three and there is some bad blood for these schools between them and the Sun Belt but this is nonetheless a scenario I could see playing out. If this comes to pass the MVC might have no choice but to expand in an attempt to gain more clout in hoops and as an all sports league because the Sun Belt would be significantly stronger.

Pac 12 adds San Diego State and SMU

Mountain West adds 1-3 of UTEP New Mexico State and Sam Houston State (unlikely given the bad press at NMSU but the league would need basketball power to offset SDSU and I doubt the possibility of a North Dakota State\St Mary's football basketball pairing being viable especially as long as Gonzaga remains in the WCC (albeit they too are a significant flight risk once the Big XII irons out its direction)

AAC adds Texas State This would be me connecting dots and assuming they want a Texas school as a replacement for SMU. I have no doubt that this would be Navy's preference though they may go a more hoops centric route since SMU is usually one of their better programs and Texas State is historically not that strong.

Sun Belt adds Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech It is also possible they simply call somebody else up because of the bad blood over these schools leaving for CUSA back in 2013 but I believe they would be willing to let bygones be gygones in this case because it fills a hole in their footprint allows them to retain their regional identity with familiar rivals and strengthens them significantly in hoops. The alternative would be calling up Missouri State as a standalone add which would blow this entire scenario up including the MVC's potential response but even with the history why add just one solid program when you can add 3?

CUSA adds anyone and everyone who would take an FBS Invite Potential pool includes Tarleton State EKU Abeline Christian McNeese State Stephen F Austin Austin Peay Central Arkansas UConn (FB only) and UMass (FB only) and maybe others not yet mentioned. I doubt Missouri State would be interested here because it would be a huge blow to their overall athletic department but I suppose they could be an option if they're really desperate for FBS (I don't believe they are this desperate)

If this were to happen I think the MVC would have no choice but to pursue expansion and that their adds would have to be focused on keeping Missouri State and the Iowa schools happy. That means Wright State NKU and Milwaukee would be unlikely to be considered If all heck breaks loose in the ASun Bellarmine would be in play but are they ready for the MVC? Also they wouldn't fit the mission of placating the western schools in the conference. I think the two most obvious candidates would be Oral Roberts and South Dakota State from the Summit League. This would give Missouri State an obvious all sports rival in Oral Roberts and a school that I see as very similar to them in athletic profile in South Dakota State and strengthen the MVC greatly. St Thomas would have to be heavily considered for the Twin Cities presence to help out the Iowa schools but again there is the question of readiness to be competitive at this level with them. I would think the league would need proven commodities in this scenario more than speculative adds though the upside of St Thomas if they hit is greater by far than any other possible addition. It's possible the league would take all 3 with the question of who's #4 being an open debate between the usual candidates (NKU Wright State Milwaukee Bellarmine Kansas City and North Dakota State) none of these options really excite me unless Wright State is over their financial woes NKU or Milwaukee commit to spending more Bellarmine shows more upside\track record or North Dakota State becomes less football centric) which makes going beyond 14 which is a tough sell already an almost impossible task.

[PretzelDawg]

The Big 10 isn't done picking off PAC 12 schools yet. Cal and Stanford will end up in the Big 10 along with Washington and Oregon. After that, it will be a free for all in the Big 12 deciding which other schools to add. After this, the Valley might be picking up chips from out west and in the east.

[Chuck A]

The Big 10 isn't done picking off PAC 12 schools yet. Cal and Stanford will end up in the Big 10 along with Washington and Oregon. After that, it will be a free for all in the Big 12 deciding which other schools to add. After this, the Valley might be picking up chips from out west and in the east.

"chips" such as?