Another Expansion/Realignment Thread

[E-Villan]

Chattanooga would be the perfect replacement for SW Misery State. Probably a better program too.

That BYU smack down must of hurt

Did Indiana State get smacked by BYU? Why would a UE fan have MVFC in their screen name? Hint...they wouldn't.

and yes, we were hoping for a better showing. Hopefully we can learn and grow from it, just like SIU did after thier blowout to Indiana State. Very impressive turnaround since.

[BEARZ77]

My error; knew he was from Indiana and he had made reference in the past to games at the Ford center. My apology to UE fans. Strange though for an Indiana St football fan to be dissing anyone about anything; I guess a good year in baseball does that.

[Bulldog4life24]

We can talk all we want about who would theoretically replace Missouri State but I think two things are probably true:

1) They most likely aren't leaving.

2) If they do, it's going to be Kansas City to keep a presence in Missouri.

^This. UMKC got a test run last time. They know what they need to do, and adding another strong academic school in a large student recruiting market is going to influence the presidents.

I think they’re more likely than St Thomas, mostly because St Thomas has higher aspirations and idk if the league wants to be a stepping stone

[TBS_20]

St Thomas is a football school. I don't think they'll join the mvc or a10. I think they'll eventually go scholarship and join the CUSA. They're getting the basketball center done soon. Next will be a new football stadium

[Chuck A]

St Thomas is a football school. I don't think they'll join the mvc or a10. I think they'll eventually go scholarship and join the CUSA. They're getting the basketball center done soon. Next will be a new football stadium

This right here. The Valley will consider this in their vetting of St. Thomas.

[IllinoisState]

I would say UNI would be a hard no to adding more schools from Appalachia.

No schools from Appalachia. No schools from the Dakotas. You UNI fans want to make this difficult./s

We can talk all we want about who would theoretically replace Missouri State but I think two things are probably true:

1) They most likely aren't leaving.

2) If they do, it's going to be Kansas City to keep a presence in Missouri.

^This. UMKC got a test run last time. They know what they need to do, and adding another strong academic school in a large student recruiting market is going to influence the presidents.

I think they’re more likely than St Thomas, mostly because St Thomas has higher aspirations and idk if the league wants to be a stepping stone

They knew what they had to do before and they refused. They haven't had back to back winning seasons in almost two decades, have only won 20 games once in their second season at the DI level 34 years ago, and have never been to the NCAA tournament. They are also probably the least watch basketball school in their state and probably below a few out of state teams too. What's the point of adding a decent sized market if people don't pay attention to the school?

St Thomas is a football school. I don't think they'll join the mvc or a10. I think they'll eventually go scholarship and join the CUSA. They're getting the basketball center done soon. Next will be a new football stadium

I'd still explore the possibility.

[Bulldog4life24]

As I said, the Presidents make the decision and their priorities are not mostly aligned with those of athletic departments, or fans. They care about what puts tuition dollars in their coffers first and foremost. We’re hitting an enrollment cliff and I bet that most Presidents don’t really care about UMKCs lack of basketball success. They like the recruiting market and the regional presence.

[IllinoisState]

As I said, the Presidents make the decision and their priorities are not mostly aligned with those of athletic departments, or fans. They care about what puts tuition dollars in their coffers first and foremost. We’re hitting an enrollment cliff and I bet that most Presidents don’t really care about UMKCs lack of basketball success. They like the recruiting market and the regional presence.

I understand and I know that it means the MVC will look at schools I might not fully be on board with at least initially. However, I think it still stands that people not caring about UMKC means they wont care about going to other MVC schools.

In this hypothetical situation I'd look at UW-Milwaukee, UT-Arlington, Little Rock, Chattanooga, ETSU, St. Thomas, Detroit, Oakland, Lipscomb, Bellarmine, Southern Indiana, and Purdue University Fort Wayne over UMKC or Omaha. I'd probably stay away from the Dakotas because the population is sparse and would probably only want one of them while they would probably want some sort of package deal.

[Chuck A]

As I said, the Presidents make the decision and their priorities are not mostly aligned with those of athletic departments, or fans. They care about what puts tuition dollars in their coffers first and foremost. We’re hitting an enrollment cliff and I bet that most Presidents don’t really care about UMKCs lack of basketball success. They like the recruiting market and the regional presence.

I agree with this. Even P5 leagues have their bottom feeder teams, i.e. Big Ten (Northwestern), Big East (DePaul) ACC (Boston College, Pitt), SEC (Vanderbilt). So the Council will in all likelihood forego a bit of "athletic prowess" in order to gain tuition dollars and students. This is why Arlington and Kansas City were vetted before...and why UIC was chosen.

[TylerDurden]

As I said, the Presidents make the decision and their priorities are not mostly aligned with those of athletic departments, or fans. They care about what puts tuition dollars in their coffers first and foremost. We’re hitting an enrollment cliff and I bet that most Presidents don’t really care about UMKCs lack of basketball success. They like the recruiting market and the regional presence.

I understand and I know that it means the MVC will look at schools I might not fully be on board with at least initially. However, I think it still stands that people not caring about UMKC means they wont care about going to other MVC schools.

In this hypothetical situation I'd look at UW-Milwaukee, UT-Arlington, Little Rock, Chattanooga, ETSU, St. Thomas, Detroit, Oakland, Lipscomb, Bellarmine, Southern Indiana, and Purdue University Fort Wayne over UMKC or Omaha. I'd probably stay away from the Dakotas because the population is sparse and would probably only want one of them while they would probably want some sort of package deal.

This isn't necessarily just a reply to you, but this take is basically the same approach the Horizon League has used. It doesn't work for athletics or enrollment. In fact, it's one of the reasons schools want to leave the Horizon League.

Oakland, for instance and per their website, has a student population that's about 92% from Michigan and all but about 6% of that is from its home and neighboring counties. They play in many major metro areas every year.

Sports can help your school with visibility, but you can't suck. Most of the programs on the lists in this thread suck and the rest of them are unrealistic options.

All that said, I don't disagree that some presidents think that way...it's wrongheaded, but they do a lot of dumb things despite being smart people.

Doing something makes people think you're trying, I guess.