Missouri State leaving MVC for CUSA

[MidwestBest]

Our directional make sense, they're in our market and in most cases are significant brands within CBB. Truly before yall brought them up as an option for the Valley I don't think most of the fans in Illinois/Indiana/Iowa would've known anything about UT Arlington.

Nitpicking what i said doesnt make it untrue, the options at the moment are no-brand places that were hoping could pop...but their joining the Valley points to the opportunistic nature of them and even if our bet pays off, i suspect theyd just jump at the next thing to come along. Valpo/Loyola/UIC also fit into this category but at least fans live around those areas and can drive from in-state to catch a game or whatever.

Just keep it the way it is for now, unless something logical makes itself available.

[ReZyNeZy]

MidwestBest has a point. A lot of Mid Major Conferences are regional for a reason. The P4 were also regional before becoming so big that they can afford to expand in all directions. Being regional allows for easy travel for fans as well as teams. Sure, one flight for a Football or Basketball team isn't going to do a lot of harm, but tell a fan that wants to support their team that they have to travel from Northern Iowa to Arlington Texas to catch a regular season match. Or tell Arlington fans that they got to come 15 hours to play in Chicagoland for UIC or Valpo. I went to the Valpo Ill St game and saw a plethora of Redbird fans there. Same thing with the Ind St and Valpo game. Contrary to popular belief, people still like to watch their teams play ball. When all of your games are on a paid subscription, its hard to watch them play. The power schools have deals where anyone can see their games because they are on FOX, ESPN. CBS, NBC, ect. The small fries dont.

[IllinoisState]

Our directional make sense, they're in our market and in most cases are significant brands within CBB. Truly before yall brought them up as an option for the Valley I don't think most of the fans in Illinois/Indiana/Iowa would've known anything about UT Arlington.

Nitpicking what i said doesnt make it untrue, the options at the moment are no-brand places that were hoping could pop...but their joining the Valley points to the opportunistic nature of them and even if our bet pays off, i suspect theyd just jump at the next thing to come along. Valpo/Loyola/UIC also fit into this category but at least fans live around those areas and can drive from in-state to catch a game or whatever.

Just keep it the way it is for now, unless something logical makes itself available.

It's not nitpicking, it's factually incorrect. You're giving reasons for why directional schools are bad and then applying that logic to a school that does not fit.

[MidwestBest]

its cool man we just disagree on University of Texas -Arlington, Northern Kentucky, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee as being MVC level programs from a results and notoriety standpoint.

Personally I do not think UT- Arlington has anything in common with UNI or Southern from an athletics pedigree standpoint or relevancy within the greater Illinois/Iowa/Indiana communities but different strokes for different folks.

[TBS_20]

Northern Kentucky could be an MVC level program if they wanted to. Thus far, they do not want to be. I agree every other team previously listed is not. St. Thomas is but they have other goals. I admit I dont know enough about UTA to make a decision on that. But, Omaha, UMKC, Bellarmine, UWM, etc. are not MVC level programs. I know Lindenwood is far from being MVC level as theyre still transitioning to D1 but it might be a good add just based upon proximity to the league office.

[tribecalledquest]

Northern Kentucky could be an MVC level program if they wanted to. Thus far, they do not want to be. I agree every other team previously listed is not. St. Thomas is but they have other goals. I admit I dont know enough about UTA to make a decision on that. But, Omaha, UMKC, Bellarmine, UWM, etc. are not MVC level programs. I know Lindenwood is far from being MVC level as theyre still transitioning to D1 but it might be a good add just based upon proximity to the league office.

What determines an "MVC level program" in your mind? Honestly asking.

[MidwestBest]

Northern Kentucky could be an MVC level program if they wanted to. Thus far, they do not want to be. I agree every other team previously listed is not. St. Thomas is but they have other goals. I admit I dont know enough about UTA to make a decision on that. But, Omaha, UMKC, Bellarmine, UWM, etc. are not MVC level programs. I know Lindenwood is far from being MVC level as theyre still transitioning to D1 but it might be a good add just based upon proximity to the league office.

What determines an "MVC level program" in your mind? Honestly asking.

For me its the right geography first, we're a collection of Midwest schools with relatively similar values and academic profiles. From there i would say for the most part our collection of basketball programs share fanbases that both care and are engaged in their schools program for the long haul. We are not a collection of new comers, it seems to me we are a group of fanbases that care about the history of the league and our schools performances along with current on-court performance. This is obviously a sliding scale as some schools have more of these qualities than others.

if a prospective add doesnt have the right geography but has the right program, id say they could be a fit. If a prospective add doesnt have the right program but is regionally appropriate id say they could be a bit. but if a school has neither of those things, i wouldnt call them a good fit.

[tribecalledquest]

Northern Kentucky could be an MVC level program if they wanted to. Thus far, they do not want to be. I agree every other team previously listed is not. St. Thomas is but they have other goals. I admit I dont know enough about UTA to make a decision on that. But, Omaha, UMKC, Bellarmine, UWM, etc. are not MVC level programs. I know Lindenwood is far from being MVC level as theyre still transitioning to D1 but it might be a good add just based upon proximity to the league office.

What determines an "MVC level program" in your mind? Honestly asking.

For me its the right geography first, we're a collection of Midwest schools with relatively similar values and academic profiles. From there i would say for the most part our collection of basketball programs share fanbases that both care and are engaged in their schools program for the long haul. We are not a collection of new comers, it seems to me we are a group of fanbases that care about the history of the league and our schools performances along with current on-court performance. This is obviously a sliding scale as some schools have more of these qualities than others.

if a prospective add doesnt have the right geography but has the right program, id say they could be a fit. If a prospective add doesnt have the right program but is regionally appropriate id say they could be a bit. but if a school has neither of those things, i wouldnt call them a good fit.

Doesn't Milwaukee at least have the geography part of it? And they have had a fair amount of basketball success the last 20 seasons or so. The arena they play in is fantastic.

Not a perfect fit of course - but they spend on MBB and the results have been there - far more than UIC for example.

[MidwestBest]

Milwaukee would be the one id be most interested in for sure.

[ReZyNeZy]

For me its the right geography first, we're a collection of Midwest schools with relatively similar values and academic profiles. From there i would say for the most part our collection of basketball programs share fanbases that both care and are engaged in their schools program for the long haul. We are not a collection of new comers, it seems to me we are a group of fanbases that care about the history of the league and our schools performances along with current on-court performance. This is obviously a sliding scale as some schools have more of these qualities than others.

if a prospective add doesnt have the right geography but has the right program, id say they could be a fit. If a prospective add doesnt have the right program but is regionally appropriate id say they could be a bit. but if a school has neither of those things, i wouldnt call them a good fit.

Seeing as the MVC is a top tier mid major, I would add that you have an "arena" as opposed to a "gym"

Doesn't Milwaukee at least have the geography part of it? And they have had a fair amount of basketball success the last 20 seasons or so. The arena they play in is fantastic.

Not a perfect fit of course - but they spend on MBB and the results have been there - far more than UIC for example.

This is where market comes into play. UW-Madison and Marquette just have too much of a grip on the market in Milwaukee. Marquette and Milwaukee in particular are neighbors. That being Panther Arena and Fiserv Forum are right next to each other. You could make the same case for UIC and Valpo as well. UIC is clamoring for a piece of the Chicago market. Valpo is fighting Purdue for the NWI market and the Chicago teams for the Chicago market.