Valley leaving St Louis????

[BirdmanBB]

This is also why Chicago would be a terrible site. The schools that are close to St Louis would tend to be close to Chicago and the schools that are farther away would be EVEN farther away than with St Louis.

I don't think Chicago is a realistic location, but it does have $$$ and alumni. You would be catering to a different crowd.

I agree. I actually think you might actually see an increase of fans from schools like Illinois State, Bradley, SIU, Indiana St. and Evansville. WSU and CU already travel well so attendance overall might be a lot better.

I would like to see it potentially rotate every year between St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City. It would at least provide a change of scenery for those who go every year.

doublejay....I think most people make the mistake of thinking that it is already in our backyard so why reward us. Chicago would actually be in our backyard, not St. Louis (even for SIU). Most alum from all 3 illinois schools are in the chicagoland area. you would likely get a better turnout from alum at Indiana St. and Evansville too.

[DoubleJayAlum]

doublejay....I think most people make the mistake of thinking that it is already in our backyard so why reward us. Chicago would actually be in our backyard, not St. Louis (even for SIU). Most alum from all 3 illinois schools are in the chicagoland area. you would likely get a better turnout from alum at Indiana St. and Evansville too.

Maybe, but St Louis is certainly a lot closer to your backyard than it is to Creighton and Wichita St. And when it comes it students making the trip, it isn't even a contest.

If St Louis is such a pain for the eastern schools, then why the hell do we have it there in the first place?

It is a moot discussion anyway because Chicago won't come anywhere close to making a competitive bid; they simply aren't interested and wouldn't even make a bid at all when approached several years back.

[tribecalledquest]

It's funny how Illinois State, Bradley, SIU (etc, etc) fans say they just won't go if it's not in STL. The longer drive hasn't stopped WSU and CU all these years. Support your team no matter where it's at.

This is exactly what I predicted early in this thread. The eastern schools, for the most part, barely support the tourney now even though it is in their backyard. SIU fans support it in great numbers when SIU is good, but don't show up at all when SIU is bad.

Chicago would be an epic mistake on many levels. If the eastern schools won't support the tourney now, why reward those same fans by moving it even further east? All you will do is alienate more of the fans from the west, who are the ones that actually support the tourney now.

I understand your point DJA but I remember when Wichita was bad and they weren't exactly filling up the arena. It isn't about the Western schools vs. the Eastern schools...it's about good teams vs. bad teams.

Give the same records and results that WSU and Creighton had this year to Bradley and SIU then you would have seen the same type of atmosphere/attendance but with different color shirts in the crowd.

That said...I don't have a problem with Kansas City if it makes a ton of financial sense for the Valley. As has been noted, it is still reasonably enough located for all of the teams. Outside of STL or KC I don't see any other viable option.

[DoubleJayAlum]

It's funny how Illinois State, Bradley, SIU (etc, etc) fans say they just won't go if it's not in STL. The longer drive hasn't stopped WSU and CU all these years. Support your team no matter where it's at.

This is exactly what I predicted early in this thread. The eastern schools, for the most part, barely support the tourney now even though it is in their backyard. SIU fans support it in great numbers when SIU is good, but don't show up at all when SIU is bad.

Chicago would be an epic mistake on many levels. If the eastern schools won't support the tourney now, why reward those same fans by moving it even further east? All you will do is alienate more of the fans from the west, who are the ones that actually support the tourney now.

I understand your point DJA but I remember when Wichita was bad and they weren't exactly filling up the arena. It isn't about the Western schools vs. the Eastern schools...it's about good teams vs. bad teams.

Give the same records and results that WSU and Creighton had this year to Bradley and SIU then you would have seen the same type of atmosphere/attendance but with different color shirts in the crowd.

That said...I don't have a problem with Kansas City if it makes a ton of financial sense for the Valley. As has been noted, it is still reasonably enough located for all of the teams. Outside of STL or KC I don't see any other viable option.

Quest -

Even when WSU was bad, they still had decent crowds. And, to their credit, the same is true for Bradley. Bradley is sort of an anomaly of the eastern schools in that they support the tourney no matter what.

What is frustrating to us in the west is that we've got the farthest to go and still draw the best. When Creighton was down (at least according to CU expectations) a couple of years ago, we still traveled very well to the tourney. At the same time, those schools in the east that have the the shortest trips can't seem to make it regularly.

[tribecalledquest]

Quest -

Even when WSU was bad, they still had decent crowds. And, to their credit, the same is true for Bradley. Bradley is sort of an anomaly of the eastern schools in that they support the tourney no matter what.

What is frustrating to us in the west is that we've got the farthest to go and still draw the best. When Creighton was down (at least according to CU expectations) a couple of years ago, we still traveled very well to the tourney. At the same time, those schools in the east that have the the shortest trips can't seem to make it regularly.

Doesn't that relate to home attendance as well? Bradley stinks and still gets 7K. ISU is decent and doesn't draw. The leaders in attendance each and every year are Creighton, Wichita and Bradley. The MVC may say....Creighton and Wichita already come and will come...moving it from St. Louis only keeps the others from coming.

Im not sure they say that--but it's a thought. I'm not sure how they look at the walkup/city/alum crowd. I do think STL has a strong alum base for SIU and MSU for sure, and ISU and BU to an extent. I don't know what the alum base in KC is. Im guessing stronger for MSU and WSU.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I don't know what the alum base in KC is. Im guessing stronger for MSU and WSU.

I would guess that Creighton and Drake have pretty large alumni bases in KC too. I know that both of those schools recruit the KC area for undergrads pretty hard. UNI probably has a few alums there as well.

[DUBulldog]

I don't know what the alum base in KC is. Im guessing stronger for MSU and WSU.

I would guess that Creighton and Drake have pretty large alumni bases in KC too. I know that both of those schools recruit the KC area for undergrads pretty hard. UNI probably has a few alums there as well.

I would guess that, other than Des Moines, Chicago has the most Drake alums with Kansas City second. Drake would definitely have more fans attend in either KC or Chicago. But, as much as I love Chicago (I'm a native), it makes no sense as a site for an MVC tourney.

[Ricardo del Rio]

FWIW...here are three different calculations as to where the geographic center of the conference is.

KC is the geographic center of MSU, WSU, and Omaha. Add Drake and it shifts to about St. Joes. After that is goes east very very quickly.

Excellent job, FTW.

[valleychamp]

B12 re-upped with KC today thru 2016, fwiw.

IMO, this pretty much shuts the door on the MVC moving the tourney to KC in the near future...

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

B12 re-upped with KC today thru 2016, fwiw.

IMO, this pretty much shuts the door on the MVC moving the tourney to KC in the near future...

Still different weekend and also we could use Kemper if Sprint Center isn't available. And then maybe Municipal Auditorium for women's basketball. But this news does counter that KC momentum that most of us were sensing. If we were at that 2006 tournament level then I'd say go head to head with them but right now the disparity is too big.