MVC 10 Members or 12? Front-runners?

[Jays26]

so long as the end result is that the Jays are in the Big East we will be happy

LOL.

The BJ will never be in the Big East. They will be in some league bearing that name, but it is not what anybody thinks of the Big East today. You will be in the Big East sans Cinci, Louisville, Uconn, Pitt, 'Cuse, and Notre Dame. Basically you will be in a league with all the poo poo (minus Georgetown) teams from the original Big East plus a few new mid-majors. I Just wanted to clarify that for you. You don't owe me anything. You're welcome.


T


...

Posted this in another thread for your buddy Baller........I'll be honest, I look forward to your posts.

I keep thinking you can't get any deeper in your hatred/envy/jealousy for the Jays but you keep surprising me.

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
Fulton J. Sheen

[Athens and Akron]

A couple posts earlier in this thread mentioned the MVC targeting MAC East schools.

I think Akron and Ohio are both good options. Fanbases at Akron and Ohio are not happy with the MAC in basketball. Akron and Ohio spend far more than the rest of the schools in the MAC on hoops and the rest of the schools do not seem interested in a multi-bid league. I do not know attendance specifics, but Ohio averaged just under 7,000 fans this year and Akron averaged somewhere around 5,000 fans this year. Ohio is coming off the Sweet Sixteen and Akron was ranked in the Top 25 this year.

Football is probably the big issue. Akron and Ohio are probably best off in the MAC and neither have an interest in dropping to FCS. A move to the MVC for basketball would need to be hoops only or all-sports except football. Not sure if that is a dealbreaker on either end since basketball is the primary reason for this discussion, but it sure makes it complicated.

Besides Akron and Ohio, you would probably look for a 3rd team to get up to 12. Obviously, Dayton would be ideal. If you are looking at another MAC team, Toledo or Miami are probably you best bet. Miami has a strong history, but they are not spending what they need to be right now. Hockey is king there. Miami and Ohio are rivals, so that is a plus. Miami is also a strong academic school. Toledo is an interesting pick. Not much success, but decent spending and support and a decent market. I don't look at adding Ohio teams as "outside your footprint" more "expanding you footprint" to the east.
Akron has a very nice TV market in NEO. Ohio is in rural SEO (Athens) however almost all of its students come from Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. They have always had great fan support and their recent hoops success has only made that stronger.
I did notice mention of the importance public vs private. That could be another issue. Ohio, Akron, Miami and Toledo are all public.
Besides all those issues, this is a no-brainer for basketball.

edit: It just hit me some of you might not be familiar with my Ohio descriptions. NEO is Northeast Ohio (Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Youngstown) while SEO is Southeast Ohio (Very scenic, buffer zone between civilization and West Virginia). Toledo is in NWO while Miami and Dayton are in SWO near Cincinnati. Big hoops area with UC and Xavier also there and Louisville not too far away.
Central Ohio is an ugly Buckeye wasteland.

[jwa123]

Athens & Akron, welcome! I appreciate your take on things and it's interesting to read your thoughts. It seems around these parts when the MAC comes up it's about either one or all of Ilst, UNI and Mo State heading to the MAC for football and the thought of MAC schools heading to the MVC is a new concept - at least for me.

I watched Akron in the bracketbusters game against NDSU and that team this year would do very well in the Valley. My school, Ilst had a home and home with Ohio a couple years back and Ohio won both times and additonally I watched each Ohio game last year in the NCAA tournament. Both schools would be really nice additions to The Valley in my opinion. Frankly the MAC isn't very good in bball overall so I assume both Akron and Ohio would welcome getting away from the attendance situation some schools have like when EMU and Northern played to something like 800 people. I would assume some of The Valley schools coming to your arenas would draw better than a team that sets a NCAA record for scoring only 4 points by half time so I could see even the attendance going up from what you list. I personally would welcome both schools with open arms, however, what would you do with your football and your place at the FBS table? The MVC and MVFC are entirely separate entities and entry into The Valley would not require either school to do anything with the MVFC but you still would want a FBS home I assume.

[TNMSUFAN]

Welcome A&A and thanks for stopping by! Do you think the MAC would allow you to move basketball or all sports except football to the Valley?

[Athens and Akron]

UMass only plays in football in the MAC as did Temple before they left to rejoin the new old Big East or whatever it is called. That said, the MAC would have much much more of an issue with two key MAC members bailing in all sports then letting in two football only members who had no previous ties with the MAC. Ohio and Akron are longstanding key members with the two best rivalries in the MAC with Miami and Kent State.

The risk is that the MAC could just say "if you leave, no football" for Ohio and Akron. Unless there is significant changes to the FBS landscape, I don't see any reasonable football-only memberships opening up for Ohio and Akron besides the MAC. With that said, I am not convinced the MAC has the power to say this. As much as losing Ohio and Akron in key sports would be a crucial blow, they also cannot really afford to lose them in football either. I think it would be reasonable for the MAC to demand a couple million dollar buyout from Akron and Ohio for leaving in everything but football.
I think both schools would be willing to pay a buyout (to some point) if it means basketball is improved. It is tricky, because I do not want to understate the importance of football at these two schools. Ohio's program is the best it has ever been since getting Frank Solich from Nebraska and Akron just built a new nice and expensive stadium and also have a high profile coach, Terry Bowden.

Definitely a very messy situation that makes anything with the MVC playing out doubtful. But I do feel confident saying we are getting to the point where Akron and Ohio are going to be much more "in play" than they were in the past in the conference realignment debate because of the MAC's refusal to do anything to improve basketball. The MAC East has been alright in hoops this millennium, but the MAC West is flat out terrible. Akron and Ohio are making too many commitments to basketball to sit-by quietly as the rest of the MAC goes through the motions in men's basketball.

[Haha]

Far flung and wouldn't happen

Jim Schaus is the AD at Ohio though

[Athens and Akron]

Far flung and wouldn't happen

Jim Schaus is the AD at Ohio though

I don't think it is that far flung.

Akron beat Ohio last night in Cleveland in front of over 12,000. There was nothing mid-major about the atmosphere. The crowd was phenomenal. Only Akron will be dancing despite Ohio not losing to any other MAC schools this entire season (outside Akron). This is Ohio's fault, but it confirms that the odds of a two-bid MAC are very low. Akron and Ohio are spending significantly more on hoops than the rest of the MAC. They simply cannot be happy with the results, and most of the expansion rumors for the MAC involve football schools with bad hoops programs. With the money being spent, they are bound to look for other options.

The MVC is the logical choice when only talking hoops. There hasn't been a hoops only deal in the recent realignment. Definitely unlikely, but with the Valley looking for well-supported, well funded programs near the current region, these two programs are worth looking at. Its more possible to see this happening since Jim Schaus came to Ohio from Wichita State.
If this move could happen, I don't think there is any debate Akron and Ohio would be better fits than Murray or Belmont or Detroit or Denver.