Aargh wrote:So does the Valley depend on the teams that have been consistently good, like UNI or Evansville
Evansville consistently good? I'd like to see some stats to back up that claim.
You are right that they haven't been good at the same level as UNI, or Wichita State (EDIT: I had "even" before Wichita State to show that Wichita State's had to rebuild from Marshall's first year, but that made it seem like Wichita State hasn't been good). I was mostly referring to my impressions of them the last few years as fairly consistent team and my belief that they will be good in the coming years with their core and the depletion of the league's talent. I shouldn't have made "good" the emphasis, but consistent.
I believe that the real key for the Valley will be the teams like Bradley and Loyola (possibly Missouri State and SIU). These teams have the pocketbooks to improve themselves
Missouri State and SIU with deep pocketbooks? SIU sank to unprecedented depths under Lowery because SIU could not afford to fire him when it was needed. MSU is on the low end of the BB coaching pay scales in the Valley. MSU is more often seen as financially challenged rather thn having deep pockets. Hammond gives them buildings that he can put his name on, but he isn't giving them much scholarship money for a FB team that doesn't draw real well.
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Again, this was an error in my communication. Bradley and Loyola have the potential to improve because they have money, whereas SIU and MSU were included for past success.
If the Valley is going to remain competitive, there are going to have to be a lot of alumni making big contributions to support athletic department budgets. Paying a coach $750,000 a year doesn't guarantee a winning program, but paying less than $500K is almost a guarantee that your coach will leave as soon as he has some success. Jacobsen at UNI is bout the only exception to that I've seen in the last decade.
I agree. College basketball is a coach's sport, and the MVC needs better coaches. Most of the time that means spending money, but if you can get a quality coach for cheap that is also good.