What's the next realignment domino to fall?

[ShoxNAwe]

The delusion of Shox fans regarding possible conference realignment opportunities is only trumped by the Bears fans' sealed envelopes.

I'm with Red, the Shockers aren't going anywhere. What have they done and who would want them? They are no different than anyone else in the MVC and will prove it this year by finishing 3rd now that the guard corps is severly banged up. The lucky run for WSU is over.

[Wufan]

The delusion of Shox fans regarding possible conference realignment opportunities is only trumped by the Bears fans' sealed envelopes.

I'm with Red, the Shockers aren't going anywhere. What have they done and who would want them? They are no different than anyone else in the MVC and will prove it this year by finishing 3rd now that the guard corps is severly banged up. The lucky run for WSU is over.

A few big issues for WSU to overcome if they are going to move conferences:

1. No football. Football drives realignment.
2. Public University. No football is only interesting to private schools.
3. Geography. WSU is not in the footprint of any conferences that would be interested with the possible exception of the AAC. The AAC is a minor step up in competition, but lacks stability that could ultimately be a step down from the current MVC. Additionally, they are really only interested in football schools.

[isumvc1]

it really is too bad YSU can't find a closer league than the MVFC, they just aren't very competitive any more in football, heck, they've even become our whipping boys as we've beaten them 4 of the last 6 meetings.

If they stay and we add UND (which I don't see happening, us, SIU, MSU, ILS et al...would never vote for it.) then we'd probably add a 12th team and go to 2 divisions (which might actually not be a bad idea).

Issue with 12 is how to split it and maintain competitive balance due to no title game being an option and the west being clearly superior (obvious way to split) with UNI, SDSU, NDSU, likey WIU, ISUr and then dog crap MSU.

UNI has beaten YSU 14 of the last 15, or something like that.

They are way out of the foot print, no natural rivals, don't get into the playoffs, and really bring nothing to the table outside of being giant cry babies. They need to head to the CAA pronto.

I'd think it'd go to a north-south split

north would be UNI, USD, SDSU, NDSU, WIU, UND

South would be ILS, INS, YSU, MSU, SIU and a 12th team

[uniftw]

it really is too bad YSU can't find a closer league than the MVFC, they just aren't very competitive any more in football, heck, they've even become our whipping boys as we've beaten them 4 of the last 6 meetings.

If they stay and we add UND (which I don't see happening, us, SIU, MSU, ILS et al...would never vote for it.) then we'd probably add a 12th team and go to 2 divisions (which might actually not be a bad idea).

Issue with 12 is how to split it and maintain competitive balance due to no title game being an option and the west being clearly superior (obvious way to split) with UNI, SDSU, NDSU, likey WIU, ISUr and then dog crap MSU.

UNI has beaten YSU 14 of the last 15, or something like that.

They are way out of the foot print, no natural rivals, don't get into the playoffs, and really bring nothing to the table outside of being giant cry babies. They need to head to the CAA pronto.

I'd think it'd go to a north-south split

north would be UNI, USD, SDSU, NDSU, WIU, UND

South would be ILS, INS, YSU, MSU, SIU and a 12th team

That's not really any better

You have ILS on one side and you still have UNI, SDSU, NDSU and WIU on the other.

Look at the conference standings this year and you'll see that. Standings reflect final standings, not if split to division

North
1A. North Dakota State 7-1 - NORTH
3A. Western Illinois - 5-3 NORTH
3B. Northern Iowa - 5-3 NORTH
3C. South Dakota State - 5-3 NORTH
6. South Dakota - 3-5 NORTH

25-15 and only one team under .500 in conference and overall

South
1B. Illinois State 7-1 - SOUTH
7. Indiana State - 3-5 SOUTH
8. Youngstown State -3-5 SOUTH
9. Southern Illinois - 2-6 SOUTH
10. Missouri State - 0-8 SOUTH

15-25. Illinois State was the only team over .500 overall.

UND was 7-4 this year and probably the first team out of the playoffs, with an FBS win. North had a conference record of 25-10, and only one team under .500 the south had 1 team over .500 and a total record of 15-32. A south team that could potentially be added would be something like Murray State or another program that is just god awful. So yeah. Not a fan of that either.


I'm not even going to break down trends of those teams, because their standings this year reflect how those teams have been trending the past few years as well.

I'm sure ISU fans would love that, especially with losing 98% of your offense with Roberson and Coprich graduating this year.

[isumvc1]

it won't help a lot, but we'll trade Missouri State for Western Illinois and go east-west

One thing you have to remember is that there is an ebb and flow as to how good and how bad teams are going to be, sure, the "west" is dominant now, but more than likely it wouldn't always be that way.

And I have no idea who the 12th team would be either? But more than likely it wouldn't be a really strong team. EIU would be ideal, but the OVC would never let them leave just for football only. And why would they even want to? They have an easy path to the post season every year.

[PantherSigEp]

The Dakota schools have only been around for a couple years and are already immensely more competitive than any "eastern" team outside of ISUr and I'd say they're the ones who are more likely to drop off. UNI has been anywhere from "steady" to "dominate" for pretty much the entire existence of the conference. Youngstown continues to struggle, by its own standards, since the days that Tressel and company cheated their way to titles. Not really sure what to say about ISUb or SIU and Missouri St is an embarrassment to just about any measure you use.

[uniftw]

it won't help a lot, but we'll trade Missouri State for Western Illinois and go east-west

One thing you have to remember is that there is an ebb and flow as to how good and how bad teams are going to be, sure, the "west" is dominant now, but more than likely it wouldn't always be that way.

And I have no idea who the 12th team would be either? But more than likely it wouldn't be a really strong team. EIU would be ideal, but the OVC would never let them leave just for football only. And why would they even want to? They have an easy path to the post season every year.

There's almost no ebb and flow.

MSU hasn't been in the playoffs since 1990. They are bad year after year

ISUb, while average now, has been one of the worst programs in the nation for 2 decades, and they've pretty much hit their ceiling as a first round type playoff team every few years

SIU, outside of the Jerry Kill years (including the two after he left so his upper classmen were in charge), is 100 games under .500 in their history.

YSU, outside of Cheater Vest has been mediocore during the good years. 2 playoff bids since 02

WIU's cieling is slightly higher than ISUb, but not much. They are under .500 all time against teams currently in the MVFC. The only FCS conferences they've had historical success against are non-scholarship Pioneer, HBCU's MEAC, and the OVC which is a massive step down.

ISUr is probably the 4th or 5th best MVFC team all time.

NDSU has been D1 since 08 and has as many conference titles as SIU and 4 national titles

SDSU has been D1 since 08 and has more playoff appearances than WIU, SIU, YSU, ISUb, and MSU. I think they may have more than ISUr since 08 as well.

USD - is bad. Getting better. They are probably equal to Indiana State moving forward

UNI has 16 conference titles in 34 years of the conference existing. The two winningest coaches in MVFC history? Both UNI coaches.


I can start posting actual records, but trust me. There's almost zero ebb and flow. The top 4 almost every year is NDSU, SDSU, UNI, ISUr. The next group is almost always YSU, WIU and SIU. After that it's almost always MSU, ISUb and USD at/near the bottom. Some may move up or down a group for a year or two, but pretty much always settle back to that base group over a 4 year rolling average.

[BCPanther]

One quick correction.

This was the 31st year of the league. UNI has literally won HALF of the league titles.

No one has been close historically and outside of NDSU no one has even ever really challenged UNI.

ISUr falls off the cliff next year and could be worse if Spack cashes in. There are going to be tons of FBS jobs open.

[RoyalShock]

The precursor to WSU openly exploring their conference options is beginning.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wi ... 64335.html

[Red]

Does anyone blame them? The big question is football? Committing the money to start football at a full FBS level would have to impact other program right?