(04-02-2013 02:27 PM)SubGod22 Wrote:  I have to respectfully disagree. The A10 without SLU, Dayton, Butler and Xavier isn't a better on the court product. I know the MVC went through a couple of weak years recently, but they've still be right behind the A10. And I know losing Creighton hurts the way we're viewed, but the MVC is a lot stronger as a whole than many realize. Generally speaking, the bottom of our conference isn't that bad. The past few years would say otherwise, but that' more outside the norm than many realize.

And if SLU is gone, I'm not sure there's anyway that the A10 could pull in teams from the MVC. There's simply too large of a gap for most after that, unless they went after an Indiana State or Evansville. UE would make no sense whatsoever. ISUb would be a stretch in my mind. And that would only be possible I think if Dayton were left behind. If both Dayton and SLU are gone, the closes school to the MVC schools would be in Pittsburg I believe.

I'm still shocked at the reports of Denver declining consideration. Shocked and disappointed. There was a tweet someone posted on ShockerNet earlier from I believe the Missouri State President that talked about only visiting schools who've expressed interest and not wasting time with those that haven't. I'm not sure if that means they're only visiting those who've contacted them or if they did reach out to Denver and try to talk, but the list of names that have popped up in the past week aren't that attractive.

I could maybe buy into Valpo. Solid program. Attendance is okay. It'd be yet another Indiana school though. But it's still probably the most attractive.

ORU has some history. Not sure what their potential is right now though.

UIC/Loyola neither have a recent history of any success that I'm aware of. Not sure what their financial commitment is. And I don't like the idea of a 4th school in Illinois. Even if it is in Chicago.

UMKC....

I haven't seen Belmont mentioned lately but they had questions surrounding them as well. Horrible attendance numbers make you take pause and wonder what their ceiling really is.

I haven't seen any other names lately which disappoints me and leads me to continue hoping that Wichita finds another conference willing to take on a nonfootball school. I like the MVC, but if this is the pool we're selecting from, I'm starting to lose hope.

There's a pretty big drop after Wichita State in the MVC. The A-10 is still going to have VCU, one of either Dayton or Richmond, and typically at least one of the Philly schools is competitive in any given year. Schools like UMass and URI might be down right now, but those are still the types of schools that you'd rather bank on coming back (well-funded public flagships) than smaller directional schools. The worst program in the A-10 is arguably Fordham, which is at least a highly regarded academic school in New York City (so it's program that still provides some type of value off-the-court).

I agree that it's tougher for the A-10 to poach the MVC without SLU (which is why I said that the best thing for the MVC is for the Big East to add SLU ASAP as opposed to waiting around while the A-10 reloads with other Midwestern schools), but there's just no chance of the MVC taking anyone from the A-10.

What I have heard about Denver is less about them rejecting the MVC, but rather the MVC wanting Denver to commit to adding more sports in exchange for an invite, which Denver doesn't appear willing to do. If it were strictly about basketball, I think Denver would be insane not to take an MVC invite, but it doesn't seem to be just about basketball here. I'm not sure why the MVC doesn't want Belmont outside of stretching the geography - they have attendance on par with Loyola and UIC yet have a much stronger basketball program. It has to be the geography issue there if the MVC seriously isn't considering them.

I understand the disappointment with who is being talked about, but the reality is that the MVC doesn't have that many options. It could theoretically stay at 9 schools, but that leaves them extremely susceptible to more poaching in the future. The Horizon League is finding that out now when it didn't go for reinforcements immediately after Butler left and is now in the crosshairs of at least the MVC and possible the A-10. All the candidates seem to have at least one or more major flaws, whether it's on-the-court performance or attendance. The school that arguably has the best combo of those two factors (Murray State) has one of the least desirable markets of the candidates (probably the worst out of anyone outside of the Dakota schools).

So, if I'm running the MVC, it's more about shoring up the worst weaknesses of the conference than adding at the top considering the realistic candidates out there. If there really isn't any school that will clearly drive up the on-the-court quality (even the "best" candidates in terms of W/L records and RPI over the 5 to 10 years seem to be mediocre at best), then the off-the-court metrics (TV market, recruiting areas, academics) become much more important. That's why it doesn't shock me at all to see a list of schools based in the Chicago and KC markets as targets. A school like Murray State doesn't help where the MVC is weakest, which is long-term demographics, and that type of school isn't a Creighton/Wichita State-level on-the-court program that is great enough to overcome a small market. I'm not saying this is fun for a fan who just wants to watch good basketball, but the university presidents are likely thinking this way.