Before Creighton leaving last year(and replaced with Loyola-Ill), the MVC had the longest continuous membership outside of the Ivy in D1 but the league is an odd combo of private and public schools, FCS scholarship, non-scholarship, and non football schools . It should be noted that the MVFC(Missouri valley football conference is a separate conference but has several MVC schools). I think the conference will experience at least 1 or 2 more schools leave in the next few years.

How I rank the teams in terms of flight risk:

1) Missouri State (FCS) The school has been in talks with some of the sunbelt schools for 20 years according to some about going FBS, and has been in talks with the SBC since at least 2003 about going FBS according to the Springfield New-Leader. The MVC has been a good conference in basketball so dropping to the sunbelt in has always kept the school from making the FBS jump. With CU gone and WSU looking like a major flight risk, I think MSU is looking hard at the Sunbelt and MAC with long term goals of CUSA/AAC. The school is a large public school (largest enrolement in the MVC and 2nd largest school in Missouri), so the school would be a better cultural fit in the sunbelt than with the small private schools in the MVC.

2) Wichita State (no football) like CU, their basketball program has outgrown the MVC and they have to be looking at joining a better conference. Being a public school keeps them out of the big east. The A10 could be argued as a better basketball conference but would it be worth the travel for both the A10 and WSU to agree to it. With some of the better teams as being big east targets, WSU should be leary of going there. The AAC and MWC seem to be the conferences they would be the best basketball fits in but not having football will probably keep them out. I think they will jump at an offer but not having football and being public in the middle of kansas seems to hold them back IMO.

3) Illinois State. (FCS-MVFC) A state school that has hinted at FBS aspirations over the years. The MAC would be their target but the sun belt could be a possibly as well.

4) Bradley (no football) most likely would go to the A10 if offered

5) Evansville. (no football) There have been rumors they have looked into the horizon so they can be more competitive.

6) Indiana State (FCS-MVFC) school doesn't appear to be shopping but has a good basketball program in a state rich in college basketball history. If they didn't have football I could see them looking east at the A10, but I don't think they have the pieces in place to consider going FBS so the MAC isn't an option in the near future. They would mostly likely stick with the MVFC schools if there is a big shakeup in the MVC.

7) Southern Ill. (FCS-MVFC) They have had two recent sweet 16 appearances but the program has taken a hard fall. I think the MAC would have been interested in them when their hoops team was looking powerful but they are in a sparsely populated area and a small TV market so they are off the FBS radar. If the MVC falls apart, they would most likely stick with the MVFC schools or maybe look at the ohio valley.

8) Drake (non scholly, no baseball) They have been in the MVC longer than any other school. I see no reason they would look at other conferences but if major changes happen to the conference such as the conference adding more public FCS schools, Drake could look east towards basketball only conferences if they are told they need to upgrade their football to scholarship.

9) Northern Iowa (FCS-MVFC, no baseball), program has budget issues which caused the baseball team to be recently dropped, and Iowa already has 2 FBS teams so I think the MAC is out of reach for them in the near future. Being traditionally a football school, I see them wanting to stay with NDSU.

10) Loyola University Chicago (no football, no baseball). The newest member of the MVC, not a flight risk.

MVFC schools not in the MVC: Youngstown St, North Dakota, No Dakota St, So Dakota State, W. Ill)

Potential MVC schools. The conference may continue being a hybrid or may try to add the stronger MVFC schools and start football as an official MVC sport. I think a power struggle between the public and privates could intensify during the next round of replacing a school

How I rank the potential adds

private schools
1) ORU
2) Belmont
3 Denver

public schools
1) NDSU (best option if you ignore location)
2) UIC
3) UW-Mil
4) SDSU
5) UMKC

(03-10-2014 07:49 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  Before Creighton leaving last year(and replaced with Loyola-Ill), the MVC had the longest continuous membership outside of the Ivy in D1 but the league is an odd combo of private and public schools, FCS scholarship, non-scholarship, and non football schools . It should be noted that the MVFC(Missouri valley football conference is a separate conference but has several MVC schools). I think the conference will experience at least 1 or 2 more schools leave in the next few years.

How I rank the teams in terms of flight risk:

1) Missouri State (FCS) The school has been in talks with some of the sunbelt schools for 20 years according to some about going FBS, and has been in talks with the SBC since at least 2003 about going FBS according to the Springfield New-Leader. The MVC has been a good conference in basketball so dropping to the sunbelt in has always kept the school from making the FBS jump. With CU gone and WSU looking like a major flight risk, I think MSU is looking hard at the Sunbelt and MAC with long term goals of CUSA/AAC. The school is a large public school (largest enrolement in the MVC and 2nd largest school in Missouri), so the school would be a better cultural fit in the sunbelt than with the small private schools in the MVC.

2) Wichita State (no football) like CU, their basketball program has outgrown the MVC and they have to be looking at joining a better conference. Being a public school keeps them out of the big east. The A10 could be argued as a better basketball conference but would it be worth the travel for both the A10 and WSU to agree to it. With some of the better teams as being big east targets, WSU should be leary of going there. The AAC and MWC seem to be the conferences they would be the best basketball fits in but not having football will probably keep them out. I think they will jump at an offer but not having football and being public in the middle of kansas seems to hold them back IMO.

3) Illinois State. (FCS-MVFC) A state school that has hinted at FBS aspirations over the years. The MAC would be their target but the sun belt could be a possibly as well.

4) Bradley (no football) most likely would go to the A10 if offered

5) Evansville. (no football) There have been rumors they have looked into the horizon so they can be more competitive.

6) Indiana State (FCS-MVFC) school doesn't appear to be shopping but has a good basketball program in a state rich in college basketball history. If they didn't have football I could see them looking east at the A10, but I don't think they have the pieces in place to consider going FBS so the MAC isn't an option in the near future. They would mostly likely stick with the MVFC schools if there is a big shakeup in the MVC.

7) Southern Ill. (FCS-MVFC) They have had two recent sweet 16 appearances but the program has taken a hard fall. I think the MAC would have been interested in them when their hoops team was looking powerful but they are in a sparsely populated area and a small TV market so they are off the FBS radar. If the MVC falls apart, they would most likely stick with the MVFC schools or maybe look at the ohio valley.

8) Drake (non scholly, no baseball) They have been in the MVC longer than any other school. I see no reason they would look at other conferences but if major changes happen to the conference such as the conference adding more public FCS schools, Drake could look east towards basketball only conferences if they are told they need to upgrade their football to scholarship.

9) Northern Iowa (FCS-MVFC, no baseball), program has budget issues which caused the baseball team to be recently dropped, and Iowa already has 2 FBS teams so I think the MAC is out of reach for them in the near future. Being traditionally a football school, I see them wanting to stay with NDSU.

10) Loyola University Chicago (no football, no baseball). The newest member of the MVC, not a flight risk.

MVFC schools not in the MVC: Youngstown St, North Dakota, No Dakota St, So Dakota State, W. Ill)

Potential MVC schools. The conference may continue being a hybrid or may try to add the stronger MVFC schools and start football as an official MVC sport. I think a power struggle between the public and privates could intensify during the next round of replacing a school

How I rank the potential adds

private schools
1) ORU
2) Belmont
3 Denver

public schools
1 NDSU
2 SDSU
3) UMKC

I hear the MVC schools don't want to travel to the Dakotas. I think NDSU & SDSU are solid fb/bball programs. If that's true I'd rather have Milwaukee over UMKC.

(03-10-2014 09:52 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  I hear the MVC schools don't want to travel to the Dakotas. I think NDSU & SDSU are solid fb/bball programs. If that's true I'd rather have Milwaukee over UMKC.

Nobody wants to travel to the Dakotas. Anyway, what I'm about to say nobody, especially those from the Valley want to hear. The Valley might not be completely done with Chicago, particularly UIC.

While I think the Horizon League will be a better league come next season, right now the Valley is still a step up and you've got to listen if an offer is made. Before Loyola made their last second pitch, UIC was indeed the front runner. The MVC Committee toured the campus and our facilities. They heard the news about the construction of Curtis Granderson baseball stadium; They heard about how the baseball team has finished 1st or 2nd in the HL for the last 12 years. They heard about the future construction of a new on-campus, $4 million soccer pitch; They also heard about plans for a new basketball arena. Loyola's endowment was approximately $90 million more than ours. The Committee was impressed and one of the presidents had UIC as his choice. But then they went to Loyola. Loyola, a program with no baseball team, no on-campus baseball field; A basketball program that was worst than ours, with an even smaller arena. Yep, they had an endowment upwards of $240 million! They convinced the Committee that they were spending money (they had been) and they will continue to spend and do whatever it takes to upgrade their programs.

Still UIC and Loyola were pretty much neck-and-neck. The deciding factor came down to the ridiculous Public vs Private hogwash! If the Flames are invited, the ratio is 7 public schools to 3 privates and the MVC presidents would've had problems. They already had enough ruckus from the Valley AD's because they invited a program with NO BASEBALL!

Well, now it's time again and since they have their private replaced with a private and the Valley is thinking about going to 12 teams, UIC, in my opinion, is still a viable candidate. It doesn't matter that if that happens there will be 5 schools in Illinois. Who cares? Don't tell me none of the Valley schools or their fans would appreciate a weekend in Chicago (Thursday/Saturday) where there is a humongous alumni of Valley schools (maybe with the exception of Wichita State)!

Again, I'm not advocating inclusion because I think the Horizon League will be a very good league next season. As a matter of fact, the HL will be doing some expansion of its own.

(03-10-2014 10:20 PM)Chuck A Wrote:  Still UIC and Loyola were pretty much neck-and-neck. The deciding factor came down to the ridiculous Public vs Private hogwash! If the Flames are invited, the ratio is 7 public schools to 3 privates and the MVC presidents would've had problems. They already had enough ruckus from the Valley AD's because they invited a program with NO BASEBALL!

this is my biggest problem with the MVC. The conference only has 1 identity: the schools are the biggest basketball team in their respective midwest towns(now loyola is the exception which is the minor team in a major city). But the private vs public, football vs non football, baseball, UNI dropping baseball, 22k students vs 3k students, etc just shows the conference is comprised of some schools that aren't similar. The conference is all about the status quo because nobody can decide on what the conference is, that is why they never went after butler, SLU, or any other powerful mid major programs that could have solidified the conference as a major player but instead they waited for every other conference to make moves and then lose Creighton before the MVC could be forced to do anything...

(03-10-2014 10:38 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  

(03-10-2014 10:20 PM)Chuck A Wrote:  Still UIC and Loyola were pretty much neck-and-neck. The deciding factor came down to the ridiculous Public vs Private hogwash! If the Flames are invited, the ratio is 7 public schools to 3 privates and the MVC presidents would've had problems. They already had enough ruckus from the Valley AD's because they invited a program with NO BASEBALL!

this is my biggest problem with the MVC. The conference only has 1 identity, and that is the schools the biggest basketball team in their respective midwest towns(now loyola is the exception which is the minor team in a major city). But the private vs public, football vs non football, baseball, UNI dropping baseball, etc. The conference is all about the status quo because nobody can decide on what the conference is, that is why they never went after butler, SLU, or any other powerful mid major programs that could have solidified the conference as a major player but instead they waited for every other conference to make moves and then lose Creighton before the MVC could be forced to do anything...

Wow! And we here in the HL thought our Commissioner Jon LeCrone was on an island when it came to being reactive instead of proactive.

(03-10-2014 07:49 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  Before Creighton leaving last year(and replaced with Loyola-Ill), the MVC had the longest continuous membership outside of the Ivy in D1 but the league is an odd combo of private and public schools, FCS scholarship, non-scholarship, and non football schools . It should be noted that the MVFC(Missouri valley football conference is a separate conference but has several MVC schools). I think the conference will experience at least 1 or 2 more schools leave in the next few years.

How I rank the teams in terms of flight risk:

1) Missouri State (FCS) The school has been in talks with some of the sunbelt schools for 20 years according to some about going FBS, and has been in talks with the SBC since at least 2003 about going FBS according to the Springfield New-Leader. The MVC has been a good conference in basketball so dropping to the sunbelt in has always kept the school from making the FBS jump. With CU gone and WSU looking like a major flight risk, I think MSU is looking hard at the Sunbelt and MAC with long term goals of CUSA/AAC. The school is a large public school (largest enrolement in the MVC and 2nd largest school in Missouri), so the school would be a better cultural fit in the sunbelt than with the small private schools in the MVC.

2) Wichita State (no football) like CU, their basketball program has outgrown the MVC and they have to be looking at joining a better conference. Being a public school keeps them out of the big east. The A10 could be argued as a better basketball conference but would it be worth the travel for both the A10 and WSU to agree to it. With some of the better teams as being big east targets, WSU should be leary of going there. The AAC and MWC seem to be the conferences they would be the best basketball fits in but not having football will probably keep them out. I think they will jump at an offer but not having football and being public in the middle of kansas seems to hold them back IMO.

3) Illinois State. (FCS-MVFC) A state school that has hinted at FBS aspirations over the years. The MAC would be their target but the sun belt could be a possibly as well.

4) Bradley (no football) most likely would go to the A10 if offered

5) Evansville. (no football) There have been rumors they have looked into the horizon so they can be more competitive.

6) Indiana State (FCS-MVFC) school doesn't appear to be shopping but has a good basketball program in a state rich in college basketball history. If they didn't have football I could see them looking east at the A10, but I don't think they have the pieces in place to consider going FBS so the MAC isn't an option in the near future. They would mostly likely stick with the MVFC schools if there is a big shakeup in the MVC.

7) Southern Ill. (FCS-MVFC) They have had two recent sweet 16 appearances but the program has taken a hard fall. I think the MAC would have been interested in them when their hoops team was looking powerful but they are in a sparsely populated area and a small TV market so they are off the FBS radar. If the MVC falls apart, they would most likely stick with the MVFC schools or maybe look at the ohio valley.

8) Drake (non scholly, no baseball) They have been in the MVC longer than any other school. I see no reason they would look at other conferences but if major changes happen to the conference such as the conference adding more public FCS schools, Drake could look east towards basketball only conferences if they are told they need to upgrade their football to scholarship.

9) Northern Iowa (FCS-MVFC, no baseball), program has budget issues which caused the baseball team to be recently dropped, and Iowa already has 2 FBS teams so I think the MAC is out of reach for them in the near future. Being traditionally a football school, I see them wanting to stay with NDSU.

10) Loyola University Chicago (no football, no baseball). The newest member of the MVC, not a flight risk.

MVFC schools not in the MVC: Youngstown St, North Dakota, No Dakota St, So Dakota State, W. Ill)

Potential MVC schools. The conference may continue being a hybrid or may try to add the stronger MVFC schools and start football as an official MVC sport. I think a power struggle between the public and privates could intensify during the next round of replacing a school

How I rank the potential adds

private schools
1) ORU
2) Belmont
3 Denver

public schools
1) NDSU (best option if you ignore location)
2) UIC
3) UW-Mil
4) SDSU
5) UMKC

As a graduate of a Sun Belt school, I say, I'd love to have you as a Sun Belt member

As a graduate of an A-10 school, I dont want Wichita State unless St Louis signs a long term contract with massive penalties for jumping to the Big East or AAC. If the A-10 took Wichita State, it would be a very big hit for the MVC.

(03-10-2014 07:49 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  Before Creighton leaving last year(and replaced with Loyola-Ill), the MVC had the longest continuous membership outside of the Ivy in D1 but the league is an odd combo of private and public schools, FCS scholarship, non-scholarship, and non football schools . It should be noted that the MVFC(Missouri valley football conference is a separate conference but has several MVC schools). I think the conference will experience at least 1 or 2 more schools leave in the next few years.

How I rank the teams in terms of flight risk:

1) Missouri State (FCS) The school has been in talks with some of the sunbelt schools for 20 years according to some about going FBS, and has been in talks with the SBC since at least 2003 about going FBS according to the Springfield New-Leader. The MVC has been a good conference in basketball so dropping to the sunbelt in has always kept the school from making the FBS jump. With CU gone and WSU looking like a major flight risk, I think MSU is looking hard at the Sunbelt and MAC with long term goals of CUSA/AAC. The school is a large public school (largest enrolement in the MVC and 2nd largest school in Missouri), so the school would be a better cultural fit in the sunbelt than with the small private schools in the MVC.

2) Wichita State (no football) like CU, their basketball program has outgrown the MVC and they have to be looking at joining a better conference. Being a public school keeps them out of the big east. The A10 could be argued as a better basketball conference but would it be worth the travel for both the A10 and WSU to agree to it. With some of the better teams as being big east targets, WSU should be leary of going there. The AAC and MWC seem to be the conferences they would be the best basketball fits in but not having football will probably keep them out. I think they will jump at an offer but not having football and being public in the middle of kansas seems to hold them back IMO.

3) Illinois State. (FCS-MVFC) A state school that has hinted at FBS aspirations over the years. The MAC would be their target but the sun belt could be a possibly as well.

4) Bradley (no football) most likely would go to the A10 if offered

5) Evansville. (no football) There have been rumors they have looked into the horizon so they can be more competitive.

6) Indiana State (FCS-MVFC) school doesn't appear to be shopping but has a good basketball program in a state rich in college basketball history. If they didn't have football I could see them looking east at the A10, but I don't think they have the pieces in place to consider going FBS so the MAC isn't an option in the near future. They would mostly likely stick with the MVFC schools if there is a big shakeup in the MVC.

7) Southern Ill. (FCS-MVFC) They have had two recent sweet 16 appearances but the program has taken a hard fall. I think the MAC would have been interested in them when their hoops team was looking powerful but they are in a sparsely populated area and a small TV market so they are off the FBS radar. If the MVC falls apart, they would most likely stick with the MVFC schools or maybe look at the ohio valley.

8) Drake (non scholly, no baseball) They have been in the MVC longer than any other school. I see no reason they would look at other conferences but if major changes happen to the conference such as the conference adding more public FCS schools, Drake could look east towards basketball only conferences if they are told they need to upgrade their football to scholarship.

9) Northern Iowa (FCS-MVFC, no baseball), program has budget issues which caused the baseball team to be recently dropped, and Iowa already has 2 FBS teams so I think the MAC is out of reach for them in the near future. Being traditionally a football school, I see them wanting to stay with NDSU.

10) Loyola University Chicago (no football, no baseball). The newest member of the MVC, not a flight risk.

MVFC schools not in the MVC: Youngstown St, North Dakota, No Dakota St, So Dakota State, W. Ill)

Potential MVC schools. The conference may continue being a hybrid or may try to add the stronger MVFC schools and start football as an official MVC sport. I think a power struggle between the public and privates could intensify during the next round of replacing a school

How I rank the potential adds

private schools
1) ORU
2) Belmont
3 Denver

public schools
1) NDSU (best option if you ignore location)
2) UIC
3) UW-Mil
4) SDSU
5) UMKC

It is South Dakota that is in the MVFC, not North Dakota. They are in Big Sky, I believe.
If I were a betting man and the Mo Valley were to lose one or two teams in the next couple of years, they would not expand beyond their current footprint and would continue to look at good basketball schools in large markets like Chicago, Milwaukee, Tulsa, Kansas City, Omaha, Nashville, etc. They would continue to ignore football because it is a seperate entity other than looking to keep some public/private balance.

(03-10-2014 10:38 PM)msu_bears Wrote:  

(03-10-2014 10:20 PM)Chuck A Wrote:  Still UIC and Loyola were pretty much neck-and-neck. The deciding factor came down to the ridiculous Public vs Private hogwash! If the Flames are invited, the ratio is 7 public schools to 3 privates and the MVC presidents would've had problems. They already had enough ruckus from the Valley AD's because they invited a program with NO BASEBALL!

this is my biggest problem with the MVC. The conference only has 1 identity: the schools are the biggest basketball team in their respective midwest towns(now loyola is the exception which is the minor team in a major city). But the private vs public, football vs non football, baseball, UNI dropping baseball, 22k students vs 3k students, etc just shows the conference is comprised of some schools that aren't similar. The conference is all about the status quo because nobody can decide on what the conference is, that is why they never went after butler, SLU, or any other powerful mid major programs that could have solidified the conference as a major player but instead they waited for every other conference to make moves and then lose Creighton before the MVC could be forced to do anything...

I agree with much of this, but the MVC had gone after SLU a number of times and been turned down. Elgin would love nothing more than getting SLU in the MVC but it's not going to happen. They have zero desire.

I do think the MVC lacks forward thinking at all. This conference should focus on basketball more than anything else because that's where they can make a name for themselves and get positive publicity. I think Loyola has some potential, but it was a bit of a head scratcher. But at the same time, questions surround a lot of potential schools.

And if the MVC loses a school and adds yet another IL school I'd be pissed. Unless Wichita is the team that leaves than I won't care as much.

Milwaukee has financial issues
Belmont has Coach Byrd issues. What will they be when he retires?
Denver apparently isn't willing to add baseball which apparently the MVC asked them to do. At least that's what I've heard.
ORU acually seems solid but had some financial issues in the recent past.
XDSU's have a location issue.
UIC has a competitiveness issue.
UMKC has a competitiveness and financial issue.

I haven't done much research as I don't expect anyone to leave in the immediate future, but I'd take looks at, in no particular order, Denver, ORU, Murray State, Belmont and the XDSUs. I'm not sure if you could add NDSU without SDSU though. And I'm not sure the MVC wants to go to 12 as the round robin format works great for basketball. But I do think going to 12 could potentially help increase the number of bids and offset any potential loss of NCAA tournament revenue.

Personally, I don't care about the public/private ratio. I just want to see good basketball. I wish Wright State could do something as I think there could be potential there and they're in a good area. But they don't seem to do much. I'd also hoped that Arlington would get their act together as I thought I heard they were going to put more effort into raising their level of basketball but that really hasn't happened. And even if they were better I doubt they could get in because of travel concerns for the eastern schools but being in the Dallas area wouldn't suck. Sort of the same for Little Rock. There's a nonfootball school that just can't do enough with basketball to get in either. Don't know what their financial situation is like.

If we leave I fully expect the MVC to add UMKC to replace as. Keeps the travel partners the same for the other sports, they get to add Kansas City to the fold, it would keep the western members of the league sort of happy. Not to mention UMKC and the Valley share the same media production company. UMKC actually gets a lot of its games on over the air TV in KC. On the court they aren't that good, but academically UMKC is rock solid as well.

SLU is not leaving the Atlantic 10 for the Missouri Valley. They will likely be leaving, within 5 years, for the Big East. At least that's the perception. If the A-10 felt comfortable with SLU staying, they'd be making a move for Wichita State.

As far as candidates for the MVC in an expansionary environment, the criteria should be good basketball with no desire to jump to FBS in football (or no football at all). Better academics would be desirable as well.

What about Denver?

Other than a potential FBS defection (unlikely), North Dakota State would be a great add. Sure they're a bit of a hike, but they're a flagship institution and they seem to perform well at whatever they choose to do.

ORU might be a bit much to swallow for some of the more secular minded institutions, although they've taken serious measures to clean up their act.

UWGB or UWM might be decent choices as well.

(03-11-2014 11:19 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  SLU is not leaving the Atlantic 10 for the Missouri Valley. They will likely be leaving, within 5 years, for the Big East. At least that's the perception. If the A-10 felt comfortable with SLU staying, they'd be making a move for Wichita State.

As far as candidates for the MVC in an expansionary environment, the criteria should be good basketball with no desire to jump to FBS in football (or no football at all). Better academics would be desirable as well.

What about Denver?

Other than a potential FBS defection (unlikely), North Dakota State would be a great add. Sure they're a bit of a hike, but they're a flagship institution and they seem to perform well at whatever they choose to do.

ORU might be a bit much to swallow for some of the more secular minded institutions, although they've taken serious measures to clean up their act.

UWGB or UWM might be decent choices as well.

As a fan of the A-10 I'd like to see it stay together but I think St. Louis and Dayton may be on the move. The Big East will not take well to the fact that many are saying the A-10 is better this year. While it will certainly be a hit to the league to lose those two schools, it will condense the A-10 geographically with 12 teams and I think they would finally be able to stop worrying about losing programs once those two leave.

(03-11-2014 11:35 AM)MKPitt Wrote:  

(03-11-2014 11:19 AM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  SLU is not leaving the Atlantic 10 for the Missouri Valley. They will likely be leaving, within 5 years, for the Big East. At least that's the perception. If the A-10 felt comfortable with SLU staying, they'd be making a move for Wichita State.

As far as candidates for the MVC in an expansionary environment, the criteria should be good basketball with no desire to jump to FBS in football (or no football at all). Better academics would be desirable as well.

What about Denver?

Other than a potential FBS defection (unlikely), North Dakota State would be a great add. Sure they're a bit of a hike, but they're a flagship institution and they seem to perform well at whatever they choose to do.

ORU might be a bit much to swallow for some of the more secular minded institutions, although they've taken serious measures to clean up their act.

UWGB or UWM might be decent choices as well.

As a fan of the A-10 I'd like to see it stay together but I think St. Louis and Dayton may be on the move. The Big East will not take well to the fact that many are saying the A-10 is better this year. While it will certainly be a hit to the league to lose those two schools, it will condense the A-10 geographically with 12 teams and I think they would finally be able to stop worrying about losing programs once those two leave.

Yea. I don't see VCU or UMass leaving (or Richmond) at least in the short run.

Dayton and especially St Louis are perceived to have one foot out the door. Catholic schools in big cities with no football in the Big East footprint but not next door to any existing school.

Dayton and SLU leaving would make the A10 a more compact eastern seaboard league. You have 5 schools in DC/Virginia/Carolinas and 6 schools in the Northeast, with Duquesne fitting either direction. If UMass leaves, Siena back fills - MAAC is already prepared for it, and you roll along.

Dayton and SLU seem like no-brainers to the Big East. I am still surprised that the Big East didn't invite them last year with Xavier and Butler.

I believe Xavier isn't so eager to share Ohio with Dayton, and Georgetown (and possibly others) was pushing Richmond.

As an A10 fan, I kind of hope they can bypass Siena. And stay the blazes away from the rest of CAA's current nonsense while they're at it (especially Hofstra). If the Big East snubs Dayton, the A10 is coming back out west. If SLU gets snubbed (I don't think they do, though), who knows...maybe WSU gets targeted.

(03-11-2014 12:07 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  I believe Xavier isn't so eager to share Ohio with Dayton, and Georgetown (and possibly others) was pushing Richmond.

Yeah, you have to think that Dayton either doesn't get into the Big East, or gets in only over Xavier's strong objections.

Also, unless Fox Sports is pressuring the Big East to add more teams, it's hard to see an immediate need for it. Anyone the BE might be considering is still going to be available in 3-5 years if they want to revisit it then.

Xavier could have blocked Dayton from the A10 years ago and didn't. I don't think Xavier looks at them as a big threat. Dayton draws from a market that Xavier has zero pull in.

(03-11-2014 12:31 PM)mlb Wrote:  Xavier could have blocked Dayton from the A10 years ago and didn't.

They came in together from different places. If anything, Dayton probably would have done the blocking...they were coming from the "greater" conference.

(03-11-2014 01:14 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(03-11-2014 12:31 PM)mlb Wrote:  Xavier could have blocked Dayton from the A10 years ago and didn't.

They came in together from different places. If anything, Dayton probably would have done the blocking...they were coming from the "greater" conference.

Dayton and Xavier came from the same conference at the same time. They made us retake Duquesne as part of the deal.