Take out Hockey expenses to get true comparisons

You have to look strictly at MBB. Schools like UND/DU/UNO are spending it on their flagship sport - hockey.

As an example, Braldey is 9/10 on Athletics expenses but 1/10 on MBB expenses.

(12-25-2017 12:58 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Omaha seems to be outspending most of the MVC schools. Below are the 2015-16 athletic expenses for select conferences, per here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

Men's Basketball is what they care about. Men's Hockey blows up Omaha's budget, and that is not a MVC sport:


Indiana State is too low. That is not the bar. And Murray State was selling that they were going to add to their budget. So probably around $2.5M is the threshold. Below are the ones in the region

(12-25-2017 12:58 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 05:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  When they added Loyola, Loyola only had 1 20 win season in 28 years. A designed long term add that everyone (myself included) thought would be awful, but might be starting to pay off. Loyola started 10-1 with a win @Florida, until losing a couple top players to injuries. Supposedly they’re recruiting better than anyone in MVC.

This guy seems connected and says MVC will add Murray + TBD.
https://twitter.com/fatherharry1/status/...6148257798

Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

Omaha seems to be outspending most of the MVC schools. Below are the 2015-16 athletic expenses for select conferences, per here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

MVC
23,524,171 - Southern Illinois
23,171,943 - Illinois State
16,965,887 - Missouri State
16,123,177 - Northern Iowa
15,636,763 - Drake
14,421,701 - Indiana State
14,188,920 - Loyola-Chicago
13,920,552 - Valparaiso
13,593,964 - Bradley
11,808,231 - Evansville

Summit
34,188,708 - Denver
24,505,156 - North Dakota
23,517,458 - North Dakota State
20,984,281 - Omaha
14,370,734 - South Dakota State
12,793,143 - South Dakota
12,357,824 - Oral Roberts
12,231,233 - Western Illinois
10,590,833 - Fort Wayne

Horizon
16,250,168 - UIC
14,928,633 - Youngstown State
14,011,788 - Oakland
13,762,492 - Detroit
12,720,459 - Milwaukee
12,279,662 - Wright State
12,048,354 - Cleveland State
10,898,458 - Northern Kentucky
9,337,850 - IUPUI
9,198,554 - Green Bay

OVC
17,320,846 - Eastern Kentucky
14,047,934 - Tennessee Tech
13,711,147 - Belmont
13,050,183 - Murray State
13,028,885 - Jacksonville State
12,736,922 - Tennessee State
12,219,492 - Southeast Missouri
12,169,772 - Austin Peay
10,859,615 - Eastern Illinois
10,397,920 - Tennessee-Martin
9,720,012 - Morehead State
8,784,091 - SIU Edwardsville

WAC
25,106,926 - New Mexico State
21,845,776 - Grand Canyon
15,388,291 - Seattle
14,703,627 - UMKC
13,399,744 - Cal Baptist
13,005,930 - CSU Bakersfield
11,124,426 - Utah Valley
10,665,215 - UTRGV
5,453,050 - Chicago State

Chicago State should be D2. Arkansas Tech is outspending them with $5,986,926 for the yearly budget.

(12-25-2017 01:44 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  You have to look strictly at MBB. Schools like UND/DU/UNO are spending it on their flagship sport - hockey.

As an example, Braldey is 9/10 on Athletics expenses but 1/10 on MBB expenses.

Ah yes, excellent point. Here's just MBB expenses for 2015-16:

MVC
3,128,419 - Bradley
2,899,699 - Northern Iowa
2,899,667 - Evansville
2,745,553 - Loyola-Chicago
2,666,213 - Valparaiso
2,472,212 - Drake
2,452,961 - Illinois State
2,279,917 - Missouri State
2,241,413 - Southern Illinois
1,832,975 - Indiana State

Summit
3,361,111 - Denver
2,741,483 - Oral Roberts
1,579,108 - North Dakota
1,443,001 - South Dakota State
1,417,450 - North Dakota State
1,288,481 - Omaha
1,269,206 - Fort Wayne
1,238,197 - Western Illinois
1,156,551 - South Dakota

Horizon
2,877,237 - Milwaukee
2,467,735 - Detroit
2,445,427 - Wright State
2,231,609 - UIC
2,172,463 - Cleveland State
2,111,833 - Oakland
1,776,757 - Green Bay
1,623,294 - Northern Kentucky
1,564,479 - IUPUI
1,347,141 - Youngstown State

OVC
2,951,040 - Belmont
2,218,712 - Murray State
1,898,072 - Eastern Kentucky
1,495,716 - Morehead State
1,340,126 - Tennessee-Martin
1,312,549 - Tennessee State
1,304,155 - Austin Peay
1,201,935 - Tennessee Tech
1,192,809 - Southeast Missouri
1,111,582 - Jacksonville State
1,040,415 - Eastern Illinois
1,025,625 - SIU Edwardsville

WAC
4,306,041 - Grand Canyon
3,413,715 - Seattle
3,003,045 - New Mexico State
1,815,762 - UMKC
1,697,054 - CSU Bakersfield
1,404,530 - UTRGV
1,181,533 - Cal Baptist
1,116,338 - Utah Valley
681,728 - Chicago State

So Omaha is indeed well below the MVC schools in MBB expenses.

One thing I notice is that Valpo and Loyola even are both in the upper half of the MVC in RPI this season.

For this reason I think there is a very good chance if the MVC goes with something like Milwaukee that they'll improve recruiting to compete at the MVC level and help the MVC recruit against the B1G and Big East in that region.

Murray going from OVC to MVC seems like a big jump in competitive level. The Horizon at one time had Xavier and Notre Dame in it, more of a high mid major conference. Its only since the early 2000's the MVC was firmly established as a better hoops conference than the Horizon League.

Milwaukee's ability to draw when good because of the large student body I think is also a factor.

It's a G5 type school without the football team.

UIC I think is more like a second tier University of California school that is academics not athletics.

So if Murray State were to join the MVC, I assume the OVC wouldn't allow them to park their football program there. Would they be able to move it to the MVFC?

(12-25-2017 03:45 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 12:58 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 05:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  When they added Loyola, Loyola only had 1 20 win season in 28 years. A designed long term add that everyone (myself included) thought would be awful, but might be starting to pay off. Loyola started 10-1 with a win @Florida, until losing a couple top players to injuries. Supposedly they’re recruiting better than anyone in MVC.

This guy seems connected and says MVC will add Murray + TBD.
https://twitter.com/fatherharry1/status/...6148257798

Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

Omaha seems to be outspending most of the MVC schools. Below are the 2015-16 athletic expenses for select conferences, per here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

MVC
23,524,171 - Southern Illinois
23,171,943 - Illinois State
16,965,887 - Missouri State
16,123,177 - Northern Iowa
15,636,763 - Drake
14,421,701 - Indiana State
14,188,920 - Loyola-Chicago
13,920,552 - Valparaiso
13,593,964 - Bradley
11,808,231 - Evansville

Summit
34,188,708 - Denver
24,505,156 - North Dakota
23,517,458 - North Dakota State
20,984,281 - Omaha
14,370,734 - South Dakota State
12,793,143 - South Dakota
12,357,824 - Oral Roberts
12,231,233 - Western Illinois
10,590,833 - Fort Wayne

Horizon
16,250,168 - UIC
14,928,633 - Youngstown State
14,011,788 - Oakland
13,762,492 - Detroit
12,720,459 - Milwaukee
12,279,662 - Wright State
12,048,354 - Cleveland State
10,898,458 - Northern Kentucky
9,337,850 - IUPUI
9,198,554 - Green Bay

OVC
17,320,846 - Eastern Kentucky
14,047,934 - Tennessee Tech
13,711,147 - Belmont
13,050,183 - Murray State
13,028,885 - Jacksonville State
12,736,922 - Tennessee State
12,219,492 - Southeast Missouri
12,169,772 - Austin Peay
10,859,615 - Eastern Illinois
10,397,920 - Tennessee-Martin
9,720,012 - Morehead State
8,784,091 - SIU Edwardsville

WAC
25,106,926 - New Mexico State
21,845,776 - Grand Canyon
15,388,291 - Seattle
14,703,627 - UMKC
13,399,744 - Cal Baptist
13,005,930 - CSU Bakersfield
11,124,426 - Utah Valley
10,665,215 - UTRGV
5,453,050 - Chicago State

Chicago State should be D2. Arkansas Tech is outspending them with $5,986,926 for the yearly budget.

Chicago State has 15 sports (counting track & field twice for indoor and outdoor) and they are all relatively cheap sports with small rosters. A large portion of their budget is travel, so how many athletic scholarships do they actually award and what is the value of those scholarships. Arkansas Tech has only 10 sports but we have something CSU doesn't have; football. ATU Football is a big revenue and with a roster size of 102 it is also a large expense. It is not an accurate comparison between ATU and CSU.

(12-25-2017 01:12 PM)AZcats Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 03:45 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 12:58 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 05:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  When they added Loyola, Loyola only had 1 20 win season in 28 years. A designed long term add that everyone (myself included) thought would be awful, but might be starting to pay off. Loyola started 10-1 with a win @Florida, until losing a couple top players to injuries. Supposedly they’re recruiting better than anyone in MVC.

This guy seems connected and says MVC will add Murray + TBD.
https://twitter.com/fatherharry1/status/...6148257798

Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

Omaha seems to be outspending most of the MVC schools. Below are the 2015-16 athletic expenses for select conferences, per here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

MVC
23,524,171 - Southern Illinois
23,171,943 - Illinois State
16,965,887 - Missouri State
16,123,177 - Northern Iowa
15,636,763 - Drake
14,421,701 - Indiana State
14,188,920 - Loyola-Chicago
13,920,552 - Valparaiso
13,593,964 - Bradley
11,808,231 - Evansville

Summit
34,188,708 - Denver
24,505,156 - North Dakota
23,517,458 - North Dakota State
20,984,281 - Omaha
14,370,734 - South Dakota State
12,793,143 - South Dakota
12,357,824 - Oral Roberts
12,231,233 - Western Illinois
10,590,833 - Fort Wayne

Horizon
16,250,168 - UIC
14,928,633 - Youngstown State
14,011,788 - Oakland
13,762,492 - Detroit
12,720,459 - Milwaukee
12,279,662 - Wright State
12,048,354 - Cleveland State
10,898,458 - Northern Kentucky
9,337,850 - IUPUI
9,198,554 - Green Bay

OVC
17,320,846 - Eastern Kentucky
14,047,934 - Tennessee Tech
13,711,147 - Belmont
13,050,183 - Murray State
13,028,885 - Jacksonville State
12,736,922 - Tennessee State
12,219,492 - Southeast Missouri
12,169,772 - Austin Peay
10,859,615 - Eastern Illinois
10,397,920 - Tennessee-Martin
9,720,012 - Morehead State
8,784,091 - SIU Edwardsville

WAC
25,106,926 - New Mexico State
21,845,776 - Grand Canyon
15,388,291 - Seattle
14,703,627 - UMKC
13,399,744 - Cal Baptist
13,005,930 - CSU Bakersfield
11,124,426 - Utah Valley
10,665,215 - UTRGV
5,453,050 - Chicago State

Chicago State should be D2. Arkansas Tech is outspending them with $5,986,926 for the yearly budget.

Chicago State has 15 sports (counting track & field twice for indoor and outdoor) and they are all relatively cheap sports with small rosters. A large portion of their budget is travel, so how many athletic scholarships do they actually award and what is the value of those scholarships. Arkansas Tech has only 10 sports but we have something CSU doesn't have; football. ATU Football is a big revenue and with a roster size of 102 it is also a large expense. It is not an accurate comparison between ATU and CSU.

But, ATU outspends CSU in basketball as well. CSU is under $700,000 while ATU is about $800,000. It does shows how ATU spends on good coaches to keep both men's and women's basketball at the top of D2. Same with the baseball team as well. ATU has something that CSU can't have. A chance on winning the national championship in several sports.

(12-25-2017 02:37 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 01:12 PM)AZcats Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 03:45 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(12-25-2017 12:58 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

Omaha seems to be outspending most of the MVC schools. Below are the 2015-16 athletic expenses for select conferences, per here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/datafile/list

MVC
23,524,171 - Southern Illinois
23,171,943 - Illinois State
16,965,887 - Missouri State
16,123,177 - Northern Iowa
15,636,763 - Drake
14,421,701 - Indiana State
14,188,920 - Loyola-Chicago
13,920,552 - Valparaiso
13,593,964 - Bradley
11,808,231 - Evansville

Summit
34,188,708 - Denver
24,505,156 - North Dakota
23,517,458 - North Dakota State
20,984,281 - Omaha
14,370,734 - South Dakota State
12,793,143 - South Dakota
12,357,824 - Oral Roberts
12,231,233 - Western Illinois
10,590,833 - Fort Wayne

Horizon
16,250,168 - UIC
14,928,633 - Youngstown State
14,011,788 - Oakland
13,762,492 - Detroit
12,720,459 - Milwaukee
12,279,662 - Wright State
12,048,354 - Cleveland State
10,898,458 - Northern Kentucky
9,337,850 - IUPUI
9,198,554 - Green Bay

OVC
17,320,846 - Eastern Kentucky
14,047,934 - Tennessee Tech
13,711,147 - Belmont
13,050,183 - Murray State
13,028,885 - Jacksonville State
12,736,922 - Tennessee State
12,219,492 - Southeast Missouri
12,169,772 - Austin Peay
10,859,615 - Eastern Illinois
10,397,920 - Tennessee-Martin
9,720,012 - Morehead State
8,784,091 - SIU Edwardsville

WAC
25,106,926 - New Mexico State
21,845,776 - Grand Canyon
15,388,291 - Seattle
14,703,627 - UMKC
13,399,744 - Cal Baptist
13,005,930 - CSU Bakersfield
11,124,426 - Utah Valley
10,665,215 - UTRGV
5,453,050 - Chicago State

Chicago State should be D2. Arkansas Tech is outspending them with $5,986,926 for the yearly budget.

Chicago State has 15 sports (counting track & field twice for indoor and outdoor) and they are all relatively cheap sports with small rosters. A large portion of their budget is travel, so how many athletic scholarships do they actually award and what is the value of those scholarships. Arkansas Tech has only 10 sports but we have something CSU doesn't have; football. ATU Football is a big revenue and with a roster size of 102 it is also a large expense. It is not an accurate comparison between ATU and CSU.

But, ATU outspends CSU in basketball as well. CSU is under $700,000 while ATU is about $800,000. It does shows how ATU spends on good coaches to keep both men's and women's basketball at the top of D2. Same with the baseball team as well. ATU has something that CSU can't have. A chance on winning the national championship in ^all^ sports.

Try again. Chicago State spends 681,728 on MEN'S basketball (look at the post above); ATU spends about 800,000 on MEN's AND WOMEN'S basketball. The baseball budget is slightly less than men's basketball. You finally get it in the bolded part, one of the main reasons we have no interest in D1.

Omaha fell off the list because their athletic department is in a financial mess and have not proven they can sustain a solid program at the D1 level.

NMSU and GCU will never be added to the MVC. Fans may think one thing,
but the Valley Presidents still want to be a bus league.

Adding a school to the Valley has less to do with what they spend and more to do with location and success. Murray will likely be added, the question is, what will that do to the MVFC. The MVC football playing schools agreed to add UND assisting the Summit. The Summit football schools will agree to add Murray. I think your second addition, if they get who they want, Belmont will be at the top of the list.

One last item on budgets. If you look over those basketball budgets, you have to look at the cost of attendance. In the Summit, DU and ORU are by FAR the most expensive schools. In addition, if you look at the MVC and Horizon basketball budgets, that is a lot of wasted money to put a terrible product on the floor.

The 2017-18 figures, when released will be interesting. I know SDSU increased the basketball budget pretty substantially and the overall athletic budget increases by just over $4 million from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 05:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  When they added Loyola, Loyola only had 1 20 win season in 28 years. A designed long term add that everyone (myself included) thought would be awful, but might be starting to pay off. Loyola started 10-1 with a win @Florida, until losing a couple top players to injuries. Supposedly they’re recruiting better than anyone in MVC.

This guy seems connected and says MVC will add Murray + TBD.
https://twitter.com/fatherharry1/status/...6148257798

Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

(12-26-2017 06:13 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  Omaha fell off the list because their athletic department is in a financial mess and have not proven they can sustain a solid program at the D1 level.

NMSU and GCU will never be added to the MVC. Fans may think one thing,
but the Valley Presidents still want to be a bus league.

Adding a school to the Valley has less to do with what they spend and more to do with location and success. Murray will likely be added, the question is, what will that do to the MVFC. The MVC football playing schools agreed to add UND assisting the Summit. The Summit football schools will agree to add Murray. I think your second addition, if they get who they want, Belmont will be at the top of the list.

One last item on budgets. If you look over those basketball budgets, you have to look at the cost of attendance. In the Summit, DU and ORU are by FAR the most expensive schools. In addition, if you look at the MVC and Horizon basketball budgets, that is a lot of wasted money to put a terrible product on the floor.

The 2017-18 figures, when released will be interesting. I know SDSU increased the basketball budget pretty substantially and the overall athletic budget increases by just over $4 million from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

(12-24-2017 08:26 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(12-24-2017 05:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  When they added Loyola, Loyola only had 1 20 win season in 28 years. A designed long term add that everyone (myself included) thought would be awful, but might be starting to pay off. Loyola started 10-1 with a win @Florida, until losing a couple top players to injuries. Supposedly they’re recruiting better than anyone in MVC.

This guy seems connected and says MVC will add Murray + TBD.
https://twitter.com/fatherharry1/status/...6148257798

Interesting. You have to think Milwaukee. Seems Omaha fell off the list after the league visit last year. The question is who else do they look at? Belmont I'm sure will be a focus, although they may again pass. Then you have to think New Mexico State and even Grand Canyon from the WAC might be on the radar. If you put a budget threshold on any applicant, Detroit Mercy (barely), Denver, Oral Roberts are the only other ones who would meet that (Omaha did not, and that was probably exposed in the visit). UIC is a bit short, and even though Wright State meets that budget number, rumblings about funding being cut probably kill them as well.

So if they expand you have to figure its Murray State, Milwaukee and if they are interested Belmont. Long (really long) shot an out of footprint school like NMSU (who are playing really well, RPI 31) or GCU.

MVC would still be a bus league but with free flights to LC and PHX if they voted to allow GCU and NMSU in.

Is Belmont interested in the MVC? They seem very happy with being in the center of the very travel friendly OVC

(12-26-2017 06:51 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Is Belmont interested in the MVC? They seem very happy with being in the center of the very travel friendly OVC

Naw, they're not interested. Their AD has said that they didn't see much of an advantage being in another one-bid League. They do have an advantage of being in the OVC: yearly or every other year getting into the Dance and busing to every conference opponent. Quite convenient. Things could change, but right now nothing's happening!

(12-26-2017 06:51 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Is Belmont interested in the MVC? They seem very happy with being in the center of the very travel friendly OVC

Belmont and Murray St as a pair is an intriguing addition to the MVC. It's not a huge stretch of the footprint. Belmont strikes me as a school that would like to follow the Davidson model and parlay midmajor success into a spot in a high midmajor like the A-10.

Belmont is a horrible choice. They have had one coach, no knowing if they will have any long term success. Plus they have a horrible athletic department outside of basketball.

(12-26-2017 08:20 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  Belmont is a horrible choice. They have had one coach, no knowing if they will have any long term success. Plus they have a horrible athletic department outside of basketball.

The only sport that matters for the MVC is Men's Basketball. And Belmont would be a strong add with a more resources devoted to the sport than all one MVC school (Bradley). They are at the top of the OVC table in WBB, and close in Men's as we head into league play. Finished 4th in Soccer. Middle of the pack in most.

Your definition of horrible seems somewhat unfounded, even prejudiced.

KP ratings give these schools in conferences below the MVC, which may be a decent guide

Vermont, 75
Northern Kentucky, 79
UT Arlington, 81
East Tennessee State, 94
Mercer, 98
Murray State, 100
New Mexico State, 100
Belmont, 101
South Dakota, 102
Towson, 104
Albany, 105
Oakland, 106

And the "not exactly great" category yet mentioned in expansion talk

Grand Canyon, 136
Milwaukee, 183
Illinois Chicago, 214
Omaha, 271

Obviously Vermont, Towson, Albany, Mercer and ETSU are not candidates, and neither is South Dakota (or any Dakota for that matter) - they are having a very good year. Oakland is a commuter and pretty much not the right fit. Northern Kentucky is interesting.

But in the end its Murray State and Belmont in their usual solid position, with Texas Arlington and though a stretch New Mexico State sitting with good numbers as usual. Those four and Milwaukee, despite their poor season, would be the ones I'd look at.

Belmont rejected MVC in 2013 & 2017. Like someone said, they’re content NMSU’ing the Ohio Valley - but as the geographical epicenter.

Really have no idea why the MVC isn’t knocking down NKU’s doors to package with Murray. NKU is never even mentioned.