(04-17-2018 09:20 PM)bullet Wrote:  It would be interesting to think about what would have happened had the Missouri Valley superconference of the early 70s stuck together and schools didn't drop football.
Louisville
Memphis
North Texas
West Texas
Tulsa
Wichita St.
New Mexico St.
Drake
basketball-St. Louis, Bradley

There was talk of Cincinnati coming back and becoming a 12 team conference (don't remember who 12 was). And schools like Tulane, Virginia Tech and West Virginia might have joined. It was already a power conference in basketball. It could have become what the Big East became in the early 90s, using basketball to promote their level in football.

You also have Indiana State, Creighton and Southern Illinois in the fold in the 1970s.

Bradley dropped football in 1970.
Loyola Chicago dropped theirs in 1930.
Creighton dropped their football program in 1942.
Saint Louis dropped theirs in 1949.
Evansville dropped their's in 1997
Washington, Mo. dropped down to D3.
Grinnell dropped down some levels as well.

Imagine what the conference would be today if schools did not moved out or dropped football?

Midwest:
Bradley
Butler
Cincinnati
Detroit Mercy
Eastern Illinois
Evansville
Indiana State
Louisville
Loyola Chicago
Memphis
Southern Illinois
Valparaiso
Western Illinois
Youngstown State

Great Plains:
Creighton
Drake
Grinnell College
Houston
Missouri State
New Mexico State
North Dakota football only
North Dakota State football only
North Texas
Northern Iowa
Saint Louis
South Dakota football only
South Dakota State football only
Tulsa
Washburn
Washington Missouri
West Texas A&M
Wichita State

That would be even stronger than the AAC in football and men's basketball. I did not count the P5 schools that were members of this conference like Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.