(03-08-2020 08:04 PM)johnintx Wrote:  

(03-08-2020 07:48 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(03-08-2020 07:36 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(03-08-2020 07:32 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Why not St. Louis? They can have a member in St. Louis. They'd do the A-10 a favor and save them a ton of travel.

Saint Louis (and Belmont) aren’t interested in the MVC. Murray State is the opposite - their president and AD put on mega social media campaigns to replace Wichita. Elgin called Murray “an MVC institution” at the time but claimed 11 was non-negotiable.

With 20 game schedules being the new 18 game schedules and the AAC and Big East going to 11 teams, even though Elgin didn't say so maybe 11 is a possibility.

Another problem with Murray State. They've essentially been passed over by the MVC twice in the 2010's, once for Loyola (I'd say a terrific choice) and once for Valparaiso.

I wonder if the A-10 would ever have the guts to kick St. Louis out. St. Louis should want to leave.

The MVC has a delicate political balance between private and public schools. The private schools do not want to be dominated in the board room by the public schools. Therefore, they have chosen two private schools to replace Wichita State and Creighton.

The MVC also wants to increase their presence in and around Chicago, as their schools have alumni there and recruit students from there. Therefore, Loyola and Valparaiso are the two newest members.

The MVC would love to have St. Louis. They are still based in St. Louis and have their conference tournament there. St. Louis was a member of the Valley from 1937-1974.

However, St. Louis feels that the Valley is beneath them. They have aspirations to be in the Big East. They want exposure in the East, and the best way they can do that for now is in the A-10. Yes, it would make sense for them to be in the Valley. They actually also fit in the Big East as a midwestern Catholic school (like Creighton, Marquette, DePaul, and Xavier). But, the Big East isn't taking them right now, and the A-10 is the next best thing.

The MVC has five private schools (Loyola, Valparaiso, Evansville, Bradley, Drake) and five public schools (Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana State). If they're expanding to 12, they'll take both a public school and a private school. If Murray State is the public school, someone else will be the private school. Detroit?

I think the Chicago area is definitely critical for the MVC. If you look at the student enrollments at virtually all of the MVC schools, they’d essentially be DOA without Chicago area students.

That’s why you can’t discount UIC (despite being underachieving in basketball). Murray State has long seemed like a classic fan choice for expansion as opposed to a university president choice - fans love the on-the-court basketball prowess, but the university presidents are looking for different institutional fits and markets. My guess is that Belmont (directly located Nashville) would be more likely to get into the MVC than Murray State based on their actions for the past decade. That would also keep the public/private balance of the league.