by TheAsianSensation » February 7th, 2013, 9:03 pm
I figured that the XDSUs, if push came to shove, would be forced to play the "take us for everything or we leave the MVCF" card. Assuming the Summit crumbles, they're likely going to be in a position where they have find a new conference for non-football (presumably Big Sky, but who knows. they're pretty crammed). And I could easily see the Big Sky ask for all-or-nothing in membership.
In that scenario, I think the MVC would tell the Dakotas to move along. The benefits they provide in football do not make up for the problems in other sports, IMO. This league will sacrifice the football product for basketball gain.
That's kind of the problem with NDSU in particular. From my impressions, they're a football school looking for membership in a conference where all 10 schools are basketball schools first, even if 5 of them have football. That's a bit of a cultural fit problem without an easy solution. NDSU does appear to be spending more on basketball though. But money doesn't always mean results. We'll see.
As I've written before, the Valley is in a very high-stakes game right now. They need to hold on to the lead draft in college basketball behind the power 6, C7, A-10, and MWC. We're starting to see a clear delineation between those conferences + us + WCC, and everyone else clearly behind. We have to hold onto their lead draft and not become the leaders of the second wave of conferences. Frankly, in a vacuum, NDSU as an addition would bring us closer to the second wave. SDSU might, might, might help, but are probably neutral at best.
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