I have seen a questions in various MVC team threads asking why a team (in my case Murray State) would want to join the MVC. I can't, and won't try to, answer for any other team that has been mentioned, but having spoken to Racer fans about this, I get one recurring answer.
Yes, the MVC will be tougher. No there is no guarantee that the MVC will be a multi bid league in the near future. Yes, costs will be higher. But here is the issue.
The OVC is a one game league. It doesn't matter if you win every other game you play, if you lose in the conference championship game, you aren't going dancing. A couple years ago, the Racers had an NBA lottery pick and six total pros on a team that won 25 straight games. That team lost on a prayer three. Here is some video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5APrc_3Yo (notice that blue and gold is the predominant colors in the arena, in Nashville and that Belmont's fan base is much smaller. What isn't shown is that those are the only Belmont fans to make the trip across town, the rest is Murray State fans)
That team was in the AP and coaches top 25 and didn't make the NCAA tournament. Not only that, that team (TOP 25 Team that lost its conf championship on a buzzer beater) got a 4 seed in the NIT. A 4 seed. That means that the selection committee thought that a team that the AP and Coaches thought was one of the top 25 teams in the nation was around the 12th best team not to make the tournament. That Murray State team beat UTEP 81-66 at home, beat Tulsa at Tulsa 83-62, and then this happened on the road...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUH97x-adCcYou see, we have good teams at Murray State. We demand them. Last season was our first losing season in 30 years. We won't accept losing. We also won't accept that when we are good that we can be dismissed because of our conference. No the MVC might not be the MVC of the '90's. We need it to be better than the OVC today. We need our program to surround themselves with teams that care about basketball. We demand that we get better. We want to play teams that demand the same.