Hopefully this is just phase 1 of expansion

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Not Happening
Saint Louis - east coast 4 life
Belmont - OVC/SoCon 4 life
GCU - not busable
NMSU - not busable
Arlington - not busable
NDSU - not busable
SDSU - Summit tourney
Little Rock - Sun Belt 4 life
Oakland - Horizon tourney
Denver - not busable

Vying for Valley Love
1 Murray St
--------------
2 Northern Kentucky
3 Oral Roberts
4 Wright St
5 UIC
6 Milwaukee
7 UMKC
--------------
8 Omaha


Travel partners with Murray+ORU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
UE/ISUb
MoSt/ORU
SIU/Murray

Travel partners with Murray+NKU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
MoSt/SIU
ISUb/NKU
UE/Murray


If you add Oral Roberts, all 6 travel pairings are less than 3 hours apart.

If you add N Kentucky, 5/6 travel pairings are <3 hours except MoSt/SIU.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

[VU2014]

Not Happening
Saint Louis - east coast 4 life
Belmont - OVC/SoCon 4 life
GCU - not busable
NMSU - not busable
Arlington - not busable
NDSU - not busable
SDSU - Summit tourney
Little Rock - Sun Belt 4 life
Oakland - Horizon tourney
Denver - not busable

Vying for Valley Love
1 Murray St
--------------
2 Northern Kentucky
3 Oral Roberts
4 Wright St
5 UIC
6 Milwaukee
7 UMKC
--------------
8 Omaha


Travel partners with Murray+ORU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
UE/ISUb
MoSt/ORU
SIU/Murray

Travel partners with Murray+NKU
DU/UNI
LU/VU
BU/ISUr
MoSt/SIU
ISUb/NKU
UE/Murray


If you add Oral Roberts, all 6 travel pairings are less than 3 hours apart.

If you add N Kentucky, 5/6 travel pairings are <3 hours except MoSt/SIU.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

I wouldn't classify Belmont as an OVC for life, but unlikely for now. Whenever their next TV contract comes up and they see $'s drying up for the tiny Mid Conference is when they will feel the "urgency" jump conferences.

"The package is part of a five-year agreement with ESPN. The new deal runs through the completion of the 2017-18 season and also includes a minimum of eight football games to be carried on ESPN3 annually as well as the ability for the OVC to receive additional national exposure."
http://ovcsports.com/news/2013/10/4/MBB_1004131552.aspx

The MVC is locked in a better TV deal "for now" losing Wichita State will probably hurt the MVC down the road if they only stay at 10 whenever it comes up (my guess is they expand 12 eventually).

As for Oakland: the Horizon League Tournament won't be in Detroit forever... Olympia Sports is treating the HL tournament in their arena as "guinea pig" & test-run for the Big 10 Tournament eventually.

Just Today:
https://twitter.com/chrissolari/status/ ... 2219158528
"Delany says Big Ten hoops tourney could go to new venues (including Detroit) but feels Indy is stable site for football title game."

Not saying Oakland is an obvious add, but if offered they would probably accept for multiple reasons. Oakland Basketball is Greg Kampe and he's slowly approaching retirement soon... as CheeseheadCrusader mentioned. They'll be good next year but they'll be in rebuild mode.

As for NKU, they could potentially be a good add down the road but it would be a pretty big reach for the MVC to add a member who has only been D1 program for 1-2 yrs. Their coach is the lowest paid coach in the HL and has already been rumored to be interviewed for other jobs. Not sure how they respond after losing their coach if they can build off their 1 yr of success. (its the nature of Mid-Major success).

[Majik45]

Have a general question and some you might know.

We are discussing St. Louis and how they play so far away from home.

I want to know how much it really is for a D1 basketball team for a road trip.

I assume they have a charter plane for a discount, and get discounts on hotel rooms.

Maybe I am naive but could someone really tell me how much a trip costs.

I think the real problem for SLU and travel costs is all the other sports that are not the basketball team. There are a lot of East Coast trips for Soccer, Cross Country, Tennis, etc. which add up.

[uniguy]

It is too bad Oral Roberts has been terrible. They would be a pretty good add to go along with Murray if they still had a halfway decent program. They would be a nice travel partner with Mo State too.

We are either going to have to stay with ten, think outside the bun on this, or add someone with a lot of warts. Another good option isn't going to appear out of thin air (unless....maybe Saint Lou.....but that is doubtful).

An outside the bun option would be a school like Grand Canyon. I have been there and seen it in person. They have an outstanding setup and great support. They are going to be a very good basketball program in the near future. They would make the league stronger. I understand there are logistical reasons not to add them, but that is the kind of thing we are going to have to do if we want to expand, without adding a mediocre program.

[RacerJoeD]

GCU- yuck.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Grand Canyon will be a top 50 program very soon. But the MVC will never add them because travel expenses and academic-minded presidents.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

GCU- yuck.

I'd love gcu in the mvc regardless of distance. They are the next gonzaga, Butler, Wichita State, VCU. Great fan support, recent success (although crap conference), getting decent recruits,ex nbaer, dan marjele, is their head coach, oh yeah, and they have the money for sustained success. They would need NMSU as a travel partner. I love murray state but if this were an option this would be my number one. Gcu is a home run.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

With the money they make though maybe they wouldnt need a travel partner and Murray could still join.

My list:

1. Grand Canyon
2. Murray State
3. Northern Kentucky
4. North Dakota State/South Dakota State
5. Milwaukee

[Mikovio]

No for-profits.

Give me SLU and Murray State. Failing that replace SLU with NMSU if feasible, or if not, UWM or UIC.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

Is anyone in Kentucky even aware there are basketball programs other than Big Blue and maybe Louisville? Also Western Kentucky is still out there.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

No for-profits.

Give me SLU and Murray State. Failing that replace SLU with NMSU if feasible, or if not, UWM or UIC.

I think becoming THE midmajor league of Kentucky would be a great thing.

Is anyone in Kentucky even aware there are basketball programs other than Big Blue and maybe Louisville? Also Western Kentucky is still out there.

NMSU would require a travel partner in the southwest. Who would you suggest? Arizona State, Arizona, New Mexico, and UTEP aren't coming. Texas Tech isnt coming while within distance. San Diego State is too far from NMSU and wouldn't come. Baylor isn't coming. TCU isn't coming. I imagine Arlington is too far away to be a travel partner since they're in Dallas. That leaves Northern Arizona, no thanks, and Grand Canyon.
UIC? Already have Loyola. That's pointless.
SLU is bad. Theyre usually bad. Bad idea. Only good when Majerus was there and the couple of seasons his recruits were there after he died. Pass.