mvfcfan wrote:VUGrad1314 wrote:Just curious: why NKU over Belmont? Overall athletics commitment? Greater potential?
Lack of fan support is the biggest one for me. Their arena only seats 5000 and they only got 2400 on average last season. When their team isn't good one has to wonder how low their attendance will drop. I also don't like that they are in a city where they are second rate to Vanderbilt and maybe even Tennessee State. TSU averages more than Belmont (TSU had 2600 last season) and they have not had the success Belmont has had. Their arena is only okay as well.
One could argue that Northern Kentucky is second rate to Cincinnati and Xavier, but at least they are not technically in the city of Cincinnati and they are in a different state as well. Northern Kentucky also plays in a newer arena that is definitely MVC quality. I think they have a lot more overall potential (to have a growing fanbase and sustain success if/when their coach leaves) than what Belmont has.
This also leads into why I'm not very high on Milwaukee. They are second rate to Marquette and what's worse is that they play across the street from where Marquette plays. So I really hope we pass on them, although I fear that is who we will add.
Oral Roberts' fanbase has completely disappeared, so I don't want them. They couldn't even bring a crowd to their cross town rivalry game against Tulsa that I attended. UIC is the same deal. Sometimes I hear UMKC brought up, but they have talked about dropping out of D1, so I'm not sure what the appeal is there.
UNK is second rate in metro Cincy to UC, Xavier AND Miami. And Kentucky while a great basketball state is smaller than Wisconsin and oversaturated with established teams (UK, UL, Murray, WKU). Plus UK's hold on KY is stronger than UW's hold on WI. I'd rather add a KY and WI team than two KY teams, even if UNK is higher than UWM at the moment. This is a long term add and I just see more potential in Milwaukee.