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Which is really annoying because Murray State likely would have given the MVC 2 bids and maybe even pushed SIU and ISUr into the NIT. They also likely would have boosted our chances at multipe bids this coming year. Talk about not being able to see the forest because of the trees.

Don't know about two bids but, assuming Loyola won the MVC tourney, Murray would have likely been NIT worthy. The Racers beat Southern Illinois and Illinois State during the season, so I could see that.

Regardless, a pretty good school that would enhance the Valley is available but the Lords of the MVC don't seem interested.

Saying having Murray would have given the Valley two bids is stretching it a bit. But they would have made the league stronger. How much stronger? We will never know.

All it takes is one extra bid or one extra NCAA win every five years to make up for the extra team getting a piece of the pie.

Murray finished with a 48 RPI, which would have given Loyola the opportunity for 2 Q1 wins (a top-75 win on the road, and a top-50 win on a neutral court in Arch Madness). That would have significantly boosted Loyola's at large profile or even seeding. The only team it would have hurt is Murray itself, which would have been in the NIT instead of the NCAA assuming they lost in STL.

You also can't compare Murray beating SIU and IlSU in Nov/Dec to the grind that is the Valley. Ask Valpo how much different the Valley is than the league they came from and then realize that the Horizon is a much better league than the OVC.

With Power 5 conferences moving to 20 games schedules, there are going to be fewer opportunities to pick up Q1 wins. If the MVC went to 11 teams with Murray State, you could go to a 20 game schedule. This helps scheduling and eliminates a couple dog games. Sometimes silence is good and maybe, just maybe the MVC presidents see the future. Have Murray State come on board in either 2019-20 or 20-21, and add the Racers to the MVFC in 2020 to go to an even 12. That helps MSU from having to pay any type of fee to get out of the OVC. It also gives the Valley time to find the 12th member. The B1G had 11 members for a long time and you never heard complaints about travel partners.

Well the B1G kinda has deeper pockets. MSU and the Illinois publics are in a budget crunch.

I agree though, adding Murray would be like scheduling an in season home and home with a good program year after year and you would hope Valley coaches would use that to eliminate some dogs.

Yeh, teams like UNI, Drake and Loyola would just have to travel a bit every year but Murray would help them RPI-wise. SIU does it every other year home and home but it's a snap travel-wise for us

underdawg wrote:Yeh, teams like UNI, Drake and Loyola would just have to travel a bit every year but Murray would help them RPI-wise. SIU does it every other year home and home but it's a snap travel-wise for us

Believe me, UNI has no issues traveling anywhere if it gets a decent game. Not sure what Porter's deal guarantees but with Wichita gone, UNI is the only school taking charter flights to every game right now, sans Drake (and Bradley if the game is on a weekend).

I don't see any expansion at this point. As far as Murray State, their financial status is poor, their endowment is poor, their location is poor. I don't think league presidents are anxious to chase the expansion race and they have shown as much. Murray was begging in public to join last uear, so we would have heard from their president if there was another pending expansion.