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Loyola Leaving MVC for A-10

There are other rumors I am hearing as well. One rumor is that the MVC is considering expanding to 14 teams (it will be 10 next year when Belmont replaces Loyola), and that the 4 new teams will come from this group- Murray State, Texas-Arlington, UMKC, UIC, Omaha, Lipscomb, and Northern Kentucky.
 
Not sure I get the attraction of expanding past 11 teams where you can still play a balanced schedule. We still end up with one bid most years and divide the money over more teams. The ones we are rumored to be adding don’t seem likely to result in more bids. I guess the only benefit I see is to have a ready stable of teams already in the conference if others leave.
 
Da Coach said:
There are other rumors I am hearing as well. One rumor is that the MVC is considering expanding to 14 teams (it will be 10 next year when Belmont replaces Loyola), and that the 4 new teams will come from this group- Murray State, Texas-Arlington, UMKC, UIC, Omaha, Lipscomb, and Northern Kentucky.
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Murray State is definitely one team I would love to see join the Valley. They are a basketball school that has had a lot of success.
 
I am not sure I like the 12 or 14-team/2 Division models, but other conferences have done it like the CUSA, ASUN, & Big South. The MVC has been looking into this for the last 4+ years, since 2017 when they added Valpo to replace Wichita State, and they apparently think the advantages outweigh any downsides.
The MVC presidents and AD's probably believe that adding schools from major media markets like Kansas City (UMKC), Omaha (UNO), Nashville (Lipscomb), Chicago (UIC), Cincinnati (NKU), and Dallas (UTA) would be a boost to the MVC
The 14-team/2 Divisions model would allow for every team to play home-and-home against the 6 opponents in their own division, and only one game with each of 6 or 7 teams in the other division. Ideally, that would cut down a little on travel, and it would give each team an 18 or 19-game conference schedule and allow for the teams to still play as many as 12 or 13 non-conference games.

Incidentally, Murray State is the only one of those rumored schools that is not anywhere near a large metropolitan area or a major media market. But it is a good basketball program, and it is only 100 miles from Southern Illinois University, which is likely what appeals to the MVC people.
 
Coach, where are you hearing Lipscomb and NKU from? Online or people you know at BU?

Like others, I think the Valley really needs Murray St.

Murray/UIC/UTA/UMKC/UNO are reportedly making presentations to the MVC. I hoping NKU is in that group because they're a far better option than UMKC or UNO.
 
Da Coach said:
The MVC presidents and AD's probably believe that adding schools from major media markets like Kansas City (UMKC), Omaha (UNO), Nashville (Lipscomb), Chicago (UIC), Cincinnati (NKU), and Dallas (UTA) would be a boost to the MVC
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This gets discussed a lot, but I would be curious if there is any merit to it. I didn't feel like there was any bump for the MVC with Loyola, outside of Loyola being good. Sure the media covers these teams, but when I have seen newspapers and tv reports, the bulk goes to the major teams or the very good teams. The Illini usually headline in Chicago, with updates on all of the others. I know there isn't a lot to pick from because we have choose from lesser conferences, but I prefer recently good teams, such as Murray State or NKU than the others.
 
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