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Rick Majerus Wants Out of A-10 and In MVC

I don't mind Evansville being in the MVC. While I would like them to make their program a little more competitive, it's not like were sailing through the MVC Conference season every year. An easier two games a year is not going to kill the valley.
 
I agree. Evansville is the closest school to Bradley in the MVC in almost every way you look at it. They are similar private schools, in similar sized cities. Their finances, the sports they support, their facilities, and many other things are almost identical.

That leads to a couple thoughts-
We should be happy that the people at Bradley have maintained BU at a more competetive and successful level in the couple key sports we follow. In other words, we should be glad we are not in the same position Evansville is at, struggling to remain competetive, or looking into whether they should drop out of Division I sports because they are unable to afford it or stay competetive.

And we shouldn't be too quick to push Evansville out of the MVC. Just realize that "but for the grace of God", it could be us. If we set a precedent, maybe in some future year, if Bradley has a couple bad seasons, the MVC will want to dump us.
 
BradleyBrave said:
I love the current round-robin schedule, but I am up for adding a couple of high-profile mids in big markets in SLU and Butler, and making the MVC the premier non-BCS league in the nation. I know some are against it, but this would take the MVC to a new level nationally IMO. Plus, it would make for some easy, fun road trips and some new local rivals. Honestly, I don't see much of a downside to it.
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We need to be the next Memphis. At least we've proven we can beat Kansas. :p
 
Though I was critical of EU basketball I must give them their props as they do have a very competitive baseball and soccer program. They are a credit to the MVC in that regard.
 
Isn't Evansville like 1/3 the size of Bradley in terms of enrollment?

I think we're a lot more similar to Drake than EU.
 
UE enrollment is around 2500, Bradley is around 6000.

Drake is in a city (Des Moines) that is many times the size of Peoria. And Drake has a Pharmacy School, and a number of other post grad programs. Plus they have their own on-campus arena.

Evansville and Peoria are much closer in size (Evansville is slightly larger). They both play in a Civic Arena. That's why I think BU is more similar to UE in terms of looking at a private school's ability to compete in D1 at the MVC level.
 
Yeah, those are good points on Drake. Places where BU and EU differ though I think are tradition-- Bradley has major history in basketball and fans that know, remember, and support accordingly... And I think the enrollment difference is a major one. BU's a medium sized private school, where Evansville is probably small. I think with the attendance advantage we have, enrollment differences, and support structure our basketball budget has to be a lot larger than theirs. I don't really know anything though, so I'm just a dude speculating on a BB. ;)
 
GT and Vilanova are just too small to play with the big boys in football. We talk about football and everyone brings up Title IX, they would have the same conditions. They would lose money, their academic requirement would be insane for football. I just do not see it.
 
Seems like this same discussion comes up every year...

this is a resurrection of an old thread about Saint Louis & Rick Majerus wanting out of the Atlantic-10 and into the Missouri Valley,

but all the talk is heated up again this season.......as Majerus is reiterating his comments...
http://twitter.com/xb7/status/6664880028
 
I hate talking about this in season but I think it's an important topic that needs one of the prospective schools pushing. A 10-team basketball focused private only conference. I like it because I can scarcely think of a school it would be bad for compared to the situation they are in now. Has a presence in several good markets and I think would command at least 3 or 4 NCAA bids each season.

Bradley
Butler
Creighton
Dayton
DePaul
Detroit
Drake
Marquette
St. Louis
Xavier

One potential problem I guess is that Creighton may be too far west and so you could go with Valpo I suppose, but I think Creighton would want to be in that conference despite some travel difficulty. Not sure Detroit fits that well but expands the reach of the league to another larger market. Neither they nor Valpo really have the tradition to fit in with the other teams... But I think they're the best possible choices among other potential schools. I left Loyola out because of DePaul and an assumption that they wouldn't want another school from Chicago in the same conference.
 
Please don't refer to Drake's on campus BB facility for their men's BB team as an 'arena', it is more like a "gym", similar to the facilty BU is building on campus as a practice facility for the men and the women's basketball home.

IMHO using Drake as an example of on campus basketball facility BU should aspire to for its men's bb program is a joke.
 
I think St Louis should wait for the Big East to blow up and join the non-football castaways that get deserted. Until then, stay the course in the A-10. Except for the travel considerations, a switch from the A-10 to the MVC is a lateral move at best, but the travel considerations do bring it to about even. Don't make an even switch when your endgame includes probably switching conferences again to move up.
 
SLU joining the Valley would be a major "get" for the conference. Despite what many Valley egos think on this board. It's a program that still gets national attention...something most Valley schools lack.

Probably a lateral conference move for SLU from a prestige standpoint. But a benefit from a travel perspective....as someone mentioned earlier.

Outside of that, I don't see any of the other schools mentioned in this thread moving to the Valley. DePaul would not leave the Big East voluntarily. The Butler AD has publicly stated he's happy with the Horizon League. The schools and markets fit the Butler profile better...small schools in urban markets.

The best scenerio would be an Evansville / SLU swap.
 
Headless Bobcat said:
SLU joining the Valley would be a major "get" for the conference. Despite what many Valley egos think on this board. It's a program that still gets national attention...something most Valley schools lack.
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SLU national attention????? I do not think so, even with Majerus. Would they be a good get for the Valley? Yes, because of the market and natural rivals. Nothing more and nothing less. I do like that RM is talking about where the conferences are heading. I'm sure he'll have a lot more to speak about this when he retires. I just wish some of the schools would realize it would be so much better for them to re-adjust sooner rather then later. The fish7's conference would be a power-house basketball conference. Take it another step and combine a few east coast schools in another Division (East and West) that you could schedule and then play a playoff at the end of the year.

Mid-west
Bradley
Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Detroit
Drake
Marquette
St. Louis

East
Georgetown
Temple
Villanova
St Johns
Drexel
Davidson
Xavier
Dayton

Now this would be great!
 
OK Asiansensation - I made a wish list that has maybe a tiny bit of chance! All those schools are private without a D-1 football.
 
tornado said:
I'd love to see the Valley take in SLU and Loyola and go to 12 members...
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We Agree:!::biggrin: These two make sense! This would give the MVC a BIG boost by having a team in Chicago and St. Louis:!: DePaul would of been a good one to, but they signed their suicide note:!:
 
SFP said:
OK Asiansensation - I made a wish list that has maybe a tiny bit of chance! All those schools are private without a D-1 football.
Click to expand...

No, I actually like your wish list, with one caveat: Some of those Big East schools will try and poach some of the top A-10 schools and stay on the east coast.
 
tornado said:
Seems like this same discussion comes up every year...

this is a resurrection of an old thread about Saint Louis & Rick Majerus wanting out of the Atlantic-10 and into the Missouri Valley,

but all the talk is heated up again this season.......as Majerus is reiterating his comments...
http://twitter.com/xb7/status/6664880028
Click to expand...

I enjoyed reading the posts and am amused by the SLU fans' opinions of their program. SLU is like the fat girl who feels better about herself because she has some good looking sisters. The A10 has been a better conference of late (not due to SLU though) and has the benefit of east coast bias, but SLU has hardly benefited from any of that as SLU gets practically zero national attention on ESPN. A team's record tells you who you are ... SLU's basketball record for the last several years is out there for everyone to see. I would like to see SLU in the MVC ... not because of their program, but because they are located in St. Louis.
 
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