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Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 8:54 pm
by mvfcfan
I'm a fan of Indiana State and I am kind of curious as to what your thoughts would be on joining the Missouri Valley Conference. A lot of fans on a forum called "MVC Fans" seem to be in favor of going to 12 (currently we have 10) and most seem to like the idea of adding NKU and Murray State.

I am also open to the idea, but I'm not sure how fans outside of the MVC view the conference now that Wichita and Creighton are both gone. The conference contacted Belmont twice and they seem to like where they are at (OVC). St Louis doesn't seem interested in leaving the A-10 either.

Murray State wanted in badly, but we didn't let them in because we want each school to have a travel partner. My guess is that if Murray State and NKU were to join; NKU would be a travel partner with Indiana State, while Murray St. would be a travel partner with Evansville.

For those who are unaware. Currently the MVC has teams in 4 different states: Missouri (Missouri State); Iowa (Northern Iowa and Drake); Illinois (Illinois State, Loyola IL, Bradley, and Southern Illinois); and Indiana (Valparaiso, Indiana State, and Evansville).

Thoughts?

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 1:42 am
by Flamesmania
Why would NKU want to join The Valley at this point? It's 2 marquee programs are gone and it has essentially become a 1-bid league as is the HL. The difference is the HL is better geographically. It has new and invigorating coaches who are recruiting better players.The MVC doesn't have men's Swimming or Tennis, which would cause the administration to have to jump that hurdle. NKU is in a good place.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:18 am
by thompted
I think it's probably a non-starter as NKU most likely has an outrageous departure fee since they just joined the HL. The MVC has been a Top 10 conference with Wichita State and Creighton. It will be interesting to see where it settles in without Wichita State. I'm actually in favor of smaller mid-major conferences. With only one bid for the conference, hard to keep 12 fan bases engaged.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:34 pm
by insomniaisevil
I think the Norse love the Horizon. I've always felt this was their goal. I feel like the Horizon is on a better path than the Valley. I'd much rather see the Norse stick where they are and keep building the league itself.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:10 pm
by mvfcfan
Thanks for the feedback. Honestly I can see where you all are coming from. The MVC isn't as good as it one was. Not sure how much the Horizon League exit fee is, but I can definitely see that being a set back. Personally I think it's going to be Murray State and Oral Roberts if we go to 12. My personal choices would be North Dakota State and South Dakota State however.

Not sure why some of you think that the Horizon League has more potential than the MVC though. Not to throw shade, but IUPUI is not really that great of a replacement. I think Ft Wayne and maybe Western Illinois might be the next in line to join. Valpo and Loyola both bolted to the MVC as fast as they could. Milwaukee and UIC would have also done the same had they received the call. Travel to Green Bay surely isn't that much different than travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:08 am
by Flamesmania
mvfcfan wrote:Not sure why some of you think that the Horizon League has more potential than the MVC though. Not to throw shade, but IUPUI is not really that great of a replacement. I think Ft Wayne and maybe Western Illinois might be the next in line to join. Valpo and Loyola both bolted to the MVC as fast as they could. Milwaukee and UIC would have also done the same had they received the call. Travel to Green Bay surely isn't that much different than travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa.


Don't think anyone is saying the HL has more potential than the Valley, just the potential to be a much better HL than it has been the past few years. 3 years ago was a better time to bolt for the MVC...not so much this time around. Valpo and their fan base thought they were too good for the HL. They will regret that decision imo. Without the consistency of a Creighton or a Wichita State, there will be rotating #1s on a regular basis and probably no second bids to the Dance. This time around I doubt UIC would have made the move. The Valley was just blowing smoke with Milwaukee.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 2:56 pm
by norsefan92
Joining a little late in this conversation but I think after surveying the first few weeks of the season you would much rather be in the MVC. Sure they lost their elite programs but the overall quality of the programs are leaps and bounds better than the Horizon. Programs like Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Detroit are bottom feeders. I think the MVC is definitely a much stronger league top to bottom. That being said I still think I would rather be in the Horizon League just for the fact that it is much more winnable than the MVC. As a fan of NKU I would rather them play in an easy league and get to the Tournament more frequently then watch them finish in the middle of the pack in a tougher league (at least at this stage of the program). I think our goals should be to keep costs low with the program right now and build a winning tradition in the Horizon League for the next decade or so. Hopefully that will grow our average attendance and fan base across the region. Once we make the team more profitable and have created a tradition of winning division 1 basketball then I would look at the NCAA landscape and see what is available. NKU has a lot of potential but we don't want to rush to a top league and then stink. The way you build a fan base is with success and we are more likely to have that in the Horizon League.

Re: Thoughts on NKU joining the MVC

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:50 am
by mvfcfan
I saw an article on "MVCfans" by an insider where the MVC has 10 teams they are considering for expansion and the Norse are one of them.