"Stability of the MVC could be tested"

[Da Coach]

The St. Louis Post Dispatch had this article over the weekend about the stability of the MVC. It includes some interesting quotes from Comissioner Doug Elgin that I have not seen elsewhere-
Stability of MVC could be tested

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/stability-of-mvc-could-be-tested/article_d8a7b998-4acc-54c4-b560-f5c8d9cee167.html

Asked how many schools have experienced flirtations from other leagues, Elgin quipped: ???Every year or every month????

Elgin and his MVC brethren have been working to assure they are positioned to adjust while hoping to maintain the status quo.
???We??™re watching it and we??™re concerned,??? Elgin said. ???We??™ve done a lot of research on prospective member schools, and we might have the opportunity to strengthen our membership after the dust settles. We will have a lot of choices, we believe. But we hope we don??™t have any change in membership.???

Where the MVC would turn for a replacement remains to be seen. The emphasis would be to seek a school serious about basketball and within the league??™s neighborhood.
???We want to be in position to take quick, decisive action,??? Elgin said. ???If we decide to remain at 10 or decide to expand, we would be poised and ready to have discussions.???

Elgin said the conference??™s leaders believe 10 is the proper number of schools for a league that doesn??™t play major-college football. With an emphasis on basketball, the MVC wants to maintain its double round-robin scheduling format for the sake of determining an equitable regular-season league champion. The league??™s geography also is a major consideration.
However, under the right circumstances Elgin said expansion would be considered while also warning that if you exceed 10 ???you lose a lot.???

It would be a lot for the MVC to lose. But all the league can do is wait for a decision.
???I have no idea what??™s going on,??? Elgin said. ???We??™re in close conversation with Creighton. I think it??™s just too early to call. I??™m sure they??™re looking at myriad options. Do they want to go west of Chicago or stay more on the Eastern seaboard? I don??™t know what they??™re considering.???

[stevebu91]

The MVC could really be in a horrendous position right now (and I'm sure they are sweating). Take away Creighton and Wichita State (both are tasting sweeter waters now?) and, put them in a higher conference, and the MVC RPI and NCAA rankings really gets destroyed.

These two schools usually go to various NCAA regional / NCAA tournaments in the following:

Creighton - Mens Basketball, Soccer (Top 10 consistently), and Baseball
Wichita State - Mens Basketball, Track, Baseball (Top 20 consistently)

Doug Elgin can't replace them with what is out there. You can say that heck the MVC has always replaced schools such as SLU, Memphis State, Cincinnati, Louisville and done just fine. And we have heard some of the potential replacements mentioned on this board like WIU, UIC, Loyola.

As for my opinion, the aforementioned replacement schools and the timeframe from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s (with certainly bumps up and down), the MVC has shown a gradual decline in quality on the old line graph. I'd much rather have the former schools during that earlier timeframe, wouldn't you?

Sorry, but its time for BU to have all of its options open and discussing its possibilities. Which I am sure AD Cross and the Prez are doing.......

I'm a broken record, but our goal is only up for BU academically, athletically, and aesthetically.

[SFP]

Stevebu91 we see eye to eye on this one.

[Garland 22]

The MVC could really be in a horrendous position right now (and I'm sure they are sweating). Take away Creighton and Wichita State (both are tasting sweeter waters now?) and, put them in a higher conference, and the MVC RPI and NCAA rankings really gets destroyed.

These two schools usually go to various NCAA regional / NCAA tournaments in the following:

Creighton - Mens Basketball, Soccer (Top 10 consistently), and Baseball
Wichita State - Mens Basketball, Track, Baseball (Top 20 consistently)

Doug Elgin can't replace them with what is out there. You can say that heck the MVC has always replaced schools such as SLU, Memphis State, Cincinnati, Louisville and done just fine. And we have heard some of the potential replacements mentioned on this board like WIU, UIC, Loyola.

As for my opinion, the aforementioned replacement schools and the timeframe from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s (with certainly bumps up and down), the MVC has shown a gradual decline in quality on the old line graph. I'd much rather have the former schools during that earlier timeframe, wouldn't you?

Sorry, but its time for BU to have all of its options open and discussing its possibilities. Which I am sure AD Cross and the Prez are doing.......

I'm a broken record, but our goal is only up for BU academically, athletically, and aesthetically.

I personally don't see the MVC sweating. Wichita has very few options because they don't have football and are in an undesirable geographical location. No upper midmajor conference in the Texas region, and they aint paying travel to go way East or West.

I think we end up needing to replace Creighton. If SLU doesn't get a Big East invite, I think we start there. Probably a wash as SLU is a good program. I think the Creighton replacement will be a good team and I think we chug along.

Best thing for the MVC would be for Bradley to be a legit year-in year-out contender. We were that type of team and the Valley really needs the remaining private schools to pick it up a bit.