When does the Valley become a "major"?

[IlliBraves]

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere before, if so, I apologize. First off, let me say that every time I watch this team play, I feel we can play with any major on any given night. Secondly, with this new wave of talent as well as "mid-majors" breaking deeper into the tournament, how much longer will it be before we start seeing Valley schools in the final four, or an even crazier thought, winning the whole thing? Obviously, before that happens, will we ever get better seeding? And finally, with last year's sweet sixteen and a possible return trip, has BU finally re-established itself to the name it used to be?

[amckillip]

I really think Bradley is doing great things, but I don't think we're where we used to be, think about how great Bradley was.. NIT Championships, when NIT was THE tournament, two NCAA title game appearances. Bradley is good, but we're a ways away frombeing what we used to be. As far as the Valley being considered a major, thats tough, because before we can start producing final four contenders year in and year out, we need better seeding, and to get better seeding we need more respect, and to get more respect we need to produce final four contenders year in and year out. I think the Valley has seperated itself from other mid majors, but it will me a while before people consider Valley ball as good as Big East ACC or Big Ten.

[Braves4Life]

MVC Best Mid-Major Conference In America

According to ESPN Poll.....................

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index

[BI_Brave_alum]

I really think Bradley is doing great things, but I don't think we're where we used to be, think about how great Bradley was.. NIT Championships, when NIT was THE tournament, two NCAA title game appearances. Bradley is good, but we're a ways away frombeing what we used to be. As far as the Valley being considered a major, thats tough, because before we can start producing final four contenders year in and year out, we need better seeding, and to get better seeding we need more respect, and to get more respect we need to produce final four contenders year in and year out. I think the Valley has seperated itself from other mid majors, but it will me a while before people consider Valley ball as good as Big East ACC or Big Ten.

i agree, Bradley is working its way back to being a respectable program. still a while to go however compared to where they used to be. I think the issue w/ the mid majors is that they are closing the gap but it will still be a while before they catch up w/ the bigger schools, they have so much more of budget to recruit with, more anemities, etc.

with Bradley's lack of size, I would not agree that they could play with any major any given nite, look what happen in East Lansing, case in point.

[TheAsianSensation]

Never.

The MVC will never be a major.

And it's nothing to do with on-court production. The main use of that label entails the budget that you have. And barring a revolution, the MVC will not have a comparable budget to the other big boys.

When I hear the words major and mid-major, to me, it doesn't say a word about on-court talent. It's about budgets and exposure on TV and other media.

[Dallas Brave]

Never.

The MVC will never be a major.

And it's nothing to do with on-court production. The main use of that label entails the budget that you have. And barring a revolution, the MVC will not have a comparable budget to the other big boys.

When I hear the words major and mid-major, to me, it doesn't say a word about on-court talent. It's about budgets and exposure on TV and other media.

How do the athletic budgets of Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa compare to the budgets of DePaul and Marquette?

[TheAsianSensation]

Never.

The MVC will never be a major.

And it's nothing to do with on-court production. The main use of that label entails the budget that you have. And barring a revolution, the MVC will not have a comparable budget to the other big boys.

When I hear the words major and mid-major, to me, it doesn't say a word about on-court talent. It's about budgets and exposure on TV and other media.

How do the athletic budgets of Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa compare to the budgets of DePaul and Marquette?

Actually, probably not that badly. But. DePaul and Marquette are in the Big East. More national exposure, period.

[ser_solace]

I think if we continue with our success in the non-conference schedules and the NCAA, it'll happen. Not just Bradley but all the other teams in the MVC.

I mean it'll be ridiculous if the Valley is up there in the conference RPI, and it isn't considered a major conference. The more often it happens, the dumber people will look if they discount our conference.

[Dallas Brave]

Never.

The MVC will never be a major.

And it's nothing to do with on-court production. The main use of that label entails the budget that you have. And barring a revolution, the MVC will not have a comparable budget to the other big boys.

When I hear the words major and mid-major, to me, it doesn't say a word about on-court talent. It's about budgets and exposure on TV and other media.

How do the athletic budgets of Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa compare to the budgets of DePaul and Marquette?

Actually, probably not that badly. But. DePaul and Marquette are in the Big East. More national exposure, period.

Then we have established that athletic budgets are not the differentator between mid-major and major conferences. I think its untenable to say the difference between a major and mid-major is due to playing in two different markets like Milwaukee vs Peoria.

Quality of play from top-to-bottom in a respective conference should be the determining variable and in basketball, the MVC has earned the right to be considered a major. I think a major conference in basketball is a conference that gets at least 3 NCAA bids a year over a sustained period of time.

[TheAsianSensation]

Never.

The MVC will never be a major.

And it's nothing to do with on-court production. The main use of that label entails the budget that you have. And barring a revolution, the MVC will not have a comparable budget to the other big boys.

When I hear the words major and mid-major, to me, it doesn't say a word about on-court talent. It's about budgets and exposure on TV and other media.

How do the athletic budgets of Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa compare to the budgets of DePaul and Marquette?

Actually, probably not that badly. But. DePaul and Marquette are in the Big East. More national exposure, period.

Then we have established that athletic budgets are not the differentator between mid-major and major conferences. I think its untenable to say the difference between a major and mid-major is due to playing in two different markets like Milwaukee vs Peoria.

Quality of play from top-to-bottom in a respective conference should be the determining variable and in basketball, the MVC has earned the right to be considered a major. I think a major conference in basketball is a conference that gets at least 3 NCAA bids a year over a sustained period of time.

I think we're confusing our actual definitions of major and mid major.

To me, I don't look at talent or how good a team is when saying they're a mid major or not. The sole thing I look at is exposure, TV and media exposure, and revenue and budgets. The on-court product has absolutely NOTHING to do with my definition of major and mid-major.

[ser_solace]

Right I agree with your definition, AsianSensation, but that
on-court product is going to help us get more exposure eventually. Some of our games have been on ESPN2, and as we perform better, more of them will be there.