Missouri Valley to add UIC

[Da Coach]

CBS Sports college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein is reporting that the Missouri Valley is expected to announce this week that UIC will join the conference as a new member in 2022-23-
https://collegehoopstoday.com/index....rly-this-week/

This season they are 7-9 overall, and 3-4 in the Horizon League-

https://uicflames.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...inois-chicago/

[Braves2006]

Oh god. Please no. Tell me this is just a rumor….

[Bradley3342]

Oh god. Please no. Tell me this is just a rumor….

For sure! Can’t see where UIC would add anything to our league.

[houstonbrave]

Will be interesting. Provided nobody else is leaving it either means 22 league games if we play everyone twice which is a lot or 2- 6 team leagues which would seem likely to result in more scheduling difficulty-playing your division teams twice and the others once- meaning only 16 league games. Also splitting into 2 -6 team leagues makes splitting up the east side teams difficult. Teams in close geographic proximity probably want to stay together- ISU and Bradley want to be together, SIU and Murray State, Valpo prob wants UIC, Belmont and Murray…maybe I am missing something obvious. I also hate an unbalanced schedule.

[Da Coach]

For sure! Can’t see where UIC would add anything to our league.

Remember that this was similar to what a lot of people said when the league added Northern Iowa in the 1990's, and more recently when the MVC added Loyola in 2013. For those who don't remember, Loyola was a perennial bottom half finisher a weak Horizon League, and after joining the MVC, it took them 5 years before they had a winning season.

Yeah, UIC isn't very good right now, and they haven't been for a long time. But they have a good young coach, and I think the move to the MVC will give their recruiting a boost, like it did for Loyola.

[Da Coach]

There are reports that UIC has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow, likely to announce they are joining the MVC.
Neither the UIC website nor the MVC website has anything about this yet.

[Da Coach]

There are reports that UIC has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow, likely to announce they are joining the MVC.
Neither the UIC website nor the MVC website has anything about this yet.

Press conference scheduled tomorrow at 11:00 am

[Da Coach]

Official press release from UIC-
https://uicflames.com/news/2022/1/26...onference.aspx

Official release from the MVC (same press release with additional info and comments)-
https://mvc-sports.com/news/2022/1/2...onference.aspx

One interesting trivia note- UIC becomes the largest school by far in the Missouri Valley with over 34,000 students, and possibly the largest school ever in the MVC.

[64NIT]

I think the Valley made a mistake by adding UIC. If they wanted to retain a presence in Chicago, what was wrong with adding Chicago State? They are a school without a conference, probably because no conference wants them, and even the Valley bottom dwellers would be almost guaranteed winning against them. There could even be the occasional "surprise" CSU win. Walk-ons would get some playing time, too.

This is a humorous post so, no flaming, please.

[Mikovio]

UIC is a good addition (as well as Murray and Belmont). UIC is huge and has a massive reach and alumni network. They have medical schools all over the state and just recently they bought John Marshall Law School (a major Chicago fixture and my dad's alma mater). If they ever get a basketball team worth cheering about they could find a lot of support and growth, fast.

[BUfan17]

I see this mainly as just a move to maintain the Chicago market. The Chicago probably has to have the largest concentration of Valley alumni.

UIC is large, but primarily a commuter school for people in the Chicago area. Not many students actually live on or near campus. They don't really seem to have a loyal fan base like most other Valley schools have, then again they are quite a bit younger of a school. Hopefully things are looking up for them.

[Canton BU fan]

Hopefully they can do what Loyola did after joining

[Tommy]

Hopefully they can do what Loyola did after joining

um, other than dominate us at their place. Let's not let that happen!

[Da Coach]

UIC is a good addition (as well as Murray and Belmont). UIC is huge and has a massive reach and alumni network. They have medical schools all over the state and just recently they bought John Marshall Law School (a major Chicago fixture and my dad's alma mater). If they ever get a basketball team worth cheering about they could find a lot of support and growth, fast.

UIC is also a school without football (Belmont is, too) so that also makes them attractive to the MVC, which does not want football to drive decisions affecting athletics. Their men's and women's soccer teams have been historically successful, as has their baseball program, and their other sports are well funded with facilities on par with or in some cases better than MVC schools. So even though the most visible program (men's basketball) has not been very good in recent years, there are reasons to think it will get better.
Our baseball team will like playing in Granderson Field (recently upgraded courtesy of a $5 million donation from former major leaguer and UIC grad Curtis Granderson.
https://uicflames.com/facilities/curtis-granderson-stadium/4

[LittleBrave]

UIC is a good addition (as well as Murray and Belmont). UIC is huge and has a massive reach and alumni network. They have medical schools all over the state and just recently they bought John Marshall Law School (a major Chicago fixture and my dad's alma mater). If they ever get a basketball team worth cheering about they could find a lot of support and growth, fast.

I'm with you on this!
If we weren't getting Belmont and Murray, it would be a little disappointing, but at least Braves fans in the Chicago area can continue seeing BU play in person!
I've gone to every BU-Loyola game in Chicago since the Ramblers joined the Valley and it's been awesome to have that chance.

Also, UIC should be the lower half of the league, but they should get better with this jump to a better league.
I really don't want another great program to join. It's been very hard for BU to finish Top 4, and it will get even harder next season!!