American Athletic Conference

[The Mad Hatter]

Apparently Belmont, ORU, and Denver are now on the list to replace CU.

http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?feed=31&pt=MVC+officials+visit+possible+replacements&id=44863&is_corp=0

Belmont is close to SIU, UE, and InSU so travel would not be as much of a consideration than it would be with Denver. Denver has pro baseball, basketball, and football, so Belmont could probably have better local fan appeal than Denver.

The fact that Denver is a program on the rise has been discussed at length, but let's make the local fan appeal issue clear.

2012 Basketball average attendance:

Denver - 5,460
Belmont - 2,012

[Rlh04d]

Is there any talk of WSU to the AAC other than on this board? Or to the MWC other than this board and a couple of MWC boards following our run? I would like either option over the current MVC, but the lack of wider speculation makes me think it probably remains pretty remote.

I've seen multiple threads about it on forums for the AAC, Big East, A-10, and MWC.

[shox1989]

The fact that Denver is a program on the rise has been discussed at length, but let's make the local fan appeal issue clear.

2012 Basketball average attendance:

Denver - 5,460
Belmont - 2,012

I also read on MVC fans that Denver is a larger TV market than Nashville.

[SubGod22]

Apparently Belmont, ORU, and Denver are now on the list to replace CU.

http://www.wjbc.com/common/page.php?feed=31&pt=MVC+officials+visit+possible+replacements&id=44863&is_corp=0

Belmont is close to SIU, UE, and InSU so travel would not be as much of a consideration than it would be with Denver. Denver has pro baseball, basketball, and football, so Belmont could probably have better local fan appeal than Denver.

Denver is the best choice from a purely basketball perspective. They have fan support. They have a very good athletic budget. They're pushing basketball hard. They've been making solid progress. They're in a good market. They've been right around 100 in the RPI the past few years and appear to be an even better team next season.

Belmont has some success, but little fan support. Nashville would be a great market to get into, but I do worry about their ability to fund the program at a higher level considering the attendance issues. And I wonder how they'll do when Byrd retires. He's been there 20+ years. It's his program. Can they attract a decent coach and keep him for more than a couple of years? If not, they're constantly under new leadership. Or they find someone who's not good enough to be wanted...

ORU has a solid history and in a good market and recruiting area. They're capable of respectable attendance. Not sure how high their ceiling is though.

Any option is going to have some risk with it. Some more than others. But I want Denver. It's just one trip a year for both basketball teams, volleyball and maybe soccer. I know they don't have baseball/softball so the poor schools don't have to worry about that. I don't even know if they have T&F but you don't have to play each other there. They have swimming and diving but I don't know how that works. So other schools may have to travel to Denver 3 or 4 times a year. That's not too bad.

[Aargh]

The sister of the poor athletic departments will never vote for Denver - too much travel cost.

[SubGod22]

The sister of the poor athletic departments will never vote for Denver - too much travel cost.

If that's the reasoning they use we should nuke 'em. It's the best program. And it's only a couple of trips a year and it's a hell of a lot easier to get to than some of the current locations we're in.

And then if they want to complain, tell them we'll expand to 12 in 3-5 years and see if Dayton gets left behind somehow from the Big East. Some seem to think if they go to 12 that SLU is in but Richmond could edge Dayton out. If that happens, trying to lure Dayton from the A10 becomes a little more realistic. We could then add another school with them and go E/W and they can save on travel by only flying to Denver every other year. But Denver has to be added now.

Think they'd go for it?

[RoyalShock]

Seeing as how there was a semi-official report that Denver wasn't interested, I doubt the accuracy of that last linked article, unless it's a basketball-only discussion.

[SubGod22]

Seeing as how there was a semi-official report that Denver wasn't interested, I doubt the accuracy of that last linked article, unless it's a basketball-only discussion.

Many have felt that Denver was saying those things before CU actually left just to make the Summit feel better. Denver has said in the past that the MVC or the WCC(I think) were the two conferences that they aimed for. It's not unheard of for a school to say one thing, especially when there's no official opening, and then something else when there's an actual chance to do it.

Or, it could be that Denver wasn't interested in adding sports right away and maybe the MVC has backed off of that demand. If we take Denver, as is, then they're much more open to joining than if we forced them to add baseball/softball/T&F.

[ripemupshocks]

Edit: Found the discussion here.

The vast majority really seem to be in favor of adding WSU and VCU. Much debate about teams like UMass or GMU. Their feeling is, Cincy, UConn, Memphis, Temple, WSU and VCU makes for a pretty strong line-up. I could see all six of those teams getting NCAA bids every year. But I think the question has to be; Can they keep Cincy and UConn? Or anybody else for that matter?

[MadaboutWu]

It's hard to imagine UConn staying in this league. Cincy, I have no idea.

[KC Shox]

This is a very interesting site posted on the UIC board. UIC is right up there with Valpo and Youngston despite not having football. The potential exists for UIC, does elevating their conference affiliation carry over to improved attendance and performance is the big question. They aren't worse than UNI who has budget issues, EU, Drake?

http://www.bbstate.com/info/schools-budget&c=HL

[Ta town]

This is a very interesting site posted on the UIC board. UIC is right up there with Valpo and Youngston despite not having football. The potential exists for UIC, does elevating their conference affiliation carry over to improved attendance and performance is the big question. They aren't worse than UNI who has budget issues, EU, Drake?

http://www.bbstate.com/info/schools-budget&c=HL

bbstate seems to be a year or two behind on budgets...try this

http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/

Not saying what bbstate has is wrong, I didn't look, I just know that it's off on teams like WSU compared to the sight I listed.

EDIT: nevermind I just looked and it seems like WSU is updated. My bad

[RoyalShock]

Todd Golden @TribStarTodd

Rumor mill time! Loyola athletes are under impression that Ramblers-to-the-MVC is a done deal. We'll see. Chicago market needs to be tapped.

[SubGod22]

Todd Golden @TribStarTodd

Rumor mill time! Loyola athletes are under impression that Ramblers-to-the-MVC is a done deal. We'll see. Chicago market needs to be tapped.

That's even worse than UIC.

I don't get why people think adding an irrelevant school in Chicago will get us any more pub than we already get in Chicago. And what's the point if the school you're adding is going to be the worst in the conference?

If this happens, you'll see WSU, Bradley, MSU and ISU looking to get out. Potentially someone else as well. Which makes me wonder how Loyola would get the 7 needed votes... The more I think about it, the less I believe that tweet being accurate. I don't see any way WSU could get behind Loyola. I may buy ISU and BU since they're close and maybe that matters. I'm sure UE and ISUb would support it because it's closer to them and they need to save money wherever possible. Not sure how Drake or UNI would feel. I can't see MSU liking this one.

[RoyalShock]

I'm still not sure I buy it. I can't imagine we wouldn't hear about the imminent meeting of university presidents prior to the actual meeting. But who knows. Maybe it's the water in Chicago, since that's where both _____ to the MVC rumors have come from.