Loyola Joining the A-10

[Kel Varnsen]

Good on Loyola. The Valley continues to plummet.

[Kel Varnsen]

Kung Wu you can remove this if you like. Saw it posted in a thread in Men's Basketball forum just now.

[MoValley John]

Sorry to see this happen to the Valley. Then I jumped over to MVCFans and saw UMKC is in discussions to join. Underwhelming would be an understatement.

[Dark Lord]

Good on Loyola, however I am a bit surprised. The Atlantic Ten has no need to expand and Loyola does have a new coach. This seems to be a move that could have waited to see if Loyola can continue into a new staff. The conference also does not seem to be under any threat of losing anyone that I know of. Do they have a sixteenth member in their crosshairs? Or do they believe that the Big East is going to expand by one and add one of their members?

As for the Missouri Valley, maybe there was internal knowledge of this going on and that is why they did not add a public school along with their addition of Belmont a while back. It is quite possible that there will not be another addition to respond to this departure. Either way, dark days are ahead for the conference and I will enjoy watching that from the shadows.

[SubGod22]

Good for them. It will be interesting to see how the new coach does but getting into the A10 probably shouldn't hurt their recruiting at all.

Does the Valley stay at 10 or do they add more?

[SB Shock]

Good for them. It will be interesting to see how the new coach does but getting into the A10 probably shouldn't hurt their recruiting at all.

Does the Valley stay at 10 or do they add more?

MVC is reported to be talking about adding UMKC, UT-Arlington and Murray State.

[pogo]

This is where the hand wringing few should chime in for WSU to re join the Movalley.

[MoValley John]

Its times like this that just makes me laugh at SWOMO and their fans. Here is a quote from MVC Fans:

"MSU is a large State University approaching 30,000 students. It has great facilities, a nationally ranked football team, a nationally ranked soccer team, a nationally ranked hockey team and a nationally ranked WBB team. Think what you want, but we will have several opportunities to move if we chose to. I really think[ and I'm not saying we will get that chance] that the Administration wants an AAC bid down the line if WSU and Tulsa remain part of that conference. Just makes sense , but who know at this point. Congrats to Loyola, a sensible move for them that might ultimately put them in the BE discussion."

Let me break the puffery down to facts.

23,000, large for the Valley, but a long wzy from approaching 30,000 students.

Nationally ranked football team, maybe, but if they make it into the playoffs, it would be the second time in almost 20 years. Underwhelming.

Don't know anything about soccer, according to Google, they are ranked 16th.

Hockey team is ranked, but is a CLUB sport. They are really sticking their chests out over a club sport!

Womens basketball is among those receiving votes. In my book, that ain't ranked.

I'm not sure why I find their fans so pathetic, but they are notorious for spewing this crap, mostly overstatements and embellishments. Then they start buying their own bulksh1t and think a team that hasn't even dominated fcs should get a direct AAC invite.

[SubGod22]

If SWOMO really has ambitions to play FBS football and is eyeing a possible future in the American, they would absolutely have to push to get into CUSA first. The AAC will not be calling them up from the Valley. I don't foresee the American clamoring for the Springfield market. I suppose a case could be made that given the population of Missouri, you'd think a 2nd FBS school could garner more attention and support. Even if they were an option, I'm sure the leadership of this conference would be looking at schools like Texas State, Georgia State, ODU, JMU, Buffalo, Toledo, Ohio before them. If we get out of markets I'm sure schools like LaTech, WKU and MTSU would also be above them in the pecking order and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

And if I remember correctly, their overall athletic budget is pretty low and that's not going to be impressing anyone. We outspend pretty much all of the Valley and that's without football.

And bragging about club sports as if that makes any difference is laughable. The other non-revenue sports having success can help, but their football hasn't been anything special in far recent memory, if ever, and their basketball has been forgettable for a while. They have work to do and if they have ambitions, they need to do everything they can to be one of the next three teams invited to CUSA. Otherwise, they should just enjoy the Valley.

[SubGod22]

If the Valley adds Murray, Arlington and Kansas City, that would put them at 13 right? If they've already had the conversations to have these schools leaked as having been talked to, one would think that they were looking at 14 and maybe Loyola surprised them. This would mean that they'd probably be adding one more to get to 14.

UIC seems to be the obvious choice for 14 so they keep a Chicago presence. It would also explain why one of the most obvious choices wouldn't have been on the initial list if they didn't want to have two schools in Chicago for whatever reason.

If UIC isn't taken, who would be 14? Little Rock would be an option as I've seen some talk of them and Arlington being encouraged to find a new home by the Belt because they don't have football. I always thought Milwaukee could be a worthwhile addition to the MVC. Another new market that's still close to the footprint of the conference and in a state that at least some of them recruit. I haven't kept up with Northern Kentucky, but with the addition of Belmont (Nashville), Northern Kentucky would get them in the Cincinnati area. Isn't NKU where the Bearcats played their home games while their arena was under renovations? I used to think Wright State might be an interesting add, but I believe they've fallen on hard times. Would they be interested in going after Omaha? If they simply want yet another new and large market, they could target Detroit, but that just seems like a stretch for some reason. Also not sure what they've done since what's his face was there. You could think about bridging the gap between SWOMO and UTA, but I'm not sure ORU really does that anymore than SWOMO already does. If there were another school in the OKC area it might work.

UIC still makes the most sense.

[calfan]

I was wondering the same thing, Pogo. There were some on this Message Board jumping up and down a month ago to get back in the MVC. If they were the athletic director and had made that move, they would be in big trouble today.

The only real move that makes sense right now in moving conferences is the Big East.

For now, I like the idea of staying and seeing what happens after all the changes are made.

[SB Shock]

This is where the hand wringing few should chime in for WSU to re join the Movalley.

Norlander and Parrish said there is a 4th team that is trying to get to the MVC - but they would not name them. So who knows....

BTW, the schools wanting to get into the MVC will be doing a presentation to the MVC on December 19.

[MoValley John]

Norlander and Parrish said there is a 4th team that is trying to get to the MVC - but they would not name them. So who knows....

BTW, the schools wanting to get into the MVC will be doing a presentation to the MVC on December 19.

I think there are a lot of viable options for the Valley. They could make it a very strong conference.

I also think SWOMO fans have their collective heads so far up their asses they don't know the day of the week. They amaze me on a regular basis.

[revenge_of_shocka_khan]

Its times like this that just makes me laugh at SWOMO and their fans. Here is a quote from MVC Fans:

"MSU is a large State University approaching 30,000 students. It has great facilities, a nationally ranked football team, a nationally ranked soccer team, a nationally ranked hockey team and a nationally ranked WBB team. Think what you want, but we will have several opportunities to move if we chose to. I really think[ and I'm not saying we will get that chance] that the Administration wants an AAC bid down the line if WSU and Tulsa remain part of that conference. Just makes sense , but who know at this point. Congrats to Loyola, a sensible move for them that might ultimately put them in the BE discussion."

Let me break the puffery down to facts.

23,000, large for the Valley, but a long wzy from approaching 30,000 students.

Nationally ranked football team, maybe, but if they make it into the playoffs, it would be the second time in almost 20 years. Underwhelming.

Don't know anything about soccer, according to Google, they are ranked 16th.

Hockey team is ranked, but is a CLUB sport. They are really sticking their chests out over a club sport!

Womens basketball is among those receiving votes. In my book, that ain't ranked.

I'm not sure why I find their fans so pathetic, but they are notorious for spewing this crap, mostly overstatements and embellishments. Then they start buying their own bulksh1t and think a team that hasn't even dominated fcs should get a direct AAC invite.

SO glad UTSA is joining the AAC. They have a solid FB program, are building a solid BB program with Coach Steve Henson, and are close enough for me to drive to the game when the Shockers go to SA.

They are light years ahead of SWOMO!

Oh, not trying to rub it in, but enrollment is 40K AND they have three Goldwater scholars.

Thanks for sharing, John!

[C0|dB|00ded]

LOLoyola big-leaguing the Valley is about as hilarious as it is shocking. From the Horizon to the A-10 in 8 years flat. A move like this just about cements the fate of the MVC as a declining mid-major power.

When we talk about the Shockers and future conference realignment apocalypse scenarios, the A-10 is now officially the "safety net". A move to the A-10 would signal the end of Shocker road trips and our baseball program.