The Rise & Fall of the Valley

[Cdizzle]

Why didn't we just grab up Hawkins ourselves and make the irony complete.

Not sure there is enough space on the interwebz to hold the list of reasons.

[WuShock16]

Not sure there is enough space on the interwebz to hold the list of reasons.

Yet only one reason is needed: 3G has no interest in dealing with any BS from Hawkins.

[Shoxcity]

Want to see Hawkins' text-book order form. Probably Clifford the Big Red Dog and Cat in the Hat.

[1972Shocker]

The guy obviously doesn't want to play in the NCAA tournament. If so, his best chance would have been to stay at ISU. Or maybe ISU doesn't have a graduate degree in Moran Studies.

I always that it was Maroon Studies!

[Stickboy46]

http://www.mvc-sports.com/mbasketball/news/2016-17/9625/mvcmountain-west-challenge-series/#.WThXh-vytEZ

MVC/MWC Challenge. Looks like we would have played Utah State (assuming they just subbed in Valpo for WSU, which they might not have). Ew...

Also of note the records in this challenge ... WSU was the only team with a winning record vs the MWC.

MVC RECORDS IN THE SERIES (22-33)
Bradley: 0-5 (Streak: Lost 5 in a row)
Drake: 2-4 (Streak (Lost 2 in a row)
Evansville: 2-3 (Won 2 in a row)
Illinois State: 2-3 (Won 1 in a row)
Indiana State: 3-3 (Won 2 in a row)
Loyola: 1-1 (Won 1 in a row)
Missouri State: 1-4 (Lost 4 in a row)
UNI: 3-3 (Lost 3 in a row)
Southern Illinois: 2-3 (Lost 1 in a row)
Valparaiso: 0-0
Creighton: 1-3 (now a member of the Big East)
Wichita State: 5-1 (now a member of the AAC)

[Stickboy46]

Mcintosh lands at Oregon

[SHOCKvalue]

Mcintosh lands at Oregon

Ended up with a pretty good ROI out of the move.

[Shoxcity]

Mueller asking McIntosh right now if he can go to oregon with him.

[RoyalShock]

I posted this in the pinned AAC topic, but is even more relevant here:

Missouri Valley has what it takes without Wichita State

“Wichita State was an outlier in our conference because the Koch brothers supplied it with such an unlimited amount of resources. Wichita was operating in a different strata and that gave them an entrenched advantage. Everybody knew they’d win the conference every year and it made it more difficult to build solid programs. So losing them was a big plus for the rest of us.” - Bradley president Gary Roberts

Koch brothers? Unlimited resources? . . . Ok . . .

Roberts believes the Wichita State’s departure will make the new Valley stronger.

That’s saying a lot considering the Shockers’ recent hoops accomplishments.

Did he say that with a straight face?

“There’s been a changing of the guard at the top of our league. But we’re optimistic as a group moving forward. We’ve got people in our league who really care.”

They really care, because now it's fair.

[UCONN_Husky]

Haters gonna hate. It's not like WSU was Rutgers. You completely earned the conference upgrade. They will try to spin it positively in their favor, but ultimately, losing the marquee MVC program is a HUGE hit.

[ShockerEngr]

Haters gonna hate. It's not like WSU was Rutgers. You completely earned the conference upgrade. They will try to spin it positively in their favor, but ultimately, losing the marquee MVC program is a HUGE hit.

At the same time... too many MVC programs are excited to be competitive again without putting in the hard work.

[Shoxfan11]

I posted this in the pinned AAC topic, but is even more relevant here:

Missouri Valley has what it takes without Wichita State



Koch brothers? Unlimited resources? . . . Ok . . .



Did he say that with a straight face?



They really care, because now it's fair.

Just wow. I thought Bradley was better than that.

A good history and a fanbase that has showed up to games the past few years when they've had some really bad seasons. They were right with us just 10 years ago when the Valley was at its peak and destroying brackets in the Big Dance. If we were to stay in the Valley, I think a lot of us here had hope that Bradley could finally start pumping out some good, consistent teams. Well, I guess now they have no excuse since they shouldn't have anymore difficulties building their program according to Mr. Roberts.

I've planned on rooting for Valley teams in the postseason as I always have and trying to keep an eye on them throughout the year; we were in that conference a long time and there were some great times. But quotes like that really make it hard to care about them anymore at all.

[DUShock]

If by making the league more competitive within itself,then yes, it is improving. If by making the league more competitive within the greater NCAA landscape, then no, the league is sinking and will continue to do so.

[UCONN_Husky]

At the same time... too many MVC programs are excited to be competitive again without putting in the hard work.

That was the problem of the MVC and Elgin IMO....small time thinking. I'm thrilled that WSU saw beyond that. Bardo/Boatright are the real deal. Keep them at all costs.

[RoyalShock]

Now that I/we have taken the pot shots, I think there is some wisdom in that article.

No, the Valley is not stronger. That is a laughable comment. But it will be more competitive. And considering the way WSU dominated the league, there wasn't going to be much return on investment for the other schools to increase men's bball expenditures only to have them still fall short of the NCAA tournament. UNI is the only school with recent enough success and ambitious OOC scheduling to expect to compete with WSU for MVC titles AND NCAA bids.