Anybody read Bob Lutz' article today?

[vbird53]

http://www.kansas.com/sports/lutz/story/721889.html

I may not agree with all his selections for teams, but his point is very much on target. The league is stale. Time for change.

I would love to see Oral Roberts and Butler, and expansion to 12 teams.

[_kai_]

The MVC should shake it up a bit, but I also think WSU should be in a different conference. If we had football, we probably would have been gone a long time ago.

[RoyalShock]

I would prefer a mix of purging and adding. I like the four schools he proposes adding, but would only punt UE and DU, keeping UNI and InSU. As long as UNI stays competitive in b-ball and v-ball, I have no problem with them.

That gives us a 12-team league, having purged two smaller markets (let's face it, I don't think Drake is that big of a deal in DSM) for three larger ones (STL, Indy, Tulsa) and a higher-visibility program (WKU) that takes the Valley to a new area.

[Shockerman]

I usually enjoy reading Lutz as he is fairly good at stiring the pot. However, he really did not do his homework very well for this article. Five years ago, WKU wanted into the Valley, the Valley said not interested and they were forced to upgrade their Football to FBS in order to help make their school fit the profile of a CUSA or MAC type league. Like Tulsa, they will eventually land in one of those conferences once the Big East deal goes down. The WKU ship has sailed permanently. In regards to UNI, the Valley is a basketball league and I would hate to compare UNI's success in this sport compared to Wichita State's, it would be embarassing. Maybe someone has the time to look how many tourny credits they have brought into the Valley compared to our 3 in the last 25 years.

However, I think he is right about E-ville and DU. Those two schools belong in the Horizon and would likley be much happier there.

Think where we would be if we would have added SLU and WKU 5 years ago in exchange for DU and UE? Politics would never allow this but it is fun to imagine. The thought of adding ORU makes me a touch queezy. Have we really dropped that far off as a conference that TU's little brother is a perfect fit for us? They must look back now and thank their leadership for keeping Football and putting themselves in a much safer, more competitve, higher profile and long term home in CUSA. Perhaps we will look back 10 years from now and be glad we did the same. Let's not hold our collective breath though. Maybe Newman will have upgraded to DI by then and we could have the cross town conference rival we always dreamed of!

[pinstripers]

Dunno if Butler or St Loo would come, but I'd get rid of Evansville and Northern Iowa immediately. If Indy State or Drake followed them, fine. It is crucial that we get into larger media markets. ORU is a no-brainer, and I would take UMKC and cross my fingers that they would continue to improve. That gives us Tulsa and KC. St Louis would be great, and then maybe Ark-Lil Rock.

[podunkboy]

Maybe Newman will have upgraded to DI by then and we could have the cross town conference rival we always dreamed of!

Okay, here's a plan -- Newman University and Friends University merge across Kellogg and become The Friends of Newman University.



Just my take. :D

[ShockerFever]

The Iowa and Indiana schools would be the first to go for sure, if such a plan actually took off.

[Shockerman]

Dunno if Butler or St Loo would come, but I'd get rid of Evansville and Northern Iowa immediately. If Indy State or Drake followed them, fine. It is crucial that we get into larger media markets. ORU is a no-brainer, and I would take UMKC and cross my fingers that they would continue to improve. That gives us Tulsa and KC. St Louis would be great, and then maybe Ark-Lil Rock.

Are you out of your mind? The day we add Ark-Little Rock, UMKC, and ORU and view that as an upgrade is the day I let go of Shocker Basketball. The whole media market thing is so overblown. Look at the Big 12 and the $EC. Both are ripe with money and both have a plethora of small market schools. The catch is that their alumni graduate and move into large media markets to advance their careers. I guess I just don't forsee the Big 12 dropping OSU, KU, KSU, ISU, TT, BU etc because they aren't located in Chicago.

[Shockerman]

Maybe Newman will have upgraded to DI by then and we could have the cross town conference rival we always dreamed of!

Okay, here's a plan -- Newman University and Friends University merge across Kellogg and become The Friends of Newman University.



Just my take. :D

Beatiful! Now we just need a nickname as the mascot is taken care of.

[ShockTalk]

Adding and subtracting the teams discussed here do little to improve the MVC. Adding WKU a few years back would have been a solid move.

I prefer to dream of us leaving the Valley. Memphis will bolt to the Big East, several other Big East teams will leave joining the eastern schools of C-USA. I submit the following list of teams from which a new 10-12 team conference is made: Wichita State, Creighton, Missouri State, SMU, Rice, UTEP, Tulane, Houston, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU, New Orleans, and North Texas.

Regionally, it makes sense. It would be decent in football, very good in basketball, and great baseball. Traveling to these schools would be far superior than going to Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.

Opinions anyone?

[benishock]

Probably impossible, but I'd like to see us in the Mountain West conference.

[BOBB]

Probably impossible, but I'd like to see us in the Mountain West conference.

Nothing a true DI football program couldn't cure...

[tropicalshox]

I've day dreamed off and on about a new conference ever since the term Valley of Death died. Shock talk came up with a good one.

[GO_SHOCKERS]

Adding and subtracting the teams discussed here do little to improve the MVC. Adding WKU a few years back would have been a solid move.

I prefer to dream of us leaving the Valley. Memphis will bolt to the Big East, several other Big East teams will leave joining the eastern schools of C-USA. I submit the following list of teams from which a new 10-12 team conference is made: Wichita State, Creighton, Missouri State, SMU, Rice, UTEP, Tulane, Houston, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, TCU, New Orleans, and North Texas.

Regionally, it makes sense. It would be decent in football, very good in basketball, and great baseball. Traveling to these schools would be far superior than going to Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.

Opinions anyone?

I counter with this:

Valley West
Wichita St--No Football
Creighton--No Football
Missouri St--1-AA
Oral Roberts--No Football
St. Louis--No Football
Tulsa--only 1-A Football school
UMKC*-- If Tulsa says no

Valley East
Southern Illinois--1-AA
Illinois St--1-AA
Bradley--No Football
Butler--1-AA
Xavier--1-AA
Dayton--1-AA

[pinstripers]

D-1 football will probably never happen here, but joining a conference full of D-1 football teams, without us having football, is even more unlikely. It's nice to dream, tho. I want more southern teams, better weather for baseball, easier travel for the Shox as well as the fans, and larger media markets.