JCT wrote:
The thing that gets me about Shocker fans' opinions of what would be a good add to the league is a lot of the teams THEY prefer have many of the exact same drawbacks they've given Loyola continuous hell about.
Belmont has a good track record on the court recently, but how much of it is due to their 62-year old coach who has taken them from NAIA to Division 1? What happens when Byrd retires? They draw 1900 per game in the Ohio Valley (with a lot of nearby and local rivalries), with tickets half the price of what Loyola charges, and after going to the NCAA Tournament four out of the last five years. They rank sixth in the OVC in attendance, and if you throw out their Senior Day, their biggest crowd was less than 2500 (Loyola had two crowds more than 1k higher than that this year, coming off a last place season). Thier arena size is 200 smaller than the old Gentile, and 500 more than the current Loyola layout. They're probably the third most popular team in the Nashville market (29th in market size) after Vanderbilt and Tennessee-- and perhaps even behind several others in the state like Memphis, Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee, etc. They're in football country, where basketball is an afterthought, and in a good but not great hoops recruiting area. About a third of their 5000 undergraduate students are involved in music programs (business and performance), and their endowment is one fifth of Loyola's. They're exactly 30 miles closer to Wichita than Chicago, but much farther from UNI, Drake, Bradely, ISUr, and ISUb. They have played 18 years in D1 compared to Loyola's 97 seasons, and never won an NCAA Tournament game. If they're drawing 1900 per game after making the tournament 7 of the past 10 years, why do Wichita State folks always get so excited about Belmont? Haven't they already maxed out?
I can guarantee that if Loyola made the tournament just once every five years we'd easily average 50% more than what Belmont draws, even in our worst rebuilding seasons-- not to mention the upside on media coverage in the 3rd (not 29th) largest TV market, activating three times as many alumni, and traveling better to rival league sites than Belmont does in the middle of their success. And Denver isn't much better, with a lot of the same issues (they drew 200 fewer for their game against UNI than Loyola did, and averaged 1965 in their home games).
I have always voiced the same concerns with Belmont. Byrd has done wonders there but when he's gone, there's no guarantee. Their attendance isn't good and his reported pay isn't great. But if we're looking at adding a private to offset say a UAB, I could see them getting a look.
I do feel that if we do expand to 12 in order to pull in a UAB, which I think UAB would be worth it, number 12 should be outside of the current area as well. That was another one of the complaints among many with the addition of Loyola. Along with attendance and no recent success, it was another school in Illinois and many wondered if that really did us any good as far as trying to grow the MVC. That can be argued and debated later, but it was the thinking. That's why many will not like an addition of a Valpo. I admit that I don't follow that conference closely at all, but have they done much in the last decade? and they're yet another team "near" Chicago. If being a bus league is important to the other 9, so be it. But it doesn't do much for the conference as a whole in the big picture.
I don't know what to think of Detroit. They've been decent recently, but again, I don't know much about them, especially prior to the hiring of their recent coach who has done a decent job recruiting. It is another school with low attendance, but I think just about any private we look at will be the same way. I don't know what kind of financial situation they're in either or what kind of aspirations the current coach has. They were pretty irrelevant before him and I wonder what they can do if he were to leave.
As far as Denver goes, they haven't moved forward like some had thought. Yes, they're a hockey school, but a few years ago they had said that they were going to use that hockey money to help boost their basketball and try to get into a better conference. They also have some pretty good donors if I remember correctly. They were moving up the RPI ranks pretty well for a few years but that seems to have stopped. But there were reasons to believe that Denver COULD have been a decent add if those previous rumors were true. I haven't paid too close of attention to it all recently.
IF a private school has to be added should a UAB become available, I'm not sure I'm thrilled with our options. Personally, I think we should go after the best option regardless of public/private and preferably a school outside the current footprint. Expanding the coverage area/exposure can only be good for the conference as a whole. We don't have to try and be crazy with it like the BcS conferences have gotten, but more TVs is a good thing. But more importantly, good basketball with the ability to step up is even better. I think UAB would be a no brainer if CUSA removes them as the bylaws state football is a must. Number 12 will be much debated should this ever move forward. Or would the conference be willing to stay with 11 for a while?
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