Have to disagree, the conference tournament is held at an NBA arena. Think about that we can sell playing in NBA spaces to kids. We play against the alma maters of current day NBA players, and NBA MVPs! And not from 1979 or 1965! We're going to be able to recruit a different kind of kid then we did in the valley. Just like we did when we moved from the Horizon. As long as we keep the character focus, we should be just fine winning with kids of a higher caliber who maybe are less local to Illinois/Iowa/Indiana I suppose.

I agree that we can sell NBA arena, better scheduling opportunities, and more post-season opportunities from a recruiting standpoint.

Another thing we can sell is that the A10 has had NBA draft picks in 6 of the last 7 years. The MVC has 2 total since 2007.

I don't think that the other teams in the Valley have been an impact in our recruiting. If you look at the scholarship players by geography, they break down like this:

Guys from Chicago area - 5 (Williamson, TY, Welch, Kennedy, B Schweiger)
Guys from Valley footprint - 2 (Hall, Damezi - both transfers)
Guys from outside Valley footprint - 7 (Saint, Norris, Clemens, R Schweiger, Hutson, Knight, Aher)

I think this shows that the geography of the conference doesn't impact recruiting as much as most people think it would. In my opinion this can only help us in recruiting. The key is the coaches staying true to the formula that has been successful.

As far as I can tell the A-10 has 2 NBA players currently in the league. Davidson did not join for 6 years after Curry left for the NBA.

My point is simple - being the best program in a solid conference - (though not as good as the A-10) is ok. 2 bid league last year and two horses at the top this year, LU and Drake. Talent flowing in because of the winning ways, the campus, the coaching etc.

Now...fast forward to next year and just suppose you see a 500 team in conference? Where's the shine? That's my fear.

But -- I am looking forward to seeing the team in some fun cities. Sure beats DesMoines, Springfield, Terre Haute and the balance!!

I can see that perspective I just think if we can assume we will remain on top in the Valley despite all the unknowns no reason not to assume we can topple the A10 in the same way we did the Valley.

faulty research on my end! Did not uncover the amount of draft picks that you did. Good point.

If we're a 500 team in the a10 we're a 750 team in the MVC and missing the tournament. Losing is bad no matter what. The point is that winning in the a10 gets you a lot farther that winning in the mvc. Also - I'd rather see SLU, Davidson, VCU, St. Bonaventure etc in Gentile. And maybe our best players getting legit shots in the NBA.

Do we know if Knight and Schwieger will have another year of eligibility? If not, we’ll be a fairly young team our first year in the A10

A10 continues to get 2 and 3 bids, but their performance in the tournament the last 6 years or so has been wholly unimpressive. They have 2 programs that have made it to the final 4 in GMason and VCU, but both teams were not members of the conference when their respective runs happened.

In the case of the MVC, Wichita St and LUC made final 4 runs within 5 years of each other. And while WSU is no longer part of the MVC, they did make the final 4 and a #1 seed while conference members.

18 teams and 16 of them in the Eastern Time Zone; I just struggle with it. I hope I am wrong, but I think we might lose the identity of the program and the brand moving east.

To be fair, that glosses over Dayton being one of the best teams in the country two years ago when there was no NCAA Tournament. They were a likely 1 seed that could’ve won it all.

I love the MVC, especially having gone to grad school at an MVC school when the MVC was probably at its peak. That being said, I also completely understand this move. The college sports landscape is changing rapidly, and if you aren’t acting proactively as a school you might find yourself on the outs in 5-10 years…there is a split coming eventually, and some conferences aren’t going to be on the good side of that split. The money involved almost guarantees that. The MVC might be in a position to survive. I hope they survive and thrive. The A-10 will be in a better position. I don’t like the direction college conferences are headed, but I’m not going to pretend it isn’t happening. And I’m glad the administration here isn’t either.

I can’t help but sit here and compare the reactions today to the reactions 8/9 years ago. When we joined the MVC, the Horizon league didn’t seem to care much, and the MVC fans hated our addition. Compare that to today, the MVC fans are pissed, the A-10 fans are loving it, and the move is garnering National attention. Quite a difference.

I hear some of your points (although there are only 15 A10 teams, including us). But think of this--in 2018, if we were upset in the Arch Madness final, most people believe we don't get a bid. Thus no Final Four run and we aren't even having this convo (or, likely, many other convos on this board). But if we were in the A-10, won the regular season in convincing fashion, similar resume, etc. but lost in the A10 final, we would have gotten a bid. The A10 is a multi-bid league nearly every year. The Valley needs things to go nearly perfect just to get two bids (see last year with Drake JUST getting in).

And I am not sure the identity changes a ton. We are reuniting with Dayton. We are facing schools with much similar profiles to us than the likes of UNI, ISU, etc.

National media is loving this move. Haven't seen much, if any, negative reaction. The A-10, generally, gets more press than the MVC (right or wrong). This elevates our profile and our brand even further. Sure, there are some dud programs in the A-10...no one is going to be dying to see Loyola vs La Salle on a Tuesday night in February. But hosting VCU, Dayton, SLU will be awesome.