Comments on: South Dakota Passes on Big Sky, Will Join Missouri Valley for Football

By: CollegeSportsInfo.com

CollegeSportsInfo.com — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:19:00 +0000

Reason is simple. The symmetry of adding all four might make sense to a fan. But it takes more for these moves to happen:

Market: what does adding 4 schools in 2 of the least populated states do for the MVC? Not much.
Politics: the MVC is a blend of private and public school, football and non-football. They have kept the political balance stable over the years. If you recall, MVFC is separate from MVC…just the Gateway conference renamed “MVFC”. Logistics: 11 football is not desired. It’s 10 or 12. Period. MVFC made that clear over the years. North Dakota would be in, had SUU not left for the Big Sky. The MVFC was also an option when UNO had football and was considering an upgrade…since the MVFC could then bring in UNO and UND. But UNO dropped football in order to fund their D1 upgrade. They were the only D2 school that was deemed MVFC worthy. With no other schools in the area strong enough for membership, it is what it is.

By: LF

LF — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:31:00 +0000

I never quite understood why the MVC did not offer the 4 Dakota schools (N. Dakota, N. Dakota St., S. Dakota and S. Dakota St.) full membership. That would bring the league to 14 teams in non-football sports and 11 for football. Only 2 of the 11 football schools (W. Illinois and Youngstown St.) would not be full-fledged members. You could further divide the conference into 2 divisions outside of football… North: N. Dakota, N. Dakota St., S. Dakota, S. Dakota St, N. Iowa, Drake and Creighton. South: Evansville, Indiana St, Bradley, Illinois St., S. Illinois, Missouri St., and Wichita St.

By: The 2010 Year in Conference Realignment | CollegeSportsInfo.com

The 2010 Year in Conference Realignment | CollegeSportsInfo.com — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:50:59 +0000

[...] followed by North Dakota, who assumed South Dakota was on board. But in a last minute switch, USD was extended an invitation by the MVFC to join as it’s 10th members, allowing the school to remain in the Summit League with NDSU [...]

By: Nathan Brice

Nathan Brice — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:46:43 +0000

They need a place to place since all the other Great West Conference schools left. Summit League football is looking less and less likely.