If Creighton and Evansville both leave, does the MVC need to respond? Creighton hurts but there's still plenty of depth. The remaining teams would have great odds of making the tournament in an 8 team conference.

I think 8 schools is just too small for a league the caliber of the Missouri Valley. If the conference needs to expand, I think the choices will be limited to teams in the Summit that play football (talking about ALL the Dakota schools), SEMO, SIU-E, and a few others. The Valley should want to add value to both sides of the ledger.

I think UW-Milwaukee would be who the MVC adds. If they are willing to go west then Denver for 10, if not, Murray St. or Oral Roberts wouldn't surprise me.

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The one problem with Creighton leaving if that it also kills of their most western locations as a conference. So in adding Denver, the MVC would have a big gap from Denver to Wichita.

So it could make good sense for the MVC to just take a school from the Summit of Horizon that fall into the general footprint or push it west (They also have the opportunity, if they lost both schools, to bring in all 4 Dakota schools to goto 12...but that likely wouldn't happen).

But I'd think if Creighton left, a school like Denver, Cleveland St., Milwaukee, even Wright St. could be a good fit. MVC will be fine...they hold the cards.

Also worth noting that Air Force could always be an option if they left for FB elsewhere.

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I hope the BE leftovers are smart enough to go to 14/16 w/ an all sports west div. so this doesn't happen.

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I hear ya. Just grab a few MWC schools, split into 8/8 division, call it a conference and you're good to go.

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Milwaukee was a school I had not really considered but they would be a good add (UNI and Drake aren't too far from Milwaukee).
I think ORU is not likley. They just moved from a "midwestern" league in the Summit League to join the Southland.
The reason I am thinking SEMO is due to the fact that Missouri State might want an in-state rival like most of the other schools do (UE-IN St., DU-UNI, BU-IL St.-SIUC). It also gives another State school with zero aspirations of upgrading.
I also think that if the Valley has to get to twelve from 8, then getting the four Dakota Schools would solve that real quick. (Plus North Dakota would KILL for that chance to move to a better travel league for them).
Also out there for a possiblitiy to grab...Nebraska-Omaha.

I hope western schools aren't stupid enough to do this.

If St Louis gets abandoned by the Catholic 7 and the A-10 chooses not to add any midwestern schools I think the MVC should offer the Bilikens and Eastern Illinois membership. This would maintain the balance between football and basketball and would also allow the Summit League to add North Dakota and then slot them as member #12 in the MVFC.

I think St. Louis is in...would be hard to pass on St. Louis, a new TV market, in favor of Dayton as #10...if the BE7 went to only 10.

But you are right...if say, the BE7 expanded to 10 with Dayton, Xavier, Butler (of 12 with say Richmond and Duquesne) putting St. Louis as the only midwestern school, I think they would join the MVC as long as Creighton is still there.

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I think the MVC should add Denver and South Dakota State. Both schools are in the top half of basketball, with SDSU in the top 50; adding 2 nearby schools with a good product for the Valley's marquee sport. More importantly for the conference and its members, the MVC would have 6 schools that sponsor FCS football; so the MVC could absorb the MVFC, add Youngstown State, Western Illinois and the Dakota schools as football affiliates and get more voting rights for the conference.

I believe that the Missouri Valley Conference should re-instate football as a sponsored sport (for at least in the FCS level) by absorbing completely the MVFC, adding the Dakota schools (if necessarily), and adding Eastern Illinois (from the OVC) and the Western Illinois (from the Summit); all as full all-sports members. The MVC should also include the MVC schools that are football-only in the Pioneer Football league, like Drake and Evansville (who should plan to re-instate the sport), and add non-MVC members who play PFL football like Valparaiso (from the Horizon) an a full all-sports member; forcing both the Horizon and Summit to at least merge together to become a great basketball-relying all-sports conference in the the Midwestern U.S.

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If they wanted to, they would have already. It would take more growth from Dakota schools outside of FCS football to warrant adding them for all-sports.

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Okay who replaces Creighton? Belmont, Oral Roberts, Denver, S.Dakota St. or some combo of 3 if SDSU is taken to get NDSU. MVC fans say no way in hell the Dakotas get in

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Belmont is not an adequate school to join the MVC. Besides, it's in the Southeast, not the Lower Midwest. I believe that either Western Illinois or Oral Roberts or Nebraska-Omaha or adding some regional schools within D-II.

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