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Post by eaglepride on Feb 25, 2024 20:50:18 GMT -6
I love all the ideas being tossed about concerning the eventual split. But, we have to remember, this is football driven, and that is what is forcing the realignment of college conferences. The NCAA does not run college football any more. And now that players are being paid, and the major conferences control all the money, and since the NCAA is too weak to regulate anything, the power conference have no need AT ALL for the NCAA. They will simply form their own new form of governance. Now we know the NCAA tournament makes a lot of money...and where it ends up I am not sure. The little guys like us survive because of the scraps the power 5 gives us for this tournament. Certainly this tournament completely loses its charm by throwing us middies aside...and that charm I think sells a lot tickets. But will the power conferences think the same thing? That is what I wonder the most I think the power conferences are seeing $ signs and not looking at the bigger picture that will hurt them in the long run. It's insane for UCLA and USC to play Maryland and Rutgers in baseball, volleyball, soccer etc as a conference game. What the Big 10, Southeastern, Big 12, Atlantic Coast need to drop football as sponsor sport and create new football conferences only like the Missouri Valley Football League. And then have the conferences go back to more regional schools. Maryland goes back to the ACC, SEC goes back to 12 schools. Big 8 is reformed, Southwest Conference is reformed and the Pacific-10 is reformed as non football conferences.
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Post by eaglepride on Feb 26, 2024 19:49:50 GMT -6
Looks like Massachusetts is leaving the Atlantic 10 and moving to the Mid-American Conference. The domino's are starting to fall in again in the conference shuffle. It will only a matter of time be fore the Atlantic 10 looks for another school.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 26, 2024 21:57:51 GMT -6
Looks like Massachusetts is leaving the Atlantic 10 and moving to the Mid-American Conference. The domino's are starting to fall in again in the conference shuffle. It will only a matter of time be fore the Atlantic 10 looks for another school. There are still some really good schools in that conference but will others look to move too? I could see Dayton looking for bigger money and more prestige and they have been successful for a long time. Will a team like St Louis look to go to the MVC f Missouri State leaves the MVC for bigger football conference? It could start a whole chain of jumping ship. No matter who goes where, I don t want to jump ship even if we got an invite from another Mid. We are where we need to be for several reasons and there is no reason to get in over our head and be a doormat forever.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 26, 2024 22:07:28 GMT -6
I’m not sure how proactive a conference is about kicking a team out, but if I were the MVC I would want Valpo and UIC out of my conference. Both are not nearly ready for that league and both can’t draw crap for games. They both are better fit for the Horizon where they came from. If the A10 starts going downhill, I could see St Louis and Loyola going to the MVC and that might get them up to 2 bid status…that is if they boot UIC and Valpo too. I know most MVC would love to trade those teams out and boost their conference ranking up higher. Hopefully none of this will change anything about us or the OVC.
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 27, 2024 7:05:07 GMT -6
I’m not sure how proactive a conference is about kicking a team out, but if I were the MVC I would want Valpo and UIC out of my conference. Both are not nearly ready for that league and both can’t draw crap for games. They both are better fit for the Horizon where they came from. If the A10 starts going downhill, I could see St Louis and Loyola going to the MVC and that might get them up to 2 bid status…that is if they boot UIC and Valpo too. I know most MVC would love to trade those teams out and boost their conference ranking up higher. Hopefully none of this will change anything about us or the OVC. MVC wanted that Chicago presence, problem is they allowed in two really bad programs. St Louis won’t leave the A10 because of Soccer, which is their best sport, plus their administration is too arrogant to accept a “lesser” conference.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Feb 27, 2024 7:22:16 GMT -6
St Louis is not about to leave the A-10 for the MVC....they have been very clear about that, even though it would make a lot of sense for them. The A10 is probably happy UMASS is leaving.
Shorthaircut is correct about UIC.
Valpo never upgraded their facilities and really do not belong in the MVC.
I am not sure I have ever seen a school get booted from their conference.
I had believed for a while it was a matter of time before UINDY joined the OVC...but the way the NIL is now looking they may feel better off to stay D2...not sure. But I would like them on board. If you think about it, it might make sense for some Horizon teams to to come to the OVC because it would free up considerable monies that could be used to bring in better athletes.
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Post by aujarhead on Feb 27, 2024 8:01:04 GMT -6
I had believed for a while it was a matter of time before UINDY joined the OVC...but the way the NIL is now looking they may feel better off to stay D2...not sure. But I would like them on board. If you think about it, it might make sense for some Horizon teams to to come to the OVC because it would free up considerable monies that could be used to bring in better athletes. Talking to WIU families last Saturday at dinner, they are very happy to be out of the Summit, if no other reason than travel costs. I wonder if this is a trend we'll see, because I could really see a team like Bellarmine leave the ASUN (especially with West Georgia making the transition from d2 next year - another long road trip for them).
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 27, 2024 8:09:42 GMT -6
I had believed for a while it was a matter of time before UINDY joined the OVC...but the way the NIL is now looking they may feel better off to stay D2...not sure. But I would like them on board. If you think about it, it might make sense for some Horizon teams to to come to the OVC because it would free up considerable monies that could be used to bring in better athletes. Talking to WIU families last Saturday at dinner, they are very happy to be out of the Summit, if no other reason than travel costs. I wonder if this is a trend we'll see, because I could really see a team like Bellarmine leave the ASUN (especially with West Georgia making the transition from d2 next year - another long road trip for them). ASUN doesn’t make sense for Bellarmine. Across all their sports the OVC would allow them to be more competitive.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 27, 2024 8:26:49 GMT -6
Bellarmine to the OVC would make sense for Bellarmine but not really for the OVC because they don’t have football. I’m 99% sure the OVC wants/ needs a football school if or when they expand. I think the ASUN might lose a few more teams in the next year or two and Bellarmine to the Horizon would make sense for both parties involved. I know it’s a long shot but I still say AustinPeay made a mistake going to the ASUN and would be better off in the OVC. Why do they want to send all of their country club sports to Florida when it’s costing them a fortune and taking a tennis player or volleyball player out of class for several days when they could drive 2-3 hours and get to most OVC schools. I think they got punked by the ASUN thinking the ASUN was going to become a big football league, but that flopped when the better football schools bolted after a few years. If they were smart and put their ego to the side, they would ask to come back to the OVC and we would have our 12 teams. More importantly the conference would bump to 8 football schools where they want to be and could dissolve the alliance with the Bg South.
N another note, if things get tough because the NCAA starts taking money away from the mids, I think schools like USI might have to tighten our belt on what sports we offer. Tennis comes to mind because I’m not sure our women’s tennis team has won a single match in two years against a D1 opponent. The men might have beaten one or two in two years. I know UE dropped both tennis programs years ago in order to save costs and concentrate on basketball . It would be an easy sport end and realistically only a handful of athletes would get displaced. If NIL is going to be forced down our throats then we are going to be forced to make some budget cuts to offset that imo.
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Post by shorthaircut on Feb 27, 2024 8:36:06 GMT -6
Bellarmine to the OVC would make sense for Bellarmine but not really for the OVC because they don’t have football. I’m 99% sure the OVC wants/ needs a football school if or when they expand. I think the ASUN might lose a few more teams in the next year or two and Bellarmine to the Horizon would make sense for both parties involved. I know it’s a long shot but I still say AustinPeay made a mistake going to the ASUN and would be better off in the OVC. Why do they want to send all of their country club sports to Florida when it’s costing them a fortune and taking a tennis player or volleyball player out of class for several days when they could drive 2-3 hours and get to most OVC schools. I think they got punked by the ASUN thinking the ASUN was going to become a big football league, but that flopped when the better football schools bolted after a few years. If they were smart and put their ego to the side, they would ask to come back to the OVC and we would have our 12 teams. More importantly the conference would bump to 8 football schools where they want to be and could dissolve the alliance with the Bg South. N another note, if things get tough because the NCAA starts taking money away from the mids, I think schools like USI might have to tighten our belt on what sports we offer. Tennis comes to mind because I’m not sure our women’s tennis team has won a single match in two years against a D1 opponent. The men might have beaten one or two in two years. I know UE dropped both tennis programs years ago in order to save costs and concentrate on basketball . It would be an easy sport end and realistically only a handful of athletes would get displaced. If NIL is going to be forced down our throats then we are going to be forced to make some budget cuts to offset that imo. Austin Peay financially in really good shape and they are really pushing NIL. I don’t see them coming back down.
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Post by sandtiger on Feb 27, 2024 9:03:03 GMT -6
Speaking of Chicago teams, Chicago State is joining the Northeast Conference. Who thought that it fit in geographically for them to join a conference with Central Connecticut, Farleigh Dickinson, Le Moyne, Long Island, Saint Francis, Stonehill, and Wagner? All THE other schools are in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. It's an 8 1/2 hour drive to the nearest school for them. 😂
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 27, 2024 9:16:02 GMT -6
Speaking of Chicago teams, Chicago State is joining the Northeast Conference. Who thought that it fit in geographically for them to join a conference with Central Connecticut, Farleigh Dickinson, Le Moyne, Long Island, Saint Francis, Stonehill, and Wagner? All THE other schools are in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. It's an 8 1/2 hour drive to the nearest school for them. 😂 In their case they didn’t have a choice. No other conference would take them and they are the only independent. They had to play most of their games on the road and early in the year because they had no conference games…that would suck. If the OVC,Summit or Horizon would have taken them, they would have joined immediately.
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Post by southpaw on Feb 27, 2024 9:43:33 GMT -6
Talking to WIU families last Saturday at dinner, they are very happy to be out of the Summit, if no other reason than travel costs. I wonder if this is a trend we'll see, because I could really see a team like Bellarmine leave the ASUN (especially with West Georgia making the transition from d2 next year - another long road trip for them). ASUN doesn’t make sense for Bellarmine. Across all their sports the OVC would allow them to be more competitive. When I was working the the score table and we were playing Bellarmine back at the old Pac days they said they were going to ASUN to get a better presence in the south to recruit more students to the school for academics. They had numbers showing a growing student base from that area and they wanted to attract more. That is what their AD or SID had told us for their selection.
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Post by eagle87 on Feb 27, 2024 12:37:02 GMT -6
That’s correct but I have read of grumbling from school officials now that they are spending too much money on athletics. I know that happens a lot, including our own faculty and staff. But, I’m not sure their presence in the south out weighs their outrageous expense to send every soccer,tennis,golf,volleyball, etc team to Florida 12-15 times a year when it could be avoided by simply switching to the Horizon. Also, the Horizon only wants teams from large metro area…Louisville fits that profile. I would think being part of a conference where every team is located in cities over a half million residents would be more valuable and draw more students. If they just want to be known as a SOUTHERN school, then I guess they will stay put. But to me, they should switch for reasons I just laid out.
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Post by eaglepride on Feb 27, 2024 16:47:26 GMT -6
I’m not sure how proactive a conference is about kicking a team out, but if I were the MVC I would want Valpo and UIC out of my conference. Both are not nearly ready for that league and both can’t draw crap for games. They both are better fit for the Horizon where they came from. If the A10 starts going downhill, I could see St Louis and Loyola going to the MVC and that might get them up to 2 bid status…that is if they boot UIC and Valpo too. I know most MVC would love to trade those teams out and boost their conference ranking up higher. Hopefully none of this will change anything about us or the OVC. MVC wanted that Chicago presence, problem is they allowed in two really bad programs. St Louis won’t leave the A10 because of Soccer, which is their best sport, plus their administration is too arrogant to accept a “lesser” conference. "plus their administration is too arrogant to accept a lesser conference" gee were have I heard that before.
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