Missouri Valley Should Be Aggressive

(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley Conference officials and fans are on pins and needles. Seemingly everyday they are tormented by some ‘insider’ reporting that Wichita State is leaving for the American Athletic Conference (or is it the National Basketball Association?). Clearly ‘where there is smoke there is fire’, and the possibility of a Shocker departure is very real.

As a traditionalist and an MVC apologist I am completely against this move, but those are my emotional thoughts, and that doesn’t mean that WSU administrators shouldn’t explore their possibilities and even potentially bolt for greener pastures. The AAC does have potential advantages for the farthest west outpost of the Valley. As the power athletic program in the Valley, Shocker nation feels like it can do no wrong.

Competing with SMU, Cincinnati, Houston and others in larger markets certainly expands the Wichita State recruiting base. When Creighton left the MVC, part of the rationale was that the University could recruit students (not merely athletes) from the East Coast. Certainly opening up major cities to grow the WSU student population makes good business sense. The AAC is completing its fourth year of existence.

From a basketball standpoint the Shockers gain several quality opponents on their schedule, so possibilities expand athletically and for the University’s bottom line. While RPI numbers are only slightly different, eight of the current AAC teams own an RPI under 200 compared to the Valley’s six of ten. We know programs can rise and fall over time, but those comparisons probably hold somewhat consistent over time.

There are hidden costs involved. When looking at WSU budgets, does it cost more to take the track team to Connecticut than to Cedar Falls Iowa? What about the baseball team making trips to Central Florida instead of Carbondale, Illinois? Is that offset by increased NCAA Tournament money from an extra team being added to March Madness?

Is knowing the women’s basketball program will never again win a conference championship, offset by knowing U-Conn women will be in the Roundhouse once a year?

I don’t believe Valley administrators should be passive. Doug Elgin and his brilliant team should give the Shockers a deadline and move on. I also believe they should strengthen the league and create a stronger base.

We did Twitter poll allowing fans to campaign for the programs the Valley should pursue if the Shockers leave. There is always interest in Saint Louis University ‘coming home’, but other contenders emerged.

I believe it’s time for the Valley to expand! With or without Wichita State, the MVC should become a 12-team league and add two (or three if WSU leaves) high quality mid-major programs and become a heavyweight, midwest, mid-major conference.

The Valley should pursue Belmont AND Valparaiso immediately. Those are two programs that have passed the test of time and in Belmont’s case they are in a significant population center. Adding those two consistently winning programs with similar Valley values would be a landscape shifter.

“…become a heavyweight, midwest, mid-major conference”

Market sizes aside, this would provide Wichita with enough quality programs to battle, would expand the Valley footprint into Tennessee and become a significant headline grabber in the state of Indiana.

If the Shockers leave, I believe the league should also add either UMKC or Southeast Missouri. Both schools create travel connections for Missouri State. UMKC opens up the Kansas City market and its connections to the Valley’s broadcast partner Niles Media. SEMO is a long time rival of both Missouri State and Southern Illinois, and becomes another team with easy access to St. Louis for Arch Madness. The Redhawks’ football team complicates that discussion, but they would fit nicely from both a competitive and geographic standpoint.

Call me crazy, but the Missouri Valley Conference should become the hunter rather than the hunted. All of my proposed moves save money on travel, increase the competitiveness on the basketball court and maintain the kind of values the Valley holds dear.

Wichita State could continue to be a part of that great tradition or move on to the bigger fish pond, but the MVC should no longer be held hostage by the ‘what ifs? concerning Wichita State’s future.

It’s time to move on.

Do Good