Valpo to be visited by MVC this week, thoughts?

[a3uge]

There isn't a chance in hell that SLU leaves the A-10 to go to a watered down MVC.  The A-10 is still a multi-bid conference that has schools that can make deep runs in the NCAAs.  Without WSU, the MVC is a one bid conference.  They turned down an invite to the MVC when Creighton left.  They aren't going to join now when the conference is weaker.  Belmont turned down the MVC last go around too.  They aren't leaving the OVC.  They like being the big dog in that conference.

Can we get back to fantasy conference making now???

[wh]

plus he's critical of things like lack of practice time at the tournament

We had the same amount of practice time as everyone else, we just chose not to use it.  I found that response by him to be very unsatisfying.

Yes, everyone got the same 20 minutes of practice. What he is saying has nothing to do with that 20 minute practice time, it has to do with the court familiarity of a team haveing just played a game on that court versus a team that had a 20 minute shoot around 36 hours before. 

As I said on another thread, from a coaching standpoint a 20 minute shooting session 36 hours before a playoff game doesn't really cut it for me.  I doubt that it would have much if any positive effect on performance.  I agree with ML that the teams should get practice time (I am not talking the 20 minute variety here) on the court preferably the day of the game and that more needs to be done in order for the teams, that don't play in the opening round, to be comfortable on the court. Especially if you are trying to protect the higher seed.

I thought it was 30 minutes.  Now it's 20 minutes?

Other teams made it work for them.  If 30 minutes for the whole tournament is not enough time (did the semifinal teams not get time on JLA floor, say Sunday morning or Monday morning?), that's at least a rational reason, but I'm still kind of stuck on this.

Thanks for the perspective, it does help a little.

It doesn't help me. A year ago the Bryce Drew-led Crusaders lose their 1st game in the tournament in O.T against an inferior team that played the day before,  and we spend the next 12 months blaming the tournament format and vilifying the HL. Now we learn that we blew off an opportunity to get pre-game court time because the time wasn't convenient - or we were insulted by our time slot - or we didn't want to spend an extra day in Detroit - or we didn't want to spend the money - or something.  Now we find ourselves in an identical situation a year later, and lose again. Matt's postgame comments mislead everyone into thinking we were given no court time prior to the game (which would help explain a 12-point 1st half by a severely depleted roster), only to later learn that we were given court time, and somehow incredibly blew off the opportunity -again. Then we learn that we were 1 of only 2 of 20 total teams to blow off our scheduled shoot around. These are inexcusable missteps for a high school coaching staff to make, let alone the D-1 staff of a league-leading team. Maybe we should try something new next year. Get our butts up there early like everyone else, follow the program like everyone else, and quit acting like a bunch of entitled kids.

[usc4valpo]

well, the conference realignment discussion escalates starting today!

[crusaderjoe]

I guess it's time to start making predictions.  If (or I guess "When") WSU leaves the MVC, and the Valley wants to move back to ten teams, team #10 will be UIC.  If the Valley wants to move to 12 teams this time around, the three schools offered will be UWM, UIC and VU to fill out the NE oval of the MVC geographically.  Belmont already declined interest the first time around apparently, and I just can't see Murray moving their football to the MVFC, so they will both stay put.  Anyway, that's my prediction.

I do not think UIC will be the 10th team if they go 10. The MVC already got their "Chicago Market" Team.

The buzz is for SLU, Belmont and VU. First 2 are semi-unlikely (particularly SLU). Also Murray State comes up in rumors frequently.

When they lose WSU is likely to be next season. It's been pretty well reported that the WSU and the AAC want them in conference for the 2017-2018 season. Seems more likely it will be next season.

I actually think they go 12 teams if they can get the right 3. They know they won't be able to replace WSU so they try and add the best teams possible that also offer the best "fit".

-SLU
-Belmont
-Valpo
-Murray State

Wild-Cards
-North Dakota State
-South Dakota State
-South Dakota
Seems like they are happy in the Summit League. Only way the Dakotas were to join is if it was a package deal. You at least take 2 or all 3.

Next Tier
-SIUE
-Denver has been rumored also
-Omaha

The "Chicago Market" is a bit of a misnomer, IMO.  It exists, but it must be looked at in the reverse in this instance, as when Loyola was added to the MVC.  Don't focus on the schools located within the Chicagoland area; instead, focus on the schools that are located outside of it.  If more alumni from other Valley schools who work and live in Chicago can catch a game in Chicago with the addition of UIC,  UIC provides value, IMO.  Never mind that their athletic facilities are superior to Valpo's, UIC provides value.

[usc4valpo]

I think Valpo would be a mutually great fit for the Valley. I have a bad feeling Heckler is going to mess this up.

[oklahomamick]

I think Valpo would be a mutually great fit for the Valley. I have a bad feeling Heckler is going to mess this up.

what makes you say that?

[VU2014]

I think Valpo would be a mutually great fit for the Valley. I have a bad feeling Heckler is going to mess this up.

Do you think Heckler would shoot down an invite? If I'm in his shoes I would do whatever Mark LaBarbera recommends. LaBarbera is way more in the know of the NCAA Conference landscapes then President Heckler. (or at least I'm guess he's not taking a deep dive into it).

Mark Adams was on the WVUR last night and he talked about who he thinks is going to get the invite.

Some Interesting things he said:
-SLU is almost definitely not joining the MVC (no surprise).

-Belmont is likely the 2nd call. Still seems questionable they'd jump to the OVC. They like being the Big Fish in a pond full of Minnows.

-He's heard Valpo is strongly being considered again

-UIC was strongly considered last time but doesn't think they'll get considered as much this time. Only way they get in is if the Valley wants to create a rivalry. Was there ever a "heated" rivalry between Loyola and UIC in the HL?

-Murray State may be considered because they have a strong basketball past.

-I got the sense that he thinks the MVC may want to stay at 10 teams, because they've always in the past wanted to limit the league to 10 teams. But still a chance they'd go 12 and create divisions. There was some buzz for 12 I've seen online.

-The MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin and the Horizon League Commission Jon LeCrone are very close and very good friends. Adams brought it up in the interview and hinted that it may influence who Elgin pushes for. May not want to hurt his friend anymore. But also mention that the Commissioners have the obligation to do whats best for the conference. Just another storyline underlining this situation. How ironic would it be that LeCrone screws Valpo again?

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/849269377790861312
https://twitter.com/MattSBN/status/849269875298250752
https://twitter.com/MattSBN/status/849270558533595136
https://twitter.com/mid_madness/status/849270342573072385
https://twitter.com/MattSBN/status/849271211985182722
https://twitter.com/mid_madness/status/849271528957120513

[valpopal]

I enjoy reading all the speculation. This one from today's Omaha World-Herald lists Valpo as a possible replacement for Wichita State at the MVC, but it also cites "several sources" that the Horizon League is looking to expand by 2 or 4 teams:



If Wichita bolts, the Valley will be left scrambling. Valparaiso, a Horizon school, might be high on the Valley's list of replacements. The Valley could also look at UNO, bringing the city of Omaha back into the league to fill the void left by Creighton.

Several sources say the Horizon League is looking to expand by two schools, and perhaps four. The reason: improving the league's basketball profile but also providing more conference games and, thus, more home game revenue for members.

http://www.omaha.com/sports/shatel-if-when-wichita-state-kicks-off-mid-major-realignment/article_5759bc6e-fdd1-5542-a1b6-b3fbd08ac62b.html

[VU2014]

I enjoy reading all the speculation. This one from today's Omaha World-Herald lists Valpo as a possible replacement for Wichita State at the MVC, but it also cites "several sources" that the Horizon League is looking to expand by 2 or 4 teams:



If Wichita bolts, the Valley will be left scrambling. Valparaiso, a Horizon school, might be high on the Valley's list of replacements. The Valley could also look at UNO, bringing the city of Omaha back into the league to fill the void left by Creighton.

Several sources say the Horizon League is looking to expand by two schools, and perhaps four. The reason: improving the league's basketball profile but also providing more conference games and, thus, more home game revenue for members.

http://www.omaha.com/sports/shatel-if-when-wichita-state-kicks-off-mid-major-realignment/article_5759bc6e-fdd1-5542-a1b6-b3fbd08ac62b.html

Interesting. So it divides the already meager Horizon League revenues even more but the plan is to try and recoup revenue by having more Conference Home Games. Also with the hopes that the new teams will increase the competitiveness of the league. The teams the Horizon Leagues adds better be the right schools if they do this.

The Horizon would have to be hoping to poach from the OVC, Summit and the MVC. I'm not sure a Illinois State, UNI, Evansville, or a Indiana State would leave the MVC for the HL. Only teams I'd want from the OVC would be Belmont or Murray State.

I'm not sure I see any fits in the Summit League. The Dakota Schools are too much travel. I do not want UIPUI in the HL at all. If the Horizon is strongly taking a look at the IUPUI then its time for us to leave. Same with IPFW. No thank you to Oral Roberts either. Too much travel and that schools isn't competitive anymore and the school is headed the wrong direction.

I really only see fits in the MVC and OVC. I don't think any A10 schools would seriously consider joining the Horizon League.

[usc4valpo]

Because of Heckler's low energy toward athletics at Valpo and because Valpo has been overly conservative fiscally, I do not think the decision will be a slam dunk - not for the MVC perspective but for Valpo. If Valpo join, it will cost more - facilites will need to be upgraded in a more expeditious manner, more travel expense, likely more recruiting expenses, etc.

That being said, a move from the Horizon with a clown commissioner to the MVC with better overall tradition and leadership would be a wise move.

[VU2014]

Because of Heckler's low energy toward athletics at Valpo and because Valpo has been overly conservative fiscally, I do not think the decision will be a slam dunk - not for the MVC perspective but for Valpo. If Valpo join, it will cost more - facilites will need to be upgraded in a more expeditious manner, more travel expense, likely more recruiting expenses, etc.

That being said, a move from the Horizon with be clown commissioner to the MVC with better overall tradition and leadership would be a wise move.

I agree the move to the MVC would be better. Better leadership, More $ and more likely to have consistently competitive teams.

I think even if we make that leap to the MVC we'd be still rolling with the same facilities. Maybe a few minor upgrades here and there but I don't think Heckler has any plans to pursue basketball on a very serious level. MLB pretty much indirectly said that in the interview with Paul.

I will say in defense of Heckler that he has opened the pocket book much more then Harre ever did from what I've heard and is much more willing to spend on new buildings. I think its on MLB to fundraise for the Athletics Department but for a big project like a new Rec Center for Students and renovations of the ARC it will NEED the full backing of Heckler and have him make a priority for the University to get find the donors.

We won't be able to find a lead donor to write a single check most likely. We don't have any one athlete to write a huge check to the University. It will take alumni who were not athletes to donate as well. I don't think get donors would be unattainable goal if Heckler actively pursued it. Just doesn't seem willing to do it or has other priorities at the moment. I'd just like to see some future goal. Yes it is one thing to blueprints and have a "master-plan" to tell fans about but there just doesn't seem to be the will to find the donors for that specific project.

[VU2014]

How would everyone feel about adding Omaha and Denver to the Horizon League? Apparently LeCrone covets those schools and are targeting them. They are not bad basketball mids but are not great or anything...

I just don't like the fit. Huge Travel costs and also would be dividing up the revenue even more for schools that really don't add that much, imo.

If the Horizon makes that move then I feel it become much easier for Valpo to leave the Conference and move to the MVC if we get an invite.

[M]

If Valpo switched, are Valley games put on ESPN3? That's what is most important to me 

[usc4valpo]

what? Denver has been great in hockey and has a decent following in that sport, more so than basketball.

[oklahomamick]

How would everyone feel about adding Omaha and Denver to the Horizon League? Apparently LeCrone covets those schools and are targeting them. They are not bad basketball mids but are not great or anything... I just don't like the fit. Huge Travel costs and also would be dividing up the revenue even more for schools that really don't add that much, imo. If the Horizon makes that move then I feel it become much easier for Valpo to leave the Conference and move to the MVC if we get an invite.

Again sounds like HL trying to be summit league 2.0 

Aside from Valpo and Youngstown, all HL schools are in large cities with airports.  Travel would not be as hectic but much more expensive.  I would hate how spread out the conference would be.   

[vu72]

If Valpo switched, are Valley games put on ESPN3? That's what is most important to me 

Sure and much more!  I just looked at Illinois State and found that last year they had 10 games on ESPN3 but also 5 games on ESPN2, 2 on ESPNU, 8 games on FOX Sports Midwest, 1 on ESPN and their title game on CBS!  I think Valpo has played on CBS once, and that was the Sweet Sixteen game as I recall.

Obviously if we end up in The Valley and become one of their better teams, we will get much more TV exposure than we are getting in the Horizon.

[vu72]

We won't be able to find a lead donor to write a single check most likely. We don't have any one athlete to write a huge check to the University. It will take alumni who were not athletes to donate as well. I don't think get donors would be unattainable goal if Heckler actively pursued it. Just doesn't seem willing to do it or has other priorities at the moment. I'd just like to see some future goal. Yes it is one thing to blueprints and have a "master-plan" to tell fans about but there just doesn't seem to be the will to find the donors for that specific project.

[/b]

Don't agree.  Clearly the need for endowment growth is vitally important--just ask St. Joes. Athletics are a part of the campaign.  What project completed under President Heckler should have been skipped in favor of building the REC Center?  Beacon Hall?  Th New Arts and Sciences building?  The new 55,000 sq foot Chemistry/Biology building? Money has been spent on Athletics and no doubt big money as recently as 2014 when we completed the acquisition of the hospital site. By the way, the announcement that I just read indicates that the parking garage would used to address parking issues for athletic events    There have been sizable donors for athletics in the past.  I'm guessing the FITT projects cost in the area of $10 million.  Jay Christopher gave the final $1 million to complete the track.  An anonymous donor gave $1 million for the FITT drive.  Paul Shrage has given $2 million to endow basketball recruiting and was given as part of the current campaign as was Jay's gift.

Lastly I doubt the people working in athletic fund raising would take kindly to you comment concerning a lack of will.

John Kuka joined Valparaiso University as an associate director of athletics in February of 2013. Kuka is responsible for the advancement operations of the athletic department, including all major gift fundraising and oversight of the Crusader Fund. In his first three years at Valpo, he secured gifts to renovate the Kroencke Hall weight room, the football locker room and several other projects.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/staff/8481/katie-britton/#.WOP0GTsrLIU

It is an arms race to get and educate the finest students.  The smaller the endowment the more "discounting" that goes on.  Discounting is just what it seems.  If a school doesn't have the endowment to supply funds for scholarships, the alternate needed to attract students is just to give them a discount.  In the long run that can be a fatal issue as costs continue to rise. 

The desire is there. The donors aren't, at least at this moment in time.

[VULB#62]

what? Denver has been great in hockey and has a decent following in that sport, more so than basketball.

Just what we need to upgrade the HL D-I hockey program -- a proven national  competitor.  {Sorry, USC, jus couldn't help it      )

[VU2014]

We won't be able to find a lead donor to write a single check most likely. We don't have any one athlete to write a huge check to the University. It will take alumni who were not athletes to donate as well. I don't think get donors would be unattainable goal if Heckler actively pursued it. Just doesn't seem willing to do it or has other priorities at the moment. I'd just like to see some future goal. Yes it is one thing to blueprints and have a "master-plan" to tell fans about but there just doesn't seem to be the will to find the donors for that specific project.

[/b]

Don't agree.  Clearly the need for endowment growth is vitally important--just ask St. Joes. Athletics are a part of the campaign.  What project completed under President Heckler should have been skipped in favor of building the REC Center?  Beacon Hall?  Th New Arts and Sciences building?  The new 55,000 sq foot Chemistry/Biology building? Money has been spent on Athletics and no doubt big money as recently as 2014 when we completed the acquisition of the hospital site. By the way, the announcement that I just read indicates that the parking garage would used to address parking issues for athletic events    There have been sizable donors for athletics in the past.  I'm guessing the FITT projects cost in the area of $10 million.  Jay Christopher gave the final $1 million to complete the track.  An anonymous donor gave $1 million for the FITT drive.  Paul Shrage has given $2 million to endow basketball recruiting and was given as part of the current campaign as was Jay's gift.

Lastly I doubt the people working in athletic fund raising would take kindly to you comment concerning a lack of will.

John Kuka joined Valparaiso University as an associate director of athletics in February of 2013. Kuka is responsible for the advancement operations of the athletic department, including all major gift fundraising and oversight of the Crusader Fund. In his first three years at Valpo, he secured gifts to renovate the Kroencke Hall weight room, the football locker room and several other projects.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/staff/8481/katie-britton/#.WOP0GTsrLIU

It is an arms race to get and educate the finest students.  The smaller the endowment the more "discounting" that goes on.  Discounting is just what it seems.  If a school doesn't have the endowment to supply funds for scholarships, the alternate needed to attract students is just to give them a discount.  In the long run that can be a fatal issue as costs continue to rise. 

The desire is there. The donors aren't, at least at this moment in time.

I've given credit to President Heckler for other projects around the campus. He has not been frugal. When President Heckler targets projects he wants to achieve, he has executed and accomplished those goals.

I'm not saying that there are not people actively looking but there is a difference between fundraisers making calls and President Heckler sitting down with the Board and saying ok we need this in x-amount of years and laying out a strategic plan. I don't really expect to tap into the endowment for a Rec Center or Renovations of a basketball arena. I'm just saying when President Heckler actively takes it upon himself to find donors for the project I'm pretty sure things will happen.

Academics always comes first and is/should be the priority, but Valpo Basketball is one of the best Marketing tools for your University.

In my time on campus I was very involved in Greek Life and I know for a fact that President Heckler was very very directly involved in making the sorority housing happen. Getting that sorority housing was more complex then many people realize because the politics involved with the national sororities being unwilling to pay for the housing and also the "brothel" law: there is actually a very common law in the Country that it is against the law for a certain amount of women to be living in the house, because they are worried about it becoming a brothel. There was a lot of logistics/time/lobbying/capital personally invested by President Heckler on that project. I do think that the housing helped campus atmosphere/environment (or at least I think so/I'm graduated now) but should that have been a priority over a student Rec Center/ARC Renovations that would have benefited the whole campus? I'm not sure. I'm not really here to debate that.

I'm just saying when President Heckler decides targets something it get done. I'm not arguing that he should drop everything to solely focus of a Rec Center or ARC Reno but I think we've discussed at nauseam could help lead to a better Basketball Product on the floor which is one of the greatest marketing/PR tools for the University. (Yes there is not a direct correlation of good facilities & teams but it should help if you hire the right people).

Fun Story about the track donation: Correct me if I'm wrong but I've heard the Track came by a Dad of a High School Track athlete that wanted to badly attend Valpo but Valpo didn't have a real track. The Dad was the one that actually reached out to Mr. Christopher and asked him to donate to the track and he did donate the track. I'm not sure if this was just a rumor but I've heard a few people tell me that story.

[a3uge]

We won't be able to find a lead donor to write a single check most likely. We don't have any one athlete to write a huge check to the University. It will take alumni who were not athletes to donate as well. I don't think get donors would be unattainable goal if Heckler actively pursued it. Just doesn't seem willing to do it or has other priorities at the moment. I'd just like to see some future goal. Yes it is one thing to blueprints and have a "master-plan" to tell fans about but there just doesn't seem to be the will to find the donors for that specific project.

[/b]

Don't agree.  Clearly the need for endowment growth is vitally important--just ask St. Joes. Athletics are a part of the campaign.  What project completed under President Heckler should have been skipped in favor of building the REC Center?  Beacon Hall?  Th New Arts and Sciences building?  The new 55,000 sq foot Chemistry/Biology building? Money has been spent on Athletics and no doubt big money as recently as 2014 when we completed the acquisition of the hospital site. By the way, the announcement that I just read indicates that the parking garage would used to address parking issues for athletic events    There have been sizable donors for athletics in the past.  I'm guessing the FITT projects cost in the area of $10 million.  Jay Christopher gave the final $1 million to complete the track.  An anonymous donor gave $1 million for the FITT drive.  Paul Shrage has given $2 million to endow basketball recruiting and was given as part of the current campaign as was Jay's gift.

Lastly I doubt the people working in athletic fund raising would take kindly to you comment concerning a lack of will.

John Kuka joined Valparaiso University as an associate director of athletics in February of 2013. Kuka is responsible for the advancement operations of the athletic department, including all major gift fundraising and oversight of the Crusader Fund. In his first three years at Valpo, he secured gifts to renovate the Kroencke Hall weight room, the football locker room and several other projects.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/staff/8481/katie-britton/#.WOP0GTsrLIU

It is an arms race to get and educate the finest students.  The smaller the endowment the more "discounting" that goes on.  Discounting is just what it seems.  If a school doesn't have the endowment to supply funds for scholarships, the alternate needed to attract students is just to give them a discount.  In the long run that can be a fatal issue as costs continue to rise. 

The desire is there. The donors aren't, at least at this moment in time.

I've given credit to President Heckler for other projects around the campus. He has not been frugal. When President Heckler targets projects he wants to achieve, he has executed and accomplished those goals.

I'm not saying that there are not people actively looking but there is a difference between fundraisers making calls and President Heckler sitting down with the Board and saying ok we need this in x-amount of years and laying out a strategic plan. I don't really expect to tap into the endowment for a Rec Center or Renovations of a basketball arena. I'm just saying when President Heckler actively takes it upon himself to find donors for the project I'm pretty sure things will happen.

Academics always comes first and is/should be the priority, but Valpo Basketball is one of the best Marketing tools for your University.

In my time on campus I was very involved in Greek Life and I know for a fact that President Heckler was very very directly involved in making the sorority housing happen. Getting that sorority housing was more complex then many people realize because the politics involved with the national sororities being unwilling to pay for the housing and also the "brothel" law: there is actually a very common law in the Country that it is against the law for a certain amount of women to be living in the house, because they are worried about it becoming a brothel. There was a lot of logistics/time/lobbying/capital personally invested by President Heckler on that project. I do think that the housing helped campus atmosphere/environment (or at least I think so/I'm graduated now) but should that have been a priority over a student Rec Center/ARC Renovations that would have benefited the whole campus? I'm not sure. I'm not really here to debate that.

I'm just saying when President Heckler decides targets something it get done. I'm not arguing that he should drop everything to solely focus of a Rec Center or ARC Reno but I think we've discussed at nauseam could help lead to a better Basketball Product on the floor which is one of the greatest marketing/PR tools for the University. (Yes there is not a direct correlation of good facilities & teams but it should help if you hire the right people).

Fun Story about the track donation: Correct me if I'm wrong but I've heard the Track came by a Dad of a High School Track athlete that wanted to badly attend Valpo but Valpo didn't have a real track. The Dad was the one that actually reached out to Mr. Christopher and asked him to donate to the track and he did donate the track. I'm not sure if this was just a rumor but I've heard a few people tell me that story.

Man, the brothel myth never dies.

[crusaderjoe]

Found this on the Wichita State board:

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/mvc-to-hold-emergency-meeting-on-sunday-in-saint-louis/

[wh]

Found this on the Wichita State board:

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/mvc-to-hold-emergency-meeting-on-sunday-in-saint-louis/

Interesting. When Creighton left 4 years ago the MVC should have suspected then that WSU would be next. But instead of finding a replacement with proven, sustained basketball success, their university presidents became mesmerized by "facilities" (which is their thing, after all) and the glitz and glitter of Chicago's skyline. Now they need to find a school with a strong bb program just to return to square-1. Then, they need to add 2 more schools with strong programs to help close the gap left by Creighton and Wichita State. Of course, this assumes that they've come to their senses, which one never knows when school administrators clearly out of their element function as an athletic association search committee.

In any event, the MVC's risk of falling into mid-major mediocrity should bode well for Valpo this time around.

[VU2014]

One thing to consider with the MVC is that their CBS TV deal is up after the 2019-2020 season and they will not get the same amount of $ without Wichita State being in the Conf.

That is something that we all need to consider. MidMajor Conference won't be getting the big $ TV deals without real Mid-Major big boys like Wichita State, (formerly) Creighton, etc.

MidMajors are really getting squeezed with all this conference consolidation. The $ is getting bottle up at the top with the big P6-P7 conferences. The best thing for Valpo and many of the other decent Horizon, Summit, OVC, MVC programs would be to former a new Conference with the elites and some schools like Milwaukee and UIC for TV Market purposes. We'd have to hope Valpo's history/program success gets us a seat at the table of the new Conference.

There is no longer an obvious better option anymore. Moving the MVC may be good for the short-term but not a complete win like it would have been just a few years ago.

[IrishDawg]

I'm sure my opinion won't be a popular one on this board, but my thought is why would Valpo even want to make the jump to the MVC without Creighton or Wichita State there?  I know that the home game atmosphere would probably be slightly better, and the level of player that Valparaiso might attract would also probably be slightly better, but you're essentially trading one single-bid league for another.  This isn't an argument of whether or not Valpo can be successful in the MVC, because I think they'd fare well in either league.  I took a look at the average Pomeroy ratings for last 4 years of the teams who will be in the MVC once Wichita leaves vs. the Horizon League, and really other than this year in which the Horizon was historically bad, the two leagues aren't that far apart. Pomeroy ratings are a much better indicator of potential tournament success than a team's or league's RPI.

2017: MVC - 158.6, HL - 202.2
2016: MVC - 173, HL - 184
2015: MVC - 167, HL - 175.8
2014: MVC - 170, HL - 162.9

Obviously Valpo's going to be an attractive option to the MVC once they start looking again and Arch Madness looks far more fun than Motor City Madness (although it's tough to know what the crowds will be like without Wichita State), but the real money for both of these leagues is going to be in earning tournament shares, and outside of Wichita State, the MVC has two tournament wins in the last 4 years, both of which were by Northern Iowa, who's also rumored to be looking at other leagues to have their football program make the jump to the FBS.  Now that is certainly better than the HL, but I'm not sure I'd put a much higher value on the MVC's future as a league than the Horizon's.  Really depends if the thought is that this year is the new normal for the Horizon League in terms of its potential or if they'll trend back towards the MVC in the future.

[VULB#62]

Found this on the Wichita State board:

https://www.fanragsports.com/news/mvc-to-hold-emergency-meeting-on-sunday-in-saint-louis/

Interesting. When Creighton left 4 years ago the MVC should have suspected then that WSU would be next. But instead of finding a replacement with proven, sustained basketball success, their university presidents became mesmerized by "facilities" (which is their thing, after all) and the glitz and glitter of Chicago's skyline. Now they need to find a school with a strong bb program just to return to square-1. Then, they need to add 2 more schools with strong programs to help close the gap left by Creighton and Wichita State. Of course, this assumes that they've come to their senses, which one never knows when school administrators clearly out of their element function as an athletic association search committee.

In any event, the MVC's risk of falling into mid-major mediocrity should bode well for Valpo this time around.

WH, you imply an interesting "what if."  What if......... four years ago, the MVC took Valpo instead of Loyola? 

What would the Mid-major MBB landscape look like over those 4 years and now?  Maybe to wit, the MVC RPI and ranking increases across the board, the MVC is a shoe-in at large conference, yada, yada. 

Would that landscape have been enough to convince WSU to remain in the MVC? 

It doesn't do Valpo or the MVC any good now, but inquiring minds want to know  .