The grass is always greener...

[wh]

As a fan, all of the non-stop conference jumping in college athletics has become very disconcerting for me.  All the discussion about who's coming, who's going, who's advancing, who's being left behind, which conferences are poaching, which are being poached, what's the newest rumor, etc., etc. has hung a dark cloud over something that is supposed to be fun and relaxing. 

I'm also wondering if anyone is really benefiting from any of this. Consider Butler, as one example.  Their fans were overjoyed when they got "promoted" from the HL to the A-10.  Finally, they would be in a conference befitting their elevated profile.  Life is good and we'll live happily ever after.  But look at them now.  Are they happier?  Not a chance. Look at their message board - nothing but frustration, infighting, insecurity, and anger.  The only thing that has changed is the conference name.

Now suddenly our name pops up as a possible replacement for Creighton in the MVC, if they jump to the new "Little" East.  On the surface is sounds kind of flattering.  But when reality sets in, what are we really gaining?  Is life really going to be any better there?  I doubt it.  The same challenges we have now, we will have then - and more. 

IMO the best solution for Valpo Athletics is to stay where we are and work with the other programs in the HL to build our own conference profile, rather than adding to someone else's.  At some point programs like ours are going to have to stand up and say enough is enough and end this craziness.

Of course, this is only one man's opinion, and I would certainly be interested in what others have to say. 

 

[crusadermoe]

Good point.     The MVC would be a step up in most sports.   But the step up would probably block any chance to get NCAA bids in baseball, softball, or volleyball.    Even if we made middle of the pack it might not be a buzz for us or our fans.

The other reality.   Valpo has FAR more alumni in the Horizon cities than the MVC cities.    Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Detroit are big Lutheran cities and many kids came from those places when I went to Valpo.    Many more than from Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas, SW Mo. or southern Illinois.   Larger VU goals seem better aligned with Horizon cities.

It's probably moot because the MVC probably won't want us due to bad facilities.   On the other hand I would love for Horizon to pick off Bradley and Evansville.

[valporun]

I like where Valpo is from an economic perspective. We're not spending loads of money traveling everywhere by way of planes and buses. We also aren't committing money towards facilities to fit in somewhere that we'll be a beaten horse. The Horizon League is a perfect fit for Valpo as a lot of our fan base doesn't have to budget travel expenses for plane tickets and long hotel stays to afford being at every game. I'm sure many of the alums who go on the road trips have fellow alums they shack up with for an evening, instead of shelling out money for hotel stays.

If we go to the MVC, we lose a lot of fan base traveling because a lot of it won't want to go to Nebraska or Kansas, where connecting flights and car rentals, plus worse snow conditions, when it does snow in these areas, affect the roads.

I also like the Horizon League because, with proper facility upgrades, we'll be competitive in the league regularly. Honestly, that's what I want for all of our teams, being competitive, before worrying about how often they make the NCAA tournament/championships in all of our sports.

[zvillehaze]

I'm also wondering if anyone is really benefiting from any of this. Consider Butler, as one example.  Their fans were overjoyed when they got "promoted" from the HL to the A-10.  Finally, they would be in a conference befitting their elevated profile.  Life is good and we'll live happily ever after.  But look at them now.  Are they happier?  Not a chance. Look at their message board - nothing but frustration, infighting, insecurity, and anger.  The only thing that has changed is the conference name.

I'd argue that the "happiness" of posters on a message board might not be the best barometer on whether the move was good or not ... especially that board.  I think the attitude within Hinkle is probably a little more positive. 

I agree totally that moving just to move or to chase a few dollars doesn't make sense.  IMO, I think that finding schools with similar values and objectives (both educational and athletic) should be the number one priority.  I think there will continue to be some juggling ... Valpo (and every other school) just needs to evaluate every opportunity and make the move (or non-move) they feel is best for their university and athletic programs in the long-term.

It seems most people here are happy with the decision to join the Horizon several years ago.  Whatever process the university used to make that decision worked pretty well, so they should be well-prepared to analyze future opportunities.

Unfortunately, even if you like where you are and want to stay, you always need to be aware of what's happening with others in your conference.  I'm sure that Mid-Con instability was at least one factor in Valpo's move to the HL.  No one wants to be left on a sinking ship without a raft.

[crusaderjoe]

I can probably give you $4.0M reasons a year over the next several years why Butler is happy with their move to the greener side of the pastures.

Here's my .02.  As for Valpo, as I have maintained, in my mind the critical distinction regarding conference movement and affiliation involves the public vs. private distinction.  Movement to a conference where membership was maintained by like minded, similarly situated private universities was important to Butler.  I suppose it remains to be seen how important such a distinction is to Valpo.  Historically, this has not been the case at VU since its inception to D-I.  If this distinction is important, then a move to a conference with more private institutions or a better public vs. private balance is the key.  That is where you will find the "move up" to the MVC or the A-10 as being important to the VU academic side of the administration, IMO.  Competitiveness is important but is not as crucial.  If this distinction is not important, there is no reason to leave the HL.  If it is, then Valpo needs to explore.

And yes, I agree with the above comment regarding our facilities.  The ARC is garbage.  That is Valpo's Achilles heel to MVC membership, IMO.

[valpotx]

Butler definitely made the correct move to the A-10, and now to the C-7/NBE.  They are going to reap $ benefits, more national exposure, etc, for both academic and athletic purposes.

In thinking about it more, I also believe that if Creighton leaves the MVC, I would rather stay in the HL.  If Evansville is truly already on board with the HL, we will have more private schools in the HL than left in the MVC.  If we can somehow talk Drake and Bradley into a HL move, that gives us 6 private vs. 6 public schools, which I really like.  All newcomers have past name recognition in their own right, similar to Valpo.  We don't want to join a conference that just has Drake/Bradley as the private institutions, with a bunch of much larger public schools.  We already have that situation now, and it would just add travel with only a small bump up in basketball competition (#12 RPI vs. #9).

[oklahomamick]

We don't want to join a conference that just has Drake/Bradley as the private institutions, with a bunch of much larger public schools.

And most of those state schools have football. 

[Coogles]

Butler definitely made the correct move to the A-10, and now to the C-7/NBE.  They are going to reap $ benefits, more national exposure, etc, for both academic and athletic purposes.

This.

No question there will need to be big adjustments on the athletic side, but a school like Butler can't pass up the opportunity to be aligned with universities like Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, etc.  The nBE also gets closer to making regional sense, with DePaul in Chicago, Marquette in Milwaukee, Cincy still covered, St. Louis & Dayton possibly joining, etc.

There are a bunch of reasons Butler fans love to bicker, most of which are really stupid considering how successful the program has been, but the conference moves are being made for all the right reasons - not just for the athletic department, but for the entire university.

[crusaderjoe]

We don't want to join a conference that just has Drake/Bradley as the private institutions, with a bunch of much larger public schools.

And most of those state schools have football.

Good point, but I think MVC football is an important consideration for conference affiliation only to the extent of any movement to FBS.  I'm just speculating here, but I would guess that we won't see that movement for awhile—if there was serious consideration for movement to FBS, the WAC would have been a great opportunity to do so for the football MVC schools as well as for some schools from the Big Sky.  Yet no one moved.  What established FBS football conference is going to invite them to join now?

The situation is so fluid right now I'm not sure anyone really knows what may be best for Valpo.  I guess we'll just have to wait to see who the HL has offered as well as wait to see if the MVC decides to move to either 10 or 12 teams if/when Creighton leaves.  If the MVC goes to 12 and decides to consider only private schools and LUC is one of them this may pique VU's interest, particularly if UDM is off to the A-10 as a result of the C-7 and UE does not move to the HL.  This is of course assuming that Valpo cares about public vs. private affiliation.  If it doesn't this movement is probably moot.

Not that I am advocating that we should leave the HL but if the dominoes start falling LUC and VU might make good private school travel partners in any league.  Kind of like New Mexico State and UTEP.  This makes up for Valpo's lack of "market."