Valpo to be visited by MVC this week, thoughts?

[crusaderjoe]

Apparently, I am banned from his forum.  I guess he knows something that not even Valley insiders know—that we are gone.  With insider information like that, he should be sitting on a beach somewhere earning 19% instead of running a message board.

No loss though.  On HL realignment matters, if it were up to him, Northern Kentucky would still be in the Atlantic Sun.  Brilliant.

[a3uge]

A BigD post on the WSU board apparently after 1 of our fans had the audacity to suggest that the HL might want to consider New Mexico St. as a possible replacement for Valpo:

Why the hell are you even trying to take part in this discussion?   You guys are leaving.   Your input isn't needed or desired.   Let me speak for the rest of the HL.  Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out of the conference.

Losing Valpo is not good for the conference but honestly I cannot be happier to never have to listen to an arrogant Valpo fan ever again.  They are actually 1000x worse than Butler fans ever where.  Butler fans at least had a legit reason to act arrogant.  Their team routinely went to the post season and won games.   I don't know what the hell Valpo fans have to be so arrogant about.  They have exactly ZERO NCAA tournament wins since joining the conference.   I hope the join the MVC and turn into the next Evansville.   

I had no idea BigD was a Valpo hater. I'm surprised. He knows full well that given the same opportunity, WSU would jump at the chance and their fans wouldn't give Valpo or the HL another thought.

It's not so much arrogance, as it is the fact that the rest of the Horizon loses to teams like NC A&T out of conference and 8 of the 10 teams have had coaches fired in the past 5 years. There's something to be said about how the Horizon's​ best team hasn't even won a tournament game in the past 20 years. That should speak volumes to how unacceptable Wright State and other schools have been.

[NativeCheesehead]

I went and read part of that thread. It says something when the admin of your board is openly trashing another school before they've even officially left. This is the antithesis of what we've seen here from MVC fans. Already, just with rumors of us joining, we've had more MVC fans show up on our board than HL fans ever have. And the vast majority are knowledgeable, respectful, and bring facts and figures to the discussion, with indications that there will be some really fun, good natured trash talking when the season rolls around.

We are spoiled as Valpo fans, as our program has been on a (mostly) upward trajectory for the last 25 years. If we had stagnated after Bryce graduated, maybe we would be acting like some of these other boards. It's seeming more like a win win to me at this point. Either continue the upward climb with a move to the MVC, or take this potentially loaded team Lottich has assembled and spend the next few years curb stomping the Horizon.

No matter what happens, it's been enlightening to say the least to pull back the curtain a bit.

[oklahomamick]

Already, just with rumors of us joining, we've had more MVC fans show up on our board than HL fans ever have. And the vast majority are knowledgeable, respectful, and bring facts and figures to the discussion,

Possibly because they are better academic institutions...? 

You are correct, we have been spoiled.  If it takes us a couple years as it did in the HL to start competing, we will have to patient and we are not used to that. 

My question, is the last 6 years of dominance in the HL contributed to Valpo being good or the HL decreasing? 

[VU2014]

Vote for Valpo! Currently Murray State is winning in this poll b/c they have a large amount of active fans on Twitter. If you don't have an account create a twitter account and join the other Valpo fans on twitter! Takes literally 1 minute. Sign up: https://twitter.com/signup?lang=en

https://twitter.com/EnthusiAdams/status/860467680863805440

[FWalum]

Who the heck is this Tim Brown guy???  Not liking this message.
https://twitter.com/rock_beats_papr/status/860471624923000832

https://twitter.com/rock_beats_papr/status/860492962337366016

[NativeCheesehead]

There's always one. Let's just hope he's not on the board of directors.

[Pgmado]

I wish I knew what was up. Gun to my head I'd say Valparaiso and Murray State should be in and I've got several reasons for wanting Milwaukee in. That said, I have no clue which way the cookie is going to crumble.

[VU2014]

I wish I knew what was up. Gun to my head I'd say Valparaiso and Murray State should be in and I've got several reasons for wanting Milwaukee in. That said, I have no clue which way the cookie is going to crumble.

From what you've heard from folks could you tell us if we should feel encouraged about the prospects of getting invited to the MVC?

Seems like if they go 10 it will either be Valpo or Murray State...

[FWalum]

We are lagging behind in the poll.  People need to get on there and VOTE.

[M]

Who cares?? That pole doesn't matter for anything.

[IrishDawg]

My question, is the last 6 years of dominance in the HL contributed to Valpo being good or the HL decreasing?

The answer is probably both.  Looking at the decade prior to the last 6 years of success, Valpo's average Kenpom rating was 143.7, with its best ranking at 47 (2002), and its worse being 226 (2009).  The past 6 years, Valpo's average Kenpom rating has climbed to 96.2, thanks at least in part to the past 4 years with Alec Peters (93.5) and the 5 years prior to this one with Bryce Drew at the helm (94.6).

During this time, the Horizon League's rating, which was 10th in 2011, fell to 13th in 2012, climbed to 12th for a couple of seasons before steadily falling to the 20th rated league this season.  This year was the first year the Horizon League had 0 teams in the top 100 in the history of Kenpom, as well as the first year that the league had 5 teams with ratings of 200 or worse.  Now, with or without Valpo history would indicate this trend won't continue, but it certainly isn't a good direction for the league to be going in considering this was the last year of Butler's tourney shares being paid out to the league.

[justducky]

I want to see a clear message from the MVC. I want to know their vision for a multi-bid conference. So a one school invitation with wishy washy language about future additions will chill me to the bone. My suggested response to that would be for them (the MVC) to call again when they arrive at their final solution.

[valpopal]

As I mentioned in a previous message, I view this situation through a Public Relations perspective. First, if the MVC replaces Wichita State with only only one team and that is not the currently strongest basketball program (Valpo) of the ones considered, that would be a PR disappointment for the MVC. Second, if Valpo goes through the hoops a second time for the MVC without a resulting invitation, that would be a PR disaster for Valpo, who have done nothing to lessen expectations—and it would reflect poorly on the MVC as well. Third, beat press and fan forums seem to have reached a consensus that Valpo should receive an invitation—either as the lone team or as part of a package including Murray State—and the lack of an invitation would go against those strong expectations, causing a PR problem.


Consequently, strictly from a Public Relations point of view, Valparaiso must receive an invitation, and I would be shocked if Valpo is not part of the plan to replace the Shockers.   

[covufan]

Who the heck is this Tim Brown guy???  Not liking this message.
https://twitter.com/rock_beats_papr/status/860471624923000832

https://twitter.com/rock_beats_papr/status/860492962337366016

How correct can he be if he thinks rock beats paper?

[valpo64]

The way the HL has treated us...and the way the Comish has operated the HL,  we should help "grow" the HL?   Are you kidding?  Is this guy a relative of LaCrone or what?

[vu72]

My guess is the Tim Brown is a supporter of Omaha or Milwaukee.  He obviously doesn't understand what travel would be for Valpo if "doubling" is his estimate.  Grow the Horizon?  Sure, we could invest in Cleveland State's program. 

[valpo4life]

My guess is the Tim Brown is a supporter of Omaha or Milwaukee.  He obviously doesn't understand what travel would be for Valpo if "doubling" is his estimate.  Grow the Horizon?  Sure, we could invest in Cleveland State's program. 

I know Tim. Valpo grad. Uses a blog post from Oren has his evidence saying he mentions added travel costs and moving away from a lot of alumni bases. I personally have a hard time seeing how the travel costs would increase by a substantial margin.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Oren noted the average travel goes up in the MVC by like ten miles. Completely inconsequential.

[wh]

The way the HL has treated us...and the way the Comish has operated the HL,  we should help "grow" the HL?   Are you kidding?  Is this guy a relative of LaCrone or what?

When Valpo joined the HL everybody and his mother from around the league were singing the praises of the league winner-hosted tournament. Then once We assumed the mantle and began dominating the league, miraculously everyone had a change of heart. So they vote to move the thing to Detroit and make up some bogus excuse about wanting to look like the big boys, so the same loser programs don't have to compete for a conference championship anymore to have a better chance to go to the NCAA tournament. Yeah, let's stay in the HL and help this bunch of back stabbing cry babies and their back stabbing cry baby fans "grow" the league.

[FWalum]

The way the HL has treated us...and the way the Comish has operated the HL,  we should help "grow" the HL?   Are you kidding?  Is this guy a relative of LaCrone or what?

When Valpo joined the HL everybody and his mother from around the league were singing the praises of the league winner-hosted tournament. Then once We assumed the mantle and began dominating the league, miraculously everyone had a change of heart. So they vote to move the thing to Detroit and make up some bogus excuse about wanting to look like the big boys, so the same loser programs don't have to compete for a conference championship anymore to have a better chance to go to the NCAA tournament. Yeah, let's stay in the HL and help this bunch of back stabbing cry babies and their back stabbing cry baby fans "grow" the league.

Tell us what you really think wh!! 

[vu72]

Oren noted the average travel goes up in the MVC by like ten miles. Completely inconsequential.

I'm also not buying the "leaving cities where Valpo has significant alumni base" (e.g. Milwaukee and Cleveland) Valpo's largest alumni base in Chicago and obviously we would maintain a presence there.  Valpo also has a significant alumni base located throughout Indiana and Illinois.  My guess is that we would draw very well to Arch Madness as we have a substantial alumni base in the St. Louis market. 

[IrishDawg]

When Valpo joined the HL everybody and his mother from around the league were singing the praises of the league winner-hosted tournament. Then once We assumed the mantle and began dominating the league, miraculously everyone had a change of heart. So they vote to move the thing to Detroit and make up some bogus excuse about wanting to look like the big boys, so the same loser programs don't have to compete for a conference championship anymore to have a better chance to go to the NCAA tournament. Yeah, let's stay in the HL and help this bunch of back stabbing cry babies and their back stabbing cry baby fans "grow" the league.

Moving away from the home site format is easily the dumbest thing the league has done.  Rather than give the best teams the best chance to win, I honestly don't know what the thought process was to move it to a neutral site.  The Horizon wasn't going to be anything other than a one-bid league, so I'm not sure (other than panic maybe) why you wouldn't want to ensure that you at least sent your best chance to the NCAA tournament if there aren't going to be any at-large bids?

I don't think it was a "well Valpo's winning now so let's screw them over" no matter if it hurts the league financially type of decision though.  In my opinion, it was likely a move made to try and maximize the league's revenue and whoever voted on it simply didn't think of any negatives that could come from it.  From 2012-2015, the league's representative had been beaten in the NCAA tournament in the 1st round by an average of 12 points and never got higher than a 13 seed.  My guess is LeCrone approached the schools and told them that while the league was finding itself again in the NCAA tournament, they could make some additional cash by having the tourney in a location mere miles from 2 of the league's schools.  My guess is if the HL reps in the NCAA had managed to have more success or a higher seed during the tourney, there probably would have been more resistance to the idea, but we'll never know.  What is known is that it appears to be a stupid and desperate move that will likely cost the league its most consistently successful team since Butler's departure.

[UNIFTW]

I was doing some youtubing today and came across this game from 2015. We need more games like this in the McLeod Center. If you like CBB you'll freaking love this game. Hopefully if Valpo gets in we can create some like this

Give it a watch when you get time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnfO_F2IKxs

[VU2014]

An interesting take by Paul lol.

All I'll say is the MVC has better weed the HL and I'll just leave it at that.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/860595717156589568
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/860595983230611456
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/860596192673234978
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/860596579144798208
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/860597063930839040