Now reports are saying the HL isn't done with NIU and the sentiment has been either EVille or Valpo should be dumped to the HL. Now while I don't think Valpo would ever return to the HL. I'm just curious what the sentiment would be if a return was possible.
From my end I think it would be a very poor decision
It would be a dumb move and a sign of weakness. Valpo makes more money being in the MVC. The issue is that Valpo needs to quit being a cellar dweller and needs to act like they should be in the MVC. I understand the cash issues, but Bradley and Drake are in a similar situation.
Program trajectory would be the same with slightly less talented competition. Vast majority of games still on ESPN+. Still need a conference tourney win for the tournament. From an alumni I don’t think it’d be anything detrimental. I do think casual observers would appreciate a better record. I don’t think MVC or Horizon we are having spectators come to visit the gym for the opponent outside of friends and family
IMO keeping Powell is more important than keeping our conference
Agreed on keeping Powell if that's a goal of the program.
What's the money difference?
The MVC is a terrific mid-major conference ranked in the top-10 with several awesome gameday environments. Arch Madness is a dream conference tournament and it makes me sad that it's the same 20 of us who go every year. So many more of our fans should be going, yet it's always the same faces.
Sadly, I think the reality is we are so far underfunded in NIL and behind with our arena, that we likely make the NCAA Tournament once every 25 years in the MVC. Outside the same 20 of us who attend every year, our fan base has not treated Arch Madness with enthusiasm, so those games are effectively quasi-road games unless we're playing UIC or Belmont.
In years past, I would've said returning to the Horizon League would be a terrible idea. Now, I think it might be the only path for us to sustain success. I love Powell, but I think he's recruiting/coaching with two arms tied behind his back, given how much we're over our heads with NIL/ARC in the MVC.
This institution just does not have the health it did 10 years ago. We're in such a different place enrollment-wise.
I think most of our alumni realize this, even if it's really hard to admit. It's taken me years to come around and admit it.
So if we move to the Horizon League, I don't think our alumni would oppose it. I think most would be pretty understanding and feel we can now be a consistent contender for the NCAA Tournament again in a league that we've dominated before and have a lot of institutional/financial parity with (as opposed to starting with a massive disadvantage across the board). Also, with the conference tournament being in Indy, it won't feel like road games. We should be 3rd or so in crowd size.
The quality of recruit severely diminishes in a downgrade. You wont get the All Wrights, the Cooper Schwiegers, ect ect. NIL is really just a factor of success at the mid major level. if your program is good, so will be the cash flow. Same with fans. VU fans dont want to go to St Louis because they expect a first round exit. Winning solves a lot of problems. Powell has proven that he can get good talent to go to VU despite its many shortcomings
