RETURN TO THE HL? AKA: WILL VALPO EVER BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE MVC???
There, Rez, I fixed the original title for us. 😃 I did this for two reasons: The first is that, as we have learned just recently, the 12th slot in the HL has been taken by NIU, so that makes the original title obsolete. The second reason is that I reread all the posts in this thread, and it became abundantly clear that the two full pages of posts can be easily slotted into two camps: those who think Valpo can make it in the MVC and those who think it can’t — hence the AKA.
And at the end of the day, without a crystal ball, nobody knows, but sometimes it’s fun to go through the speculative exercise.
@cmack You quite literally a few replies ago equated the program downturn to the MVC move.
Nope. I've repeated in many posts that we are in over our heads in NIL/financial security/transfer rules. We can't compete. I can't scream it into your face louder if you can't hear it.
There is infinitely more that goes into building a sports program than wins and losses, and that goes for any level of play. Most of the other small private schools in the valley are doing just as poorly both NIL and School health. Heck, before the Wardle hire, Bradley build a small on campus arena and was considering dropping to the D2/D3 level and play out of it. They made a good coaching hire and saw success. Valpo made a bad coaching hire and saw decline.
Yep there is also collecting money from other MVC team successes, which is oddly really more important than our own wins and losses to some here. We made an arguably very good hire. We are still a bottom team. Why can other teams turn around almost immediately, but Valpo needs 3-5 years. Never makes a lot of sense to me.
We did used to dominate MVC opponents,
Yes I know. Three games were cited for proof that we would have been dominant in the MVC. As long as we ignore the 8 years of evidence since. The move was good at the time. My case is not that we should time machine backwards. It was definitely the right move at the time. My question is what is good for us now. Based on the last 8 years, what is good for us now?
I see no reason why VU cannot have success in the Valley. VU has had 2, yes 2, coaches in the entire Valley life cycle. Judging the success of a program in a league based off of two coaches is a wild take
This is what I challenge. Saying "just two coaches" is semantics to avoid saying 8 years. We've had 8 years. If you don't see an issue with the transfer portal, NIL, and the university's financial issues as a problem. Then it is your rose-colored glasses that struggle to see what's really happening.
Bradley was never "considering dropping to the D2/D3 level" and other MVC private schools like Drake/Bradley/Belmont aren't "doing just as poorly in both NIL and school health". A genuine conversation can't be had if people are just going to make up things that aren't true.
So I’m getting pummeled by suggesting we are in the right conference. Think about this:
Your buddies in Indiana and Illinois (where the majority of our students come from) and they are discussing where to go to school. So our kid says Valpo and his buddies say, oh, they are in the same conference as schools I’m thinking about, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Bradley. Would they have the same reaction if they were looking at Cleveland State, Robert Morris and IUPUI?
And remember, our academic reputation is certainly part of it. Do you want to be associated with schools Drake, Evansville, Bradley, UIC or Belmont or Youngstown State, Cleveland State or Purdue Fort Wayne?
Bradley did consider a move to D2/D3. Here is the proof of such right here actually! So don't come to me about "making stuff up" here is the evidence right here. The reason the faculty considered a move is because of, get this, budget concerns related to academics. Which I just outlined above. Bradley is not in good health financially.
https://twitter.com/MattBrownEP/status/1720072144506277954
That's not "Bradley considering a move to D2/D3". That's anti-athletics faculty who have no power coming to the school with absurd proposals. Faculty don't have any power or real input regarding the divisional classification of athletics. That's like if a student union came up with a proposal to move to D2/D3.
The only thing that actually represents what "Bradley is considering" is the administration/BOT. And the Bradley administration/BOT have NEVER considered moving to D2/D3.
You're fundamentally miscomprehending these things.
Bradley is not doing well financially. The faculty suggested a move to D2 and a study to see what would happen. That is considering a move to D2. However. You can go as far back as when I suggested, IE the Wardle hire and find studies and reports that Bradley was considering the move.
Bradley is not doing well financially. The faculty suggested a move to D2 and a study to see what would happen. That is considering a move to D2. However. You can go as far back as when I suggested, IE the Wardle hire and find studies and reports that Bradley was considering the move.
No, what anti-athletics faculty say and make noise about regarding the divisional classification of athletics is meaningless. They have no power in that decision. The people who have power, and actually represent what Bradley is considering, are the administration and BOT. The Bradley administration/BOT never considered a move to D2/D3.
And, no, you cannot find reports that the Bradley administration or BOT was considering a move to D2/D3 because that never happened. You're fundamentally not understanding how these things work.
Bradley is not doing well financially.
I would say they're not doing well at all. Their "embattled" president essentially gave a two weeks' notice last year, and their board chair is still serving as interim president eight months later.
No one is misunderstanding anything 🤣 . Anyone can understand that Staff don't make decisions at an institution. Bradley was horrible before the Wardle hire. Renaissance was built in 2010 largely because
1. MBB wasn't drawing numbers to justify use of Carver long term and Peoria was selling dates to concerts that Bradley had asked to hold for basketball
2. After a few seasons with RenCol. Word came out that usage of RenCol was being used as a trial run to either move games back on campus where you could make more money off ticket sales than an arena you don't own, or move down to the D2/D3 level if the program didn't improve.
