The OVC, now and future

[ST_Lawson]

I would rather make 1 tournament every 10 years and compete in the tournament instead of making 5 and knowing that I am going to face a top 10 team and get blown out.

The thing is, it’s not a “make 1 tournament every 10 years” situation in basketball. It’s a “make 1 tournament never” situation. We’ve been in the Mid-Con/Summit since the early 80s…40 years…and we have made the tournament zero times, and by the looks of things, that trend would have continued for the foreseeable future against the Dakota schools.

Moving to the OVC gives us much closer opponents (less travel costs and less time on the road for student-athletes), potential for actual rivalries (and the return of one that used to be pretty big), and better odds to actually make the NCAA tournament.

If we make a habit of winning games, making the tournament, and having large numbers of students and fans show up at games, then we can start talking about a conference that sets us up to compete in the tournament. For now though, I’d just like to see us make the tournament.

And with football…is it better to try to compete with the best teams in the FCS who spend twice what we do on football and continue to barely eek out 1-2 wins a season (which would pretty much ensure that attendance and financial support would completely disappear in a few years)…or…compete with teams that spend about what we do and that we can actually compete with, and actually finish in the top half of the conference?

This isn’t the 90s anymore. Our old conference-mates have blown past us on spending and facilities. We don’t have the money to compete on the same level as them, so we need to be in a place where we can, and save a TON of money on travel costs in the process.


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[vatusay]

Can we please just make it to the tourney. Just once. Please. See what that does for the program. 

Teams from the OVC have clearly had success in the basketball world. Thats indisputable. More consistent success than the summit? Debatable at the minimum. 

 

[meganeck]

So this guy would be happier right now if the men's basketball team was 0-3 in the Summit, then 3-0 in the OVC.

I agree with pretty much everything Scott said. Also I have no insider knowledge but I think the reason they didn't move to the OVC earlier was the desire to stay in the MVFC.

[bignecks]

also no inside information, but I'm not getting away from my speculation that the MVC-Summit relationship is icy and Western found a home early to not be left out. Beyond that, the NCAA could be reshaped within five years and it seems clear that the MVC/Summit will have teams that fall on both sides of the "teams that elect to use NIL" category. I'm thinking ten years from now once all the chips fall we'll be in a reshaped conference with it's center being more towards the west. 

[OldHare]

also no inside information, but I'm not getting away from my speculation that the MVC-Summit relationship is icy and Western found a home early to not be left out. Beyond that, the NCAA could be reshaped within five years and it seems clear that the MVC/Summit will have teams that fall on both sides of the "teams that elect to use NIL" category. I'm thinking ten years from now once all the chips fall we'll be in a reshaped conference with it's center being more towards the west. 

 

There are teams who are creating NIL groups..  At his time NDSU & SDSU have groundwork in place to begin.

[leathernecks1]

So this guy would be happier right now if the men's basketball team was 0-3 in the Summit, then 3-0 in the OVC.

I agree with pretty much everything Scott said. Also I have no insider knowledge but I think the reason they didn't move to the OVC earlier was the desire to stay in the MVFC.

 

I never said that. I am a firm believer in success comes from hard work and I think admin took the easy road and wins are what people want. However all wins are not the same and my opinion is obviously the unpopular one but I wasn't raised to take the easy out and that is exactly what happened. I believe we have the right pieces in place in football and both basketball teams. Also, we did make the tournament less than 10 years ago and playoffs in football. Does WBB not count anymore? I understand this is under MBB thread, but all sports fall under the conference amd have been discussed. It can be done, we just had a few bad years. 
 

[leatherneckcountry]

So this guy would be happier right now if the men's basketball team was 0-3 in the Summit, then 3-0 in the OVC.

I agree with pretty much everything Scott said. Also I have no insider knowledge but I think the reason they didn't move to the OVC earlier was the desire to stay in the MVFC.


 

I never said that. I am a firm believer in success comes from hard work and I think admin took the easy road and wins are what people want. However all wins are not the same and my opinion is obviously the unpopular one but I wasn't raised to take the easy out and that is exactly what happened. I believe we have the right pieces in place in football and both basketball teams. Also, we did make the tournament less than 10 years ago and playoffs in football. Does WBB not count anymore? I understand this is under MBB thread, but all sports fall under the conference amd have been discussed. It can be done, we just had a few bad years. 
 

 

The fact is we couldn’t continue to spend the money on travel we were spending. Also for the students if there playing weaker competition but not having to spend as much time on a bus that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in the end there still students which I know is easy to forget now days. As for the fans it’s great that we can go to some conference games and be back home the same night. I think we had more fans for the girls game at SIUE than they had.
 

[pvk7072]

The reason I started the thread "The OVC Now and Future" way up top of this forum is for exactly these kinds of discussions. No ... not tooting my own horn ... but making a point. As some have pointed out, this subject is not just for fans who hone in on FB, or MBB or WBB. And I think it diverts the thread from what it's really about (or was meant to be) ... the Lindenwood game and MBB. If I wasn't interested or didn't check this thread, I would miss the larger discussion completely. There's a reason for separate threads. Just sayin'.

Too bad ST_Lawson can't pull these out and move them where they belong. Might even have more posting on this all-important, WIU-wide topic. It is definitely going to be ongoing, and important to fans.

Or ... someone could start another thread on that part of the forum and start there for these topics. Whatever works for the most people.

(BTW, have been a WIU fan since fall 1970, fyi.)
 
 

[ST_Lawson]

The reason I started the thread "The OVC Now and Future" way up top of this forum is for exactly these kinds of discussions. No ... not tooting my own horn ... but making a point. As some have pointed out, this subject is not just for fans who hone in on FB, or MBB or WBB. And I think it diverts the thread from what it's really about (or was meant to be) ... the Lindenwood game and MBB. If I wasn't interested or didn't check this thread, I would miss the larger discussion completely. There's a reason for separate threads. Just sayin'.

Too bad ST_Lawson can't pull these out and move them where they belong. Might even have more posting on this all-important, WIU-wide topic. It is definitely going to be ongoing, and important to fans.
 

I can, actually. Good idea.

[rocki]

So this guy would be happier right now if the men's basketball team was 0-3 in the Summit, then 3-0 in the OVC.

I agree with pretty much everything Scott said. Also I have no insider knowledge but I think the reason they didn't move to the OVC earlier was the desire to stay in the MVFC.


 

I never said that. I am a firm believer in success comes from hard work and I think admin took the easy road and wins are what people want. However all wins are not the same and my opinion is obviously the unpopular one but I wasn't raised to take the easy out and that is exactly what happened. I believe we have the right pieces in place in football and both basketball teams. Also, we did make the tournament less than 10 years ago and playoffs in football. Does WBB not count anymore? I understand this is under MBB thread, but all sports fall under the conference amd have been discussed. It can be done, we just had a few bad years. 
 

 

I wouldn't say your opinion was "obviously the unpopular one", but I would say it was the less practical one. Western has been slammed financially and enrollment-wise. Things had to be cut somewhere. Sports was apparently the easiest path to cutting costs, so we entered a conference more centralized to our location. As far as I am concerned, that is the end of the story. You don't have to like it, but it seems reasonable to me.