Milwaukee officially enters the conference-shuffling conversation

[Spirit of Bruce]

Over at JSOnline, Bob Wolfley posted on his blog about us going to the Missouri Valley to take Creighton's place as early as next year. His story links to a story on a Creighton site that seems to say we are being talked about by people down at the MVC tournament in St. Louis. I'm not savvy enough to know how to post the links, so if some Good Samaritan can, that would be awesome.

[MU/Panther]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130307/BLUEJAYS/703079782/1685#shatel-arch-madness-or-melancholy

[lutzow10]

Damn... If they still want us with all of our dysfunction and that god awful season we just had, hey, i wont complain

[Jimmy Lemke]

Doug Elgin and the MVC Presidents and Chancellors are smart people. They recognize that dysfunction and losing seasons are temporary problems.

Amanda Braun is here to make a difference. Get behind her, work as a team, and we can fix the future.

[lutzow10]

I am all for change and progress. I definitely hope that we can get things on the right track.

[Jimmy Lemke]

A list of things that needs to get done for the U to get the call from the MVC:

-Make the Arena a permanent home OR get shovels in the ground for a Klotsche reno
- Shovels in the ground for a basketball practice facility

That's the list. We match up with the MVC well. We have a great soccer program, great baseball program, great volleyball program, these all being strong MVC sports. We bring the Milwaukee market, an existing rivalry with UNI, a winning overall program. If we had those two facilities (game arena, practice facility) definitely on the way, we'd be a slam dunk addition to the MVC.

I *think* Nashville's Belmont may be before us on the list. North Dakota State is pretty far out. Denver is totallly unproven. Oral Roberts is a shady school.

Valpo's got a facilities problem. Loyola's got a "we haven't been relevant since before our players were born" problem. Green Bay is far and has a miniscule budget. CSU is far away. Wright State makes more sense to me than any of those. UIC as well if Moore's turnaround keeps coming.

We were most definitely a better candidate 12 months ago. The Arena compares favorably to the Carver Arena at Bradley and other MVC arenas. We had a string of winning seasons and had won 59 in three years, more than all but about 30 schools.

[IWB]

What would be a better fit? The MVC or the A-10?

Creighton may leave the MVC, but Butler and Xavier may also leave the A-10.

Milwaukee would be a great market for either conference, but as mentioned above, this was a bad season combined with the new facility issue.

Time for Amanda Braun to show Panther Nation what she is made of.

[Jimmy Lemke]

What would be a better fit? The MVC or the A-10?

Creighton may leave the MVC, but Butler and Xavier may also leave the A-10.

Milwaukee would be a great market for either conference, but as mentioned above, this was a bad season combined with the new facility issue.

Time for Amanda Braun to show Panther Nation what she is made of.

Amanda Braun's first 18 months will be very telling. I intend on giving her every level of support I am able.

[illwauk]

What would be a better fit? The MVC or the A-10?

Creighton may leave the MVC, but Butler and Xavier may also leave the A-10.

Milwaukee would be a great market for either conference, but as mentioned above, this was a bad season combined with the new facility issue.

Time for Amanda Braun to show Panther Nation what she is made of.

I can't speak for everyone, but I'd much prefer the MVC. Not only would I NOT be a fan of having to send our non-revenue teams to places like Richmond or Rhode Island, but the A-10 is such a hodgepodge now... even more than the former Big East. The MVC seems like a much more stable and cohesive group, a huge rarity in this modern college sports landscape. Let schools like UIC and Detroit look east.

[Jimmy Lemke]

I'd prefer, wherever we go, to take UIC with us. That's the school, even more than Valpo, that I want with us. In fact, let's make it MKE, Valpo and UIC to the MVC for a 12-team league.

Of course, until I'm told differently, I want the Horizon League to be the best conference possible.

[illwauk]

Agreed, but somehow I don't see the four current MVC schools in Illinois or the two current Indiana schools being too crazy about letting those guys in. These expansions have been all about expanding a conference's footprint, which pretty much brings it down to us, Wright State and Youngstown State.

[Jimmy Lemke]

Well, Wright State would be a good pick. Their facilities are pretty good for our level. Their attendance is high but a source of mine at the League office tells me they put in a considerable cushion every year.

[illwauk]

Butler, Xavier and Creighton are all Big East bound. I'm honestly surprised they invited Creighton this go-round... I thought they'd at least wait until next year to decide if they wanted Creighton, Saint Louis, Dayton, all, or none.

All I know is, Milwaukee needs to put some shovels in dirt. Now.

[Jimmy Lemke]

Yesterday. We've had 25 years to get it right and we haven't yet.