OVC rumblings

[MplsBison]

With Samford leaving for the SoCon, Jax State is looking for the best way out of the conference.

If they leave the OVC would be down to 9 teams. They could pretty easily pick up NKU and SIUE.

But who else would they consider?

A name being thrown around is Western IL. It would make sense with East IL being a travel partner.

Couple that with the impending doom of the IN State program, UND and USD could be in the Gateway faster than you think.

[star2city]

With Samford leaving for the SoCon, Jax State is looking for the best way out of the conference.

If they leave the OVC would be down to 9 teams. They could pretty easily pick up NKU and SIUE.

But who else would they consider?

A name being thrown around is Western IL. It would make sense with East IL being a travel partner.

Couple that with the impending doom of the IN State program, UND and USD could be in the Gateway faster than you think.

Anything is possible I guess.

But, Western Illinois' rivalries are with Ill St and S Ill in football (in the Gateway). Western would have to jettison that for a much weaker OVC brand of football. Eastern Illinois, by far the weakest of the Illinois directionals, doesn't necessarily excite Western. West Ill would be on the far NW fringe of the OVC, which is centered in Tennessee, while the Gateway and MidCon are centered in Illinois.

SIUe offers the promise of holding the MidCon tournament in St. Louis. In the Ohio Valley, SIUe would also be at the geographic fringed.

The OVC would be looking for a football school, so NKU and SIUe are not their top picks, but they are possible. East Tennessee State is looking at restarting football, so will likely need to move out of the Atlantic Sun.

[nodakvindy]

I'm not sure that St. Louis would be interested in the Mid-Con tourney. They already have the Missouri Valley tourney and it's unlikely that the Scott Trade Center would take on a second tournament. Plus, for the most part, St. Louis is already starting to think about baseball at that time of the year. Kansas City is a better bet, although it will have the Big 12 on some occasions, that area doesn't yet have a primary tenant and you have UMKC already there. And that's a far more hoops mad town.

[Matt]

I'm not sure that St. Louis would be interested in the Mid-Con tourney. They already have the Missouri Valley tourney and it's unlikely that the Scott Trade Center would take on a second tournament. Plus, for the most part, St. Louis is already starting to think about baseball at that time of the year. Kansas City is a better bet, although it will have the Big 12 on some occasions, that area doesn't yet have a primary tenant and you have UMKC already there. And that's a far more hoops mad town.

I heard radio interviews last fall with Mayor Walaker, Dome manager Sobolik, and Tim Miles (separate occasions) addressing what the Dome, or Dome addition, would need to be a bidder to host first round NCAA Tournament games. I should think if hosting NCAA tournament games is on their radar, bidding to host a Mid Con tournament would be on their to do list at some point as well.

[The Sicatoka]

I'd say you'd need as many or more seats for basketball than:

U of Dayton Arena (one game, the 64/65 game)

HSBC Arena

Rupp Arena

ARCO Arena

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum

United Center

Nationwide Arena

New Orleans Arena

Spokane Memorial Arena

Alamodome

HP Pavilion

Continental Airlines Arena

Edward Jones Dome

Georgia Dome

Then you'd need the population base to fill it (it being not the arena but the pocket of the NCAA site selection committee*). Not because the NCAA is power and money greedy, oh no, for the student athletes.

* "The manual for cities holding Final Fours requires a series of gifts to be delivered every night to the hotel rooms of NCAA officials. These mementos cost Indianapolis an estimated $25,000, said John Parry, athletic director at Butler Un iversity there." -- By MIKE McGRAW, STEVEN ROCK and KAREN DILLON - Staff Writers, Kansas City Star, Date: 10/05/97

[Matt]

I'd say you'd need as many or more seats for basketball than:

U of Dayton Arena (one game, the 64/65 game)

HSBC Arena

Rupp Arena

ARCO Arena

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum

United Center

Nationwide Arena

New Orleans Arena

Spokane Memorial Arena

Alamodome

HP Pavilion

Continental Airlines Arena

Edward Jones Dome

Georgia Dome

Then you'd need the population base to fill it (it being not the arena but the pocket of the NCAA site selection committee*). Not because the NCAA is power and money greedy, oh no, for the student athletes.

* "The manual for cities holding Final Fours requires a series of gifts to be delivered every night to the hotel rooms of NCAA officials. These mementos cost Indianapolis an estimated $25,000, said John Parry, athletic director at Butler Un iversity there." -- By MIKE McGRAW, STEVEN ROCK and KAREN DILLON - Staff Writers, Kansas City Star, Date: 10/05/97

You mean they'd need more seats. The template discussed was Boise. I guess Boise was a first round site in the recent past. The rallying cry in Fargo seems to be, "If Boise can do it, so can we!"

[MplsBison]

If Bismark and Fargo where one city with the capital there, they'd be a lot like Boise.

[bincitysioux]

If Bismark and Fargo where one city with the capital there, they'd be a lot like Boise.

If Emerado and Thompson were one city they'd be a lot like Hillsboro.

[Matt]

If Emerado and Thompson were one city they'd be a lot like Hillsboro.

I always love that one.