I never got everyone complaining about it. The publics had just as much power to veto a school as the privates had, but the public school fans made it seem like the private schools were refusing certain schools because it would make the split less in their favor.

This is a great break for UIC. They are close to downtown. have a decent stadium...Alums from MVC schools who work downtown will mark this is a game to go see.. They are close to many of the big time CPS schools...easy access for suburban...If they have the right guy as AD...this is a big move for them....Anyone have an opinion on their current AD

The valley fanbases hated Gentile and our attendance, boy are they going to dislike UICs.

Don't know anything about their AD, but getting Luke Yaklich as coach was a huge get for them at the time. Surprised he's not having more success, but he got tons of credit nationally for turning Michigan's defense around and is from the area.

I've never been in Gentile or the Pavillion, but with all due respect UIC's arena looks like an actual MVC arena. The only complaint I have about their arena is that it's an odd horseshoe. Other than that it has a nice upper deck and just looks good in general. Now their attendance is pretty terrible so that's a negative.

Another positive thing I can think of for UIC is that they have a baseball team and their park faces the Chicago skyline. I wouldn't mind catching a game there eventually when ISU is playing them. If UIC is added Drake will be the only school in the MVC that doesn't play scholly football or baseball. No offense to Loyola fans on here, but I was glad to hear the A10 news because we only play Loyola in 1 of the 3 major American sports. It's hard to build rivalries when we play so many different schools in so many different sports.

With all that said I'm not completely sold on UIC mainly because of their location and lack of success. Chicago, as with most huge cities, seems to only care about pro sports. Even with all the success Loyola has had your fan base is still pretty small for a metro of 9 million people. I also feel as if Valpo still gives the MVC a presence in Chicago. I'd rather see the Valley focus more on medium sized cities and smaller college towns where college athletics rules the day.

No offense taken, if baseball is your thing then UIC is going to be a better fit. Loyola is more of a soccer/volleyball/basketball type of place, obviously we don't even have baseball.

For the Arena itself its larger! And it hosts minor non-university local events like Womens Roller Derby games so in that way its a destination. I assume this is similar to arenas in Evansville and Terre Haute etc. But as someone who as been inside of it, you can tell it was built in 1982 and was last invested in two decades ago. But again it's larger so that has to count for something.

I think if there are concerns about our fanbase you'll be pretty upset about UIC. They have a significant amount of alums, but that hasnt translated to attendance or interest in the team. I dont think I've ever seen them with Tribune coverage etc. Some of that is surely the product they've been putting out and will change when they get better by going to the Valley. Another part of it is that UIC, like Loyola in the 90s, is known as a commuter school. It's harder to get students and alums involved in the school when they leave it to go "home" everyday. We learned this the hard way.

Overall everyone get's what they want out of this, we go to a conference with more tournament opportunity and more historical catholic rivals. The Valley gets a Chicago school for their alums to visit during conference play, UIC gets to move up to a much better conference that might energize their fanbase. Its a win-win-win for all involved.

This is a great move for UIC. As for attendance, it will improve. The MVC is more interesting than the Horizon. It will attract people.

When I look at the schools in the Horizon League - other than UIC and Detroit - I have never met an alum from those other schools. It wasn't always that way with Horizon schools, but with the current configuration - it is now. The schools that I thought were rivals left - Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Marquette, St Louis, and Xavier.

The thing that I liked about the MVC is that I know people who graduated from MVC schools and care about how their programs do. As I watched the game on Saturday, I was not looking forward to texts from my friends who went to Bradley. I am sure that many of you have the same experience. All that was lost when a bunch of schools left in the mid-90s.

With all the MVC grads in the area, attendance and interest will increase for UIC.

As an Ohio guy I knew a TON of old Horizon league people (mid 2000s when I was in school), YSU Penguins, Wright State, Cleveland State etc. Throw in the UIC vs. Loyola and Butler and it was a conference where i knew alums etc. The games were bad and mostly everyone involved that i knew was uninterested.

While i preferred traveling to Cleveland and Dayton and Detroit for away games compared to Terre Haute and Bloomington Normal it didnt matter when it came time to go to the Valley because Valley > Horizon League. UIC will draw more fans because there are more local fans of the opposing teams of that there is no doubt...but they still have to perform well for their fans to care. Its all well and good to know alums of your conference foes but the things that make for the best water cooler talk are good games.

Ultimately the biggest driver of casual interest in college basketball is the tournament. Go to more of those, get more casual fan interest. A10 gives us that in a way the Valley cant.

If they do it right UIC could really do something..all the MVC alums in CHicago.....3pm game and then hit downtown for a night out....or if times are right catch the Bulls and the Flames.....or do Chicago for a weekend...stay downtown...5 minutes to UIC for the game....lots of potential.....