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If you have a spare 30 minutes Nick (former Loyola Phoenix sports editor) and Kevin (national CBB writer for Sports Illustrated) discuss Loyola’s move to the A10. Somewhat unstructured and impromptu, but good analysis none the less. They figure out the audio issue at the start pretty quickly, so stick with it.

I agree with a lot of what you said, nate….well, except for the Bradley part. Just exchange SIU for Bradley and I’m right there with you on a personal level.

The more I’ve thought about this, the more my mind frames it as us going home. 30 years ago we were in the same conference as a lot of the A10 and Big East schools. When the big conference realignments happened in the late 80’s/early 90‘s, we were one of the few that got dumped because we weren’t in a position to make the same jump. That ended up setting us back 30 years. Butler was another one, and took their second chance to jump during the last realignment. Unlike the previous time, we were gifted an opportunity to ride that wave to the MVC, but it still wasn’t our old home. It was a great place to live, amongst friends….albeit many fans in the MVC weren’t very friendly until they saw it benefit them.

Like 30 years ago, the college landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Unlike 30 years ago, we’re in a a position to take advantage of it. And I completely understand the why.

Honestly, if anyone is the true high school girlfriend that’s been dumped in this scenario, since this all started, and never gets the payoff Hollywood ending, it’s probably Detroit.

01grad wrote:The more I’ve thought about this, the more my mind frames it as us going home. 30 years ago we were in the same conference as a lot of the A10 and Big East schools. When the big conference realignments happened in the late 80’s/early 90‘s, we were one of the few that got dumped because we weren’t in a position to make the same jump. That ended up setting us back 30 years. Butler was another one, and took their second chance to jump during the last realignment. Unlike the previous time, we were gifted an opportunity to ride that wave to the MVC, but it still wasn’t our old home. It was a great place to live, amongst friends….albeit many fans in the MVC weren’t very friendly until they saw it benefit them.

This feels like the right perspective.

I agree there are some risks and concerns with the move.

Part 1: travel and budgets. But with an AD who was previously in the league, I have to assume we know what we're getting into. We'll need to continue growing our budgets.

Part 2: further realignment aka SLU and Dayton leave. I suppose we cross that bridge when we get to it and hope we won't be left stranded again? The bottom of the A10 is quite bad. But then again, so is the bottom half of the Valley.

Part 3: am I too old to get invested in a new league, learn all the coaches, watch noncon games, etc?

Not counted among risks: somehow recruiting at a lower level than we are currently? I don't really get that line of thinking.

ahunte1 wrote:Not counted among risks: somehow recruiting at a lower level than we are currently? I don't really get that line of thinking.

Could not agree more here. I feel like it's the exact opposite. You really think recruits are going to not pick Loyola because they will play games in New York, Philly, DC, and St Louis instead of Carbondale, Terre Haute, and Cedar Falls?

In Nick/Kevin video I posted earlier Kevin says Loyola's already recruiting at the level it needs to be competitive in the A10. Also said that due to the "brand" that Loyola has cultivated they could "get in the room with" just about any recruit they want minus the 5 star, McDonald's All American types.

bmh_twosix wrote:

ahunte1 wrote:Not counted among risks: somehow recruiting at a lower level than we are currently? I don't really get that line of thinking.

Could not agree more here. I feel like it's the exact opposite. You really think recruits are going to not pick Loyola because they will play games in New York, Philly, DC, and St Louis instead of Carbondale, Terre Haute, and Cedar Falls?

In Nick/Kevin video I posted earlier Kevin says Loyola's already recruiting at the level it needs to be competitive in the A10. Also said that due to the "brand" that Loyola has cultivated they could "get in the room with" just about any recruit they want minus the 5 star, McDonald's All American types.

Our Kenpom is the highest in the A10 this year (we're 32 and Bona is 33). Obviously there will be a drop off when the guys who have been on campus for 5 years leave, but if we're currently not recruiting well enough to maintain our success that is a problem regardless of the conference we're in. The a10 is not the Big East. We can win with the players we have.

Some of you know that I am a Fordham grad - undergrad and graduate school. I also had Loyola floor seats in the old Gentile for about ten years - so Loyola is my adopted college team (DePaul is way too much like St. Johns - and I teach at DePaul!!)

So - let me officially welcome you to the A 10 - and look forward to a great rivalry.

If you want to see what the Fordham faithful are like - join us at our message board: https://fuforum.createaforum.com

I want to officially join the Missouri Valley Conference Appreciation Party.

The MVC has been a great home for Rambler Basketball (and all sports) and they invited us in when we had nothing (as was much better said by ToledoRambler). The schools have been great, the fans have generally been great and the experience has been out of this world. I'm especially humbled by how much the other Valley Teams and their fans supported Loyola during our Final Four and Sweet Sixteen runs. I've enjoyed the online conversations with fans from other schools and all the good natured back and forth regarding the competition and comradery that makes college basketball so compelling.

I'm incredibly happy that Loyola's success lead to good outcomes both in cash/tournament shares and in profile for the MVC and it's members and I sincerely hope that the conference is able to pivot from the loss of Loyola and find other institutions that can help it build its profile and stay successful. In this odd, predatory time, small conferences are under great pressure and I believe that college basketball needs these conferences to keep the game true, compelling and relevant. I will always root for the MVC and its teams.

Finally, as much as I welcome games against Dayton, St. Bonaventure, Fordham, St. Joe's et al, I will deeply miss those Saturday afternoon showdowns against Bradley, Drake, Illinois State, Southern and Northern Iowa. We saw some incredible basketball in the past eight years. I appreciate every single moment of it.

Like the song says, "ONWARD LU" but let's never move on without remembering the people and institutions that shaped our journey.

RamblerNation wrote:I want to officially join the Missouri Valley Conference Appreciation Party.

The MVC has been a great home for Rambler Basketball (and all sports) and they invited us in when we had nothing (as was much better said by ToledoRambler). The schools have been great, the fans have generally been great and the experience has been out of this world. I'm especially humbled by how much the other Valley Teams and their fans supported Loyola during our Final Four and Sweet Sixteen runs. I've enjoyed the online conversations with fans from other schools and all the good natured back and forth regarding the competition and comradery that makes college basketball so compelling.

I'm incredibly happy that Loyola's success lead to good outcomes both in cash/tournament shares and in profile for the MVC and it's members and I sincerely hope that the conference is able to pivot from the loss of Loyola and find other institutions that can help it build its profile and stay successful. In this odd, predatory time, small conferences are under great pressure and I believe that college basketball needs these conferences to keep the game true, compelling and relevant. I will always root for the MVC and its teams.

Finally, as much as I welcome games against Dayton, St. Bonaventure, Fordham, St. Joe's et al, I will deeply miss those Saturday afternoon showdowns against Bradley, Drake, Illinois State, Southern and Northern Iowa. We saw some incredible basketball in the past eight years. I appreciate every single moment of it.

Like the song says, "ONWARD LU" but let's never move on without remembering the people and institutions that shaped our journey.

Well said!

VCU fan here. I have been banging this drum since you guys made the F4 in 2018 and so have a lot of other VCU fans because we see a lot of ourselves in LUC (investment in making hoops the front porch for school visibility, investment in facilities, coaching salaries, recruiting budgets, being a growing school on an urban campus, etc). The fact that you are in a mega-market like Chicago is a massive cherry on top (and honestly I think this makes your ceiling higher than any non-power conference school outside of Gonzaga). More than anything else, though, what I care about is access to at-large bids and seeding. Bracketology is my side hobby, and man let me tell you that every top 50 quality program you add is worth on average, 1 extra bid and 1 higher seed line every season for the conference.

The VCU forums are here https://www.vcuramnation.com/forums/for ... ketball.4/, and I hope some of you will stop by and say hello.

PS - Any suggestions for good LUC Twitter follows? I should warn you, A10 Twitter is a sick but insanely fun group.

This is an aside but I love whoever stole the CTA style guide for the twitter welcome graphics