(St. Louis, MO) – Did the Missouri Valley Conference make the right choice to keep its tournament in St. Louis? We think so, and we believe the tournament’s best years are still ahead.
Competing with the Gateway City for hosting what is now known as ‘Arch Madness’ were entities in Kansas City and Chicago. Kansas City’s Sprint Center was a worthy challenger, but Chicago with the United Center out of the loop, finished a distant third in competition.
MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin said the decision was weighed and reviewed by the university presidents and in the final analysis, not only did sentiment to stay because of familiarity, but Elgin said the financial ramifications were better in St. Louis than from the other cities.
Valley communications had listed the announcement as ‘historical’ and that had many, including yours truly, worried about the consistent playing of the tournament in St. Louis. Many wondered if the tournament could have been rotated from Kansas City, Chicago and St. Louis? However, Valley communications czar Mike Kern and Elgin both say the ‘historic’ part was about the length of the stay. When the new contract concludes “Arch Madness” will have been played continuously in one city longer than all but one tournaments in college basketball history.
With the Valley poised to put a vastly improved product on the floor. I asked the Commissioner about those positive prospects and whether rotating the tournament between those three towns.
When the contract is fully played out, ‘Arch Madness’ will hit its 30th St. Louis celebration.
What’s next for the Valley? A great returning league wide JUNIOR class and another terrific edition of Wichita State basketball 2014-2015 means MVC basketball will once again be among the best mid-major leagues in all of college basketball. A successful league-wide recruiting class means more and more talent is pouring into the ten team Missouri Valley Conference.
The St. Louis Sports Commission’s Frank Viverito says Missouri Congressman Eric Schmidt played a key role in the ability of St. Louis to hold on to the MVC Tournament (I apologize for the over modulation of the sound bite).
Sport Commission’s representatives tell me that the legislation provides a way for not-for-profit organizations to recoup some money for amateur events like the MVC tournament. The Commission has been valuable assets in the St. Louis region for attracting NCAA events.
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Caleb Stone-Carrawell is in the portal. @SaintLouisMBB or some @ValleyHoops team ought to get this guy.
.@BustingBrackets gives a brief intro to the 5 new @ValleyHoops head coaches.
I don't blame players for leaving, but this wild fluctuation is going to kill fan interest. When the TV people's ratings go down and the attendance figures keep falling, maybe the 'Suits' will wake up and fix this.
I think I'm going to enter the portal.
