Ohio Valley Conference Scrambling
(St. Louis, MO) – With the explosive story on Extra Points announcing Belmont’s departure from the Ohio Valley Conference and joining the Missouri Valley Conference, our world at ValleyHoopsInsider.com was rocked and the OVC is left scrambling.
that all being said,,
multiple sources tell Extra Points that Belmont is expected to leave the OVC for the MVC, and could formally announce the move as early as next weekhttps://t.co/JgeIeO4Nc2
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) September 24, 2021
If true, the seismic shift in these two conferences is gigantic. While nothing is official, almost immediately after that story was out, Murray State athletics put out a statement that in essence said, ‘we want to leave too!’.
Statement from Murray State University Director of Athletics Kevin Saal.#WeAreRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/DX0zarSD25
— Murray State Sports (@MSURacers) September 24, 2021
One OVC school administrator told me (about Belmont moving to the MVC) “I always assumed that anyway.” They also voiced concern about the league due to so many recent defections.
We do not know if this story is true.
Fans of both conferences will remember that OVC member Murray State was in the running to join the Valley in 2017. Instead, Valparaiso joined the league and Ja Morant did his historic work in the OVC.
One Missouri Valley official told me ‘I cannot confirm that news’. They also did not deny the validity of the story.
We are yet to receive responses from our inquiries to Belmont, the OVC and other Valley personnel.
One person deeply connected to Belmont athletics told me he believes the Valley offered Belmont a spot in the Valley several years ago, but BU administration turned it down. During the 2017 Murray State flirtation, we heard that Belmont felt that since they had just recently changed leagues and didn’t feel it appropriate to change right away.
Doing It Together?
Could the Racers be facing Evansville more often? courtesy of goracers.com
Are Belmont and Murray State coming to the Valley in a package deal? One source close to the league told me there was ‘a handshake agreement of sorts between Murray and Belmont.’
During the 2017 time period, many in Murray, Kentucky and in St. Louis, Missouri thought a Racer addition to the Valley would be a great fit. I was told at that time, by Valley officials that everything about MSU reminded them of a Missouri Valley Conference school. Valparaiso was added instead.
We asked new Valley Commissioner Jeff Jackson about expansion at his introductory press conference and he said, ‘you always have to look at it.’
During our one-on-one with Jackson he said the league wants to be in position to accept the right kind of institution into the Valley family.
We will be working the phones, e-mails and social media to keep you up-to-date. These could be very interesting preseason weeks ahead.
Do Good
Twitter Feed
As we near the closing of the portal window, we've reached 1900. Some of them never to play college basketball again, earn a college degree and some to play at a much lower level than they did last season.
I guess we'll be seeing this in a @RacersHoops uniform this year. Glad AJ is staying in the @ValleyHoops.
