Valley expansion does not appear imminent
MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson did not tip his hand during Thursday's Media Day
It has been a busy couple of months for the seemingly never-ending carousel of conference realignment. Back in August, Tennessee Tech announced they were leaving the Ohio Valley Conference next year to join the Southern Conference. Last week, Little Rock announced their departure as well from the OVC to join the newly formed United Athletic Conference.
Tennessee Tech and Little Rock’s moves may not seem to have a direct impact on the Missouri Valley Conference today, but it’s what happens next around the country in the wake of their decisions that could play a role in shaping The Valley’s future.
When Missouri State joined Conference USA on July 1st, it left the Missouri Valley Conference with 11 teams moving forward. Valley Commissioner Jeff Jackson has said for more than a year that he is comfortable with 11 teams, but will always be on the lookout for new schools to partner with the Missouri Valley.
In early August, grumblings started that The Valley could have as many as 14 teams when we get to the 2026-27 athletic year. During Thursday’s Media Day, Jackson was non-committal about any additions for next year and beyond.
“I think we’ve seen, whether in our footprint or contiguous states, certainly there’s been some change, and I would expect we’re going to see a little bit more change in the next couple of weeks,” Jackson said. “However, I think in the Missouri Valley, the way that our board, and when I’m referring to our board, I’m talking about our presidents and chancellors, we feel really good about how we are made up right now. We’ve got 11 great institutions. Their investment, their commitment to what we do, whether it’s in basketball or baseball or volleyball or all those things, seem to be going in a positive direction. We say that knowing there’s a lot of headwinds out there in regards to whether it was the House Settlement, how we now interact with our student-athletes when it comes to compensation, all those things are obviously different. We’re very mindful of what’s going on in the environment. If there’s an opportunity where our board comes to the decision that they think they have a legitimate chance to improve The Valley in terms of competition, in terms of student-athlete experience and promotional and marketing opportunities, I don’t think we would hesitate to take advantage of that. We’re always mindful of what’s going on — head on a swivel, to use a football phrase. We’ll see what happens. It’s not an absolute ‘no’, it’s not an absolute ‘yes’. We’re just monitoring the community and seeing if there’s something out there that we would deem to be a special opportunity.”
It is still technically early for schools to announce they would leave a conference at the end of the 2025-26 school years. When Murray State announced they would join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022, they did not make that decision official until January of 2022.