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Missouri Valley Basketball: Impact of Loyola Chicago moving to Atlantic Ten

By Harry Schroeder

Mar 7, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Loyola Ramblers pose for a photo after defeating the Drake Bulldogs in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Loyola Ramblers pose for a photo after defeating the Drake Bulldogs in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NCAA March Madness ticket awarded to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
The NCAA March Madness ticket awarded to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Joining Bigger Markets

Loyola CHICAGO joined the Valley when their basketball program wasn’t successful. So a step up from the Horizon League to the MVC elevated their profile and in time Moser built a Valley power. But LUC is based in CHICAGO.

Now that the program is an established name in college athletics, the advantage of playing in markets larger than Carbondale, Peoria, Terre Haute, and Cedar Falls could help the national reach of the school. The contrast in community size between the two conferences is dynamic.

Des Moines, Iowa (home of Drake University) is the largest market of the other nine Valley members with a population of over 500,000.

The Atlantic Ten is completely different. While the Loyola teams will have to make much longer road trips, they will be playing in large cities. Rambler programs will now be traveling to Pittsburgh, the Bronx, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Richmond, Saint Louis, and other metropolitan areas. Expanding their footprint into larger cities has both an athletic and student body effect. LUC will have a greater opportunity to recruit outstanding players from large urban centers and broaden the university’s ability to add to the general population to their Chicago campus.

In comparing the conferences from a basketball perspective, the A-Ten ranked ninth in last year’s KenPom ratings, and the Valley was rated tenth. Loyola (10) was the highest-rated team from either conference. While Drake and Missouri State both ranked inside the top 100, the A-Ten placed six of their 14 teams in the top 100.

Loyola CHICAGO gets to join other major metropolitan communities and several Jesuit schools and they conceivably are joining a more competitive mid-major conference.