Is Belmont to the OVC really a good thing?

The Ohio Valley Conference is no longer a secret on a national stage.

In 2010, No. 13 seed Murray State knocked off Vanderbilt in the first round on the NCAA Tounrament thanks to a buzzer-beating jumper from Danero Thomas. This year, it was No. 13 seed Morehead State knocking off Louisville in the first round of the the tournament thanks to a late three from Demonte Harper and a great defensive play from Kenneth Faried, a potential first round pick this summer.

What may have been more telling, however, is that despite being heavy favorites to run away with the league race coming into the season, both Morehead State and Murray State had to battle and make a late-season comeback to finished first and second in the OVC standings in 2011.

Austin Peay started out league play 6-0 and finished tied with Morehead State at 13-5 in the conference. The Governors return the majority of their roster -- including leading scorer TyShawn Edmundson -- and should be one of the favorites to win the league next season.

The other favorite? Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles lose just two players from their rotation and return leading scorer Kevin Murphy as well as Zac Swansey, who averaged 6.5 apg and hit as many game-winning shots as anyone in the country.

Over the weekend, the conference got even better as the news became official that Belmont would be joining in 2012.


Belmont is a low-major powerhouse. They've been to four NCAA tournaments in the past six seasons and in 2010 -- one of the years that the Bruins did not make the NCAA Tournament -- they won the Atlantic Sun's regular season title. They return basically everyone from a team that won 30 games a year ago and may even sneak into some preseason top 25 ballots.

Belmont has thrived in the Atlantic Sun from a basketball perspective, but their decision to move to the OVC was dictated by -- you guessed it -- money. You see, the A-Sun is a sprawling conference, stretching from Nashville, TN, (where Belmont is located) to Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and all the way to Fort Myers, where Florida-Gulf Coast is located. Traveling on road trips required plane flights and overnight stays. That costs money.

The OVC, on the other hand, has the majority of their schools in Kentucky and Tennessee. Many of the road trips can be made by bus and won't require hotel stays. As a result, the school can save upwards of $250,000 a year, according to the Tennessean, in travel costs, which more than covers the $200,000 buyout fee that Belmont will have to pay.

(One thing you have to hope for is that the "Battle of the Boulevard", the games between Belmont and crosstown rival Lipscomb, will continue to happen if the two schools aren't in the same conference. There are some rumblings, however, that Lipscomb will get an invite to the OVC, which is currently at 12 teams. If that happens, will Lipscomb make the jump to 14 teams, or will someone -- like Jacksonville State, which is located in Alabama -- get the boot?)

The question that must be asked, however, is whether this is a good thing for the Belmont basketball team.

Rick Byrd's team was able to dominate in the A-Sun. As I mentioned, they've gone to four of the last six NCAA Tournaments and have won eight conference championships (regular season or tournament) in that span. 2009 was the only season Belmont didn't win the regular season or tournament title in the league.

The OVC, however, will provide better competition, but not enough to make it a multi-bid league along the lines of the WCC or the MVC. Belmont may continue to win games, but if they aren't making the NCAA Tournament as often, will Byrd still be able to have the same success on the court and the recruiting trail?

One of the reasons that Memphis is such an ideal job is that their facilities and budget is comparable to that of a school in a power conference. They have a terrific fan base that continually packs FedEx Forum. But they also play in Conference USA, which means that the Tigers can consistently win league championships and make NCAA Tournaments.

Belmont's move to the OVC will make the conference stronger and will allow the Bruins to play a tougher schedule.

But it will also come at the expense of trips to the NCAA Tournament, which is pretty much it in terms of national exposure for the Bruins.

Is that really a good thing?