With the WAC in decline, the Ohio Valley Conference must make a move to make it a more formidable Midwestern competitor to the Missouri Valley Conference.
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Five teams remain in the WAC after Mountain West and PAC-2 expansion. The Southland Conference and the Summit League seem to be the main contenders for the remnants. The Southland benefitted from the mass exodus of Texas schools from the WAC, most recently adding UT-Rio Grand Valley and Stephen F. Austin.
Ideally, Tarleton and Abilene Christian looked primed to head to the Southland to finalize the conference's consumption of the WAC. Meanwhile, reports link Southern Utah and Utah Tech to the Summit League. However, a conference outside these two could benefit the most from a defection from the crumbling WAC.
The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) sits at 11 schools and could help itself significantly by adding Texas-Arlington. Texas-Arlington seems like the odd school out in the Southland-WAC picture, with the Southland at 12 members and being the only one of the three Texas WAC schools without a football team. Thus, the Ohio Valley Conference can enter the picture.
The Ohio Valley Conference perenially lives in the shadow of the Missouri Valley Conference. The OVC can separate itself from the Missouri Valley Conference by expanding into Texas. Texas-Arlington brings a presence in the DFW metro and a massive student body and alumni base.
The Mavericks student body has over 41,000 students, nearly 30,000 more than the current largest school in the OVC, SIU-Edwardsville. Additionally, the school boasts 270,000 living alums, over 150,000 more than SIU-Edwardsville.
Most importantly, adding UT-Arlington represents a preemptive strike for the Ohio Valley Conference. The Missouri Valley Conference has a member to replace after Missouri State departed for Conference USA this year. Matt Brown of Extra Points reported the conference's desire to expand its footprint, naming Northern Kentucky, Central Arkansas, and Little Rock as candidates.
Brown has also previously mentioned UT-Arlington as an expansion candidate for the conference. UT-Arlington's enrollment and alumni population dwarves all three schools and is situated in the largest TV market of the three. The Ohio Valley Conference would force the Missouri Valley Conference to "settle" on the other three schools without adding much to their media value. The OVC must make this move.
Distance is the most impeding obstacle to the OVC adding UT-Arlington. The Mavericks are an average of 693 miles from each OVC member. Morehead State is the furthest away from UT-Arlington at 958 miles. Still, the Mavericks provide a travel partner for Little Rock, who is a little over 300 miles from UT-Arlington. While the distance is significant, UT-Arlington evens the conference's roster while adding media value to the league.
The Missouri Valley Conference has too much notoriety within the Midwest for the Ohio Valley Conference to overtake them in their current state. Thus, it is necessary for the conference to expand into other markets. There is no better way to do this than to take one of the largest markets available off the board.
The Ohio Valley Conference must take advantage of the WAC's situation. There is arguably no other scenario where a school in such a large market with such a massive enrollment would fall into its lap. The OVC risks falling deeper in the MVC's shadow if they do not add UT-Arlington.
