With the acceptance of River Valley, there will be seven Ohio Division schools and nine Hocking Division schools. The uneven scheduling numbers are an obstacle to be worked out in the nearly four years before the Raiders begin league play.
I think one reason River Valley will not start TVC play until the fall of 2014 is to give the TVC time to figure out it's future expansion plans. Two Divisions or Three?
I have a strong feeling that River Valley will not be the only school to join the TVC in the fall of 2014. Who's next?
In my opinion, there are others that will seek admission in the future. But, I don't know if they will get in.
The TVC will have to do something about having an odd number of teams in each division. It is causing major headaches in football scheduling in the Hocking. The same thing will happen in the Ohio when RV joins in 2014. Until then, look for some of the Hocking schools to work to fill their open week in football during the conference schedule with RV. This could very well be a test run to see how competitive RV will be. If they struggle in both girls and boys sports vs the Hocking then you might see them end up in the Hocking in 2014. That is just my opinion. I still think the TVC should go to 18 teams in 3 divisions but that is a tough sell to some.
I could see Point Pleasant entering the mix of possibilities. Remember that Wahama and Point Pleasant are both a part of the same school district in Mason County. This is similar to South Gallia and River Valley being a part of the same school district. School Boards might prefer the convenience of having both schools in the same conference. When South Gallia joined the TVC, I thought it was inevitable River Valley wouldn't be far behind. The same could be true with Point Pleasant, being the sister school to Wahama.
I know there is stigma against adding WV schools, but I think a school like Point Pleasant would be ideal. They would be strong in most sports, but not to the point of "total domination" and that is the exact type of school the TVC needs to help strengthen the league. Point Pleasant would also be a counterpart to some of the larger schools in the TVC Ohio like Athens and Vinton County. It would also be a viable team to have in the league if a third division were created, as it would be a natural fit in the larger of the three divisions.
At this point, the most realistic options for expansion would involve larger schools, with Warren and Point Pleasant making the most sense. Jackson and Gallia Academy would fit too....if they had the votes to get in.
I don't know what other schools would be a realistic candidate because at that point you are talking about long road trips. I guess Oak Hill would be a possibility, but that wouldn't be a larger school, rather one that is about the size of a lot of the other TVC schools.
coal miner's son wrote:I know that Warren is going to be brought up, but I feel that the MVL would a better fit. My vote is for Warren to seek membership into the MVL.
I could see Warren replacing Crooksville in the MVL as Crooksville enters the TVC Ohio.
Motivator, I think Crooksville would be a great fit too, but I would be shocked if they ever left the MVL.
Crooksville is a lot like NY - - they play with the big boys and like it that way.
There is no easy drive to Crooksville neither. NY would be the closest TVC OHIO school to Crooksville, and even that drive is much longer than most of the TVC drives for NY.
I do agree that Crooksville would be a good fit though. The only negative would be, like with Oak Hill, you would be adding a school about the same size as a lot of the other TVC schools without the addition of a counterpart for the schools with the highest enrollment numbers in the TVC.
River Valley leaving to join TVC
Published 2:49am Thursday, December 9, 2010
By JIM WALKER
Tribune Sports Editor
ATHENS — One conference’s loss is another’s gain.
The Ohio Valley Conference has lost a member once again as the River Valley Raiders officially accepted an offer to join the Tri-Valley Conference in the fall of 2014.
The 15-team member conference voted unanimously to accept River Valley.
The TVC Ohio Division members are Alexander, Athens, Meigs, Nelsonville-York, Vinton County and Wellston.
Belpre, Reedsville Eastern, Federal Hocking, Corning Miller, South Gallia, Racine Southern, Glouster Trimble, Waterford and Wahama, W.Va., are part of the Hocking Division.
River Valley will join the Ohio Division.
The loss of River Valley will leave the OVC with five members: Coal Grove, Chesapeake, Fairland, Rock Hill and South Point.
The league may still be open to further expansion, possibly adding Crooksville out of the Muskingum Valley League.
With the OVC dropping to a five-team league, talks could rekindle with the Southern Ohio Conference to merge and form its own 16-team league.
gahs4ever wrote:I blame SEOPS for Nebraska joining the Big Ten and TCU going to the Big East.
Doesnt anybody ever stay together anymore? Great country song!
I think I'm going into the school pennant business. With the way schools are changing leagues, I think I can make a mint!
But I dont get one thing: The OVC has resented RV for years because of all those long trips up 7 and through Gallipolis, and then just when RV leaves they might entertain the notion of Crooksville? Anybody in Lawrence County ever made that trip?
I read that to mean the TVC might add Crooksville. I doubt the TVC teams would vote that in. Nelsonville struggled against Crooksville back when Crooksville was way down. Now that they have improved I doubt the Ohio division wants anything to do with them, and I know the Hocking doesn't.
NYBuckeye96,
There is no way Vinton would join the middle conference. Quit thinking of this thing in terms of football only. Football is the hardest scheduling but will not be the only determinant of the league alignment.
I would like to personally thank the members of the TVC for forgetting about RV's past behavior toward the conference and accepting them into the fold. At its formation, RV was dead-set on being in the SEOAL and with the re-splitting of the district learned quickly that they had made the first of a long line of mistakes.
As stated in a previous post, they may not be a contender immediately but it may allow them to begin to rebuild the program with the decreased travel time and more familiar surroundings. Good luck to the Raiders.
I agree, I read the story as Crooksville going to the TVC. That was explored once and neither party was interested in the other.
Vinton County would love to be in the middle division IF the TVC went to 3 divisions. They voted against all the larger schools coming into the TVC so I don't see them supporting any new school that is bigger than them otherwise, just ask Warren and Jackson.
And yes, the first and foremost thing that is thought of when adding a new school to the conference is football. All the other sports, boys or girls, takes a back seat with most of the schools.
I think the one player we are forgetting about here is the mid states league wanting to expand. I know there is talk of Logan annd Chillicothe. Are they looking to add smaller schools to compete in that division too? If so would Crooksville or even New Lexington look that way? Could they even go south this way and look at TVC ohio schools also? Anybody know what the plans are for the MSL?
indianabuck wrote:I think the one player we are forgetting about here is the mid states league wanting to expand. I know there is talk of Logan annd Chillicothe. Are they looking to add smaller schools to compete in that division too? If so would Crooksville or even New Lexington look that way? Could they even go south this way and look at TVC ohio schools also? Anybody know what the plans are for the MSL?
I have only heard that they are looking into expanding with the possible creation of a fourth division, similar to the OCC. I have heard that Logan and Chillicothe are both on their list of expansion possibilities. I have not heard any other school listed by name, but there would have to be others out there in order to create a fourth division, unless they had fewer teams in their current divisions and only added a couple more schools to even things out in the 4 divisions.
That is why I was wondering if they were looking at the MVL or even the TVC Ohio for possibilties. Schools like Crooksville, New Lexington, Sheridan, NY and Athens would fit what they are looking for in expanding. These schools usually schedule a MSL league as a non conference foe, so they are familiar with the league. That is why I wonder how big the MSL's expantion plans are.
indianabuck wrote:I think the one player we are forgetting about here is the mid states league wanting to expand. I know there is talk of Logan annd Chillicothe. Are they looking to add smaller schools to compete in that division too? If so would Crooksville or even New Lexington look that way? Could they even go south this way and look at TVC ohio schools also? Anybody know what the plans are for the MSL?
To be honest I think Crooksville (The TVC has tried to get Crooksville before and was given a thanks but no thanks) and New Lex are perfectly happy in the MVL....I don't see any TVC teams wanting to go to the MSL and I don't think the MSL is interested in adding teams from the TVC.
Any future expansion of the TVC will come from the SEOAL
I know everyone is happy where they are right now, I was just wondering what would happen if the MSL approached some of these schools. My question is what schools would actually think about it, and what schools would turn it down right away.
indianabuck wrote:I know everyone is happy where they are right now, I was just wondering what would happen if the MSL approached some of these schools. My question is what schools would actually think about it, and what schools would turn it down right away.
I don't know....I can tell you that Nelsonville-York is happy in the TVC. The travel time would be aweful for SEO teams if they were in the MSL. It wouldn't work.
Actually, several of the MSL schools are less than one hour from Nelsonville. I don't see NY ever leaving the TVC though, like you said. But if the divisions were created just right -- similar sized schools less than an hour from Nelsonville -- NY in the MSL could theoretically work. But it's a moot point because it would never happen. I do hope NY continues to play MSL schools in non-league matchups though, because they are great competition.
