MUPanther couldn't be more accurate. Losing UIC would be seriously detrimental to recruiting. Look at how much all of us recruit Chicago.
You'd have to think #9 is Oakland. After that, who knows? I'd consider hanging tight at eight - bigger piece of the pie - but unfortunately we need to lessen the weight of programs like YSU, who drag us down for a long time. I know those fans could say the same about us this year, but seriously, f*ck them we've been an anchor in this conference once in the past 14 years. Hell, even when we were 9-22 in 2006-07, we finished 7th.
Milwaukee gets back to the Cell and gets back to the 18+ win mark annually, this conference is better. Personally, I'm going to be pissed if we don't challenge for a League title next year. Loyola was a team that would always beat us no matter how good we were at any given time.
Milwaukee/UIC/Green Bay/Valpo/Detroit/YSU/CSU/WSU
That isn't a weak conference. Losing Loyola, even without adding anyone, boosts us - they were "so much better" than Milwaukee and finished 222 in the RPI. Take that out and this conference is elevated.