Conference Armageddon on the way??

[thefish7]

This is for TheAsianSensation:

Was listening to The Score on the way into town to catch a movie tonight and Lawrence Holmes had Jerry DiNardo on, who was talking about not only the Big Ten talking to Texas as the twelfth team, but about the possibility of them adding three teams to become a 14-team mega-conference. Holmes then waxed poetic about "SkyNet" coming online and all of the BCS conferences merging into four super football conferences...

I can see all kinds of problems with such an idea, but I'm coming from a decidedly basketball-focused point of view. I can see nothing good for college basketball (and programs like BU in particular) if such an eventuality comes to pass.

[TheAsianSensation]

The operating theory is 4 16-team conferences. Or 4 superconferences of varying depths. But if the Big 10 goes to 16 by taking, say, Texas, Texas A&M, and a couple of old Big 8 buddies....you can have a southwestern division and a northeastern division.

What does the Pac 10 do? What does the leftover Big 12 teams do? Why not merge and make a 16 team conference of your own?

And then there's the ACC, who already has a penchance for poaching the Big East.

So the dominoes are in place if this insane Texas idea somehow happens.

As for Bradley: Depends. You could see the elite basketball-only schools across the midwest and east join forces to try and create a basketball-only conference that gets to play at the same level as the superconferences (sorta like how all those non-football Big East members enjoy things now). So then the competition would be on to beat out other schools like us to look more desirable. Frankly, as it stands today, I think we're on the outside looking in. Creighton and WSU are more desirable than us in the eyes of outsiders. Marquette, DePaul, Creighton, Wichita St, and maybe even Butler. All probably now ahead of BU on the pecking order, so to speak. Dayton and Xavier too. Those 7 join with, say, 'Nova, G'town, St John's, Seton Hall, Provi, there's 12 teams of goodness right there. Plus St Joe's, Richmond, Charlotte, I can go on and on. So many teams in play.

Frankly, if you have the time, me and a couple others could probably find about a dozen different directions in which this could go. It's going to be a mess, and probably the destruction of collegiate athletics as we know it.

[TheAsianSensation]

And here's the scenario to worry about:

1) The football members of the MVC go form their own conference to get all football playing members (or move up to CUSA or whatever). This means ISU, SIU, MSU, IlSU, UNI find stable homes, which is the key to the move.

2) Creighton and Wichita St find the premier basketball-only conference, get invited, and BU gets left out as 3rd fiddle.

3) Evansville would probably rather drop a level or two instead of bothering to keep up with the arms race. Drake goes to scholarship football and joins the other members.

4) Bradley is left all alone and has no choice but to seek out the Horizon, who will be needing a replacement for Butler.

Bradley in the Horizon League is in play, folks.

[DeltaBrave03]

Frankly, if you have the time, me and a couple others could probably find about a dozen different directions in which this could go. It's going to be a mess, and probably the destruction of collegiate athletics as we know it.

I think/hope there are enough smart people in the NCAA who realize this will destroy the flair college sports have. People love it because it's not about money it's about the passion and pride. I do think there's going to be mass reorganization, and hopefully a basketball only conference including BU will develop. I don't see 4 super conferences coming together though.

[DeltaBrave03]

And here's the scenario to worry about:

1) The football members of the MVC go form their own conference to get all football playing members (or move up to CUSA or whatever). This means ISU, SIU, MSU, IlSU, UNI find stable homes, which is the key to the move.

2) Creighton and Wichita St find the premier basketball-only conference, get invited, and BU gets left out as 3rd fiddle.

3) Evansville would probably rather drop a level or two instead of bothering to keep up with the arms race. Drake goes to scholarship football and joins the other members.

4) Bradley is left all alone and has no choice but to seek out the Horizon, who will be needing a replacement for Butler.

Bradley in the Horizon League is in play, folks.

Geographically BU is in a much better spot to not be left out as would WSU and CU. Most teams who would be in a basketball premier league are out east in Butler and the A10 schools. I couldn't see for example Temple and WSU being in the same conference.

[TheAsianSensation]

I think/hope there are enough smart people in the NCAA who realize this will destroy the flair college sports have. People love it because it's not about money it's about the passion and pride. I do think there's going to be mass reorganization, and hopefully a basketball only conference including BU will develop. I don't see 4 super conferences coming together though.

The NCAA has nothing to do with this. Right now, it's all individual schools who will be trying to do what's financially best for them. The individual schools will lead to the demise of the whole. The NCAA really can't do much about conference reorganization outside of somehow restricting them from postseason bids (which will never happen).

Of course, Congress, if they implement legislation against the BCS, will just accelerate the process of superconference reorganization because that's the best way to circumvent the current BCS system. And the individual schools will panic and move like crazy.

[TheAsianSensation]

Geographically BU is in a much better spot to not be left out as would WSU and CU. Most teams who would be in a basketball premier league are out east in Butler and the A10 schools. I couldn't see for example Temple and WSU being in the same conference.

But we exist in the world where Texas may be in the Big 10, Boston College is in the ACC, and St Louis is in the A-10.

If I'm building a superconference, I'd want WSU and Creighton and sacrifice the travel easy. Think about it. I'd already have:

Marquette (Milwaukee)
DePaul (Chicago)
St Louis (St Louis)

Peoria doesn't add much extra exposure. Wichita and Omaha add 2 states and branch out westward. They will be so much more desirable. History doesn't mean much to them. Markets and revenue do.

[thefish7]

I think there's a few problems with the football super-conference idea. I'm too lazy to type it all out on the iPhone so I'll get more detailed when I get home. The biggest issue up front for me is that people in the big east don't really seem to like being there. I know it's less of an issue in football maybe but these schools still pay some attention to their basketball programs don't they?

[SaintLouBrave22]

Why doesn't the Valley just try to compete and add some more schools then like Butler, Marquette, Western Kentucky, and Xavier?

[TheAsianSensation]

Why doesn't the Valley just try to compete and add some more schools then like Butler, Marquette, Western Kentucky, and Xavier?

The overlying reason: They're all waiting for the Big East to blow up and split. Then all the basketball-only powers will be available, and they want to join them in a new conference. So the MVC could reach out to those schools, but would those schools bother listening?

Xavier would never consider leaving the A-10 for the MVC when a potential move to the Big East lurks.

Marquette is already there.

WKU really can't because they need the Sun Belt in football just to stay afloat.

[TheAsianSensation]

I think there's a few problems with the football super-conference idea. I'm too lazy to type it all out on the iPhone so I'll get more detailed when I get home. The biggest issue up front for me is that people in the big east don't really seem to like being there. I know it's less of an issue in football maybe but these schools still pay some attention to their basketball programs don't they?

The Big East is a weird conference because they're such an afterthought in football yet such a power in basketball. I think a lot of those schools in football would prefer to play in a more legitimate conference. Football is a sport where your conference needs power and the Big East can't provide that.

Likewise, in basketball, you need conference separation in order to maximize bids to the NCAA tournament. However, the conference is so tough with so many good members that 1 or 2 teams every year miss the tourney, when if they played elsewhere, would've gotten bids. Basketball is a sport where you need separation in the standings and the Big Eats can't provide that.

So, yeah, there are problems with the superconference. As evidenced above. But if everyone goes to the superconference, everyone's then on equal ground and it doesn't matter anymore.

[squirrelgotdead]

Delta and TAS-

What this is in effect doing is creating another professional sports league. The money will be so large that there will be no stopping it.

The NCAA, if it has any role to play, will be simply to allow it because the other option is their end.

[SFP]

I think/hope there are enough smart people in the NCAA who realize this will destroy the flair college sports have. People love it because it's not about money it's about the passion and pride. I do think there's going to be mass reorganization, and hopefully a basketball only conference including BU will develop. I don't see 4 super conferences coming together though.

You made a an assumptions and you know what happens when you do that.

First that the NCAA is ran by smart people, lol, more like greedy! Oh, there will be a mass re-organization and as I have said all along BU better be ready to move on this quickly, if not we could be outside looking inas stated by TAS. I would have to believe there will be 3 other super basketball leagues to compliment the BCS boys. The east coast, mid-west, mtn-west schools combining. We'll need to hope that Memphis and any other border football school that has any basketball pedigree goes to a BCS. What BU has over WSU is that we are a private institution otherwise school like WSU are in a larger market which for TV deals count a lot. So if the private schools wanted to create a financially private conference BU could cut it. If they look at all other schools as I have said BU maybe delegated to a 2nd tier level. Here's best case!

Mid-west Private schools:
1)Marquette
2)Butler
3)DePaul
4)Xavier
5)St. Louis
6)Creighton
7) BU
8 )DU

Another 8 out East
1)GT
2)Villanova
3)St. John
4)Temple
5)University of Richmond
6)Davidson
7)St. Joe
8 )Drexel

[SFP]

Delta and TAS-

What this is in effect doing is creating another professional sports league. The money will be so large that there will be no stopping it.

The NCAA, if it has any role to play, will be simply to allow it because the other option is their end.

I thought about the same thing and if branded correctly it could work!