Big East Catholic Schools Getting Restless

[Bravesfan]

I think, at this point, the best short to medium term outcome could be that Dayton and/or SLU get left out of the new league, which should give us a shot to go after either one for the MVC. If Xavier and Butler are out of the A10 it's not much of a league anymore, so I'd think we might be able to get ahold of either or both of those schools.

I think this is a very feasible solution for the Valley, but don't think the new Catholic conference won't at least make a run for them. If not, they could theoretically stay in the scaled down A-10, but then again, this might be the time for SLU in particular to move back to a midwestern conference. I'm not sure how happy they will be having to travel just to play A-10 "powers" Fordham and Dusquene every year!

[lefty]

Richmond metro is probably over a million, but the city itself is close to the size of Peoria with the same feel. On the east coast though, its largely irrelevant since its not between DC and Boston. Even though VCU is there, speaking as a resident of Virginia, people do not associate the school with the city, its our capital first. You're really not gaining a significant east coast market here. VCU fits the A10/MVC alignment very well.

Richmond the metro is a little over a 1.2M and the city itself is over 200k...so it's significantly larger the Peoria

[SFP]

Richmond the metro is a little over a 1.2M and the city itself is over 200k...so it's significantly larger the Peoria

Location can work in our favor compared to Richmond. If they want to create something on a grand scale they'll need a few other private schools in the mid-west. There are a gluttony of private schools in the east coast with decent basketball programs.

If for some reason we can't land in the new C7 league our best bet is to stay in the MVC and start winning. The landscape will remain fluid for the next few years. This is just the beginning of the transformation. The networks will want and need to figure out what they want and then start negotiating with the conferences to match up with potential revenue.

[Bravesfan]

I would say Butler just received a sure invite to the new Catholic league with their 88-86 overtime upset of #1 Indiana just now!

[RedSeaElite1]

I would say Butler just received a sure invite to the new Catholic league with their 88-86 overtime upset of #1 Indiana just now!

If only we would have beat Michigan then we could have had an invite too

[Bravesfan]

If only we would have beat Michigan then we could have had an invite too

I'm not sure that would have been enough though.

[AZ BU Fan]

IF only BU would have done what they did two seasons ago a few years earlier, BU would be further along the fallout/rebuilding curve by now
and looking for 20 wins this season.....

No way BU would not be considered for a seat at a table of a BB conference now..

Just kidding, and jabbing some lightly with a pitch fork.....just wanted to see if anyone actually read my stuff...

[Bravesfan]

IF only BU would have done what they did two seasons ago a few years earlier, BU would be further along the fallout/rebuilding curve by now
and looking for 20 wins this season.....

No way BU would not be considered for a seat at a table of a BB conference now..

Just kidding, and jabbing some lightly with a pitch fork.....just wanted to see if anyone actually read my stuff...

I think our streak of 20 win seasons (even if some of the win totals were a bit bloated from EIEIO postseason tournament wins) still would have at least given us a better chance of being considered for these new conferences.

However, I also agree the chances of making one of these conferences wouldn't have been THAT much better as recent NCAA Tournament appearances and Sweet Sixteen or better runs obviously will be the number one criteria as to which teams will be chosen for the new conference. So even if we didn't hit rock bottom the last two years and treaded water around .500 instead, and even if we were a Valley favorite this year, I would say our chances of snagging a spot in the new Catholic league would still have been only around 10% instead of the current 2%.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Not being a Catholic institution might also be an impediment for Bradley.

[stevebu91]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/big-east-schools-officially-break-handicapping-the-race-to-join/article_faaf3252-24c6-512b-a2ab-c5aff2786e78.html

Nothing new out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch besides the obvious... Link above.

BU has some wiggle room with those looking in from the outside window in a 12 member conference...

[Bravesfan]

Not being a Catholic institution might also be an impediment for Bradley.

Right, but that aside, my above post summarizes why Bradley would still be a long shot even had we not bottomed out like we did the last two years.

[Bravesfan]

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colle...ff2786e78.html

Nothing new out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch besides the obvious... Link above.

BU has some wiggle room with those looking in from the outside window in a 12 member conference...

Now this article says a lot. To me it says that Creighton is no shoo-in for this league due to geography and tv market size. That would help the Valley in the long run, and maybe Creighton, Bradley and Drake would form the template for a future revamped Valley/2nd tier private school conference.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Creighton is gone.

I think Bradley needs to find a way to separate from the MVFC schools.

[Bravesfan]

Creighton is gone.

I think Bradley needs to find a way to separate from the MVFC schools.

Yes and no. I think they are gone, but I can see the travel issue being a stumbling block for the new league, especially if they stay at only ten teams for the time being.

[TheAsianSensation]

I'll tell you when Bradley needs to separate from the football schools - that's when they talk about adding WIU, Youngstown, or the XDSUs for all sports. That's when you bail.

Because see what just happened in the Big East? We'll get Georgetown'd out of this league just like they did in the Big East.