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Creighton and the new Catholic 7 league

Da Coach

Da Coach

Moderator
Staff member
The 7 Catholic schools that have banded together and withdrawn from the Big East are progressing with serious talks about forming their own league and striking a TV deal with Fox network.
As of now the Catholic 7 seems to be leaning toward accepting 3 more schools to begin their league with 10 members. As of now, Ceighton seems to be "on the bubble". According to several reports, the Catholic 7 are strongly in agreement about adding Butler and Xavier, and the leading candidate for the 10th spot seems to be St. Louis. Creighton and Dayton are also being strongly considered, but if the league goes with a 10 team conference, it is possible that Creighton and/or Dayton could be left out.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-basketball/news/20130109/catholic-7-tv/
 
Guess the St. Louis market trumps a better program, better fan support and a larger arena. Figure that the difference in distance is pretty negligible.

CU staying the the MVC is good for the Valley, I think it would be a mistake on the part of the C7 to take St. Louis over the Jays.
 
Rusty 54 said:
Guess the St. Louis market trumps a better program, better fan support and a larger arena. Figure that the difference in distance is pretty negligible.

CU staying the the MVC is good for the Valley, I think it would be a mistake on the part of the C7 to take St. Louis over the Jays.
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Negligible for men's basketball yes. Negligible for men's golf and women's tennis, maybe not as much.
 
This doesn't necessarily mean that Creighton is coming back to the MVC necessarily either. I think there still could be some mid-major realignment in the coming months.
 
BUBalum05 said:
This doesn't necessarily mean that Creighton is coming back to the MVC necessarily either. I think there still could be some mid-major realignment in the coming months.
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As do I.

I think you might see some separation at the mid-major level between the basketball only schools, and the FCS football schools. Especially if some FCS school start making big facilities upgrades and consider the move to FBS football.
 
The funny thing is, in every other place, I've heard the argument is Dayton v Creighton for #10 with St Louis solidly out.

The C7 is talking television contracts right now with FOX, it's been reported, so I think those two topics might be hand-in-hand over the next couple of weeks.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
The funny thing is, in every other place, I've heard the argument is Dayton v Creighton for #10 with St Louis solidly out.

The C7 is talking television contracts right now with FOX, it's been reported, so I think those two topics might be hand-in-hand over the next couple of weeks.
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St. Louis - 21
Dayton - 63
Omaha - 76

Quality of product matters, but a top 25 media market would be awfully tough to pass on.
 
12 teams, with two divisions, would seem to make more sense than 10 teams... Don't know if the geography would favor two 6 team divisions re travel, but, perhaps there is some revenue sharing deal that could compensate teams with excessive travel with a 12 team conference....

Just a thought....
 
AZ BU Fan said:
12 teams, with two divisions, would seem to make more sense than 10 teams... Don't know if the geography would favor two 6 team divisions re travel, but, perhaps there is some revenue sharing deal that could compensate teams with excessive travel with a 12 team conference....

Just a thought....
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16 team conference will be IMO what they will go after in the next few years. Two divisions mid-west and east coast. Keeps travel cost down and creates a nice flow for scheduling.

Doesn't Dayton and Xavier share the same market practically? St. Louis makes sense over those two and I know DePaul wants CU in the discussion.
 
Under a 12 team format, this leaves Creighton taking the $$$ and heading to a strong C7 conference. I don't blame them.

I suspect that Wichita State is having discussions with other conferences as well. They are past due for a departure from the MVC. Any way that, and don't laugh, the B12 picks them up? No football, but they field baseball and have been in the Top 25 for the past nearly 100 years (jk!) and basketball top 50 on average....
 
There's enough left-over good, mostly-private, basketball-only schools like Bradley to at least have some discussions of getting another league with BU,
maybe SLU, ORU, Drake, Detroit, Valpo, etc...and throw in Wichita, and a few more...........we need to be negotiating...
 
I actually think if there is any backroom deals, it's Wichita and the MWC, who eventually will probably need a non-football program to balance out Hawaii's unique membership at some point down the road.

If the C7 becomes the C12, I can't see how Creighton or St Louis get left out. Dayton is the tricky one because they share a market, and they actually complicate the geographic breakdown of 2 divisions.

East: The C5 and Xavier
West: Marq, DeP, Crei, StL, Butler, ?

It might be easier to add Richmond to the east rather than split Xavier and Dayton.

We'll have to see what details come out of these FOX meetings, and how these dollar figures were arrived at - with or without specific teams and invites in the discussion.
 
TAS I pretty much agree. It will also be in BU's best interest in the short term to keep the MVC intact. I'd bet that the C12 will be the C16 plus their sister conference out west within the next 4-5 years. The landscape is still playing itself out and within that time frame BU basketball needs to become relevant.
 
tornado said:
There's enough left-over good, mostly-private, basketball-only schools like Bradley to at least have some discussions of getting another league with BU,
maybe SLU, ORU, Drake, Detroit, Valpo, etc...and throw in Wichita, and a few more...........we need to be negotiating...
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There's actually an extension on this idea I've been kicking around.

Let's say St Louis and Dayton get left behind in the A-10. And the A-10 loses Xavier, Butler, and either St Joe's or Richmond.

The A-10 would likely expand back to 14 teams. Instead of taking more marginal eastern programs, would they go after a Detroit/Bradley/Valpo package or similar? Would BU be offered, and would BU accept in that scenario?
 
I agree that if the C7 wants Creighton, they will take the offer.
But I don't see Wichita State leaving the MVC for the Mountain West. Even if there is a little more money involved, it wouldn't be substantial amounts, and they would be giving up decades of rivaries, and tradition and taking on enormous amounts of travel, and relative obscurity by playing teams that are 1, 2, or more time zones away. Besides, any extra revenues the MWC generates mostly come from football, which WSU would probably not be included in. They are far better served staying with a non-football conference like the MVC.

The MVC will survive as a strong entity, and Bradley will be best to remain with the MVC. Even if Wichita left, which I doubt will happen, it is not that big a loss for the MVC. They can be replaced.
 
I just can't see St. Louis getting left behind. I'd say they are a shoe in and a step ahead of CU.

C7 + Xavier, Butler, St. Louis

The other 2 spots will be either CU, Dayton, Richmond, dark horse Detroit. You can't ignore the Detroit market.
 
The Fox contract (3mm ish per team for 12 years) is contigent on having 12 teams.

Butler and Xavier are locks
Creighton and Dayton nearly so
and St Louis used to occupy that last spot, but VCU has seemingly gotten a lot of support lately and have at least pulled equal with them.

From the sound of it, they are going to do what's necessary to get this league started for 13/14 to coincide with the relaunch of Fox1 (currently Speed channel)

The subprime games will be sold off to smaller parties (SNY, ESPN, CBS Sports, etc) virtually every game will be broadcast nationally or regionally (on the Fox regional channels)
 
I continue to believe that the C7 breakup will actually bring positives to BU. Its an opportunity.

1) We still have the MVC which has remained relevant. Lets put it that way, relevant. You also have colleges that are open to discussion and aren't sitting in their seats.

To the alternative...The MVC without Creighton and Wichita State (believed to have an itch) aren't a conference that I would want any part of. JMHO...You would need to have strong replacements. SLU is out for the MVC and will be in the C7..Its a Jesuit thing......Name an immediate impact school, unless you can get a decent A-10 remainderman or two, that would continue the MVC relevancy.

Keep up the conversations Dr. Cross and Glass... BU, when the dust settles in 2-3 years will be in an academic conference with like private schools. It's profile doesn't match the MVC conference today/tomorrow. We need more time to build our profile though!!!!
 
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