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RBC - Rust Belt Conference

G

Gwright

New member
Ok... I'll preface this by saying that the name is a joke, but the idea is deadly serious. In my most humble opinion I believe that Bradley needs to get the ball rolling on a conference set up that will take the bits and pieces of a number of conferences as everything falls apart.

Bolded teams are added at each step, as this group of teams will have to be built up, or this plan will fail.

First, Take CU and DU and lock with them tighter than anything...

BU
CU
DU

Second, get the little members of the Philly Big 5 and promise them a return to glory, this rivalry matters, and the promise of a bigger stage for this basketball might attract these three.

This is step two, and while not the sexiest group of teams it provides a building block for the next phase.

BU
CU
DU
Temple
La Salle
St. Joe's

Thirdly, you need to pick up some excellent Midwestern teams that help connect the dots geographically. This will be the toughest step as Xavier and Duquesne will probably take some convincing to leave the A-10, but with the Philly 5 already on board this will help, and one of the reasons you need that pairing in the first place. Butler will hopefully leap at this chance to jump up the competition and audiences that the group assembled would reach and provide. We want Duquense because this school is a big deal in Pitt, they equate this school to Yale and Harvard in that city and I am not kidding.

BU
CU
DU
Temple
La Salle
St. Joe's
Xavier
Duquesne
Butler


Next, you add the two cornerstone programs that will make this conference. Hopefully the big east will be imploding and we can take on the three schools below, if the steps above are accomplished there will be no conference close to the Rust Belt Conference that can offer a home to the Midwestern BigE teams.

BU
CU
DU
Temple
La Salle
St. Joe's
Xavier
Duquesne
Butler
Depaul
Marquette

Finally, we add Villanova, the prize of these school in my mind, will consider a conference like this because of the rivalries that it shares with the rest of the Philly 5 (for those of you who are asking who the 5th Philly 5 member is, it's Penn of the Ivy League, we will just let it stay where it is...), and the other two Big East Teams.

BU
CU
DU
Temple
La Salle
St. Joe's
Xavier
Duquesne
Butler
Depaul
Marquette
Villanova

Yes, this make this conference Philly centric, but hey, better a fantastic Philly centric conference than the alternative...

Now, we are staring at a 12 team conference that spans every state from Penn. to Nebraska.

To look at the negatives, we would have to deal with whatever forms from the rest of the big East and A-10, that is why building around the Philly big 5 is crucial, because otherwise Villanova is gone to play with Georgetown, and the other players in the Big East which will no doubt turn into a powerful NYC centric grouping.

This group is a stretch, and it's not ideal, but it is realistic as to where I think Bradley is, and I have serious doubts as much as I love BU that we could end up with any better grouping, we flat out don't compete trying to go against the remnants of the A-10 and Big East for prestige this century, and we would be left out of the top level of conferences that forms out of that. The conference presented here is designed to compete with that grouping, but better to compete than be left out...

Honestly, I don't like our chances if V-nova, G-town, Cuse, Xavier, Butler, St. John's and the like mount up together, so the above is in my mind the best alternative for us.

The TV deal here actually makes sense, you hit every major market from Philly to Omaha, (Sans Cleveland and St. Louis) grabbing schools that don't play football but absolutely are the best schools on the face of the planet to individuals that live in those cities.
 
Add SLU and Georgetown and your idea has legs. I'm sure there would have to be a few Philly schools left off. Cuse would be swallowed up by the ACC or Big X in a heart beat.
 
SFP said:
Add SLU and Georgetown and your idea has legs. I'm sure there would have to be a few Philly schools left off. Cuse would be swallowed up by the ACC or Big X in a heart beat.
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For the purposes of my equations I did not equate 'Cuse to = Philly School, however you might have meant that they were gone to us regardless, in which case as a football member of the BigE you are absolutely right. With their pockets I see G-town making the jump to BCS football right away and slipping into the ACC or other conference. SLU is a valid option, but 1. I like even numbers ;) and 2. They steal the central IL thunder just a touch, making us near obsolete...
 
I have suggested Temple for the Valley, particularly during the days when they were struggling to find a football home, understanding that it was a pipe dream.

However, keep an eye on Temple and the MAC during this. . .

The MAC is said to be considering a usurpation of the Owls by eliminating its "football only" membership option.

And believe it or not, some Temple sources are reportedly not opposed to the idea, as they have become quite friendly with Buffalo through the MAC experience.

There is also the rumor/angle that those two schools and the Ohio schools are very interested in Youngstown State.

Given that, I also wonder if those schools might be interested in maybe splitting from the MAC and create new league and add Dayton, Butler and Xavier.
 
I have no problems leaving Mo. State, ISUblue, Southern, and Evansville behind, however, I still would like NIU, Wichita, and POSSIBLY ISU instead of Temple, Lasalle, and St. Joes. I understand where the TV market thing comes in, etc. etc., but I would actually like to TRY to go to some of the away conference games. 'Nova would be ideal, of course. I also would like the tournament to stay in St. Louis if possible and, with so many Penn teams, that would be nearly impossible. If not St. Lou, than maybe Chicago, but St. Lou needs it now. By eliminating the Philly teams, and having a good portion of the MVC still intact, we could keep a relative hold over what would go on in the conference instead of letting the east take over 3 or 4 midwest teams. IMO
 
BUFanatic said:
I have no problems leaving Mo. State, ISUblue, Southern, and Evansville behind, however, I still would like NIU, Wichita, and POSSIBLY ISU instead of Temple, Lasalle, and St. Joes. I understand where the TV market thing comes in, etc. etc., but I would actually like to TRY to go to some of the away conference games. 'Nova would be ideal, of course. I also would like the tournament to stay in St. Louis if possible and, with so many Penn teams, that would be nearly impossible. If not St. Lou, than maybe Chicago, but St. Lou needs it now. By eliminating the Philly teams, and having a good portion of the MVC still intact, we could keep a relative hold over what would go on in the conference instead of letting the east take over 3 or 4 midwest teams. IMO
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I just do not see any of the MVC teams aligning itself with east coast teams for the practical purpose that you see SLU struggling with. An alignment could only take place with a marketing partnership with an east coast conference with very similar sports outlook. Perhaps even schedule one game a year between schools with a mid-west vs east coast league championship.
 
SFP said:
I just do not see any of the MVC teams aligning itself with east coast teams for the practical purpose that you see SLU struggling with. An alignment could only take place with a marketing partnership with an east coast conference with very similar sports outlook. Perhaps even schedule one game a year between schools with a mid-west vs east coast league championship.
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so you agree with me? all but Duquesne and 'Nova are Midwest teams in my conference.
 
Heres my Bucket List:lol: Keeping even #'s and Adding to make the NEW MVC;-)

Depaul
St.Louis
Butler
Marquette
Tulsa
Replace Evansville with Lasalle:roll:
Keeping everyone else in the valley;-)
 
My preferred conference:

East division
Duke
North Carolina
Syracuse
Connecticut
Kentucky
Butler

West division
Kansas
Texas
UCLA
Bradley
Illinois
Gonzaga



:lol:


Seriously though, I thought about this for a second, but I feel awkward doing any conference projections that are overly favorable for Bradley because Bradley is going to have to be a reactor, not an aggressor during these proceedings if they were to ever happen.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
My preferred conference:

East division
Duke
North Carolina
Syracuse
Connecticut
Kentucky
Butler

West division
Kansas
Texas
UCLA
Bradley
Illinois
Gonzaga



:lol:


Seriously though, I thought about this for a second, but I feel awkward doing any conference projections that are overly favorable for Bradley because Bradley is going to have to be a reactor, not an aggressor during these proceedings if they were to ever happen.
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holy crap that's a pipe dream!!!! lolz I like OOB's idea!
 
The real problem could be that there will be schools who want to think as themselves as football schools also. Our best bet is to form an alliance with the best non-football schools prior the shake down. The football schools will do their best to stay together and where needed to their benefit add a non-football school to supplement the basketball and other sports programs.
 
SFP said:
The real problem could be that there will be schools who want to think as themselves as football schools also. Our best bet is to form an alliance with the best non-football schools prior the shake down. The football schools will do their best to stay together and where needed to their benefit add a non-football school to supplement the basketball and other sports programs.
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Do I hear Butler!?!?! :)
 
Out of Balance said:
Heres my Bucket List:lol: Keeping even #'s and Adding to make the NEW MVC;-)

Depaul
St.Louis
Butler
Marquette
Tulsa
Replace Evansville with Lasalle:roll:
Keeping everyone else in the valley;-)
Click to expand...

I like the list of teams and the idea of keeping the Valley intact (other than Evansville), but I would much rather have 16 teams than 15.
 
Beninator said:
Not sure about Lasalle, but I like this one as well OOB.
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Only reasons I mentioned Lasalle, is they have been to the NCAA Tour. 11 or 12 times and won it once and about the same # of trips to the NIT with a Tournament win once. Whats a matter, you don't like Philly cheese:roll:

shaunguth said:
I like the list of teams and the idea of keeping the Valley intact (other than Evansville), but I would much rather have 16 teams than 15.
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I did say I liked even #'s:), so add one. Because I would drop Evansville, what about another Indiana team, IUPUI:) New school, but in the land of a lot of talent and I see them getting some and their program growing:|
 
Out of Balance said:
Only reasons I mentioned Lasalle, is they have been to the NCAA Tour. 11 or 12 times and won it once and about the same # of trips to the NIT with a Tournament win once. Whats a matter, you don't like Philly cheese:roll:


I did say I liked even #'s:), so add one. Because I would drop Evansville, what about another Indiana team, IUPUI:) New school, but in the land of a lot of talent and I see them getting some and their program growing:|
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Maybe keep Evansville to beat up on? lolz
 
Are 16 teams necessary for basketball? I'm more in favor of a 10-12 schools in a mid-west based conference that has a mid-west identity. I don't want it to try to masquarade as an east-coast conference.

Bradley needs to join a league that is capable of maketing academics first, but with good basketball squads. That is what will seperate a new conference from the others. No directional state schools needed. If a 10-12 team mid-west based private school conference wants to have a schedule alignment in basketball with a similar east-coast private school league, fine ... but don't try to create a 16 team league stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to heartland. All you end up with is the same situation SLU has now being in the A-10.
 
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Out of Balance said:
Only reasons I mentioned Lasalle, is they have been to the NCAA Tour. 11 or 12 times and won it once and about the same # of trips to the NIT with a Tournament win once. Whats a matter, you don't like Philly cheese:roll:
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Maybe a bit of a hangover from the Stanley Cup! ;-)
 
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