New Kids On The Block

[pafan]

What I'm worried is the decision to come. Do we accept being a 1-bid mid-major league going forward? Of course not.

The decision has been made by Jim Delaney, Val Ackerman, and Michael Aresco. The Bradleys and Missouri States of the world didn't get a vote.

[SanityLost17]

Money makes the world go round, however the best argument for expansion is all the bitching about scheduling coming from league coaches. Go to 11 and a 20 game conference schedule, and life gets easier for the coaches. If #11 is the right program, it’ll also help the league get A) a better seed for the conference champion, or B) a better shot at multiple bids.

Seems like a no brainer to me.

What school is going to agree to have double the travel costs and be the one without a travel partner in women's sports? Which school is going to agree to have their women's teams miss at least double the class that every other team in the league will?

We aren't going to divide the pie any further. We could go to 18 teams and still not get an extra bid. The NCAA is now totally structured to make sure that leagues like ours don't take cash away from the P6. It's completely unrealistic at this point that the Presidents are going to approve any new membership. Plus, and we haven't even talked about it, there's no way the privates are going to allow a public football playing school into the league by itself.

In the modern age of scheduling, going to 11 teams and 20 conference games is a must. Forget about the money, that is a lame argument as adding 1 more team isn't that big of a strain for the benefits received from adding a proven winner (Murray State). You are right, MVC teams have done a pretty good job of winning games in the tournament, but the better seed you have the better chance that has of continuing. Everyone playing Murray State twice a year helps with seeding. It helps with attendance as that is a game basketball fans want to see. It helps with attendance at Arch Madness to ensure that survives the addition of 2 smaller private schools after the exodus of WSU and Creighton. It helps make the survivor of the MVC that much more battle tested and ready to win games in the tourney. Most importantly, everyone's schedule is more fun and if the NCAA is screwing mid majors over on tourney invites we need to make the regular season AS FUN AS POSSIBLE to keep fan interest going.

Each team would have gotten to drop the following games from their schedule by adding a home and away with Murray State.

Valpo - 2 non-D1's
Loyola - Grambling and a non-D1
SIU - Pine Bluff and SEMST
IllSt - Chicago St and Non-D1
Eville - 2 non-D1's
MoSt - Stetson and Non-D1
IndSt - 2 non-D1's
Drake - 2 non-D1's
Bradley - Chicago St and 2 non-D1's
UNI - 2 Non-D1's.

[SanityLost17]

It is my firm belief that the tournament money sharing lost from adding an 11th (Murray) would be made up for by having an extra home game every year that is an actual draw, and the fact that maybe the addition of the SOS of having a team like Murray moves the MVC champion down a line from a 13 to a 12 or a 12 to an 11 every 2 or 3 years giving that team a better matchup and a better chance to win a game.

You gotta think bigger than "we are all going to lose money if we add Murray".

[VUGrad1314]

If only there was a way to convince South Dakota State to come alone (without NDSU). Balances out the Murray State travel for the Iowa schools. Everyone gets one rough travel game. MVC gets two great programs. Everybody's happy.

[TheAsianSensation]

In the modern age of scheduling, going to 11 teams and 20 conference games is a must. Forget about the money, that is a lame argument as adding 1 more team isn't that big of a strain for the benefits received from adding a proven winner (Murray State). You are right, MVC teams have done a pretty good job of winning games in the tournament, but the better seed you have the better chance that has of continuing. Everyone playing Murray State twice a year helps with seeding. It helps with attendance as that is a game basketball fans want to see. It helps with attendance at Arch Madness to ensure that survives the addition of 2 smaller private schools after the exodus of WSU and Creighton. It helps make the survivor of the MVC that much more battle tested and ready to win games in the tourney. Most importantly, everyone's schedule is more fun and if the NCAA is screwing mid majors over on tourney invites we need to make the regular season AS FUN AS POSSIBLE to keep fan interest going.

Each team would have gotten to drop the following games from their schedule by adding a home and away with Murray State.

Valpo - 2 non-D1's
Loyola - Grambling and a non-D1
SIU - Pine Bluff and SEMST
IllSt - Chicago St and Non-D1
Eville - 2 non-D1's
MoSt - Stetson and Non-D1
IndSt - 2 non-D1's
Drake - 2 non-D1's
Bradley - Chicago St and 2 non-D1's
UNI - 2 Non-D1's.

Funnily enough, I agree with the overall sentiment while completely disagreeing with all the details

20 game conference schedules aren't the answer, they kill off any path to at-large bids. And make no mistake, expansion must and should include maximizing our chances of at-large bids. Which Murray St provides by being a quality opponent for everyone else.

Scheduling doesn't work that way, by the way. Adding 2 conference games doesn't mean the weakest two games for every team get dropped. Many of those non D1 and weak games are part of MTTs, so they're always going to exist (and not cost the team any room in their schedule to put in). What does happen is quality home-and-homes with other mid majors will be the games to die, not the cupcake home games. With 1 home and 1 road game added to the conference schedule, teams will be more likely to schedule a home cupcake to get back the one home gate they would lose otherwise.

[VUGrad1314]

In the modern age of scheduling, going to 11 teams and 20 conference games is a must. Forget about the money, that is a lame argument as adding 1 more team isn't that big of a strain for the benefits received from adding a proven winner (Murray State). You are right, MVC teams have done a pretty good job of winning games in the tournament, but the better seed you have the better chance that has of continuing. Everyone playing Murray State twice a year helps with seeding. It helps with attendance as that is a game basketball fans want to see. It helps with attendance at Arch Madness to ensure that survives the addition of 2 smaller private schools after the exodus of WSU and Creighton. It helps make the survivor of the MVC that much more battle tested and ready to win games in the tourney. Most importantly, everyone's schedule is more fun and if the NCAA is screwing mid majors over on tourney invites we need to make the regular season AS FUN AS POSSIBLE to keep fan interest going.

Each team would have gotten to drop the following games from their schedule by adding a home and away with Murray State.

Valpo - 2 non-D1's
Loyola - Grambling and a non-D1
SIU - Pine Bluff and SEMST
IllSt - Chicago St and Non-D1
Eville - 2 non-D1's
MoSt - Stetson and Non-D1
IndSt - 2 non-D1's
Drake - 2 non-D1's
Bradley - Chicago St and 2 non-D1's
UNI - 2 Non-D1's.

Funnily enough, I agree with the overall sentiment while completely disagreeing with all the details

20 game conference schedules aren't the answer, they kill off any path to at-large bids. And make no mistake, expansion must and should include maximizing our chances of at-large bids. Which Murray St provides by being a quality opponent for everyone else.

Scheduling doesn't work that way, by the way. Adding 2 conference games doesn't mean the weakest two games for every team get dropped. Many of those non D1 and weak games are part of MTTs, so they're always going to exist (and not cost the team any room in their schedule to put in). What does happen is quality home-and-homes with other mid majors will be the games to die, not the cupcake home games. With 1 home and 1 road game added to the conference schedule, teams will be more likely to schedule a home cupcake to get back the one home gate they would lose otherwise.

Isn't that where a scheduling mandate comes in?

[TheAsianSensation]

In the modern age of scheduling, going to 11 teams and 20 conference games is a must. Forget about the money, that is a lame argument as adding 1 more team isn't that big of a strain for the benefits received from adding a proven winner (Murray State). You are right, MVC teams have done a pretty good job of winning games in the tournament, but the better seed you have the better chance that has of continuing. Everyone playing Murray State twice a year helps with seeding. It helps with attendance as that is a game basketball fans want to see. It helps with attendance at Arch Madness to ensure that survives the addition of 2 smaller private schools after the exodus of WSU and Creighton. It helps make the survivor of the MVC that much more battle tested and ready to win games in the tourney. Most importantly, everyone's schedule is more fun and if the NCAA is screwing mid majors over on tourney invites we need to make the regular season AS FUN AS POSSIBLE to keep fan interest going.

Each team would have gotten to drop the following games from their schedule by adding a home and away with Murray State.

Valpo - 2 non-D1's
Loyola - Grambling and a non-D1
SIU - Pine Bluff and SEMST
IllSt - Chicago St and Non-D1
Eville - 2 non-D1's
MoSt - Stetson and Non-D1
IndSt - 2 non-D1's
Drake - 2 non-D1's
Bradley - Chicago St and 2 non-D1's
UNI - 2 Non-D1's.

Funnily enough, I agree with the overall sentiment while completely disagreeing with all the details

20 game conference schedules aren't the answer, they kill off any path to at-large bids. And make no mistake, expansion must and should include maximizing our chances of at-large bids. Which Murray St provides by being a quality opponent for everyone else.

Scheduling doesn't work that way, by the way. Adding 2 conference games doesn't mean the weakest two games for every team get dropped. Many of those non D1 and weak games are part of MTTs, so they're always going to exist (and not cost the team any room in their schedule to put in). What does happen is quality home-and-homes with other mid majors will be the games to die, not the cupcake home games. With 1 home and 1 road game added to the conference schedule, teams will be more likely to schedule a home cupcake to get back the one home gate they would lose otherwise.

Isn't that where a scheduling mandate comes in?

In theory, yes, but with NET being brand-new, I don't think application of a mandate would be easy right now.

[BCPanther]

In the modern age of scheduling, going to 11 teams and 20 conference games is a must. Forget about the money, that is a lame argument as adding 1 more team isn't that big of a strain for the benefits received from adding a proven winner (Murray State). You are right, MVC teams have done a pretty good job of winning games in the tournament, but the better seed you have the better chance that has of continuing. Everyone playing Murray State twice a year helps with seeding. It helps with attendance as that is a game basketball fans want to see. It helps with attendance at Arch Madness to ensure that survives the addition of 2 smaller private schools after the exodus of WSU and Creighton. It helps make the survivor of the MVC that much more battle tested and ready to win games in the tourney. Most importantly, everyone's schedule is more fun and if the NCAA is screwing mid majors over on tourney invites we need to make the regular season AS FUN AS POSSIBLE to keep fan interest going.

Each team would have gotten to drop the following games from their schedule by adding a home and away with Murray State.

Valpo - 2 non-D1's
Loyola - Grambling and a non-D1
SIU - Pine Bluff and SEMST
IllSt - Chicago St and Non-D1
Eville - 2 non-D1's
MoSt - Stetson and Non-D1
IndSt - 2 non-D1's
Drake - 2 non-D1's
Bradley - Chicago St and 2 non-D1's
UNI - 2 Non-D1's.

Funnily enough, I agree with the overall sentiment while completely disagreeing with all the details

20 game conference schedules aren't the answer, they kill off any path to at-large bids. And make no mistake, expansion must and should include maximizing our chances of at-large bids. Which Murray St provides by being a quality opponent for everyone else.

Scheduling doesn't work that way, by the way. Adding 2 conference games doesn't mean the weakest two games for every team get dropped. Many of those non D1 and weak games are part of MTTs, so they're always going to exist (and not cost the team any room in their schedule to put in). What does happen is quality home-and-homes with other mid majors will be the games to die, not the cupcake home games. With 1 home and 1 road game added to the conference schedule, teams will be more likely to schedule a home cupcake to get back the one home gate they would lose otherwise.

Isn't that where a scheduling mandate comes in?

I don't think replacing non-DIs with SWACs and MEACs is the right move. I don't have any problem with the non-DIs. They don't count against you and for my season ticket money, I'd almost rather watch Upper Iowa or Truman State than Maryland-Eastern Shore and Grambling.