Catholic Basketball League

[Wufan]

Without WSU and CU, the MVC will not look to add Oklahoma schools, but more likely Indiana and Illinois schools.

Other than that, I think your hypothesis, as written, seems very unlikely.

[uniftw]

If CU leaves and WSU looks like they aren't far behind the commitment from UNI to the MVC that Dannen recently made likely goes away and we pursue the MAC/CUSA/etc.. options hard for all sports.

[Dean Wormer]

Supposedly, the Catholic members of the Big East have a provision that allows them to leave without a 2/3 vote, and keep the Big East brand.

If that happens, I think they may decide to expand to 12 teams. The 5 most logical choices are Xavier, Butler, Dayton, Creighton and Saint Louis. This immediately solidifies the conference in basketball and probably puts it at about #5-6 in terms of conference power rankings (below ACC, B1G, SEC, and Big 12 probably).

If they can get that to happen, they may decide to to try and keep schools with football in the Big East, such as Temple, Memphis, Cincinnati, and UConn. This is want the Catholic schools want to happen, because those schools bring in money and are pretty solid adds to the conference. The problem is that those schools would have to find another home for their football programs, and be continuously looking to leave the conference to join as a full member somewhere else.

The other alternative that isn't being discussed much yet is trying to continue strengthening an all basketball team with a slightly wider geographical footprint. Some possibilities include Wichita State and VCU (which would be a possibility if UConn and Cincinnati decide to leave but Temple and Memphis stay), and maybe Duquesne and Richmond as well.

The latter possibility is the one that concerns the MVC, and especially Wichita State. Wichita State does not want to be left in the MVC when (probably not if) Creighton leaves, and the athletic department should make it a priority to get into this all-basketball conference. Dividing the conference into Western and Eastern divisions, you'd get:

WEST:
Butler
Dayton
Xavier
DePaul
Marquette
Creighton
Wichita State
Saint Louis

EAST:
St. John's
Georgetown
Providence
Villanova
Seton Hall
Richmond
Duquesne
VCU

This is a pretty solid basketball only conference. It probably would be pretty stable because no one is going to try and poach a non-football school from it, and roughly the same amount of money that the old Big East did (though travel expenses will be higher).

If the Catholic members of the Big East do decide to split (regardless of whether or not they have the Big East brand name), Creighton is gone. Wichita State will be hedging its bets that Cincinnati and UConn will want to bolt and leave a spot open for them.

A MVC without Wichita or Creighton may look to expand by adding Tulsa, ORU, or members of the football conference. Losing Creighton will hurt, and losing both will definitely be a devastating blow, but the conference can still be a top 10 league if SDSU and Tulsa become decent teams and UNI and Illinois State stay at the level they are at this year.

No way is WSU part of this. Too far out of the footprint and the only large public school in the list. IMO, Creighton will have an option in this however it shakes out, a Super A-10, Catholic or some hybrid of the above.

I really think if there is any movement out, it will start with Illinois St or UNI, based on football. At that point, Creighton may jump. The other privys may tag along in some fashion, especially in a type of fall out league of privates. Bradley, Drake and UE won't make an all-Catholic league, but could find a cozy spot, especially if Butler, Dayton, etc are also looking on the outside.

At that point, the other football schools jump toward the MAC or Conf. USA, if they haven't already followed, which leave WSU. I am not bashing on the Shockers, I just really think they could be the hardest of the 10 to find a spot.

If someone falls in this conference, it could unravel pretty quickly.

[Wufan]

If WSU does not package itself with Creighton for a basketball only league, then yes, WSU could definitely be left in the cold.

[DoubleJayAlum]

If WSU does not package itself with Creighton for a basketball only league, then yes, WSU could definitely be left in the cold.

Good thing it isn't up to WSU fans like Coldblooded and Isaso. With class acts like those clowns, I am sure Creighton is extremely motivated to try to work with WSU.

Maybe Cold can lead his 77th attempt to restart shocker football.

[DoubleJayAlum]

I really think if there is any movement out, it will start with Illinois St or UNI, based on football.

I used to think this way too, but no longer feel that is the case.

For one thing, where would they go? The remnants of the CUSA are just plain ugly and more teams could leave at any time. Same thing for the Sunbelt.

MAC has already lost Temple and will probably lose UMass in the future.

Jumping conferences for FCS football right now is a HUGE, HUGE gamble as these conferences are remarkably unstable. If you make the move, you do it not knowing who will even be in the conference by the time that you get there. On top of that, you take your one money-making sport and move it to a one bid league, potentially impacting ticket sales, NCAA credits money and national exposure (which, in turn, could impact recruiting, alumni donations,etc). Plus, you probably just increased your travel expenses for every single team in your athletic department by making the jump.

It just doesn't seem as appealing as it may have a year ago.

[shoxrox]

Good thing it isn't up to WSU fans like Coldblooded and Isaso. With class acts like those clowns, I am sure Creighton is extremely motivated to try to work with WSU.

Maybe Cold can lead his 77th attempt to restart shocker football.

I certainly hope Creighton doesn't make gigantic decisions like that based on random internet message board posts from opposing fans.

[MoValley John]

The speculation is fun, but at this point, the odds of Creighton or Wichita State being invited to any of this is remote. With that, civility in speculation, posturing and the occasional SWAG should rule the day.

When a poster has any firsthand knowledge of private jets, secret meetings or sealed envelopes, that is the time to get serious. Has anyone seen any black helicopters?

[Snaggletooth]

I have reports of Danny ainge flying in and out ICT and Omaha then flying east to parts unknown - that should count for something

[CBB_Fan]

No way is WSU part of this. Too far out of the footprint and the only large public school in the list. IMO, Creighton will have an option in this however it shakes out, a Super A-10, Catholic or some hybrid of the above.

I really think if there is any movement out, it will start with Illinois St or UNI, based on football. At that point, Creighton may jump. The other privys may tag along in some fashion, especially in a type of fall out league of privates. Bradley, Drake and UE won't make an all-Catholic league, but could find a cozy spot, especially if Butler, Dayton, etc are also looking on the outside.

At that point, the other football schools jump toward the MAC or Conf. USA, if they haven't already followed, which leave WSU. I am not bashing on the Shockers, I just really think they could be the hardest of the 10 to find a spot.

If someone falls in this conference, it could unravel pretty quickly.

Wichita State is a long shot; I'd say they are about 17th or 18th on the priority list and have a 5% chance of joining the league. They aren't the only public school I mentioned though; VCU is another large public school. Same reasoning; both are low priority schools that may get an invite based on the quality of their programs and lack of FBS football.

I listed Creighton as the first to leave because of the time-frame involved. The Catholic schools have said that they want to make a decision in the next 6 months. If they make the decision to leave, they will likely invite Creighton and the Bluejays would be gone in a heartbeat.

Whereas finding a new conference for Illinois State and UNI make take a year or two. I do think that Wichita State better be working overtime to land in this new basketball league, because otherwise their options are extremely limited. As in, worst in the country limited.

What I mean by that is that is that Wichita State is one of the most isolated basketball schools in the country. Virtually all of the basketball-only schools are near the east coast, and Wichita State has no like-minded schools for hundreds of miles except for Creighton.

The only spot I could find for them would be the Mid-Continent Conference (the Summit League), where Wichita State would join the ranks of UMKC, Oakland, and IUPUI. The Shockers may prefer to stay in a destroyed MVC or go Independent instead of that.

That is why the Shockers need to act quickly and decisively. They cannot afford to sit still; it is easier the new Big East (a mega-upgrade) or bust (literally).

The other alternative (and possibly, the likely one) is to hope that the Big East gobbles the A10 but not Creighton, and both Wichita State and Creighton go to the A10. But I've seen nothing to suggest that the Big East would not want Creighton, unless it manages to keep Memphis, Temple, Cincinnati, and UConn and only takes a few teams from the A10 (1-3, Saint and maybe Dayton/Butler). They would then have a 12-14 member league that probably wouldn't need Creighton.