Which of these team would you be okay with joining the MVC?

[Action10]

Not saying it's the right way to do things, but the WCC does a crazy ladder system with the bottom 4 teams playing Thursday, then 5th and 6th enter Friday, then 3rd and 4th enter Saturday, and the top 2 enter on Monday for the semifinals.
I'm not a fan of that format, but it's kept Gonzaga protected from upsets as they've built their program. That might be a 4 bid league this year.

[Adunk33]

I'd just do 12 for Arch Madness if we had 14, with 13 & 14 sitting at home. I think there's quite a few people that would should up to Thursday if there were 4 games being played that day. Plus the top 4 seeds get rewarded with a bye to Friday. Having Wednesday games would just be a waste of everyone's time.

I'm at the point where I'm not considering 13&14 because I think those adds would be brought in just for the sake of getting to 14 teams.

12 seems to be the sweet spot all around. But your point about Thursday is the exact point I'm getting at. If you go to 12, you get a full day of basketball on Thursday. Instead of that day just being more or less a throw away, you basically get an extra day of tournament. All sessions would be much more valuable and you get 8 fan bases in the building on the first day of the tournament instead of 4.

[siudawgs]

I'd just do 12 for Arch Madness if we had 14, with 13 & 14 sitting at home. I think there's quite a few people that would should up to Thursday if there were 4 games being played that day. Plus the top 4 seeds get rewarded with a bye to Friday. Having Wednesday games would just be a waste of everyone's time.

I'm at the point where I'm not considering 13&14 because I think those adds would be brought in just for the sake of getting to 14 teams.

12 seems to be the sweet spot all around. But your point about Thursday is the exact point I'm getting at. If you go to 12, you get a full day of basketball on Thursday. Instead of that day just being more or less a throw away, you basically get an extra day of tournament. All sessions would be much more valuable and you get 8 fan bases in the building on the first day of the tournament instead of 4.

In reality, only the top few teams tend to travel well to the tournament, so whether it's two games or 20 games, attendance is never going to be good for a preliminary round of games. Unless the non-Loyola Illinois schools get things rolling and Murray is added, the future of attendance at Arch Madness (for as long as they can keep it going) seems pretty bleak. Valpo brings virtually no one, and neither will UT-Arlington, UIC, etc.

[SalukiWorld]

If the Valley is replacing Loyola with UT Arlington, UMKC, and Omaha; you're better off moving Arch Madness to St Charles because renting out Enterprise Center will be a huge waste of money given attendance. Now adding a Murray State, that changes evetything.

[ColonialBulldog]

I've always hated the way the A-10 has handled 13 and 14 team conference tournaments. So I've actually thought a lot about how I would do this. I'm pretty sure this method perfectly balances the competing interests of 1) opportunity for chaotic upsets and 2) severely hampering the odds of a terrible loss for a potential at-large team.

13 Teams The bottom six teams play on Tuesday night at the home gym of the higher seed. (8 v. 13, 9 v. 12, 10 v. 11). That eliminates three teams. You then re-seed and start your traditional 10 team Arch Madness on Thursday.

14 Teams The bottom eight teams play on Tuesday night at the home gym of the higher seed. (7 v. 14, 8 v. 13, 9 v. 12, 10 v. 11). That eliminates four teams. You then re-seed and start your traditional 10 team Arch Madness on Thursday. This is really extra perfect because the winner of each game is playing on Thursday.

Any game between a 1/2 seed against a bottom half squad would require the bottom half squad to win their third game that week against a top team playing their first game of the week.

[TBS_20]

As an ISUr fan joining the new Conference USA is the best case scenario for ISU athletics to compete at a high level across the board no matter how unlikely.

East Division

Florida A&M
Florida International
Illinois State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky


West Division

Louisiana Tech
Missouri State
New Mexico State
North Dakota State
Sam Houston State
South Dakota State
Texas-El Paso


MVFC

Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, SEMO (2 of 3 for 10 teams)
Indiana State
Murray State
North Dakota
Northern Iowa
South Dakota
Southern Illinois
Western Illinois
Youngstown State


MVC

Belmont
Bradley
Drake
Evansville
Illinois-Chicago
Indiana State
Murray State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Austin Peay, North Dakota, Northern Kentucky, South Dakota, Wright State (1/5 for 10 teams and 3 for 5 for 12 teams)

[Action10]

As an ISUr fan joining the new Conference USA is the best case scenario for ISU athletics to compete at a high level across the board no matter how unlikely.

East Division

Florida A&M
Florida International
Illinois State
Jacksonville State
Liberty
Middle Tennessee
Western Kentucky


West Division

Louisiana Tech
Missouri State
New Mexico State
North Dakota State
Sam Houston State
South Dakota State
Texas-El Paso

Interesting idea, but I am not sure how that is ISU competing at a high level. That group doesn't appear to be poised for lots of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in basketball and the CUSA champions played in the Frisco Bowl in football. Their tv deal is also a HUGE step down from the MVC in basketball.

[TBS_20]

Can't have everything all at once unless you're texas joining the SEC. Have to start somewhere. Maybe not immediately but CUSA is better for ISU long term

[Mikovio]

It would be better for losing money and losing your coaches to MVC teams.

[Action10]

Can't have everything all at once unless you're texas joining the SEC. Have to start somewhere. Maybe not immediately but CUSA is better for ISU long term

Football makes moving up more burdensome... Creighton, Wichita State and Loyola have done it quite well.