Scheduling Going Forward

[BCPanther]

Mark Adams has talked about a flex scheduling concept that gives top teams multiple chances against each other with the thought that it will increase the strength of schedule.

CUSA tried it. It was a spectacular failure. The theory is awesome but not so great in practice.

[RacerJoeD]

Part of that is CUSA- a dumpster fire of a conference. The theory is sound, if the problem you’re trying to solve is Q1/Q2 games. If that isn’t the problem, it doesn’t solve it

[squirrel]

Part of that is CUSA- a dumpster fire of a conference. The theory is sound, if the problem you’re trying to solve is Q1/Q2 games. If that isn’t the problem, it doesn’t solve it

Bingo.

In the past, the Valley has had anywhere from 4-6 top 100 teams. CUSA only has 3, then it drops to about 120 for the 4th best team. (Valley only has 2 at the moment.)

(Although, that pretty much matches the Valley this year for 1, 2 and 4. But CUSA's 3rd best team has about a 20 spot edge.)

And while obviously it doesn't work this way, but if you moved Murray and Belmont in this year, you'd have 3 top 50, and a 4th in the top 100.

[bleach]

If the Valley used the "Flex" to schedule, that would just mean more losses for the top teams. If it did work, they would say we were gaming the system like they did about the RPI and change the criteria again.
The big boys won't let go of control. It won't be a level field.

[BCPanther]

The best thing that can possibly happen to this league is the DI reform that cuts off the bottom 150 and expands the tournament.

[VUGrad1314]

The best thing that can possibly happen to this league is the DI reform that cuts off the bottom 150 and expands the tournament.

And how do you judge that? What makes a school part of the Bottom 150? Given the cyclical nature of performance at the mid major level there are schools that might find themselves there one year and then in the top 50 2-3 years later. Moreover, there are schools that have fallen on hard times now that had a lot of tradition in the past and may be one solid hire away from changing their fortunes for the better again. I think you'd have to look at athletic budget and ability to invest as the operating metric for this in order for it to be the most reasonable.

[VUGrad1314]

Interesting stuff from Matt Brown here:

MVC considering playing other championship events (except Men's basketball) in Chicago. Does this mean Soccer Championships at Soldier Field or Toyota Park? Baseball Championships at Wrigley? Some very cool and potentially mutually beneficial possibilities.

MVC has apparently reiterated that the door is still open on expansion but that there is no timetable or even defined list of candidates\notion of what they are looking for in a candidate. Sounds like what we're all thinking unless it's an undeniable home run that adds value to the league on Day 1 it's not going to happen and that's a good thing.

Scheduling HL teams in the non-conference will be good. I'm glad to see they're keeping their relationship strong with their former conference. I remember the situation when Valpo left was a bit messy but it seems as though it's been resolved which is a good thing.

https://csnbbs.com/thread-940961-page-2.html

[BCPanther]

The best thing that can possibly happen to this league is the DI reform that cuts off the bottom 150 and expands the tournament.

And how do you judge that? What makes a school part of the Bottom 150? Given the cyclical nature of performance at the mid major level there are schools that might find themselves there one year and then in the top 50 2-3 years later. Moreover, there are schools that have fallen on hard times now that had a lot of tradition in the past and may be one solid hire away from changing their fortunes for the better again. I think you'd have to look at athletic budget and ability to invest as the operating metric for this in order for it to be the most reasonable.

Exactly. If you take the leagues that average $3M per school in basketball budget, you lose the bottom 150 and about half the leagues. 96 team tournament to give CBS/Turner two more full days of games and watch the money roll.

EDIT--Forgot the Ivy League. There's no way they won't throw a fit about not being included.

P5 + Big East, AAC, A10, Valley, MW, WCC, CUSA, MAC, Sun Belt, SoCon and MAAC. You have to include the CAA and Big Sky because they are most likely going to be in the second level of football after that shuffling and you end up with 204 teams which is the perfect size for DI.

Imagine an NCAA Tournament that lasts two days longer and gets rid of all the dead weight at the bottom.

[05Racer]

The best thing that can possibly happen to this league is the DI reform that cuts off the bottom 150 and expands the tournament.

And how do you judge that? What makes a school part of the Bottom 150? Given the cyclical nature of performance at the mid major level there are schools that might find themselves there one year and then in the top 50 2-3 years later. Moreover, there are schools that have fallen on hard times now that had a lot of tradition in the past and may be one solid hire away from changing their fortunes for the better again. I think you'd have to look at athletic budget and ability to invest as the operating metric for this in order for it to be the most reasonable.

Exactly. If you take the leagues that average $3M per school in basketball budget, you lose the bottom 150 and about half the leagues. 96 team tournament to give CBS/Turner two more full days of games and watch the money roll.

EDIT--Forgot the Ivy League. There's no way they won't throw a fit about not being included.

P5 + Big East, AAC, A10, Valley, MW, WCC, CUSA, MAC, Sun Belt, SoCon and MAAC. You have to include the CAA and Big Sky because they are most likely going to be in the second level of football after that shuffling and you end up with 204 teams which is the perfect size for DI.

Imagine an NCAA Tournament that lasts two days longer and gets rid of all the dead weight at the bottom.

My only issue with this is that it leaves out the HBCU. I'd make exceptions for them and the military academies. The Ivy League can take a hike though. They think they're better than everybody else and should get special consideration because.... and I'm not sure how to end that sentence. I'm not an expert on other sports but in basketball, other than Princeton, they've not been good for a long time now. Given the people who attend such elite institutions and the cost of attendance, they should theoretically have plenty of cash to spend on basketball or football or yacht building or whatever else they want, yet they're still pretty awful. Just not sure why they should get any consideration at all. "Because all the richest and most powerful people send their kids here" sounds like a reason to examine their admissions policies for possible biases and other shenanigans, not a reason they should get into the highest level of division one.

[BCPanther]

I think the carve out for HBCUs will be that they 'count' as DI games so they can take buy games and will get an increased share in the money from the second tournament. Putting them in the top division ensures that they have no chance to be competitive, ever.

And the Ivy League, yeah, you're right but we know how that turns out.