More Conference Shake-UP

[valleychamp]

Yeah, its a good conference usually. That's not the point. The MVC is also a good conference. We had a few years of downswing, and now we are on our way back up. After the non-conf, people were talking 4 bids again for us.

The MVC is in a great situation with a great mix of schools, and is very stable short-term and long-term.

[unipanther99]

I can understand why some of the non-football MVC schools would be attracted to the A-10.

I really think the NCAA will be forced to do something to blur the lines between non-BCS FBS football and FCS football. If that were to happen, it would allow schools and conferences more options that make sense competitavely and geographically.

[unipanther99]

To follow up, the NCAA should throw all D-1 football together. Change the name of the current FCS football tournament to the Football NIT. Allow each school to decide (before the season... probably a multi-year agreement) if they want to participate in the Bowl system or the NIT for their post season.

[havoc]

Look, to somehow imply that the A10 is not better than the MVC because of comments like "Xavier, Dayton, and Temple have good programs. After that?" fail to take reality into account.

Look at Lunardi's current projections for tourney spots - A10 with three bids, MVC with two.
Compare the number of A10 teams that got NCAA bids last year to the number of MVC schools that got bids last year.
Do it again for the year before that.
And again for the year before that.
And again for the year before that.

The MVC has been a one bid league since 2007. This year, everyone proclaimed that the Valley was "back", yet here we are about a month from selection Sunday and we are hoping we get two whole teams into the tourney.

To use another metric, the A10 currently has NINE teams with an RPI better than 100. By comparison the MVC has four. I didn't check past years, but I'm sure you'll find the same thing since the MVc only had three teams with sub 100 RPIs.

You can't just look at magnitude of the numbers. The A-10 has 4 more schools than the MVC so obviously they should have more NCAA bids and top 100 teams. If you look at it on a percentage basis, the A-10 still seems to be a superior league, but not by as wide of a margin as you show.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

My Thoughts on CUSA: Memphis as I understand was a large part of the interest from an MSU perspective. Having the opportunity to gain exposure in that city was seen as a huge plus both athletically and in terms of establishing more of a university presence in west Tennessee. Without Memphis and most of the good Texas schools the CUSA is losing appeal here quickly. Been told my a guy who is well connected in the OVC that Middle Tennessee and La Tech have more of a mutual interest in the CUSA than MSU at this stage of the game.

On SLU: Do. Not. Want. Trust me. They are incredibly pompous and arrogant. They have a guy on their team called Kwamain Mitchell. Read about his story. Tell me how a Catholic institution allows that to represent them. But they think they are too good always. Missouri State has completely owned them for a long time. And we dominate the student section at Chaifetz when we play there.

On A10: I don't know if a lot of people are aware but Temple will be back in the Big East soon. That league takes a monster hit then. Xavier and Dayton are nice but we have a better and more cohesive conference right now. Travel is a nightmare.

[TylerDurden]

My Thoughts on CUSA: Memphis as I understand was a large part of the interest from an MSU perspective. Having the opportunity to gain exposure in that city was seen as a huge plus both athletically and in terms of establishing more of a university presence in west Tennessee. Without Memphis and most of the good Texas schools the CUSA is losing appeal here quickly. Been told my a guy who is well connected in the OVC that Middle Tennessee and La Tech have more of a mutual interest in the CUSA than MSU at this stage of the game.

On SLU: Do. Not. Want. Trust me. They are incredibly pompous and arrogant. They have a guy on their team called Kwamain Mitchell. Read about his story. Tell me how a Catholic institution allows that to represent them. But they think they are too good always. Missouri State has completely owned them for a long time. And we dominate the student section at Chaifetz when we play there.

On A10: I don't know if a lot of people are aware but Temple will be back in the Big East soon. That league takes a monster hit then. Xavier and Dayton are nice but we have a better and more cohesive conference right now. Travel is a nightmare.

Man, you're well connected

[DoubleJayAlum]

On A10: I don't know if a lot of people are aware but Temple will be back in the Big East soon. That league takes a monster hit then. Xavier and Dayton are nice but we have a better and more cohesive conference right now. Travel is a nightmare.

Perhaps you didn't hear ----

Temple tried to get into the Big East several months ago. Villanova said no way and indicated they would block any attempts to get its Philly rival into the conference. They even went so far as to recruit other schools to their position by indicating that they will also help block other schools located in present BE cities. Temple has ZERO chance to get into the Big East as long as Villanova is a member.

Your sources always seem to have faulty information. I'd either look for new sources or stop believing absolutely everything you hear.

[ShockValue]

A serious question using a hypothetical situation for CU fans. If the A-10 called tomorrow and offered a spot to CU along with say Butler or someone else, would you take it? Remember Majerus doesn't even want to be in the A10.

[shocktheheart]

On A10: I don't know if a lot of people are aware but Temple will be back in the Big East soon. That league takes a monster hit then. Xavier and Dayton are nice but we have a better and more cohesive conference right now. Travel is a nightmare.

Perhaps you didn't hear ----

Temple tried to get into the Big East several months ago. Villanova said no way and indicated they would block any attempts to get its Philly rival into the conference. They even went so far as to recruit other schools to their position by indicating that they will also help block other schools located in present BE cities. Temple has ZERO chance to get into the Big East as long as Villanova is a member.

Your sources always seem to have faulty information. I'd either look for new sources or stop believing absolutely everything you hear.

[jwa123]

Casey, in all honesty, I do enjoy your posts and I admire your enthusiasm!

However, I do have to ask, why would someone in the OVC know what MTSU and La Tech want to do? MTSU is in the Sunbelt and La Tech is in the WAC. I do admit that both fit the geographic footprint of the C-USA, for now anyway, but what makes someone in the OVC privy to such information?