Conference Realignment - May 1

[TheAsianSensation]

Butler will announce tomorrow they are leaving the Horizon for the A-10 and will join in 2013-2014, so does the Horizon poach Oakland now?

I think Detroit will try to block Oakland. Whether or not they succeed is another matter.

Other than that, Horizon's about out of options. IUPUI is hardly a prize. Northern Kentucky wants in, but that's a D-1 upstart. Morehead St fits the geography but they're just not good enough. Robert Morris...WIU....Chicago State? The choices get dicey, fast. Which is why I think they try and go after Evansville hard.

MWC fans have been on ShockerNet this week saying the CUSA/MWC merger is FB only and the MWC is looking to add 2 eastern basketball-only schools. They have CU and WSU at the top of their list.

The A-10 looks like a better option for CU. The MWC would be a no-brainer for WSU, especially if CU was leaving the Valley.

Wouldn't they need just one to fill the Hawaii hole?

MWC's at 9 teams for all sports, 10 for football. If they go to 12 in football, they definitely need a non-football member. However, if they stay 9 and 10, then they could ride it out with 9. Of course, with a merger, then you need the non-football member.

Creighton and Wichita would be the runaway favorites for that spot, along with Denver (although they duplicate a market generally covered by AFA and CSU already).

[pafan]

Butler will officially announce its plans to join the A10 at a press conference in about two hours.

So now there are two mid-major leagues that look unstable: The WAC and the Horizon. What would folks think about a 12 member MVC plus Milwaukee and Denver?

[TylerDurden]

The chances of the Mountain West adding schools without football is very, very small. Schools without football don't address their issues without creating more.

You can live with an odd number of basketball programs if you have to. They'll likely go to at least 12 full members, more likely they'll want 13-15 to have 14-16 football members and divisional play. Idaho and New Mexico State are both WAC teams that play football and, with the WAC on life support, don't be shocked if they end up as numbers 10 and 11 for the MWC.

With 11 full members and 12 football schools, the MWC would be fine for a bit. I think they'll want to have more full members with football, but that at least allows them to have a championship game in football and a full slate for hoops and other sports.

If we all should have learned anything at this point, it's that you can never say never and the next school named is probably one you don't expect (but they'll have a football team). Maybe UTEP switches from C-USA to the MWC? Maybe that MWC/C-USA merger isn't totally dead just yet (it probably is)?

I still question the wisdom of a school wanting to leave a very stable league to jump into this chaos, but to each their own.

To me, the key person in this entire process as it relates to the MVC is the new president at Creighton. If his "vision" for CU involves recruiting students from and gaining exposure on the East Coast (like SLU) then he'll be the one to push the domino. New presidents tend to want to make a mark. Sometimes it's a good mark, other times it's a skid mark.

WSU will have a new president soon, too. That person also becomes a key component as soon as they are named.

Short of one of those two people forcing a move, the MVC looks like a beacon of stability. MVC expansion, by picking up some of the HL (or other) teams, is probably worth exploring but isn't completely necessary unless you have a perfect fit, IMO.

[ictjay]

I understand Cu's Fr Lannon has reached out to the Big East/A-10.

[TheAsianSensation]

Butler will officially announce its plans to join the A10 at a press conference in about two hours.

So now there are two mid-major leagues that look unstable: The WAC and the Horizon. What would folks think about a 12 member MVC plus Milwaukee and Denver?

It's not a terrible idea, but I think the MVC is better off taking big fish in medium ponds (Omaha, Wichita, Peoria, et al) than taking small fish in big ponds. They may work as a fill-in for a departing member but I don't know if I actively pursue them.

Denver and New Mexico St might be worth exploring though, if we're going along the same lines.

You can live with an odd number of basketball programs if you have to.

9 is one thing, but 11 or 13?

Also, the merger is a really weird thing that's been on and off about 47 billion times in the last month. Right now, CUSA/MWC have a combined 24 teams, so further expansion by either puts a big wrench into any potential merger. It may not happen, but I think both conferences will want to keep it in play for the next year or so, and that means no more expansion. (MWC may have to replace Air Force soon but that's another matter).

[kochhead22]

The chances of the Mountain West adding schools without football is very, very small. Schools without football don't address their issues without creating more.

You can live with an odd number of basketball programs if you have to. They'll likely go to at least 12 full members, more likely they'll want 13-15 to have 14-16 football members and divisional play. Idaho and New Mexico State are both WAC teams that play football and, with the WAC on life support, don't be shocked if they end up as numbers 10 and 11 for the MWC.

With 11 full members and 12 football schools, the MWC would be fine for a bit. I think they'll want to have more full members with football, but that at least allows them to have a championship game in football and a full slate for hoops and other sports.

If we all should have learned anything at this point, it's that you can never say never and the next school named is probably one you don't expect (but they'll have a football team). Maybe UTEP switches from C-USA to the MWC? Maybe that MWC/C-USA merger isn't totally dead just yet (it probably is)?

I still question the wisdom of a school wanting to leave a very stable league to jump into this chaos, but to each their own.

To me, the key person in this entire process as it relates to the MVC is the new president at Creighton. If his "vision" for CU involves recruiting students from and gaining exposure on the East Coast (like SLU) then he'll be the one to push the domino. New presidents tend to want to make a mark. Sometimes it's a good mark, other times it's a skid mark.

WSU will have a new president soon, too. That person also becomes a key component as soon as they are named.

Short of one of those two people forcing a move, the MVC looks like a beacon of stability. MVC expansion, by picking up some of the HL (or other) teams, is probably worth exploring but isn't completely necessary unless you have a perfect fit, IMO.

Ya just so you know, that was taken care of last week. . . http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/27/231363 ... k=misearch

[TylerDurden]

You can live with an odd number of basketball programs if you have to.

9 is one thing, but 11 or 13?

Also, the merger is a really weird thing that's been on and off about 47 billion times in the last month. Right now, CUSA/MWC have a combined 24 teams, so further expansion by either puts a big wrench into any potential merger. It may not happen, but I think both conferences will want to keep it in play for the next year or so, and that means no more expansion. (MWC may have to replace Air Force soon but that's another matter).

I agree with the weirdness of the merger. Methinks they had too many cooks in the kitchen and couldn't get everyone on the same menu. I don't think either league is finished expanding. C-USA is looking for more in addition to the schools they just brought in, from what I hear. Whether that expansion happens soon remains to be seen. But 24 teams isn't the limit for a merger, again from what I've heard, especially since the framework is far from finalized. It could be a recruiting tool.

I also agree that both leagues want to keep the merger in play but, it could be a multi-year process to sort the legal business as they relate to a merger -- so both want to shore up their FB existence in the mean time. It's a waiting game at some level.

Yes, you can live with 11 or 13 basketball teams. Scheduling isn't ideal in those situations, but the B1G had a model for 11 and 13 can be split into divisions and work. Plenty of leagues play unbalanced schedules. The A10 definitely does.

The key for the MWC is to get the numbers right for football, everything else will be forced to work.

Interestingly enough (at least to me) is the thought that a shift in how the BCS operates could have a lot of school regretting the decisions they're making now for the sake of an automatic BCS bid.

[TheAsianSensation]

CUSA is about to add 6, and wants more? Holy schmoley.

See, if they can't get all their ducks lined up to merge 24 programs together, what makes them think they can cram 28 or 32? Although they did reportedly offer the Big East a few months ago to be part of a 32-team conference. I think they wait with their 24 teams anyways, because it's going to take time to get UTSA, Charlotte, and ODU up to speed. I don't think you want to add more upstarts because you start to diminish your product.

BCS playoff changes probably won't cause much regrets. Boise has better access to the playoff in the Big East than the MWC, and there's more money there. Same for the others that shoehorned their way in there.

[CaliRdBrd]

I'd really like to see our conference stay intact. Picking up any of the teams that have been mentioned here would be a big step down. Also, losing CU or WSU would be devastating, to me anyway.

[Ali]

I'd really like to see our conference stay intact. Picking up any of the teams that have been mentioned here would be a big step down. Also, losing CU or WSU would be devastating, to me anyway.

I get the feeling that CU and WSU are both gone as soon as someone asks.