Conference Realignment - May 1

[MSUDuo]

Fun fact, John Goodman is a SigEp

Let's cut Casey some slack. He's a pretty nice and harmless poster from what I can tell and is good for a few laughs. I certainly enjoy his candidness more so than some of the, what young kids affectionately refer to as, trolls.

I quit caring a long time ago. Makes his gibberish a lot easier to read...

[TheAsianSensation]

Couple tidbits:

UT-Arlington expected in the next couple of days to vote on and move to the Sun Belt. They'd be a 2nd non-football with Arkansas-Little Rock. UALR was never really an expansion prize, but that's one of the escape valves for the MVC that's now closed in case we needed a member to plug a hole down the road.

Reports are that Florida St, Clemson, Miami, and Virginia Tech have had informal discussions with Big 12 officials. So this should be fun.

Also pay attention to the WAC in the coming days; they need to either apply for some NCAA waivers or add a few FCS teams to get their numbers up to allowable levels.

[MSUDuo]

I thought UT-A started/starting up football...

[Haha]

UTA talked about football, they actually have a stadium that seats enough now. I think they felt pressured by the WAC to pursue it. However with the sunbelt and UALR this would make an odd number with football (11 out of 12) and I bet they remain a non football playing institution now.

I never thought of UALR was a suitable back up plan. If they were needed I'm sure they would leave the belt for the Valley any day of the week. So I wouldn't worry about it.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

I thought UT-A started/starting up football...

I believe you are thinking of UT-San Antonio.

[TheAsianSensation]

It's becoming more and more evident seeing everyone else shuffle that it's now going to take a lot to budge any Valley team. I just can't see an opening anywhere anymore.

I thought UT-A started/starting up football...

It's still their long-term plan but they haven't formally announced the start of the program yet.



In more speculative talk,

http://www.cnnsi.com/2012/writers/luke_ ... t=hp_wr_a4

Pretty reasonable analysis of what to expect as far as who'll be the new major players in basketball once we're done with this mess. Cliff notes: There's still a bit of a Big 6, but we can catch the likes of the BEast a bit more often and easier.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Ultimately, the only real long term, sustainable option is for sports only leagues. For example, a basketball only league where schools willing to spend at high levels compete against schools with comparable levels of commitment, while olympic sports are in their own geographic/regional conferences. This would allow essentially nationwide conferences for the money making sports because the travel costs for the olympic sports wouldn't be so financially devastating.

[Khan4Cats]

Ultimately, the only real long term, sustainable option is for sports only leagues. For example, a basketball only league where schools willing to spend at high levels compete against schools with comparable levels of commitment, while olympic sports are in their own geographic/regional conferences. This would allow essentially nationwide conferences for the money making sports because the travel costs for the olympic sports wouldn't be so financially devastating.

It is an interesting proposal but how realistic do you think that to be? It would essentially mean forming minor-leagues using the colleges for the professional ranks. In the current conference structure the schools can at least pretend to be academic in nature and maintain their non-profit status. If they move to a revenue/expenditure based alliances, will they be able to maintain that charade?

Personally, I think it would be fun to see some sort of organization much like the professional soccer leagues with upper tiers and lower tiers where teams move up and down through promotion and relegation based on performance. It will never happen. Fun to think about, but that is all.

[Khan4Cats]

UTA talked about football, they actually have a stadium that seats enough now. I think they felt pressured by the WAC to pursue it. However with the sunbelt and UALR this would make an odd number with football (11 out of 12) and I bet they remain a non football playing institution now.

I never thought of UALR was a suitable back up plan. If they were needed I'm sure they would leave the belt for the Valley any day of the week. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Having an odd-number of schools playing football is actually a good thing as it allows an even number of home and road games since they don't play home and homes in football.

[Haha]

Sure but does the Belt want to play 10 league games?