Conference Realignment: What Next?

[MUBoxer]

Maybe elite 8 is ambitious, but I remember exactly how much damage a mid major super star can do to a team in the tournament (see Morant, Ja) I'd pencil them in for a S16 given that they were statistically a 1 seed at the time, 3 major conference wins, two OT losses one of which was to Kansas's unfortunately we'll never know but I think you're selling them short at least a little bit.

Perhaps I'm being dismissive, but too many 1 & 2 seeds never made it out of the 1st weekend for me to just assume that Dayton missed out on a long tourney run. A better Nova team in 2017 with 5 future NBA players and SR Kris Jenkins is a perfect example.

It's got to be torture for Dayton fans that will always have the what if hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives of what could have happened.

Absolutely, I've seen Dayton fans on Reddit say they were likely a final four team that year which is laughable but shows just how much it really burns in their mind.

[Bogg]

Pros: Side project brewery, Perennial Artisan Ales, an unnamed taco spot in soulard,

I hate wasting money and time, yet I've been dragged to that hole of a city for a friends grad school graduation from SLU, my sister Irish dancing, a hurling tournament, my ex girlfriend moving there, my fiancés family vacation, and my friend's bday while he was there. I've explored it considerably (two BBQ spots, Italian on the hill, some 6+ breweries, taco spot that was actually good, their iconic Irish pub, the city museum, the arch, etc) and not once have I driven away feeling like I didn't waste my time and money (except at the aforementioned breweries). It's not a "hate boner" I just really hate wasting money and time. It took a third shot at Indianapolis before I changed my similar thoughts.

I just can't fathom adding Belmont with the primary justification being that Nashville has good bars. If a couple dozen Marquette fans want to catch live music then they should ask the AD to ink a series with Vandy.

[Cheech]

Lol..have to admit that is funny… we were thinking maybe DePaul , they draw about the same as those schools.

[butlerguy03]

Just posting this here for anyone questioning St. John's attendance at MSG and the importance of a rivalry vs Georgetown, even when both teams are mediocre and there's a pandemic.

https://twitter.com/AustinKarp/status/1 ... 6873420808

Red Storm's win over Georgetown on Sunday averaged 2.02 million viewers. Third-best college hoops audience ever for Fox Sports.

No. 1: St. John's-Xavier: Jan. 5, 2020: 2.31 million
No. 2: Duke-St. John's: Jan. 25, 2015: 2.17 million

Obviously this was largely due to it being after an NFL game, but clearly Fox knows something about big brands and big arenas. Nobody cares about how many fans Dayton draws in whatever their arena is called.

CBS has also aired this series a bunch in the past, so both networks I'm sure know it draws/retains eyeballs.

What was the AQH? I'd imagine that in a graph form, it would have an immediate fall off, then a long tail down. Total numbers isn't what TV is looking for - its consistent numbers, which mean across breaks. I'd bet most of that number was gone before the first commercial. I'm not trying to s**t on the conference, but they didn't get that number against the NFL.

[adoraz]

Just posting this here for anyone questioning St. John's attendance at MSG and the importance of a rivalry vs Georgetown, even when both teams are mediocre and there's a pandemic.

https://twitter.com/AustinKarp/status/1 ... 6873420808

Red Storm's win over Georgetown on Sunday averaged 2.02 million viewers. Third-best college hoops audience ever for Fox Sports.

No. 1: St. John's-Xavier: Jan. 5, 2020: 2.31 million
No. 2: Duke-St. John's: Jan. 25, 2015: 2.17 million

Obviously this was largely due to it being after an NFL game, but clearly Fox knows something about big brands and big arenas. Nobody cares about how many fans Dayton draws in whatever their arena is called.

CBS has also aired this series a bunch in the past, so both networks I'm sure know it draws/retains eyeballs.

What was the AQH? I'd imagine that in a graph form, it would have an immediate fall off, then a long tail down. Total numbers isn't what TV is looking for - its consistent numbers, which mean across breaks. I'd bet most of that number was gone before the first commercial. I'm not trying to s**t on the conference, but they didn't get that number against the NFL.

I don't know but my point is there's a reason why Fox/CBS constantly airs this series during big time slots. People are more likely to stay tuned in if it's a rivarily, big names, and a big arena. Keep in mind Fox also airs the Big Ten, so all of their most watched games being Big East (and St. John's) absolutely has some significance. Are there other games that could've out drawn this during that time slot? Absolutely, but my point is it's not a coincidence that this series airs on Fox/CBS primarily (as opposed to FS1 and CBSSN).

[Xudash]

Just posting this here for anyone questioning St. John's attendance at MSG and the importance of a rivalry vs Georgetown, even when both teams are mediocre and there's a pandemic.

https://twitter.com/AustinKarp/status/1 ... 6873420808

Red Storm's win over Georgetown on Sunday averaged 2.02 million viewers. Third-best college hoops audience ever for Fox Sports.

No. 1: St. John's-Xavier: Jan. 5, 2020: 2.31 million
No. 2: Duke-St. John's: Jan. 25, 2015: 2.17 million

Obviously this was largely due to it being after an NFL game, but clearly Fox knows something about big brands and big arenas. Nobody cares about how many fans Dayton draws in whatever their arena is called.

CBS has also aired this series a bunch in the past, so both networks I'm sure know it draws/retains eyeballs.

What was the AQH? I'd imagine that in a graph form, it would have an immediate fall off, then a long tail down. Total numbers isn't what TV is looking for - its consistent numbers, which mean across breaks. I'd bet most of that number was gone before the first commercial. I'm not trying to s**t on the conference, but they didn't get that number against the NFL.

I don't know but my point is there's a reason why Fox/CBS constantly airs this series during big time slots. People are more likely to stay tuned in if it's a rivarily, big names, and a big arena. Keep in mind Fox also airs the Big Ten, so all of their most watched games being Big East (and St. John's) absolutely has some significance. Are there other games that could've out drawn this during that time slot? Absolutely, but my point is it's not a coincidence that this series airs on Fox/CBS primarily (as opposed to FS1 and CBSSN).

Spot on adoraz. That contest was placed on that channel at that time by the Fox programming executives for a reason.

[Bogg]

To be fair people latched onto that portion of my statement (which I still stand by!) the point people should have taken is that in a very short period being D1 Belmont has won 12 regular season championships (a better barometer for mid and low major success than tournament appearances). And is now about to enter that "next rung below the high majors" so if we're going to sit around waiting on a team in a major metropolitan market to start to pull away from the fray and make a name for themselves then why not at least keep an eye on them? they've shown commitment and success, id be curious to see if the attendance, ncaa success, and viewership increase with the bump in conference where they'll be receiving better seeds, at large bids, and playing better teams.

But yes on top of all that I'd say I'm selfishly including where is a more entertaining city.

It's not crazy to look at Belmont and think they're upwardly aspirational and maybe eventually destined for more down the line. However, Belmont needs, generously, a solid decade of aggressive expansion before they would start looking like a Big East candidate and the expansion discussion is pretty focused on the new media deal that'll kick in in the mid-20s. There's at least a half-dozen A10 schools and probably a few in the MVC that are far and away more ready for a Big East move right now than Belmont.

[stever20]

getting back to realignment- not new ones but CUSA released this statement today:
“Conference USA fully expects everyone to follow our bylaws and honor their contractual obligations through the 2022-23 academic year. All fourteen members will continue to be eligible for conference championships and the postseason opportunities Conference USA provides.”

Sure sounds like a this is what we want rather than this is what's going to happen.

I'd be curious what has been done to change the bylaws from them in 2013 when UCF, Memphis, SMU, and Houston moved to the AAC in 9 months similar to this situation.

I think we're still a ways off before all the moves for next year have been made.

[xusandy]

Every year this board generates pages and pages of posts about expansion. For the first time since we came together as the NEW BEAST, I have zero desire to add another team or two, zero anxiety about somebody poaching a team or two from us, and close to zero interest in how the current situation resolves itself. IF the BE gets really lucky, ND or Gonzaga might be available and interested sometime in the next 5 years, and if so, hooray. If Fox pushes us to get a footprint in another good media market, then we would probably look first at St. Louis or Duquesne; Detroit Mercy or Belmont or ???? are just not ready for a major conference.

But all those what-ifs are all just daydreaming, and I think we probably have the good fortune to remain intact/unchanged for the foreseeable future. Here's hoping.

[gtmoBlue]

Let's get NYC's Team - Duke.