Non-Big East Conference Realignment Thread v. 2017

[GoldenWarrior11]

Bad news for USF, Tulane, and ECU. They will never make the tournament. Memphis and UConn will be down again next year.

[AACguy]

MVC discussion on Wichita's move. The Valley is sinking quickly.

http://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4676

[butlerguy03]

MVC discussion on Wichita's move. The Valley is sinking quickly.

http://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4676

Kind of sad to read. The end of a great era in that conference. Reminds me a lot of Butler leaving the Horizon/MCC, which had been a conference that was multi-bid potential for many years until the Dawgs left.

[stever20]

the thing you really wonder is if it's the end of the era for the mid major. Pretty much all the power now in 7 conferences. Look at Lunardi's way too early bracketology for next year. He had Wichita in as a MVC champion with only 1 from that conference. So AAC with 3 now, and you take out the last team which is San Diego St- and that becomes the MVC champion auto bid. So with that- only 2 at larges from outside the top 7 conferences. 1 ea from A10 and WCC. Oh, and the A10 at large- 2nd team in the tourney now. With the top 7 conferences having all at least 3 bids- with the AAC at 3 being the lowest(but 3 top 4 seeds).

[bluejayfanatic]

I know it's counterintuitive but what we are actually seeing with all this realignment is a slow return to how things used to be. The AAC is developing into the MVC of the 60s and 70s with schools like Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, Tulsa, and Wichita. The MVC (especially if it reacts to the loss of Wichita by grabbing the Dakota schools) is turning into the type of conference that many of its existing conference members left to join the MVC (the Summit/Mid-Con). And the Big East has largely returned to what it was originally - a group of private Catholic schools laser focused on high-major basketball (and before the Big East, many basketball-focused private schools like Creighton, Marquette, and DePaul played each other regularly as independents). Obviously geography has shifted somewhat but it's interesting to consider this perspective.

[sciencejay]

Question: does anybody see a point in the near future when the NCAA removes the auto bid from a 'conference'? I would suggest that even without WSU, the MVC is still well above the SoCon and several other one-bid conferences, but at some point, does the NCAA finalize the separation between the equivalent of FBS and FCS schools? I would think they won't, but I could see them allowing the F5 (hopefully with the BEast although I don't think it's guaranteed) to create their own basketball tourney/championship. Then it would be over for those left out since there would be no money for them.

[stever20]

Question: does anybody see a point in the near future when the NCAA removes the auto bid from a 'conference'? I would suggest that even without WSU, the MVC is still well above the SoCon and several other one-bid conferences, but at some point, does the NCAA finalize the separation between the equivalent of FBS and FCS schools? I would think they won't, but I could see them allowing the F5 (hopefully with the BEast although I don't think it's guaranteed) to create their own basketball tourney/championship. Then it would be over for those left out since there would be no money for them.

no chance. They just redid the TV deal until like 2032. That's predicated on the current structure.

[GreatDaneAttorney]

I really do believe Wichita St is a great addition to the American. That said, they may not immediately help out the # of bids: Wichita St's non-conference RPI was only 59 last year with a non-conference strength of schedule at 213. In 2015-16, Wichita St had a non-conference RPI of 171! Before conference play this year, Wichita St was only #24 in Kenpom. Both years, Wichita St surged in RPI and Kenpom rankings after beating up on a soft Missouri Valley. Wichita St's non-conference RPI this year would have been 8th in the Big East!

To maximize NCAA tourney bids, the American doesn't need Wichita St winning conference games, it needs Wichita St to win a bunch of marquee non-conference games then go 9-9 in conference play. But Wichita St hasn't been scheduling very well, nor have they been delivering wins in the non-conference. To make matters worse, I expect Wichita St will play rather soft non-conference schedules the next couple of years because (1) their schedule is now in flux with the conference change and it might be difficult to put together a cohesive schedule, and (2) Wichita St might schedule higher RPI teams to pick up easy W's before getting into a much more difficult conference schedule.

In short, Wichita St might only produce a small impact on RPI and Kenpom rankings for American teams and may not even increase the # of bids, even as the perception of the league increases dramatically.

[marquette]

I wonder, now that the MVC has lost its two biggest fan-bases, if Arch Madness still makes sense. It might make more sense for them to begin hosting the conference tournament at member sites instead. Lower overhead.

[Omaha1]

Here is a map of the Arch Madness ticket allotment the last time both Creighton and Wichita St played in the MVC. Now take away all the blue and gold. It's going to be pretty empty inside that 20k seat arena.