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First, I'd like to say why I am making a new thread about this instead of posting in another realignment thread. I feel that the other thread should be used to discuss conference realignment news, not every crackpot theory I could throw at it. This sort of thing would needlessly clutter it.
Anyway, with the news that the Catholic schools in the Big East are looking to split, news doors have opened up for Wichita State. Most speculation has been of an all Catholic, all private conference. However, it is possible the main motivator in this case will not be religion or the type of school, but basketball and stability.
This talk started after the Big East added Tulane, which the basketball schools fear would destroy their RPI (along with possibility of East Carolina eventually). The Catholic schools fear that the conference is going to destroy its basketball legitimacy in order to save its football schools, and they are worried about being stuck in a subpar basketball conference AND crappy football conference once the good football schools leave.
The main question is: Can the Catholic schools disband the Big East?
They have seven votes, and need a 3/4 majority vote to disband the conference (which would retain the assets of the conference and the brand name). Depending on the opposition, that may be enough. If they do so, they would not have to pay fees for leaving the conference, and would have the conferences assets in order to rebuild.
The first target will be the A10, starting with recent additions Butler and VCU. Butler has proximity to some Big East schools, like Marquette and DePaul, and brings recent success with a decent media market (Indianapolis). VCU has the same type of success, but gives less in the media market department. After raiding those schools, they will pick from the rest of the A10, probably picking Dayton, Xavier, Saint Louis, Richmond and Duquense.
This would give them a 14 team league. But the most logical addition is yet to be added. Creighton will bring you to 15, and will be a member of the Catholic majority rule in the conference, further enforcing stability. However, Creighton makes the conference uneven, and they need a partner.
This is where Wichita State could make out like kings. If the new Big East adds the previous A10 schools and Creighton, the logical choice will be to add Wichita State. That would give you a conference with Western and Eastern Divisions that play out as such:
WEST:
Butler
Dayton
Xavier
DePaul
Marquette
Creighton
Wichita State
Saint Louis
EAST:
St. John's
Georgetown
Providence
Villanova
Seton Hall
Richmond
Duquesne
VCU
In my honest opinion, this is the best case for us. We gain entry into an upper-caste league, and the western division won't cover too much more ground (geographically speaking) than the Missouri Valley did. This lets us retain our rivalry with Creighton as well, along with our budding rivalry with VCU. This league would likely double our total revenue and give us ample grounds to recruit as well.
Why could this happen?
1. We, along with Creighton, VCU, and Butler, are all looking to continue to improve our national presence. Any of those teams would immediately accept an offer if the Catholic schools gave it out.
2. The other A10 teams would most likely be bottom-dwellers, like DePaul in the Big East today, but would still be accepted because of the additional media markets (and of course, would also love to join). However, these schools still have basketball tradition, and teams like Xavier are no-brainers for this conference. Besides, every conference needs bottom-dwellers.
3. This group would make an incredibly stable conference, which is something the Catholic schools would want. None of the these schools play FBS football, and few play football at all, which means the the league's members would not be likely targets for realignment. This conference also allows the traditional power teams of the Big East to combine with current up-and-coming teams to make a very strong basketball conference, arguably a top 3 or top 4 conference at a minimum. Also, the conference would have a common background; of those schools, only Butler, Wichita State, VCU, and Richmond are non-Jesuit colleges and only Wichita State and VCU are public. Uniformity breeds stability.
4. Money. If this conference is successful, it will be far more profitable than a depleted Big East conference would. Also, as this relies on the Catholic schools ability to disband the league, they would not have to worry about paying exit fees. Long-term, this conference could get its own TV channel and serve as the functional basketball-only league the Big East half-heartedly tried to be.
5. Conference strength. As mentioned before, this would be a dangerous league. I have trouble looking at those names and not expected 6-8 bids every year, with potentially 9 or 10 in a good year. The Big East schools don't have to worry about the Tulanes and East Carolinas of the world, and the rest of the teams will receive a massive RPI boost from joining the conference.
Basically, this is the path I'd like our athletic department to actively pursue. The main problems that would stop it are:
1. The Catholic side of the Big East may not be able to successfully disband the conference, rendering this idea mute.
2. The conference may stop before 16 teams, and Wichita State is not super high priority (probably equal with VCU, for the same general reasons)
3. Catholicism over basketball: the league may decide to stay with only private Jesuit colleges
What do you think? Should we try to make this happen before it gets taken out of our hands?
Anyway, with the news that the Catholic schools in the Big East are looking to split, news doors have opened up for Wichita State. Most speculation has been of an all Catholic, all private conference. However, it is possible the main motivator in this case will not be religion or the type of school, but basketball and stability.
This talk started after the Big East added Tulane, which the basketball schools fear would destroy their RPI (along with possibility of East Carolina eventually). The Catholic schools fear that the conference is going to destroy its basketball legitimacy in order to save its football schools, and they are worried about being stuck in a subpar basketball conference AND crappy football conference once the good football schools leave.
The main question is: Can the Catholic schools disband the Big East?
They have seven votes, and need a 3/4 majority vote to disband the conference (which would retain the assets of the conference and the brand name). Depending on the opposition, that may be enough. If they do so, they would not have to pay fees for leaving the conference, and would have the conferences assets in order to rebuild.
The first target will be the A10, starting with recent additions Butler and VCU. Butler has proximity to some Big East schools, like Marquette and DePaul, and brings recent success with a decent media market (Indianapolis). VCU has the same type of success, but gives less in the media market department. After raiding those schools, they will pick from the rest of the A10, probably picking Dayton, Xavier, Saint Louis, Richmond and Duquense.
This would give them a 14 team league. But the most logical addition is yet to be added. Creighton will bring you to 15, and will be a member of the Catholic majority rule in the conference, further enforcing stability. However, Creighton makes the conference uneven, and they need a partner.
This is where Wichita State could make out like kings. If the new Big East adds the previous A10 schools and Creighton, the logical choice will be to add Wichita State. That would give you a conference with Western and Eastern Divisions that play out as such:
WEST:
Butler
Dayton
Xavier
DePaul
Marquette
Creighton
Wichita State
Saint Louis
EAST:
St. John's
Georgetown
Providence
Villanova
Seton Hall
Richmond
Duquesne
VCU
In my honest opinion, this is the best case for us. We gain entry into an upper-caste league, and the western division won't cover too much more ground (geographically speaking) than the Missouri Valley did. This lets us retain our rivalry with Creighton as well, along with our budding rivalry with VCU. This league would likely double our total revenue and give us ample grounds to recruit as well.
Why could this happen?
1. We, along with Creighton, VCU, and Butler, are all looking to continue to improve our national presence. Any of those teams would immediately accept an offer if the Catholic schools gave it out.
2. The other A10 teams would most likely be bottom-dwellers, like DePaul in the Big East today, but would still be accepted because of the additional media markets (and of course, would also love to join). However, these schools still have basketball tradition, and teams like Xavier are no-brainers for this conference. Besides, every conference needs bottom-dwellers.
3. This group would make an incredibly stable conference, which is something the Catholic schools would want. None of the these schools play FBS football, and few play football at all, which means the the league's members would not be likely targets for realignment. This conference also allows the traditional power teams of the Big East to combine with current up-and-coming teams to make a very strong basketball conference, arguably a top 3 or top 4 conference at a minimum. Also, the conference would have a common background; of those schools, only Butler, Wichita State, VCU, and Richmond are non-Jesuit colleges and only Wichita State and VCU are public. Uniformity breeds stability.
4. Money. If this conference is successful, it will be far more profitable than a depleted Big East conference would. Also, as this relies on the Catholic schools ability to disband the league, they would not have to worry about paying exit fees. Long-term, this conference could get its own TV channel and serve as the functional basketball-only league the Big East half-heartedly tried to be.
5. Conference strength. As mentioned before, this would be a dangerous league. I have trouble looking at those names and not expected 6-8 bids every year, with potentially 9 or 10 in a good year. The Big East schools don't have to worry about the Tulanes and East Carolinas of the world, and the rest of the teams will receive a massive RPI boost from joining the conference.
Basically, this is the path I'd like our athletic department to actively pursue. The main problems that would stop it are:
1. The Catholic side of the Big East may not be able to successfully disband the conference, rendering this idea mute.
2. The conference may stop before 16 teams, and Wichita State is not super high priority (probably equal with VCU, for the same general reasons)
3. Catholicism over basketball: the league may decide to stay with only private Jesuit colleges
What do you think? Should we try to make this happen before it gets taken out of our hands?
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