Conference Shake Up 2.0

[1972Shocker]

There is a silver lining for KU in the shake-up of the Big 12 conference. Apparently, the exit fees due from TAM and Mizzou will provide KU with $4 million of the $6 million they need to buyout Turner Gill's contract. Ah, pay for performance -- such a wonderful thing. Nice legacy Lew.

[Love_Wu]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/7177969/big-east-announces-unanimous-vote-invite-new-members

"Boise State and Air Force of the Mountain West have been widely reported as the Big East's football-only targets, along with Houston, UCF and SMU of Conference USA for all sports."

This quote could become important to us Shockers very soon. If the Big East pilfers from C-USA, which I feel is step up from the MVC and offers more in terms of revenue, then we may have a decision to make. We can stick with the MVC and hope our new television contracts increase viewership of our sports, or we can take the initiative. A move to the C-USA may even be the catalyst our administration needs to truly bring the discussion of football back to the table.

[SubGod22]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/st...te-new-members

"Boise State and Air Force of the Mountain West have been widely reported as the Big East's football-only targets, along with Houston, UCF and SMU of Conference USA for all sports."

This quote could become important to us Shockers very soon. If the Big East pilfers from C-USA, which I feel is step up from the MVC and offers more in terms of revenue, then we may have a decision to make. We can stick with the MVC and hope our new television contracts increase viewership of our sports, or we can take the initiative. A move to the C-USA may even be the catalyst our administration needs to truly bring the discussion of football back to the table.

I've looked at this on MVCFans and the Valley as a conference has been stronger based upon RPI. Losing SMU may actually help CUSA in basketball. UCF to me is a bit of a wild card and I think losing Houston hurts. They still have Memphis, UAB, UTEP and Tulsa which are solid programs. Southern Miss is improving and Marshall isn't horrid. Memphis has been carrying the conference and if they're staying, it still may be worth considering. It'd be more worth considering if we could get a deal with either Creighton and/or Missouri State to go as well. That would severely weaken the MVC and add some pretty good strength to CUSA. Creighton would be my first choice to team up with if it were possible. With at least one other team, CUSA could end up being stronger and it would be a lot of fun to play Tulsa, UAB, UTEP and Memphis every year. With the current staff, playing more games in the South would be a plus. The markets are better from a TV perspective. And no matter what the RPI says, they have a more favorable image in the media than the MVC does.

CUSA will be looking to add a couple of teams and have said they're open to non-football schools. At least potentially. To get back to 12, if the reports are true, they'll need three. Lets say we're one. They'd probably like to add somebody from the East to replace UCF. Could they go into CAA and steal and ODU or Mason? They'd lose Florida but gain Virginia. Any way they add both and only one from the Valley? Still, in that case you'd have a division split of

WEST - Wichita State, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, Tulane and Memphis/Southern Miss
EAST - ODU, GM, Marshall, ECU, UAB and Memphis/Southern Miss

Both Memphis and USM would stay in the West if just one from CAA was added and two from the Valley. Either way, CUSA would look a lot more attractive than the MVC in either scenario

[Love_Wu]

I've looked at this on MVCFans and the Valley as a conference has been stronger based upon RPI....

CUSA will be looking to add a couple of teams and have said they're open to non-football schools. At least potentially. To get back to 12, if the reports are true, they'll need three. Lets say we're one. They'd probably like to add somebody from the East to replace UCF. Could they go into CAA and steal and ODU or Mason? They'd lose Florida but gain Virginia. Any way they add both and only one from the Valley? Still, in that case you'd have a division split of

WEST - Wichita State, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, Tulane and Memphis/Southern Miss
EAST - ODU, GM, Marshall, ECU, UAB and Memphis/Southern Miss

Both Memphis and USM would stay in the West if just one from CAA was added and two from the Valley. Either way, CUSA would look a lot more attractive than the MVC in either scenario

I find a lot of value in your words. I didn't make it clear in my first post, but the lack of overall strength in the MVC is what brings us down. C-USA seems more well rounded, and with the right schools brought in, would become even stronger.

What's scary to think about is that this scenario could be easily flipped, with C-USA sitting on its laurels and the MVC making news in the media about conference realignment. It's not necessarily a bad thing to want to keep things the way they have been, but the MVC should also try to make it self better, or at least better then other similar conferences. It seems we, the MVC, have let the likes of Conference USA, CAA, A-10, and the MWC pull away from us over the years. Either the MVC fixes this or we should take the matter in our own hands.

[SubGod22]

I find a lot of value in your words. I didn't make it clear in my first post, but the lack of overall strength in the MVC is what brings us down. C-USA seems more well rounded, and with the right schools brought in, would become even stronger.

What's scary to think about is that this scenario could be easily flipped, with C-USA sitting on its laurels and the MVC making news in the media about conference realignment. It's not necessarily a bad thing to want to keep things the way they have been, but the MVC should also try to make it self better, or at least better then other similar conferences. It seems we, the MVC, have let the likes of Conference USA, CAA, A-10, and the MWC pull away from us over the years. Either the MVC fixes this or we should take the matter in our own hands.

I'm not sure the MVC has a lot of options. Everyone would love to see us get Dayton and Butler, but they're not leaving their current situations. Some like Saint Louis, but they're a middle of the pack Valley team at best. The best we could hope for in the current climate is someone like Wright State. Not sure it's a splash, but it is a solid program that would grow the footprint.

Really, the way it looks, we'd have to base expansion more off of what we think a school has the potential to do and become with Valley backing. Unless things fall apart in the Big East or A-10, we're not going to find any "sexy" teams to join us.

Our best bet, is to look outside and see what CUSA or even the MWC could potentially offer us if they're willing to add non-football schools.

[1972Shocker]

If it comes down to the CUSA recruiting one MVC school would Missouri State have an advantage over Wichita State because they have a football program (albeit one that is not at the CUSA level at this point)?

[SubGod22]

If it comes down to the CUSA recruiting one MVC school would Missouri State have an advantage over Wichita State because they have a football program (albeit one that is not at the CUSA level at this point)?

I've wondered that. But the school as a whole is also having some financial difficulties. I could see where WSU would be more attractive as a whole, even without football. And they've mentioned non-football schools recently as a possibility, so I could see us being an option.

[RoyalShock]

There is no doubt in my mind that if just WSU moved to CUSA, CUSA - even without Houston - becomes clearly better than the MVC in its current state.

While it would be nice to have a Valley member come along, I'm not sure CU or MSU will look that attractive to CUSA. CU fans, who know what their AD's budget looks like, are concerned about being able to afford the up-to-$2000 stipend. MSU has little revenue potential and rely mostly on student/school support to stay afloat. Same goes for most of the other MVC public schools. Ironically, of the public schools, only UNI gets less than 50% of their athletic funds from students or the institution.

I really think WSU would be the most attractive Valley school to CUSA.

[SubGod22]

There is no doubt in my mind that if just WSU moved to CUSA, CUSA - even without Houston - becomes clearly better than the MVC in its current state.

While it would be nice to have a Valley member come along, I'm not sure CU or MSU will look that attractive to CUSA. CU fans, who know what their AD's budget looks like, are concerned about being able to afford the up-to-$2000 stipend. MSU has little revenue potential and rely mostly on student/school support to stay afloat. Same goes for most of the other MVC public schools. Ironically, of the public schools, only UNI gets less than 50% of their athletic funds from students or the institution.

I really think WSU would be the most attractive Valley school to CUSA.

Is CU really worried about that? I'd like to hear from @DoubleJayAlum: on that one. I figured WSU and CU would be the two that would look the best. Maybe I'm wrong. And if just we went, I could probably make the argument either way of who was better. But it also depends on who else they'd add. They are losing 3 schools and you'd think they'd want to be at 12 and stick with the East/West split. If football isn't going to drive it, the CAA would be a good conference to go after for CUSA.

All of my thinking is based pretty much only on basketball. So other factors could make some of what I say not be likely. I actually kind of like my idea of adding WSU, Mason and ODU. I'd have to look into the overall programs of the other two, but it wouldn't suck. Any way CUSA could pull and A10 team or two away? I don't follow the A10 very closely and not sure how entrenched all those schools are. What if they could pull a Dayton and/or Xavier away as well?

[RoyalShock]

From the CU board:

The $2,000 stipend (per year?) to be paid to student athletes will again put a gap between the BCA programs and the non BCS. The big schools will have no problem with this. Creighton, with our tight budget as it is, will not be able to up each athlete's scholly by $2,000.

We give out a bunch of fulls for Men's and Women's basketball and volleyball. At least 30 probably. $60,000 extra in a very tight budget is a significant hit on our campus right now.

There are some who feel differently, so maybe it's not a big deal, especially if there is more TV and tournament revenue to be had in CUSA.

[SubGod22]

Interesting. I didn't realize things were a little tight up there.

I do think that CUSA has a chance to attract three good basketball schools if it's open to that. I don't follow college football very closely so I can't speak to the odds of them improving with football schools. But I do know that there are basketball schools that would strongly consider a jump to CUSA. I think it could definitely become a stronger basketball conference with what's gone down. CUSA definitely has better options that the MVC does when it comes to adding schools.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Is CU really worried about that? I'd like to hear from @DoubleJayAlum: on that one. I figured WSU and CU would be the two that would look the best. Maybe I'm wrong. And if just we went, I could probably make the argument either way of who was better. But it also depends on who else they'd add. They are losing 3 schools and you'd think they'd want to be at 12 and stick with the East/West split. If football isn't going to drive it, the CAA would be a good conference to go after for CUSA.

All of my thinking is based pretty much only on basketball. So other factors could make some of what I say not be likely. I actually kind of like my idea of adding WSU, Mason and ODU. I'd have to look into the overall programs of the other two, but it wouldn't suck. Any way CUSA could pull and A10 team or two away? I don't follow the A10 very closely and not sure how entrenched all those schools are. What if they could pull a Dayton and/or Xavier away as well?

I'm fairly certain that CU can raise $60K to cover the scholarship costs if need be. Frankly, I don't think we are that tight at all. In fact, there was an article in today's OWH that states:

Based on projections, Sarver said, the athletic department could receive an increase of $100,000 or more in donations this season. The bulk of the donations come through membership in the Jaybackers, the school's athletic booster organization.

Assuming all of the teams sought by the Big East bolt from CUSA, I don't think CUSA is all that appealing. The MVC may have issues, but 2 of the perennial cellar dwellers have been in the NCAA tourney in the last five years. I'm also pretty leery about joining a conference where all of the other members play FBS football because I suspect all of the remaining members will constantly be trying to upgrade to a BCS conference at their earliest opportunity. As a result, you have a great deal of instability and may not be able to say who will be left in your conference in the very near future. You very easily could be stuck in a worse situation as the most appealing programs ditch CUSa for BCS pastures.

[SubGod22]

Six schools get Big East invites

I'm not 100% sure they all accept as Navy didn't seem to be all that excited a couple of weeks ago. Boise is bound to jump on it but I'm not sure they're doing themselves any favors as I expect the BE to lose its AQ status. Air Force I'm sure will join, especially if Navy is in. Houston, SMU and UCF aren't surprises. Not that the offer a lot. Houton has some basketball potential. Same with UCF.

AFA and Boise will be looking for conferences for their other sports now since they can't leave them in conferences that offer football. I believe that's the rule anyway.

Will now be interesting what CUSA decides to do. I believe this will take them down to 9 teams. They'll definitely be looking to add. If non-football is an option.... I still think Memphis, Tulsa, UTEP, UAB, USM and Marshall offer quite a bit for a basketball conference.

[SubGod22]

I just finished reading the whole article and if the BE chooses to strengthen their basketball conference, it appears that Memphis might be on the list. It makes sense, but I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned before. If Memphis is open to that than I'd be a little weary of joining CUSA if presented. It's a solid conference either way, but takes a hit without Memphis.

[The Mad Hatter]

I just finished reading the whole article and if the BE chooses to strengthen their basketball conference, it appears that Memphis might be on the list. It makes sense, but I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned before. If Memphis is open to that than I'd be a little weary of joining CUSA if presented. It's a solid conference either way, but takes a hit without Memphis.

I too wondered why Memphis' name hadn't been coming up. I'd assumed that Memphis didn't have any interest, because otherwise they would be the first school I'd expect the Big East to target. If they aren't committed to CUSA, it certainly makes that conference look pretty shaky as a long-term bet.