The Major League

[OTR Shockfan]

Uhh ,,am I the only one that See's this as a way to limit the number of existing (so called Mids) by having them beat each other up, and only have one in the end to make the NCAA? I mean come on , do you really think after just playing each other so much in a regular season. (much like the Big least) there gonna give this new "Major League" 3 , 4 or 5 bids??

[RoyalShock]

You could even just go with if you didn't want to spread it out so far:

WSU
Creighton
Missouri St
UNI
Bradley
Illinois St ?
Butler
St Louis
Cleveland St
UW Milwaukee

Or something similar.

That list of teams completely misses the point and aims far too low to entice a program like Butler to jump.

The idea is to create what could become another basketball power conference. I don't see Illinois St, St. Louis, Cleveland St or UW-Milwaukee being consistantly competitive in such a scenario.

IMO, if you want Butler, you need Xavier and Dayton. If VCU/GMU/ODU are just too far to work, then talk about filling in with one or two of the ISU/SLU/CSU/UWM. I could even see Tulsa as a possiblity if they are willing to drop down in football.

The lowest starting point, IMO, is:

Butler
Xavier
Dayton
Wichita St.
Creighton
Missouri St.

That gets you a foundation that could attract Memphis, the top CAA schools and/or other competitive MVC/CUSA types (BU, UNI, Tulsa).

[SubGod22]

Do we really need to worry about travel? If that were the case...

Wichita State
Tulsa
ORU
Creighton
Missouri State
Saint Louis
Arkansas-Little Rock
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
North Texas
Dallas Baptist

Now, if travel is NO issue...

Lets just go with a 12 team, east and west league

West:
Wichita State
New Mexico
Creighton
Northern Iowa
Saint Louis
North Texas/UTEP

East:
Butler
Memphis
Dayton
George Mason
VCU
ODU

I like pretending...

[benishock]

Sub I would bounce Northern out of the west and replace them with Colorado State.

[SubGod22]

Or we could go all out

Gonzaga
St. Mary's
Utah State
New Mexico
Wichita State
Creighton

Butler
Memphis
Dayton
Xavier
George Mason
VCU

And if you want to go Big East like you could add some of

ODU
Richmond
UTEP
North Texas
Tulsa
Houston
Bradley
Missouri State
UAB
Northern Iowa
UW-Milwaukee
Detroit

:D

[SubGod22]

Sub I would bounce Northern out of the west and replace them with Colorado State.

They crossed my mind.

[SubGod22]

How did I forget UNLV on my list?

[MoValley John]

This issue is not going away. There is a disparity among the "midmajors" with funding, commitment and success. At some point, there will be a split, I don't know when, but it will happen.

There were several teams on the original list that I questioned, and on MVCFans I questioned the omission of Wichita State. At this point, it is nothing but a sports reporter blathering, but when reporters begin blathering, that is the time to act.

Don't take this wrong, but as an outsider of shocker athletics, I always thought it was funny when your fans spoke of moving to another conference. Not because you guys wern't on a level higher than most Valley schools, but because there simply wasn't a good fit out there. You guys don't fit the mold of the Big XII and moving to C-USA was a lateral move that provided no real benefit. On the other hand, I always understood the Wichita State fanbase's frustration with the Valley. There are schools like Wichita State, Creighton and to a lesser degree Bradley that are really trying, while these schools play against schools like Evansville, Drake and Indiana State that are along for the ride. Frustrating.

All of that said, now is the time for the administrations at Wichita State and Creighton to work together to make something like this happen. Fans can be rivals and the hatred between the schools can be healthy, but regarding forming a new, power conference is this is something so important that the two schools need work together to make happen. It would be a crying shame if in five years a split like this did happen and UNI and SIU are somehow catapulted into a better league, while Creighton and Wichita State are left behind in an even weaker Valley. I imagine the Valley would then add North Dakota and South Dakota State. If you think the Valley is bad now, just wait until something like that happens!

[SubGod22]

A 10 team midwest conference...

Wichita State
Creighton
Tulsa
Butler
Xavier
Dayton
Bradley
Missouri State
Memphis
Northern Iowa

Not sure that's sexy enough...

[tropicalshox]

It really needs Butler and Xavier if you don't pull some teams from the Big East.

[SubGod22]

ORRRRRRR the Big 12 implodes and we get

Wichita State
Creighton
Kansas
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Tulsa
Kansas State
Missouri
Missouri State
Houston

Northern Iowa
Iowa State

Can anyone tell that I'm bored at work? :banghead:

[tropicalshox]

Let me add, it would be smart to break up the CAA.

[SubGod22]

Let me add, it would be smart to break up the CAA.

Are we back to an East and West conference? :D

[Ricardo del Rio]

It is mind bending to think that 8-10 bureaucracies could withdraw from their current affiliations and form a new conference.

I know a little something about business bureaucracies and I imagine academic bureaucracies are worse.

Academic risk adversity > Business risk adversity

[SubGod22]

It is mind bending to think that 8-10 bureaucracies could withdraw from their current affiliations and form a new conference.

I know a little something about business bureaucracies and I imagine academic bureaucracies are worse.

Academic risk adversity > Business risk adversity

No doubt there would be financial penalties, but it could be more beneficial in the long run...