Kyle Whelliston article on the MVC

[MVCFans]

Kyle Whelliston wrote an interesting piece today on the current state on the MVC. Worth checking out:

link: http://www.basketballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=599
or:

http://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=478&start=0

[RoyalShock]

Good article, and I agree . . .

College basketball needs a strong Valley. The whole game is worse off for not having a giant-killing, corn-fed 10-team collective directly in its geographical center, anchoring the nation, scaring and surprising everybody else.

[1972Shocker]

Good article, and I agree . . .

College basketball needs a strong Valley. The whole game is worse off for not having a giant-killing, corn-fed 10-team collective directly in its geographical center, anchoring the nation, scaring and surprising everybody else.

Yep, but can we get back to that without some kind of membership realignment?

[RoyalShock]

Hmmm, I know we've beat the idea of re-tooling the MVC in the ground, but maybe there is something to be said for the league getting stale.

Is now the time to change, for change's sake?

[MadDog]

I think we're going to see radical change in college basketball, and the BCS will eventually be able to squeeze out the non-BCS. The non-BCS survivors I see are the Mountain West, C-USA, and possibly the A10. I think you'll see all automatic bids being eliminated at some point, and the NIT or CBA becoming the mid-major championship. You may have seen in the Eagle this morning the article about the B12 and how they are going to schedule more cupcakes and less competion in the non-con "because the B12 is so awesome, we don't need to play anyone but ourselves". I see this becoming a trend everywhere.

So what are the Shocks to do? Lets go radical! We need to align ourselves with like minded teams in similar circumstances. Form a nationwide "best of the rest" conference made up primarily of non-football playing schools and the nationally know names from the crap conferences. Line up with teams with similar financial commitments to atheltics. Starting from the west... Gonzaga, St. Marys, BYU (a football independent), WSU, Creighton, Missouri St., St. Louis, Bradley, Butler, Dayton, Xavier, Western Kentucky, George Mason, VCU, ODU.

Make it a basketball only conference only. Call the bluffs of the little conferences we're in and see what they'll do... I dont think they can do anything. Standing still is going to be a really bad strategy.

[ShockTalk]

Here's what C-USA is now doing.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/may/23/c-usa-fine-tuning-rpi/

Pay particular attention to the "not sharing as much in the post season revenue" if you don't do as ask or improve your RPI standing.

I'm not sure I agree with the 70% non-con winning % as a solution. We've seen where that's gotten the Redbirds. However, the general idea is there. It is big business and if a conference is to survive, it can't be anchored down by the bottom feeders in the league. Improve winning, improve scheduling, improve RPI, improve facilities, or you won't be sharing as much in the conference revenues, may lose some control of your own program, or..... your gone.

[ShockTalk]

PS: Also notice that C-USA doesn't even acknowledge the MVC. It's trying to compete with the Atl-10 and MWC.

Is this where we want to be? Maybe the best of the third tier after the BCS and what ESPN has labeled (Atl-10, MWC, and C-USA) the Quasi Majors.

This ship is sinking and the conference powers better wake up.

[AndShock]

It's time to take things into our own hands. When we're sitting in the perennial 1-bid, 13-14 seed MVC 10 years from now, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

[60Shock]

The ship is sinking and Wichita State does not have the vision to wake up.

[MadDog]

So according to that article we're doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing with the schedule... play as bad a non-con as possible to rack up wins... exactly what we're all complaining about with our schedule. This article shows just how screwed up college althletics is. Its all about money. Period. Nothing else matters. Sad...

[ShockerFever]

If automatic bids are ever eliminated, then that will be the last day of me invoking any interest into college basketball. College football should be trying to be more like college basketball, not the other way around.

You are right maddog. It's all about the dough. It is a very sad situation and is ruining this game. The NCAA is one of the most hypocritical organizations in America.

[ShockTalk]

So according to that article we're doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing with the schedule... play as bad a non-con as possible to rack up wins... exactly what we're all complaining about with our schedule. This article shows just how screwed up college althletics is. Its all about money. Period. Nothing else matters. Sad...

Note MadDog, I didn't agree with their winning 70% by scheduling teams you can beat as a viable solution. However, one big difference, C-USA apparently has bottom-feeders going for pay days, which we do as well, but they are winning more games. They lose to some teams maybe they shouldn't (UC Riverside, App St, Chatt, and UALR (2)), but we lose more of those type games (by my count eight). As a conference, they are 40 games over .500, the MVC is 12. By Pomeroy and RealTime, they are 7th in RPI as a conference in both, we are 10th and 13th. If this holds, once conference play starts, it won't change much.

Is it all about money? I suppose up to a point , yes. If you don't hire good enough coaches, have quality facilities, or just don't have or put enough money into it, performance will suffer. Should such schools drag down the schools who are trying to get better, yet share revenue equally with those schools? I don't know, but hitting in the pocket book usually gets ones attention.

As for WSU, does it want to watch the ship sail farther and farther away or does it want to be on that ship?

[MadDog]

Yeah, ShockTalk, that was what I was trying to make with my original point. If we don't do anything, we're screwed. The problem with everyone going to the "buy" model is that C-USA, Mountain West, etc. are richer than the MVC and their bottom feeders can afford to buy more of the non-RPI killers than our bottom feeders. Its already getting to the point where our bottom feeders are becoming the bought instead of the buyers. I'm afraid the landscape of college BB has changed to the point where we have almost no chance to get a BCS team to Wichita under any circumstance, so we need a new strategy / vision. We need to get into a conference with schools that have bigger athletic budgets to have any long term chance to compete. We're only going to be as strong as our weakest two or three links. I'm afraid the MVC = Summit conference in about 3-5 years.

[Aargh]

I'm not totally in the doom and gloom camp about the Valley...yet...but I'm close.

I can't see UE or InSU ever making moves to improve their programs. SIU CAN'T do anything because their athletic department is technically bankrupt. UNI is looking at possibly losing $4 mill a year of state money, so they're in a budget crunch.

The Valley is always SUPPOSED to lose coaches. It's supposed to be the conference that produces coaches that move to the elite conferences. That's ending. The tendency to replace departing coaches with assistant coaches (SIU, InSU, IlSU) is killing the teams that do that. I think most schools in the Valley can't handle current coaching salaries and that's led to the downfall of the Valley.

I think it's football that's killing the Valley. The schools with football are the ones facing the biggest budget problems and cutting back on basketball budgets. UE is the exception. UE is a D2 (at best) school and the administration there seems perfectly happy to remain a D2 school in a D1 conference.

Get into a basketball only conference and get away from the financial drain that football brings to schools in whatever category the Valley plays in. Find some schools with a dedication to basketball and the ability to fund their programs. There have to be a bunch of other schools in the same spot WSU is finding itself.

This is something the WSU AD is going to have to do. Does Sexton have the cajones for that?

[ShockerFever]

This is something the WSU AD is going to have to do. Does Sexton have the cajones for that?

In short, no.