Build your own 12-team BBall Conference

[Norm]

Just trying to get a flavor of who the MU community would most like to see in a new conference IF were a forced to form a "basketball-only" conference.

[spartan3186]

I think Georgetown definitely needs to be on this list.

[Marqus Howard]

I think Georgetown definitely needs to be on this list.

Agreed, especially since Notre Dame is on it.

[Norm]

I think Georgetown definitely needs to be on this list.

Oops - thought I had them on - I'll add them.

[dgies9156]

None of them.

We're better than all of them.  Yuck!!!!!!!

C'mon, we can do better/

[LastWarrior]

Georgetown needs to be on the list.  I want to re-vote.  What about Gonzaga?

[dwaderoy2004]

I would want a 10 team league for a balanced schedule; if its gonna be basketball only, do it right.  MU, nova, seton hall, st. Johns, providence, depaul, ND and g'town.  Add butler and xavier.  Keep the big east name and conference tourney in MSG.  Id throw up if i had to watch UNC and duke play for an ACC title in MSG.

[Norm]

Georgetown needs to be on the list.  I want to re-vote.  What about Gonzaga?

If I knew how I'd let you revote. Sorry I inadvertently left Georgetown on the original list. It looks like Georgetown would be one of the top vote getters if it was on there originally.

I didn't put Gonzaga on the list because they are on the West Coast and have a pretty settled conference already that seems to work for them.

[Warrior1]

I am really getting sick reading this. The only way I can see this as the last ditch, worst option available. So many people on here are saying they PREFER to go to a 10 league basketball only conference, instead of staying with the football schools in a BCS conference.

I want a poll that asks anyone if they would have PREFERRED to be in the A10 last year instead of the BigEast.

It is because of football, and the fact that we are in a BCS (Football) conference that the BigEast is relevant. The reason we are not a mid-major, have a large following, wear Brand Jordan, have the new style jerseys, get talked about by ESPN, are preseason ranked, is because of football in the BigEast. The fact that the BigEast plays football gets it a seat at the table in the news, papers, ESPN, magazines, ext. Everyone knows it is a basketball league, but the fact that it is a football league too, makes contract negotiations ext important.

You tell me how any one in the A10 looks this year outside of Xavier, because I know I don't know. I know I can tell you how many of the BigTen teams look this year, simply because of the media hype around commits ext. So why would one want to join this league? If you replace the name A10 with BigEast does it change something? It doesn't unless it is a BigEast BCS conference.

So many people are saying screw joining the combination of the BigXII, and the BigEast because we will play second fiddle to football. Guess what everyone, WE ARE SECOND FIDDLE TO FOOTBALL! It sucks to hear, but we are! We just need to stay in a major conference so we can recruit, play, talk with the big boys. Hell, with the way applications at Marquette has increased since joining a major conference, I would have MU play for free in a new joined BEAST conference. I was just in Houston for work, and people know what Marquette was about, because of all of the publicity.

Marquette cannot afford to go to some "dream conference" of catholic schools. There already is one, and it is the A-10, and many Xavier fans want out. They are a mid-major conference, who play the bracket-buster games on ESPN once a year, and who overall are irrelevant until they get their conference tournament bid.

[Norm]

I am really getting sick reading this. The only way I can see this as the last ditch, worst option available. So many people on here are saying they PREFER to go to a 10 league basketball only conference, instead of staying with the football schools in a BCS conference.

Warrior1, I agree with almost everything you say. I also put up an earlier post where I said that I would prefer a merger of Big 12 and Big East schools as my preferred "new" conference. (Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, Notre Dame, Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida, Cincinnati, Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova and DePaul).

I just posted this poll to see who people could live with if we had to go to a "basketball only" conference.

[Bay Area Billiken]

The A-10 does not play in the Bracket Buster.

[muguru]

I am really getting sick reading this. The only way I can see this as the last ditch, worst option available. So many people on here are saying they PREFER to go to a 10 league basketball only conference, instead of staying with the football schools in a BCS conference.

I want a poll that asks anyone if they would have PREFERRED to be in the A10 last year instead of the BigEast.

It is because of football, and the fact that we are in a BCS (Football) conference that the BigEast is relevant. The reason we are not a mid-major, have a large following, wear Brand Jordan, have the new style jerseys, get talked about by ESPN, are preseason ranked, is because of football in the BigEast. The fact that the BigEast plays football gets it a seat at the table in the news, papers, ESPN, magazines, ext. Everyone knows it is a basketball league, but the fact that it is a football league too, makes contract negotiations ext important.

You tell me how any one in the A10 looks this year outside of Xavier, because I know I don't know. I know I can tell you how many of the BigTen teams look this year, simply because of the media hype around commits ext. So why would one want to join this league? If you replace the name A10 with BigEast does it change something? It doesn't unless it is a BigEast BCS conference.

So many people are saying screw joining the combination of the BigXII, and the BigEast because we will play second fiddle to football. Guess what everyone, WE ARE SECOND FIDDLE TO FOOTBALL! It sucks to hear, but we are! We just need to stay in a major conference so we can recruit, play, talk with the big boys. Hell, with the way applications at Marquette has increased since joining a major conference, I would have MU play for free in a new joined BEAST conference. I was just in Houston for work, and people know what Marquette was about, because of all of the publicity.

Marquette cannot afford to go to some "dream conference" of catholic schools. There already is one, and it is the A-10, and many Xavier fans want out. They are a mid-major conference, who play the bracket-buster games on ESPN once a year, and who overall are irrelevant until they get their conference tournament bid.

+1,00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Sick and tired of the "basketball" only talk. Screw that! if you can be in a conference with Kansas(they have football, but not worth mentioning), you do NOT hesitate. Hell, give them whatever they want. I want MU associated with the BEST possible basketball schools they can be associated with, regardless of whether or not they play football. I, for one, thinks gaining Kansas, and the cache they bring makes up for losing Pitt and Cuse all by themselves. Kansas at the BC?? Yes please!

[Boozemon Barro]

Warrior1 I think you're wrong on many levels. Any national publicity that Marquette has gained through the Big East is because it is known as a great basketball conference. The football programs at most Big East schools are a joke and they do nothing to help the image of the Big East as a basketball conference. There are plenty of basketball only schools out there with national name recognition such as Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette, Butler, Xavier, Gonzaga etc. There's no way that conference comprised of programs like that could be considered a mid major, it would be one of the better basketball conferences in the country. A conference like that would get multiple bids to the NCAA tournament. Many of those match ups would draw serious interest from basketball fans all around the country and I think a basketball only conference could do very well for itself negotiating a television contract. The best part obviously is we wouldn't be at the mercy of whatever is going on in college football.

[Ari Gold]

Entertaining topic. One i've certainly talked about with my friends. Seems to me, like many others who others who voted that there are a solid 7-9 teams that would make for a competitive conference however finding those last 3-5 teams is a tall order.  Richmond? UMass? Dayton? St. Louis? none of them are that appealing. Granted I didn't take into consideration the market these teams play in.

[77ncaachamps]

Nice to see some love for Xavier and Dayton.

[Litehouse]

Why is everyone fixated on 12?  10 would be much better for bball.

[bilsu]

I prefer 10 vs 12, east of the Mississippi and one team per state.

[Eye]

Looks like I'm in the majority on this. I don't want to go to a BKB-only league unless it's a last resort.

If that's the only option, go with 10 teams, MU, UND, SJU, Gtown, nova, Hall, PC, DU, Xavier, Butler, play a true home-and-home, double round-robin with the tourney at MSG. But let me re-iterate. A bloated league with Kansas, UL, UC, K State, maybe Missouri and Memphis, among others, comes the closest to replicating what the BE is now. The BE model for the last 6 years has been fantastic for MU. Why wouldn't we want something that replicates that for as long as possible? Have the last two days stunk? Absolutely. But if we can replicate that with some different schools and have probably what would be considered the second-best BKB conference in the country, even if it's only for another 5 or 6 years again, why wouldn't we do it?

[brewcity77]

I understand the draw of a 10-team conference, but if we want to play at the big boy table, it needs to be 12+. With a 2-division format, 12 will work fine for scheduling. Sure, maybe we'll only see St. John's, Georgetown, Villanova, etc every other year at the BC, but that's fine. Home-and-homes within division, play everyone in the other division every year.

We need a league where you can expect to put 6 teams in the tournament every year. We also need a league where you are a factor in a high number of major (top-50) television markets. With 10 teams, the odds of landing 6 bids annually is diminished. And while it sounds great to put Marquette, Notre Dame, Xavier, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Butler, Richmond, VCU, and Gonzaga into a league together because you've got 10 NCAA-level teams (2 Final Four teams from a year ago!) the simple truth is that roughly half of the teams are going to finish with losing conference records. What happens when Villanova (or even Marquette) goes 6-12 in conference? Sure, maybe that'll include 6 top-100 RPI wins, but that and a strong non-conference will still leave you dreaming of the NIT.

The simple truth is that there have to be some teams that aren't going to make the Dance. That's why I really think the formula for success is to mimic the football model. If you're going to play basketball at a BCS-level then play it the way the BCS teams do. 12 is the minimum, but if you really want a quality basketball conference, one that only looks up to maybe the ACC, then go for 14 or 16 teams. Try to get 8-10 bids a year. Don't be a good mid-major conference, be THE basketball-only superconference. Be the conference that they can't possibly leave out when it comes to a possible BCS-driven March tournament because you are getting more bids annually than any of the other BCS conferences save maybe the ACC.

Forget about scheduling. It'd be nice to have a pretty 18-game schedule, or even a 16-game schedule with 12 teams, but 12 has to be the minimum. 16 should be the number we're aiming for, because it's the number that (supposedly) all the BCS conferences will be trying to get to before all is said and done.

[brewcity77]

Here are my picks for a 16-team league, and why:

• Boston University: They've had some NCAA appearances and give us access to a top-10 media market.
  
• Butler: Great success of late, but also sustained, and the Indianapolis market (#25).
  
• Dayton: More so to ensure Xavier comes, they'd still be a fringe team.
  
• DePaul: Strictly for the Chicago market.
  
• Detroit: Can't lie, it's only for the #11 market.
  
• Duquesne: Mainly because I hate Pitt and want to get on some TVs in their market.
  
• Georgetown: Great history of success and the DC market.
  
• Marquette: You don't think I'd leave us behind? Also Big East history and the #35 market.
  
• Notre Dame: If they don't go for a BCS conference, the attention and heritage is a huge draw, and I love having them as a rival.
  
• Providence: Helps solidify us in New England and were influential in the creation of the Big East.
  
• Richmond: Good of late, I guess access to Virginia, I want either them or VCU.
  
• Seton Hall: Pretty much only because of their Big East heritage, if push came to shove leave them.
• St. John's: Good heritage, but really I want access to MSG and New York.
  
• St. Louis: Decent history, #21 market.
  
• Villanova: Great history, Big East lineage, Philly market.
  
• Xavier: Very good history, solid market.
  
  That league would have produced 9 NCAA bids last year. I think it's viable that it could regularly place 8-10 teams which would guarantee that we are the biggest player outside maybe one or two of the BCS leagues and many of the teams that didn't make it last year (DePaul, Providence, Dayton, Duquesne) aren't that far away. Teams I considered but left off included VCU (no need with Richmond), Creighton and Gonzaga (too ar west) and George Washington and St. Joe's (market duplication).
  
  I'd take this over some piddly 10-team league that would rarely get enough attention to place more than 4-5 teams and could be as easily forgotten as an A-10 would be if it ever comes to a BCS-driven basketball tournament.

[T-Bone]

I included UMass in my vote solely for the size of the alumni base.  225,000 alumni.

And this is why Kansas football is relevant:

[Aughnanure]

Here are my picks for a 16-team league, and why:

• Boston University: They've had some NCAA appearances and give us access to a top-10 media market.
  
• Butler: Great success of late, but also sustained, and the Indianapolis market (#25).
  
• Dayton: More so to ensure Xavier comes, they'd still be a fringe team.
  
• DePaul: Strictly for the Chicago market.
  
• Detroit: Can't lie, it's only for the #11 market.
  
• Duquesne: Mainly because I hate Pitt and want to get on some TVs in their market.
  
• Georgetown: Great history of success and the DC market.
  
• Marquette: You don't think I'd leave us behind? Also Big East history and the #35 market.
  
• Notre Dame: If they don't go for a BCS conference, the attention and heritage is a huge draw, and I love having them as a rival.
  
• Providence: Helps solidify us in New England and were influential in the creation of the Big East.
  
• Richmond: Good of late, I guess access to Virginia, I want either them or VCU.
  
• Seton Hall: Pretty much only because of their Big East heritage, if push came to shove leave them.
• St. John's: Good heritage, but really I want access to MSG and New York.
  
• St. Louis: Decent history, #21 market.
  
• Villanova: Great history, Big East lineage, Philly market.
  
• Xavier: Very good history, solid market.
  
  That league would have produced 9 NCAA bids last year. I think it's viable that it could regularly place 8-10 teams which would guarantee that we are the biggest player outside maybe one or two of the BCS leagues and many of the teams that didn't make it last year (DePaul, Providence, Dayton, Duquesne) aren't that far away. Teams I considered but left off included VCU (no need with Richmond), Creighton and Gonzaga (too ar west) and George Washington and St. Joe's (market duplication).
  
  I'd take this over some piddly 10-team league that would rarely get enough attention to place more than 4-5 teams and could be as easily forgotten as an A-10 would be if it ever comes to a BCS-driven basketball tournament.

Can't see why St. Louis is there if Creighton is too far west. Id push for Creighton and Wichita St, their baseball programs would be good additions alone and their fans show up.

I kinda agree with your point that 12 is the minimum. 14+ seems too big unless we still have Notre Dame and somehow convince Memphis, UMass to join. Id also be very interested in Wichita St, UNLV (kinda like the western Memphis), BYU and Gonzaga if possible. Teams like Detroit & Duquesne do nothing for me. We need established programs with solid fanbases - if fans stop caring about this league, it will die. Richmond is okay, but Id also push for Charlotte then.

So, assuming Notre Dame is gone, UMass/Memphis don't want in a bball-only league (yet) and everything west of Kansas is too far (UNLV, Gonzaga, San Francisco?, Pepperdine?, BYU?, Air Force?), this is my best 16.

Also why can't Army, Navy be part of this?


Marquette
St. Louis
Wichita St
Creighton

Xavier
Butler
DePaul
Dayton (their fans are loyal and actually care, which will be important is this league)

St. John's
Villanova
Seton Hall
Providence

Georgetown
Richmond
Charlotte
Duquense (I guess? Kind of an FU to Pitt?)

[Warriors10]

Why do the media markets for BU, Detroit, and Duquesne matter?  Nobody cares/watches them nor do there fan bases really care.

Also, adding Duquesne to get back @ Pitt?  Really?  I am pretty sure they'd be laughing at us.  HAHA look at you, you have to play Duquesne while we play Duke.

[Aughnanure]

Why do the media markets for BU, Detroit, and Duquesne matter?  Nobody cares/watches them nor do there fan bases really care.

Also, adding Duquesne to get back @ Pitt?  Really?  I am pretty sure they'd be laughing at us.  HAHA look at you, you have to play Duquesne while we play Duke.

Correction: "While we lose to Duke"

[Warriors10]

Correction: "While we lose to Duke"

Cost-benefit of playing Duke compared to Duquesne.  If you beat Duke its a good win, if you beat Duquesne who cares.  If you lose to Duke, not that bad, if you lose to Duquesne, bad loss.

Think of it this way.  If the roles were reversed and we went to the ACC and Pitt stayed and added UW-Milwaukee to "get back at us", would it really do anything?

I'd be pissed that they get to play the likes of UW-M while we play Duke/NC