Zags want in

[MerrittsMustache]

I think you over emphasize the "National Cache" that Georgetown has...

Who says all sports have to travel to Gonzaga?

There are also some teams out west you could pair with Gonzaga. 

What if it was one national conference but split into 3 divisions.

East
Georgetown
St. John's
Villanova
Seton Hall
Providence

Central
Marquette
DePaul
Xavier
Dayton
SLU

West
Gonzaga
Creighton
Wichita State
St. Mary's
San Francisco

Play home-and-home within your division (8 games) plus every other opponent once (10 games).

Admittedly, I threw this together in 10 minutes so I'm probably missing something, but wouldn't this conference be stronger than the Big East as it will stand next season? Plus it represents a broad range of TV markets (though not necessarily major markets).

[chapman]

It would be nice to add Gonzaga and St. Mary's to the basketball profile.  If it comes to adding four west schools to balance travel and geography issues, I'd pass.  There are plenty of ways to get to 12.  

[GGGG]

What if it was one national conference but split into 3 divisions.

East
Georgetown
St. John's
Villanova
Seton Hall
Providence

Central
Marquette
DePaul
Xavier
Dayton
SLU

West
Gonzaga
Creighton
Wichita State
St. Mary's
San Francisco

Play home-and-home within your division (8 games) plus every other opponent once (10 games).

I actually don't think this is a bad idea, but you have 14 private schools and one public.  (Wichita)  What about BYU instead?  Denver?  (hey...they play lacrosse too.) 

[Galway Eagle]

The makings of the Jesuit conference is beginning! Seriously though us and GTown are the only two bringing in successful programs currently to where ever we go so maybe it's time for a little Jesuit magic except BC (I don't like them)

[MU82]

But it's not one trip.  There are other sports involved as well.

D'oh! I'm so hoops-centric I forgot about all the others. You are, of course, correct.

[JD]

Sounds like a great idea eh Larry?  Gonzaga loves their model so much they want to be part of the C7.  

Larry was walking alone this morning with Jerry and Buzz 50 feet behind him on the sidewalk.  Probably because of his idiotic logic that MU could follow the "Gonzaga model"  (not sure if i should teal some of this or not)

[MerrittsMustache]

I actually don't think this is a bad idea, but you have 14 private schools and one public.  (Wichita)  What about BYU instead?  Denver?  (hey...they play lacrosse too.)  

Good call. I missed that one. BYU could be a good option but the football aspect would worry me a little. Maybe one of Bradley, Drake, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount? Not sure any of those schools would ever be more than a doormat though.

[martyconlonontherun]

I honestly don't see the huge deal in the Travel. It's obviously not ideal, but it doesn't seem impossible. Admittably, I don't travel much but when I do it's the act that I am travel versus where I'm traveling that's important. The fixed cost is high in both time and money when flying. I'm sure it takes awhile to get everyone to meet at the Al, load everything up, drive to the airport, wait to get on the plane, deboard, drie to hotel, unpack. Thats going to take a while no matter where you go so I doubt an extra hour on the plane is noticeable.

I you can get a national brand with a high profile coach, I take it everyday as a basketball school.

[drewm88]

The makings of the Jesuit conference is beginning!

No thank you.

A hypothetical Jesuit conference:
Marquette
Georgetown
Xavier
Gonzaga (way out west compared to the other 6)
Creighton
SLU
St. Joe's

That puts us at 7 teams. To get to 12, you're picking 5 of the following:
Loyola Chicago
Detroit
Loyola Maryland
Fordham
Loyola Marymount
San Francisco
Santa Clara
Holy Cross
Fairfield
Seattle

Yikes.

[T-Bone]

Here's the reality. Gonzaga is in Spokane. It's probably three hours from Milwaukee to Spokane on average (actually about 3.5 westbound and under three eastbound). Don't know if we charter or travel commercial, but as long as you don't fly through Chicago, Sea-Tac or MSP, those times should hold.

Now, we play UConn. From Milwaukee to Hartford and Storrs and UConn on a good day is about 2.25 hours. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. I don't see what the big difference is for us.

You can argue what you want to with Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova etc., but that's their problem. I like the idea of Gonzaga in our conference. They play tough basketball; they win; and, they have a national following.

What more can you ask for?

From Storrs to Spokane is about 7.5 hours is the shortest flight I found.  (I know just one of many - but the outlier).  Tampa to Spokane around 8 hours at best.  

For other sports there seems to be an arrangement in creating travel partners.  I believe somehow we got paired with USF on a NE roadtrip for soccer or something.  Obviously DePaul is probably our best travel partner in that regard.  

I'd love Gonzaga in an ideal world, but I don't see it happening logistically.  

[Aughnanure]

Do any of you people travel for a living?

Here's the reality. Gonzaga is in Spokane. It's probably three hours from Milwaukee to Spokane on average (actually about 3.5 westbound and under three eastbound). Don't know if we charter or travel commercial, but as long as you don't fly through Chicago, Sea-Tac or MSP, those times should hold.

Now, we play UConn. From Milwaukee to Hartford and Storrs and UConn on a good day is about 2.25 hours. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. I don't see what the big difference is for us.

You can argue what you want to with Georgetown, St. John's, Villanova etc., but that's their problem. I like the idea of Gonzaga in our conference. They play tough basketball; they win; and, they have a national following.

What more can you ask for?

This. And it's not like Gonzaga isn't used to travelling far. Just look at that WCC. The distances they have to travel out west are pretty large.

Make it happen. Add Creighton and Wichita St to help spread the league a bit too...BYU if they stay indy as well.

[Big Papi]

What if it was one national conference but split into 3 divisions.

East
Georgetown
St. John's
Villanova
Seton Hall
Providence

Central
Marquette
DePaul
Xavier
Dayton
SLU

West
Gonzaga
Creighton
Wichita State
St. Mary's
San Francisco

Play home-and-home within your division (8 games) plus every other opponent once (10 games).

Admittedly, I threw this together in 10 minutes so I'm probably missing something, but wouldn't this conference be stronger than the Big East as it will stand next season? Plus it represents a broad range of TV markets (though not necessarily major markets).

I would also include UConn, BYU, Memphis and Cincy for all sports except football. 

The remaining football schools across the country can throw their programs under one separate conference if they want to continue to hold on to football but my guess is that once the Super conferences get to their limits be it 14 or 16 teams, the rest of the football programs will be stuck where they are at or will discontinue a losing revenue stream. 

We would then have the potential to add schools like Duke and Wake Forest and Boston College down the road when they get left behind, if we wanted to expand. 

[Goose]

Hopefully MU wants in Big 10 or ACC. I am willing to bet at least one basketball only school ends up in a big time conference. I am hoping it is us.

[Blue Horseshoe]

Adding Gonzaga would probably mean that MU would lose even more money on almost every sport other than basketball. Most varsity sports are not profitable to begin with, why burden the MU with additional red ink? In the long term it would threaten varsity programs at MU. Not worth it.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

San Diego State is an obvious add to the west

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

What if it was one national conference but split into 3 divisions.

East
Georgetown
St. John's
Villanova
Seton Hall
Providence

Central
Marquette
DePaul
Xavier
Dayton
SLU

West
Gonzaga
Creighton
Wichita State
St. Mary's
San Francisco

Play home-and-home within your division (8 games) plus every other opponent once (10 games).

Admittedly, I threw this together in 10 minutes so I'm probably missing something, but wouldn't this conference be stronger than the Big East as it will stand next season? Plus it represents a broad range of TV markets (though not necessarily major markets).

I had the same thought when somebody mentioned the Zags.

Also, for non-revenue sports, you could play mostly within their division, and then play everybody else in some sort of conf. tournament. Not perfect, but keeps travel and logistical costs down.

The other thing that nobody has mentioned is the variety of timezones. It's not a huge deal, but in theory "BIG MONDAY" could have games starting at 6pm cst (out east) 8pm cst (midwest) and then a 10pm cst (west), all from the same conference. A television network has to like that that like bonus for marketing and sales.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Adding Gonzaga would probably mean that MU would lose even more money on almost every sport other than basketball. Most varsity sports are not profitable to begin with, why burden the MU with additional red ink? In the long term it would threaten varsity programs at MU. Not worth it.

Is it a lot more expensive to travel to Spokane than Storrs?

Travel costs and logistics need to be considered, but also keep it in perspective.

[MU82]

San Diego State is an obvious add to the west

Only if they de-emphasize football or this hypothetical new conference is willing to admit football schools.

[Blue Horseshoe]

Is it a lot more expensive to travel to Spokane than Storrs?

Travel costs and logistics need to be considered, but also keep it in perspective.

Yes. Considering that MU has twelve varsity programs, and ONE is profitable.

[Benny B]

My thought is this: Let's start with 10 or 12 and see how the basketball-centric model works.  If it proves to be a success after the first year, go and renegotiate a TV contract contingent upon the addition of 5-6 west-coast schools.

The problem is that the media is going to be skeptical until they see it in action.  The difference in a TV contract for 15 schools may not be any better than a contract you'd get for 12, so why split the same pot with more schools than you have to?  If you start out small, you can always add teams later... if you start out too big, you're stuck until someone decides to leave.

That said, I would do whatever I could to include Gonzaga... after the first year.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Yes. Considering that MU has twelve varsity programs, and ONE is profitable.

Right, but how many trips is MU making per year to Gonzaga? 1/3 of them maybe have Gonzaga road games per year?

EXAMPLE:

Hartford: $500
Spokane: $800

Figure 50 plane tickets per year to Spokane vs Hartford.

That's $15,000 per year.

I can't automatically count out Gonzaga for $15,000 per year, when we are talking about millions in revenue.

[AirPunches]

My thought is this: Let's start with 10 or 12 and see how the basketball-centric model works.  If it proves to be a success after the first year, go and renegotiate a TV contract contingent upon the addition of 5-6 west-coast schools.

The problem is that the media is going to be skeptical until they see it in action.  The difference in a TV contract for 15 schools may not be any better than a contract you'd get for 12, so why split the same pot with more schools than you have to?  If you start out small, you can always add teams later... if you start out too big, you're stuck until someone decides to leave.

That said, I would do whatever I could to include Gonzaga... after the first year.

Agree. I also think it opens the possibility of adding fb members that get left out of the 64 team model such as Memphis and temple. (Maybe even uconn, cincy, or some acc remnants, who knows) The west coast schools aren't going anywhere and either are the A-10 schools. I think this new conference can attract any non football school it wants whenever it wants. I'm all for letting it take a few years to devolop and finding the best fits rather than slapping teams together real fast.

[jficke13]

My thought is this: Let's start with 10 or 12 and see how the basketball-centric model works.  If it proves to be a success after the first year, go and renegotiate a TV contract contingent upon the addition of 5-6 west-coast schools.

The problem is that the media is going to be skeptical until they see it in action.  The difference in a TV contract for 15 schools may not be any better than a contract you'd get for 12, so why split the same pot with more schools than you have to?  If you start out small, you can always add teams later... if you start out too big, you're stuck until someone decides to leave.

That said, I would do whatever I could to include Gonzaga... after the first year.

Write the TV contract with lots of incentive-based elevators. Make the deal get larger based on NCAA tourney bids/ratings/etc... The TV shifts the risk onto the new conference.

[GGGG]

Agree. I also think it opens the possibility of adding fb members that get left out of the 64 team model such as Memphis and temple. (Maybe even uconn, cincy, or some acc remnants, who knows) The west coast schools aren't going anywhere and either are the A-10 schools. I think this new conference can attract any non football school it wants whenever it wants. I'm all for letting it take a few years to devolop and finding the best fits rather than slapping teams together real fast.

With the new BCS playoff in place, the 64 team breakaway model isn't going to be happening.

[Blue Horseshoe]

I can't automatically count out Gonzaga for $15,000 per year, when we are talking about millions in revenue.

But how is adding Gonzaga going to add millions of dollars in revenue to Marquette?