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Bradley "power play" time. . .

squirrelgotdead said:
I would not expect CU, BU, Illinois State or Wichita to flinch at paying it if a better offer comes along. It's a nice thought, but it isn't much of a deterrent. JMO.

The schools it would deter are the ones who either wouldn't have an offer to go elsewhere, or couldn't afford to pay it when their one opportunity to save themselves by finding another conference home may present itself.

So I can see the bigger and smaller schools both not supporting it.
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Looks like Temple is going to CUSA for football only. Probably no difference to the A10, but who knows.
 
wizard said:
Within a few years, the MVC is going to lose some or all of these members to football conferences, either existing or new ones---Ill. State. Wichita, So. Ill., No. Iowa, Ind. St.---Bank on it!! What happens then?? BU better think this through and be prepared.
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Exactly. While the MVC may be good for us now, the MVC may not always be like this.

Unfortunately, loyalty is worthless in today's world. An employee's loyality to an employer and a buck will now get you a Coke at McDonalds and an unemployment check. But if you want still want to be 'loyal', then partner with the MVC to talk build relationships with other schools and help grow the MVC. If you seek nothing. That's what you will get.
 
First of all, the WAC imposed this $5 million penalty to leave the conference and then FSU and Nevada just proved that it's not a deterrent whatsoever! It's like saying the death penalty is a deterrent for crime, it has been shown time and time again that it does nothing! If a school has an offer to move conferences that helps them in the long run, they are going to do it. Period. Universities are much more long run oriented than many businesses and are much more willing and able to take a short term hit to improve their standing in the future as opposed to the status quo.

I also don't buy into the idea that the MVC is the best we can do and we can only hope that it stays in tact and at the level it's currently at. That is the exact sentiment that will leave us standing around wondering what in the hell happened when there are suddenly 8 or 6 teams left in the Valley. Every school should have some sort of contingency plan. The MVC should have one, too.

Reaching out to other schools that have values and similar situations to ours and starting to build that professional relationship and trust is something we need to do. Just because we are feeling out the situation with other schools does not make us any less loyal to the MVC or its members. I would even say it is part of the schools fiduciary duty to do these types of things.

And the notion that it's all about football and we can't do anything about that is also foolish. Certainly we aren't in the conversation about conferences that are making moves because of football. BUT, we aren't alone in that regard. There are plenty of schools in the same boat as us. It's up to us and those similar schools to get our own place at the table and be brought into the overall conversation. If it ends up being 12 team football major conferences, why couldn't we band together with 3 other basketball-only schools and propose a 16-team basketball conference?

Creighton, Butler, Marquette, SLU, DePaul, etc. Why would a major conference not want to add Indy, Omaha, St. Louis, and Peoria to their market?

There are ways to approach this with new, creative ideas. We need to be the ones attempting to secure our future, not waiting to have it decided for us.
 
BUBrave28 said:
First of all, the WAC imposed this $5 million penalty to leave the conference and then FSU and Nevada just proved that it's not a deterrent whatsoever! ....
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First- the penalty voted on by the WAC was not for a $5 million penalty. The President of University of Nevada have been quoted as saying it was much less than the $5 million, and the WAC Comissioner has been quoted as saying he wished they had made it $5 million. The actual figure may be closer to $2 milllion.

Second- Nevada says they have not yet signed this agreement regarding the penalty, therefore they believe it does not apply to them.-
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3131475

So it is entirely possible that this penalty had something to do with driving Nevada out of the WAC. Again, as I have said before, sometimes things tend to have the opposite consequence that they are intended to have.

And all fans are welcome to their opinions- but maybe you don't remember that this same subject of Bradley realigning with a new conference has been discussed over and over for the past 40+ years. And we are still in the MVC. Here is a little history--
There were a lot of people who pushed for Bradley to leave the MVC and join the Midwest Cities Conference in the early 1980's. If we had listened to those people we would have really screwed ourselves. The MCC eventually morphed into the Horizon League, but it has been an inferior conference to the MVC for the last 30+ years. Many of the original members have moved on to other conferences (5 of them are in the Atlantic-10).
Also, when the MCC/Horizon was originally formed in 1978-1979 Bradley was involved from it's start, but pulled out and remained in the MVC. It's good that they did, as the key schools Bradley was counting on joining- DePaul, Illinois State, Xavier, and Dayton, also did not join the new conference, and Bradley would have been stuck again in an inferior league. -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_League#Foundation

The admins at Bradley have considered a number of other moves, but none have been very serious, and thankfully, IMO, they continue to realize that the MVC is the right place for Bradley.
 
Sometimes the best move is to do nothing but not planning for contingencies is never a good move. Back room deals are done all the time and are done on a handshake. If XYZ happens then we do A and if LMN happens we do B and if the staus quo remains then we lost nothing, but to not put all you ducks in a row would be foolish. BU on its own right now is not in a great position but with a coalition of like minded schools then we have something. The MVC is fine but if it stays pat it will never be great. Sorry, to many programs have not put the necessary resources to become an elite basketball conference. I'm sure there are a few other schools out there who feel like they are in the same boat in their conference.
 
I think the whole basis behind this is the idea of a D-1 split. A split between the power conferences and everyone else. And that the MVC as currently comprised doesn't have the cachet to be on the "money" side of the split. That's what all this planning is about, really. Not looking for a new conference in the current environment of college atheltics.
 
TheAsianSensation said:
I think the whole basis behind this is the idea of a D-1 split. A split between the power conferences and everyone else. And that the MVC as currently comprised doesn't have the cachet to be on the "money" side of the split. That's what all this planning is about, really. Not looking for a new conference in the current environment of college atheltics.
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Besides the BCS conferences and with the Big East not totally made up of money schools I have to agree. The Atlantic 10 is closer then the MVC and so are 1 or 2 others like it or not. Throw out rankings on this list and throw in markets and potential. MVC will not be able to live on its past.
 
I was thinking about conferences the other day and thought I'd like to see a conference of schools with a similar academic profile as Bradley.

During the Big Ten search, academic profile was a big, big factor. By combining schools of high standards, I think you elevate the reputation as a whole.

Bradley is ranked in US News & World Report as a top Midwest Regional school. Looking at the rest of the D1 programs on that list, I think it would make for a pretty interesting basketball conference.

1. Creighton
2. Butler
3. Drake
4. Xavier
5. Valparaiso
6. Bradley
10. Evansville

Add a SLU or a DePaul or a Marquette from the National University list and you might be on to something.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/masters-universities-midwest-rankings

I think a conference of similar high-quality schools has a few advantages:

  1. Better rivalries, since the schools are pulling from a similar pool of students.
  2. Better overall marketing of the schools. Would be nicer to be associated with quality schools than directional state schools with less selective admissions (sorry if that sounds snobby)
  3. Similar enrollments and resources

Anyway. Just killin' time. I know it would never happen...but am I the only one who thinks this would be interesting? I could quite possibly be wasting all of your time. Thanks for reading, anyway.
 
Pretty much everyone has come up with a conference that looks like that. The trick is getting all the schools from the various conferences into the same place at the same time. Probably won't happen.
 
I think since all we do is belittle the importance of conference play and act like our conference record and finish over the last decade doesn't mean anything, we should just go independent in basketball. Let's be trendsetters and not have to worry about those meaningless 18 games we play every year...who's with me?
 
but the NCAA does not give at-large bids to mid-majors -- and -- least of all mid-major independents..
When's the last time an independent got one?? It's been at least a decade...
 
tornado said:
but the NCAA does not give at-large bids to mid-majors -- and -- least of all mid-major independents..
When's the last time an independent got one?? It's been at least a decade...
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What do we have to lose? The conference record and finish is obviously meaningless. Let's control our own schedule, hoard all revenue, and sign a network TV deal. We can stay in the MVC for the 'other' sports...
 
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