ADVERTISEMENT

Football to Patriot League. Should basketball and rest of sports be concerned?

It was the PAC 2 for a while - I heard on the radio they had a PAC 2 media day in Vegas with just Oregon State, and Washington State. SDSU Aztecs and some other Mountain West just joined. Adding Gonzaga is big, but it seems conference membership is very fleeting lately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
Death blow to the WCC.

A10 better be proactive about finding great teams to add and seriously consider jettisoning others, or else there will be a break here at some point as well.

Do I trust Hardt to be in the know and proactive about positioning UR? Ummmm.
 
Death blow to the WCC.

A10 better be proactive about finding great teams to add and seriously consider jettisoning others, or else there will be a break here at some point as well.

Do I trust Hardt to be in the know and proactive about positioning UR? Ummmm.
Who are good teams that we would want to join the A10 and who would also be interested in joining? Charleston is one. Maybe Wichita State and bringing Temple back, if the AAC implodes. Bradley, Indiana State, or Belmont seem like too big of a stretch to me. With the likely addition of Charleston and UMass leaving, we will be at 15 teams. I think the A10 is a pretty stable conference all things considered. Only other conference teams would realistically leave the A10 for is the Big East.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BOSRIC
Sounds like Utah State is imminently accepting a PAC-12 invite. UNLV may be next on the target list. That would get them back up to 8 football programs they need to keep their status.
 
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
Utah State is the linchpin for keeping the remnants of the MWC together, and if they go as it sounds like they are, then UNLV will follow them to the Pac-12 and Air Force will join the other academies in the AAC.

The Pac-12 had been targeting Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and South Florida, but they’ve decided to stick with the AAC.

MWC is about to be in shambles with only Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, and Wyoming (plus football-only Hawaii) left.

Also, it appears Gonzaga to the Pac-12 is not the done deal McMurphy thought it was. Not dead, but not done either.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
I wouldn’t be surprised to see teams from FCS conferences MVFC and/or Big Sky like North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State join the MWC
 
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
I wouldn’t be surprised to see teams from FCS conferences MVFC and/or Big Sky like North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State join the MWC
I'd think the $5 million transition fee is a big challenge for those schools not named NDSU.

Follow the money. No reason for GU to stay in the WCC if they are a full Pac-12 member. Higher rights fees, more potential in basketball units by the conference with SDSU, Boise, USU and CSU. I did some math and the "new" Pac-12 (including Gonzaga) would have earned 13 credits last year. That's $4.27 million per year for six years ($25+ million). No way does the WCC come close to matching that.

If Gonzaga joins, the Pac just kneecapped both of its top competitors on the West Coast by taking the cream of both conferences in football and basketball.
 
Hardt has it covered - move to the Patriot League.
George Costanza Seinfeld GIF by Cam Smith
 
So we watch all this happen because of football and obviously that is the big turd in the fishbowl of college sports. It ruins everything.

But is there a world where the basketball only leagues get shaken by the same fallout? The (potential) Gonzaga move would obviously indicate that yes, money can lure teams anywhere, football or no.

So what is the A10/Richmond to do? Besides sit here and pretend that all is well and that the BE wouldn't immediately take Dayton and St. Louis if they needed 2 teams in a pinch? I really hope everyone at UR is not just sticking their heads into the sand and hoping that anything that shakes out would be after their time.
 
I have two mindsets with this.

First, if teams do get poached by the Big East, I think the A10 is certainly in a stable place with 12-14 teams. With UMass leaving and Temple and Charlotte who left many years ago, every school in the A10 will be basketball centric and not have football heavily influencing decisions. As far as basketball centric conferences go, the A10 is the 2nd best option in the country besides Big East and the Big East won't poach too many teams from the A10 so even if a few leave, for everyone else that remains this is the best option as far as conferences go.

Secondly and more importantly is that I want us to have the mindset that we belong in the Big East and should have a goal to be one of those teams that gets poached. I am not saying that right now our resume is eye-popping and that we are a must-have for them. However, we are a great, small, private academically elite school in similar geographic footprint with the conference. We fit the identity of what the Big East seeks in schools. In terms of basketball pedigree, we definitely need to improve our success in that regard, but we are a solid program that invests a lot in basketball and has good results. We need to take the next step and get towards Dayton/VCU level of success. Remember, we were considered in 2013 originally. I am well aware that there is still a ways to go for this. Regardless of whether we should be in the Big East now or not, I believe that having the mindset to strive towards being one of those teams that moves up to the Big East is something I hope we aspire to. I agree with some posts above, that we shouldn't just wait around and hope things work out. Let's be the creators of our destiny.
 
Who was Gonsaga and why is basketball a priority in your thinking? If an A-10 team started getting the recruits they seem to be able to haul in, and become a national power would the results be the same?
I don’t think of them as the Notre Dame of basketball. Today, maybe, tomorrow maybe not.
 
Who was Gonsaga and why is basketball a priority in your thinking? If an A-10 team started getting the recruits they seem to be able to haul in, and become a national power would the results be the same?
I don’t think of them as the Notre Dame of basketball. Today, maybe, tomorrow maybe not.
You're correct. They are far better at basketball than Notre Dame is at football.
 
I have two mindsets with this.

First, if teams do get poached by the Big East, I think the A10 is certainly in a stable place with 12-14 teams. With UMass leaving and Temple and Charlotte who left many years ago, every school in the A10 will be basketball centric and not have football heavily influencing decisions. As far as basketball centric conferences go, the A10 is the 2nd best option in the country besides Big East and the Big East won't poach too many teams from the A10 so even if a few leave, for everyone else that remains this is the best option as far as conferences go.

Secondly and more importantly is that I want us to have the mindset that we belong in the Big East and should have a goal to be one of those teams that gets poached. I am not saying that right now our resume is eye-popping and that we are a must-have for them. However, we are a great, small, private academically elite school in similar geographic footprint with the conference. We fit the identity of what the Big East seeks in schools. In terms of basketball pedigree, we definitely need to improve our success in that regard, but we are a solid program that invests a lot in basketball and has good results. We need to take the next step and get towards Dayton/VCU level of success. Remember, we were considered in 2013 originally. I am well aware that there is still a ways to go for this. Regardless of whether we should be in the Big East now or not, I believe that having the mindset to strive towards being one of those teams that moves up to the Big East is something I hope we aspire to. I agree with some posts above, that we shouldn't just wait around and hope things work out. Let's be the creators of our destiny.

realignment is based primarily on tv deals and media interest, all you have to do is look at how many of those Friday Night A10 games we have been a part of over the past few seasons to tell you where we would stand on the Big East's radar.
 
realignment is based primarily on tv deals and media interest, all you have to do is look at how many of those Friday Night A10 games we have been a part of over the past few seasons to tell you where we would stand on the Big East's radar.
Not disagreeing with you here. Still, I want us to have the mindset that we belong and strive towards ambitious goals, which includes Big East.
 
Exactly. Push back against low predictions, say that you're going to do well. Set a high bar and deliver on it. Don't say "well, we play in a league with a lot of great teams." I'm so tired of this quote in response to almost anything. Generic, inoffensive statements are a hallmark of how UR goes about talking about its team publicly. It's almost like we want to be invisible all the time, except when we don't (usually only after we've achieved something.)

Make some noise once in awhile.
 
Exactly. Push back against low predictions, say that you're going to do well. Set a high bar and deliver on it. Don't say "well, we play in a league with a lot of great teams." I'm so tired of this quote in response to almost anything. Generic, inoffensive statements are a hallmark of how UR goes about talking about its team publicly. It's almost like we want to be invisible all the time, except when we don't (usually only after we've achieved something.)

Make some noise once in awhile.
Sports marketing in the age of social media 101 right here. We are stuck in a 1970's, 1980's mindset of marketing with these generic statements. No one is going to be interested in hearing more about your product if everything you say about it is generic/inoffensive.

Yes, we've made ourselves invisible. Really sad, we have a marketing program at UR, perhaps someone should talk to them about this.
 
Well, the MWC was able to buy off UNLV and Air Force with the exit fees they're getting from the other schools heading to the Pac-12...$25 million apiece was enough to keep those two in the fold.

With the MWC firming back up and the AAC targets having said no already, where does the Pac-12 turn next? MWC of course also still needs to backfill. As some have mentioned, FCS move-ups could play a role there.
 
The biggest positive for the basketball program is the NIL Cooperative. It consist of large donors to the Athletic Department, along with a number of Trustees. Everyone in the group is actively involved in getting regular updates on the program and highly interested in the successes of the program.

I hope many of you come out next Friday and support the program. It should be a very high quality event.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: VT4700
The biggest positive for the basketball program is the NIL Cooperative. It consist of large donors to the Athletic Department, along with a number of Trustees. Everyone in the group is actively involved in getting regular updates on the program and highly interested in the successes of the program.

I hope many of you come out next Friday and support the program. It should be a very high quality event.
I signed up to attend last night and received my receipt.
 
Sounds like Gonzaga to Pac-12 is finally going to happen. They apparently also talked to St. Mary's and Grand Canyon but seem to be turning attention back to football growth. Reports a few days ago indicated the Pac-12 was looking at Toledo and Northern Illinois for football, but there were some denials and things seem to have quieted down on that front. They may also make another run at the AAC schools that rejected their first try.

UTEP is leaving CUSA for the MWC. Texas State out of the Sun Belt may be next, but the Pac-12 is also sniffing around them.

The crazy game of musical chairs continues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: whampas and urfan1
Hawaii moving the rest of the sports it can from Big West to Mountain West, joining its football program there.
 
Have seen several articles about Stanford and Cal equipment trucks making the cross-country ACC trips. Minimum of four days each way, so make sure you didn’t forget to pack anything. If they’re playing out east two weeks in a row the trucks obviously just stay out and do laundry and other prep stuff on the road.
 
Have seen several articles about Stanford and Cal equipment trucks making the cross-country ACC trips. Minimum of four days each way, so make sure you didn’t forget to pack anything. If they’re playing out east two weeks in a row the trucks obviously just stay out and do laundry and other prep stuff on the road.
And football is probably the easiest sports in terms of travel. You play once a week on Saturday. I wonder how the student athletes that play on weeknights are gonna handle all of this travel throughout the season. I saw a graphic were the Stanford women's volleyball team will be traveling something like 33,000 miles during their season. Good thing we are thinking of the student athlete in these conference realignment decisions.
 
Hey, at least the players aren't driving like the equipment is!
 
The travel for schools like Cal and Stanford is just another sign that this is not college sports. This is minor leagues, and probably in some cases - better than the minor leagues. We all know AA and even AAA baseball teams don't travel as well as some of these college programs. Granted - minor league systems are usually set up regionally to a degree, but even with that - they have some long bus trips that I think many colleges even turn into flights these days.
 
some schools bus 5 hours to games. Stanford will fly 5 hours. not as big a deal as it seems excluding costs ... which don't matter to the high majors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
I could be wrong, but I assume most sports (basketball and football excluded) fly commercial, not private, even at the P4 level. Between getting to and from the airport, security/check-in, and making connections, those cross-country flying trips end up being way longer than a 5-hour door-to-door bus ride where you can at least nap pretty much the whole way.
 
ok, I'm just saying it's not necessarily the hardship for student athletes that some make it out to be.
traveling for sports is always tough. time demands for student athletes isn't easy. but they do it. and some are serious students as well as athletes.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT