(03-13-2018 09:38 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  

(03-13-2018 08:47 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  10 seems to be the ideal place to be for a basketball league. You can pull off just 9 if you can get decent OOC games and you trust your conference mates not to dart, leaving everyone else in a lurch.

It's about to be 11 or 12, because all the big dogs are starting to expand their conference schedules to 20 games - the Big Ten starts next year, then the ACC, and the Pac-12 is thinking about it, as is the SEC. That means fewer guarantee games, which means fewer quality opponents available. Sure, beating up on one D2 or NAIA school a year is fine for mid-majors, but three? Every year? Adding schools to the conference ensures games of a certain quality, both home and away, for a greater part of the season. Scheduling alliances like the Summit-Big Sky series starting next year also help, but they are a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Eventually, it will be extremely difficult to get mid-majors and power schools to play one another except in postseason tournaments. I do fear we're moving toward a I-A/I-AA dichotomy in Olympic sports, where the FBS leagues plus the Big East, A10, and maybe the Missouri Valley (but they're a stretch) form the top division and leave everyone else behind to compete for a separate championship that doesn't give them nearly the revenue or national TV access.

This is where being in a G5 puts you ahead of the game.

UT-Arlington realized it and got into the SBC.

Wichita St. realized it and joined the AAC.

Gonzaga sees the writing on the wall and is proposing to join the MWC.