Hey hey NCAA rulebook fans. Here's the thread about it.
http://csnbbs.com/thread-768543.html
(03-20-2018 07:54 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: idk. It defines a conference and then states that you have to have met those requirements for 8 years to establish continuity. If the 8 teams forming a new conference have met those requirements over the previous 8 years--I dont think there is any way to block them. The new Big East would essentially be exhibit #1 for that idea.
Nope. "Continuity", by the grammar of the rules, is a thing that conferences have, or do not have. The Great Northern Conference, established 2018, can only have continuity going back to 2018.
(03-20-2018 08:28 PM)arkstfan Wrote: Exactly.
The NCAA will fight when there is money at stake (TV rights, restricted earnings coaches, rule requiring teams play in NCAA tournament if invited or stay have, player likeness) and will fight over player eligibility issues (Bloom and numerous others) or coach punishment (Tarkanian suits).
When it comes to membership issues. If it ain't taking food off the table or isn't creating a problem for the current members the NCAA shows its belly pretty quickly.
But a new league does take food off the table--an at-large bid becomes an autobid.
Quote:The NCAA is not going to pick a fight on this. More importantly if you follow all the rules all the way around, one of the criteria is that you don't count until the NCAA amends the list of core conferences by way of legislation. They'll run screaming from any challenge to that.
Yeah, I don't think that would stand up in court if a new conference somehow held together for 8 years without an autobid.
Quote:A retired administrator and I were discussing this matter the other day and while he agreed with my reading of the rule, he insists that if a new conference comes knocking on the door asking for an autobid AND that conference does not increase the number of Division I leagues that the NCAA will approve them.
No question.
Quote:He believes that if six Sun Belt and six CUSA schools struck out to form a new league and the remaining 8 CUSA schools grabbed four more Sun Belt leaving the Sun Belt with 2 and the remaining Sun Belt schools merged with the WAC that the new conference that started it all would get an automatic berth because the NCAA wouldn't want to go through 8 years of having 37 at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament and then reduce it back to 36 with the accompanying complaints of "we would have been at-large if the NCAA hadn't taken away an at-large spot."
Someone would end up holding the Sun Belt charter, along with its autobid. They'd find enough schools to survive under the WAC rule--UTA, UALR, ULM plus UTRGV, a Southland school or two that sees a ticket to FBS. (Possibly killing the WAC, ironically.) There would be hard feelings, and there would be no appetite to give the new league a new autobid, especially if the WAC somehow survives.
If the new grouping, and the reshuffle don't kill a conference, I think they tuck their tails between their legs and go back to CUSA/SBC.
The trick is getting from the SBC/CUSA lineups we have now to some Promised Land lineup, and that's not easy to sketch out.