(01-09-2013 02:42 PM)NJRedMan Wrote: No way is BYU added. This league is trying to get away from the whims of CFB. That is why UConn and Cincy aren't candidates. Also the whole "no play on Sunday" rule wouldn't fly with this league.
Also no way do we go western, too far away for the rest of our sports. The C7 presidents are very sour on the idea of a national conference.
Also once again, no reliable source considers Gonzaga, let alone BYU to be a realistic option. Right now the candidates are Butler, Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, SLU and VCU.
Even if the C7 wanted BYU (highly arguable), there's zero indication that BYU would want to be involved. You have to consider that BYU operates on a completely different plane than all the other schools in their decision making process:
The MAC will play football games any day/time ESPN asks in order to be on TV.
BYU refuses to play on Sundays, PERIOD. Not for the NCAA Tournament, not for any reason, even if it puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
Texas Athletics formed a network to get more TV revenue.
BYU formed a TV network because their President feels it's a mission given to him by God Himself to spread the message of the Latter Day Saints. It has nothing to do with athletics revenue, they are using athletics content to draw viewers to their network, hoping to win them over to the Church of Mormon. And that athletics content is provided virtually for free by the WCC.
I'm sure BYU-TV would love to get some games vs east coast schools in massive media markets… but I'm also pretty confident in saying there would be a lot less content available to BYU-TV in the C7 conference. With Fox playing catch-up and currently owning zero other conference TV rights, do you think they're gonna give up the first round of the men's basketball conference tournament BYU-TV? Because they currently carry all WCC basketball tournament games that the ESPN Family doesn't carry. And the WCC says "great, thanks for the exposure!"
(01-09-2013 03:31 PM)NJRedMan Wrote: Could be a discussion about taking all 6 candidates and going to 13. If you're not going to divisions then why be hampered by even numbers?
Even numbers is a very desirable thing for all sports that aren't men's basketball. MBB could overcome the fact that one team has a Saturday off by scheduling Sunday/mid-week games on national TV. Volleyball, not so much.
Oh, and there's no reason that if you go with 12 teams, you can't just call Gonzaga and sign a deal with them to play four C7 teams a year OOC. In the WCC, they'll be looking for tough games all the time. They might even be willing to play SIX a year. You get two Gonzaga games a year minimum on your TV package, two games a year at Gonzaga on ESPN as part of THEIR TV package, and you don't have to send all your teams Spokane in all sports.