EDIT TO THREAD TITLE: Would *you* take UConn and Cincinnati as temporary members?

This is entirely theoretical; no source has said anything close to this. Basically here is my thought process:

1. Fox is going to want 12 teams to maximize inventory
2. There are a maximum of 4 teams that have been really solid over the last 4 years: Butler, Xavier, Creighton, and VCU. VCU doesn't match the conference profile and Creighton hasn't been successful in the tournament (38 years since their last Sweet 16)
3. The league will want to start ASAP, preferably next season

No matter what you do, you are going to have to add either Dayton or Saint Louis if you want to get to 12 teams. Saint Louis hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in 50 years, Dayton in 28. I don't think either team is really ready to be competitive in the new conference.

Now, here is where UConn and Cincinnati come in. They cannot join the C7 as full members; they would certainly leave in a split-second to join a BCS conference if asked and that would hurt conference stability. However, they would likely join the conference in some form if asked (the nBE is a cobbled together conference that is almost certainly bound to fail).

What if the C7 were able to negotiate a deal with UConn and Cincinnati for them to join the conference for 3-4 years? As a temporary member (maybe the term is affiliated member), they would not get to vote but would compete in conference play and in the tournament.

To me, this is an elegant solution to the problems both sides face. The C7 gain some extra time to evaluate their options and take a quality university, fulfill their deal with Fox, and get to nip the nBE in the bud before it gets any chance to become a competitor. UConn and Cincinnati get to stay in a quality basketball conference and gain some time to appeal to a BCS conference.

At the end of the 3-4 years, the C7 can either renew the contract with those teams or replace them with other candidates. UConn and Cincinatti would be able to leave without paying exit fees to either a BCS conference or the nBE, but would be obligated to stay for the full duration of the contract unless both sides agree to end the contract early.

What do you think? Would you accept such a deal?

(01-25-2013 04:39 PM)College Basketball Fan Wrote:  EDIT TO THREAD TITLE: Would *you* take UConn and Cincinnati as temporary members?

This is entirely theoretical; no source has said anything close to this. Basically here is my thought process:

1. Fox is going to want 12 teams to maximize inventory
2. There are a maximum of 4 teams that have been really solid over the last 4 years: Butler, Xavier, Creighton, and VCU. VCU doesn't match the conference profile and Creighton hasn't been successful in the tournament (38 years since their last Sweet 16)
3. The league will want to start ASAP, preferably next season

No matter what you do, you are going to have to add either Dayton or Saint Louis if you want to get to 12 teams. Saint Louis hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in 50 years, Dayton in 28. I don't think either team is really ready to be competitive in the new conference.

Now, here is where UConn and Cincinnati come in. They cannot join the C7 as full members; they would certainly leave in a split-second to join a BCS conference if asked and that would hurt conference stability. However, they would likely join the conference in some form if asked (the nBE is a cobbled together conference that is almost certainly bound to fail).

What if the C7 were able to negotiate a deal with UConn and Cincinnati for them to join the conference for 3-4 years? As a temporary member (maybe the term is affiliated member), they would not get to vote but would compete in conference play and in the tournament.

To me, this is an elegant solution to the problems both sides face. The C7 gain some extra time to evaluate their options and take a quality university, fulfill their deal with Fox, and get to nip the nBE in the bud before it gets any chance to become a competitor. UConn and Cincinnati get to stay in a quality basketball conference and gain some time to appeal to a BCS conference.

At the end of the 3-4 years, the C7 can either renew the contract with those teams or replace them with other candidates. UConn and Cincinatti would be able to leave without paying exit fees to either a BCS conference or the nBE, but would be obligated to stay for the full duration of the contract unless both sides agree to end the contract early.

What do you think? Would you accept such a deal?

I think it would look very bad for this new conference to set itself up to be dumped, losing two schools within the first 5 years of it's establishment. It reinforces the inferior perception the conference will need to grow out of and paints a clear narrative of this conference being less than "major" to the powers that be (i.e. the media and casual fans).

And this isn't even considering the very real possibility of Cincy and UConn winning the conference. Think how bad that would make us look. We need to look good in this new conference and inviting two schools that will inevitably leave us, especially after winning our conference a few times, would be the worst way to start.

No

I would, I think. More on that later.

But a few points--no need to bother with complicated hybrid strategies. They won't insulate against a perception hit when they leave. And there's not much point to not giving them full conference voting rights--it would be 2 votes out of 12 or 14, or 1 vote out of 10 if it's just the C7+XU+BU+UConn.

And you seem certain that they would come if invited. Cincinnati would only do so if the Aresco League lost UConn, Houston and SMU to the MWC, and maybe not then. UConn might be more inclined, but that's pretty doubtful as well. UConn would have to believe that, not only was our league better for basketball, but the Aresco League was so worthless in football that they might as well go join the MAC with a special deal.

Hellz no

Richmond matches the conference profile and was in the Sweet 16 in 2011. Great win by the Spiders over VCU last night before a sold out Robins Center crowd of over 9,000. As previously stated, UR has no issues with increased budgets for recruiting, coaches or travel, as it has a $150 Million Athletic Department Endowment, as well as a $2 Billion General Endowment, and importantly is never looking to move to FBS football. Richmond also brings a strong all around athletic department that has been in the top 3 of the A10 "Commisioners Cup" every year since the move to the A10 in 2001, including adding Men's Varsity Lacrosse next season.

They would at best be a short-term solution but always looking to leave because of FB. There is no guaranty of retaining them for any length of time if the BIG / ACC / SEC / XII / PAC merry-go-round hasn't stopped. I like the games against both schools, but I don't see it working out.

(01-25-2013 05:40 PM)MUAvalanche Wrote:  They would at best be a short-term solution but always looking to leave because of FB. There is no guaranty of retaining them for any length of time if the BIG / ACC / SEC / XII / PAC merry-go-round hasn't stopped. I like the games against both schools, but I don't see it working out.

That is exactly what this is supposed to be. A short term solution. The intent is not to further ties with those schools, but to give some more time to evaluate other schools.

In other words, it would be clear from the beginning that the conference is not looking for a long term relationship with those schools as full members of the conference.

Benefits to the C7:

Fulfillment of the 12-team deal with Fox
Extra time to evaluate Dayton, SLU, and others
Early boost in conference reputation

Benefits to UConn/Cincinnati:

Better conference than nBE, even without being true members
Ability to wait out BCS realignment until a good deal is designed
No need to pay exit fees if they wait until the end of the contract

I think that doing it this way would somewhat negate the problems with dealing with those schools. They wouldn't want to leave until the end of the contract, and then it would be the C7 making them leave and not the other way around.

No. I'm sad to part from UConn but it's almost been a relief to watch this separation and read about the excitement amongst all the schools (the 7 and the prospective schools) on CSNbbs after the past few years of (IMO) negativity towards the schools. No matter who the additions are, I feel optimistic about the future for this league. I loved the BE16 but once the football schools started to leave, well, this is a risk that I think the basketball schools had to take. They should not and can not look back. UConn and Cinci OOC if they wish but in order to move forward to any sort of successful future it has to be a clean break... no relapsing back to the old habit

(01-25-2013 04:39 PM)College Basketball Fan Wrote:  EDIT TO THREAD TITLE: Would *you* take UConn and Cincinnati as temporary members?

This is entirely theoretical; no source has said anything close to this. Basically here is my thought process:

1. Fox is going to want 12 teams to maximize inventory
2. There are a maximum of 4 teams that have been really solid over the last 4 years: Butler, Xavier, Creighton, and VCU. VCU doesn't match the conference profile and Creighton hasn't been successful in the tournament (38 years since their last Sweet 16)
3. The league will want to start ASAP, preferably next season

No matter what you do, you are going to have to add either Dayton or Saint Louis if you want to get to 12 teams. Saint Louis hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in 50 years, Dayton in 28. I don't think either team is really ready to be competitive in the new conference.

Now, here is where UConn and Cincinnati come in. They cannot join the C7 as full members; they would certainly leave in a split-second to join a BCS conference if asked and that would hurt conference stability. However, they would likely join the conference in some form if asked (the nBE is a cobbled together conference that is almost certainly bound to fail).

What if the C7 were able to negotiate a deal with UConn and Cincinnati for them to join the conference for 3-4 years? As a temporary member (maybe the term is affiliated member), they would not get to vote but would compete in conference play and in the tournament.

To me, this is an elegant solution to the problems both sides face. The C7 gain some extra time to evaluate their options and take a quality university, fulfill their deal with Fox, and get to nip the nBE in the bud before it gets any chance to become a competitor. UConn and Cincinnati get to stay in a quality basketball conference and gain some time to appeal to a BCS conference.

At the end of the 3-4 years, the C7 can either renew the contract with those teams or replace them with other candidates. UConn and Cincinatti would be able to leave without paying exit fees to either a BCS conference or the nBE, but would be obligated to stay for the full duration of the contract unless both sides agree to end the contract early.

What do you think? Would you accept such a deal?

that would work if they also voted with the C7 to disband and take the name
since the C7 need to two FB schools to vote with them

(01-26-2013 05:17 PM)EPJr Wrote:  that would work if they also voted with the C7 to disband and take the name
since the C7 need to two FB schools to vote with them

They wouldn't have to disband. With a 9/10 voting majority, you can do pretty much whatever.