I'm curious if Cal St Bakersfield's improbable NIT run has caught anyone's attention, particularly the Big West Conference that they so desperately want to be a part of.

The Big West could maintain the UC/Cal St balance by adding UC San Diego as it's 11th member with Hawaii remaining the swing vote.

The Big Ten did 11 members for more than a decade. Currently the MAAC, American, and MWC are managing with this size league and the Big Sky will also be at 11 once North Dakota departs.

If the WAC, Big West, Big Sky, and MWC all end up with an odd number of teams perhaps they could coordinate with eachother and each week the odd team out in each league could play OOC against another league's odd man out.

wac has surepassed b-west & b-sky
both conf should go after cal b, grand cayon, utah valley

I have. Nice for the WAC to have a final four team. Both UMKC and Utah Valley have a series of runs in the CBI.

GCU is eligible next year and the WAC is becoming a competitive conference. Cal Bapt will be adding to that.

WCC is the "Catholic" league in the west -- well BYU is Mormon, Pepperdine is Mainlstream Protestant, and Pacific once was, but is like Butler now. Only Seattle is similar, Jesuit like Gonzaga, LMU, SCU, and USF.

The Big West has repeatedly turned down Bakersfield, which in California is considered one of the bottom CSU schools, not in the same league with the urban schools. They are looking at UC San Diego. The Big West is a very strong public reasearch league, with 5 Carnegie R1 schools, 4 of them UCs, 3 of those AAU, plus Cal Poly, a high standard Cal State Tech school. Nobody in the WAC meets their standards.

The Big Sky is bloated, and if anything they'd like shed a school (hint, SUU would be that school in a secret vote). So no interest there. One school's President did float GCU as a candidate at a meeting, and surprisingly it was not rejected out of hand, the for profit was not a show stopper. for the Presidents. But it's more along the lines of "if we ever decide to expand we'd consider them" sort of thing.

Barnes is a good coach, and it's only a matter of time before a more major program snags him. I think a MWC school is most likely the next stop; I'd be surprised if a Pac-12 school considered him before he coached at a higher profile upper mid-major. I think everyone knows that is the situation at Bake State, and they'd want to see if the program continues or fades like so many Big West programs have.

I advise anyone to watch their NIT game tomorrow, they play a very aggressive and fun style of Basketball.

As for the WAC, I think things are getting brighter. Cal Baptist is a minor D-II power, and will be a huge upgrade over departing Chicago State.

Chicago State is departing?

(03-28-2017 09:32 AM)esayem Wrote:  Chicago State is departing?

It seems inevitable given their financial straits, but I don't believe anything has been announced yet.

The Cougars are on a five year agreement with the WAC. It expires June 30, 2018, right when Cal Baptist is scheduled to join.

Go Runners! Beat GA TECH!!!

If another program decides to leave the WAC, they will need the Cougars along with Cal Baptist in order to have enough teams to hold conference championships in some sports

The BW doesn't like 11. IF Bakersfield and UCSD were added, someone else outside California would have to come along as #12. That narrows it down to New Mexico State, GCU or Seattle.

WAC has had a heck of a post season. Power conference teams had better think twice about scheduling a WAC team for a non conference home game with what these teams have accomplished in the tournaments

Utah Valley reached the semi finals of the CBI winning 2 road games before losing a close one to Wyoming (68-74) and UMKC reached the Quarterfinals winning at home over Green Bay and losing at Wyoming.

CSU Bakersfield has the lowest profile of the NIT Final 4 teams would be quite the feat to see them at least reach the title game if not win it all. Hard to win 3 road tournament games consecutively.

(03-28-2017 11:16 AM)Policiious Wrote:  If another program decides to leave the WAC, they will need the Cougars along with Cal Baptist in order to have enough teams to hold conference championships in some sports

Everyone in the WAC wants to be somewhere else. But they are in the WAC because nobody else wants them. And none of them are going anywhere, not even New Mexico State, for the next five years. I think in a decade you will still have these six: Seattle, Utah Valley, CS Bakersfield, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley. There is a good chance Asuza Pacific will move up in a few years, provided football can find an FCS home (Pioneer?). That would make them safe. In the meantime neither Kansas City nor New Mexico State is going anywhere. The league is safe.

Chicago State is melting down. The hope for reform is running into a huge road block led by the remaining Wayne Watson board members led by the very corrupt Nicki Zollar to block Paul Vallas on the grounds that he is white. (I kid you not.) So a school that is falling apart, seeing attendance drop 20% a year and on pace to see a similar drop below 3,000 students this coming fall (they were 7,400 when they signed the five year contract with the WAC) is blocking reforms to turn the school around on the grounds that one of the people leading that reform is white -- this same group pushed out the "black man" Thomas Calhoun who was also a reformist, and three of the other reformers on the board appointed by Rauner are also black. Insane. The basic point is Chicago State is out of compliance with the WAC, and no vote has been taken or scheduled on renewing or extending their WAC contract. When we get to July 1st they will be in the lame duck year of the contract, and extensions are never given in lame duck years for anyone.

Chicago State leaves the end of business June 30th, 2018. Cal Baptist joins opening of business July 1st, 2018.

(03-28-2017 11:59 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(03-28-2017 11:16 AM)Policiious Wrote:  If another program decides to leave the WAC, they will need the Cougars along with Cal Baptist in order to have enough teams to hold conference championships in some sports

Everyone in the WAC wants to be somewhere else. But they are in the WAC because nobody else wants them. And none of them are going anywhere, not even New Mexico State, for the next five years. I think in a decade you will still have these six: Seattle, Utah Valley, CS Bakersfield, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley. There is a good chance Asuza Pacific will move up in a few years, provided football can find an FCS home (Pioneer?). That would make them safe. In the meantime neither Kansas City nor New Mexico State is going anywhere. The league is safe.

Chicago State is melting down.

For a conference with members that no other conference wants they are having a heck of a basketball season and Denver U (obvioously playing their Ice Hockey Elsewhere) is in the Frozen 4. Paul Vallas has lots of experience and had a decent track record running the CPS. When the state finally puts a budget together which likely will include some increase on annual incomes of over $1M for education, I;ll bet a significan amount of that will go to programs like Chicago State. We will see the clock is definitely ticking but if PV can do at Chicago State what he accomplished at CPS, Chicago State has a chance

(03-28-2017 11:30 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  The BW doesn't like 11. IF Bakersfield and UCSD were added, someone else outside California would have to come along as #12. That narrows it down to New Mexico State, GCU or Seattle.

What makes you say they are against 11? To my knowledge, the only real guiding principle behind current Big West membership is that a balance is maintained between the Cal St and UC schools.

12 gives you an extra mouth to feed. 11 gives you balance and you can do a 20 game conference schedule with double round robin play.

(03-28-2017 12:11 PM)Policiious Wrote:  

(03-28-2017 11:59 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  

(03-28-2017 11:16 AM)Policiious Wrote:  If another program decides to leave the WAC, they will need the Cougars along with Cal Baptist in order to have enough teams to hold conference championships in some sports

Everyone in the WAC wants to be somewhere else. But they are in the WAC because nobody else wants them. And none of them are going anywhere, not even New Mexico State, for the next five years. I think in a decade you will still have these six: Seattle, Utah Valley, CS Bakersfield, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley. There is a good chance Asuza Pacific will move up in a few years, provided football can find an FCS home (Pioneer?). That would make them safe. In the meantime neither Kansas City nor New Mexico State is going anywhere. The league is safe.

Chicago State is melting down.

For a conference with members that no other conference wants they are having a heck of a basketball season and Denver U (obvioously playing their Ice Hockey Elsewhere) is in the Frozen 4. Paul Vallas has lots of experience and had a decent track record running the CPS. When the state finally puts a budget together which likely will include some increase on annual incomes of over $1M for education, I;ll bet a significan amount of that will go to programs like Chicago State. We will see the clock is definitely ticking but if PV can do at Chicago State what he accomplished at CPS, Chicago State has a chance

DU is not in the WAC anymore. They think they're too prestigious to be playing in the WAC. They are currently sucking it up in the Summit.

Chicago State needs about $50m to turn it around. But I can't see the State committing that until reforms are in place and starting to have an impact. So look 2-3 years out. Too late to save them from the WAC ... although I suspect the reformer want to drop out of D-I and go with a cheaper NAIA/D-II solution to athletics, if not shut it down.

The attempt to appoint Vallas is to get the reforms started and not wait out the remaining three Wayne Watson board members terms. The school might not make it to 2019 without reforms (attendance decline at the current rate without reform would pull the school below 2,000 by then, necessitating another 30-40% staff reduction). It's stalemated right now. It's looking increasingly like the school wont be able to start reforms until next year. That is not good news. And if the Watson faction hangs on and fights, as it looks like it will, it might take two or three years to get anywhere.

At the very least Marshall Hatch, Jr. should resign as Board Chair and give that over to Vallas. Vallas (a lifelong Democrat) was appointed by Rauner to take a more prominent role. The aim of Zollar, Lucy, Hatch, Henderson, et al cabal is to block that, and so far they have succeeded. Basically there is a group of top school officials who were appointed by Watson who are protecting each other. They are the problem and must be replaced by people who actually know education. I'm not optimistic. It could take a year or more to nudge enough of them out to actually start the real work.

Now that I think about it, what the State should do is expand the Chicago State Board by two members and appoint them, giving the reformers a 6-3 advantage. Since Zollar, Hatch and Smith refuse to resign

(03-28-2017 04:34 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(03-28-2017 11:30 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  The BW doesn't like 11. IF Bakersfield and UCSD were added, someone else outside California would have to come along as #12. That narrows it down to New Mexico State, GCU or Seattle.

What makes you say they are against 11? To my knowledge, the only real guiding principle behind current Big West membership is that a balance is maintained between the Cal St and UC schools.

Why is this a good "guiding principle?" Is there any issue where the two factions would disagree?

The balance between UC and CSU seems more coincidence to me. Other than Bakersfield the only other D-1 non-FBS school from either system is Sacramento State, and they seem quite happy in the Big Sky (although I could be wrong).

I actually wonder if the WAC can still flip a Summit League school like Omaha. With Chicago State gone they can make a nice partner for Kansas City. The same would apply for Oral Roberts as well, who has less to gain from having North Dakota join the conference. ORU would also be a better institutional fit with Grand Canyon and Cal Baptist.

(03-28-2017 07:43 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  I actually wonder if the WAC can still flip a Summit League school like Omaha. With Chicago State gone they can make a nice partner for Kansas City. The same would apply for Oral Roberts as well, who has less to gain from having North Dakota join the conference. ORU would also be a better institutional fit with Grand Canyon and Cal Baptist.

If the WAC can get Dallas Baptist, who is already a power in DI baseball, ORU might be enticed. Omaha is now officially a hockey revenue school, so they will stick with Denver and UND.