(02-17-2019 01:59 PM)arkstfan Wrote: (02-17-2019 01:50 AM)BruceMcF Wrote: (02-12-2019 01:26 PM)Wedge Wrote: Forget about some huge swap of schools that isn't going to happen.
If what these schools really want is to save money, they would have one conference office administer both conferences and each conference could cut its overhead almost in half. Each school would get a few hundred thousand more each year due to less money being skimmed off the top for conference overhead.
There you go ... hoping that "Alliance or Partnership" in the thread title meant something like this is why I clicked on the thread, only to find another of the unending series of CUSA/SBC reshuffle threads.
(02-17-2019 12:48 AM)GSUALUM17 Wrote: unless at-large bids are on the table for the new league, I just don't see the point.
This is part of why this never would work in the real world as it is imagined in the latest reshuffle set out ...
(1) A regional reshuffle between the two won't ever give an alignment that makes 2/3 of each conference happy to do the change, so it's not on the table. If it could, it would already have happened.
(2) A tiered reshuffle between the two won't ever get the schools relegated to the lower tier to support it, so won't ever get an alignment that makes 2/3 of each conference happy.
(3) An "airport meeting" breakaway to build an upper tier above both the existing CUSA and SBC can't happen because the MWC airport meeting happened, and the NCAA sat down and figured out how to revise the Tourney autobid qualification rule (aka "continuity") to avoid dangling the incentive for one to happen again, so that supposed "upper tier" would be relying on at-large bids to get their champion to the Tourney, for eight years AFAIR. And it couldn't be part of the CFP contract until the next CFP contract negotiation, so would be relying on (even more unlikely) at-large bids for the NY6 as well.
The problem for the NCAA (and lesser degree CFP) is that you are correct. The NCAA did design the process to stifle competition and innovation. It provides a massive competitive advantage to a conference that currently exists over a conference members might like to form and gives preference to an older conference where members do the bare minimum to meet Division I standards over a new conference that is comprised schools with a longer history in Division I and make larger investments in competitive athletics.
Continuity is not designed to help consumers but rather to make it difficult for institutions to align in the manner that best suits a member institution and denies consumers variety of choices. Under the automatic bid rules a conference that has never won a game in the NCAA Tournament is more deserving of an auto bid than a conference starting its first year and all members won a tournament game the prior year.
I have my doubts the auto bid continuity rules survive an anti-trust challenge.
The real question would be is old defunct conferences reformed with old members? The rules seemed to address old conferences if they reformed.
American South Conference could reform with Lamar and UTRGV to reformed an all sports conference and try to get that as an FBS conference with New Mexico State. All you need is more schools involved. They could get UTA to join if they start football. New Orleans was a former member, and was supposed to have started a football program in 2015, but got delayed. American South Conference could be a home for rejects like La.-Monroe.
Border Conference could restart with New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, West Texas A&M, Hardin-Simmons and get UTRGV, Dixie State, Lamar and others for an all sports FBS conference.
East Coast Conference is another which east coast schools could be part of if they want FBS or an all sports FCS.
Delaware
James Madison
Towson
Elon
Stony Brook
Maine
New Hampshire
URI
William & Mary
Richmond
Albany
Villanova
If they all go FBS? Villanova and Richmond go Patriot League and UMass and Liberty join all sports. Former ECC D1 members Gettysberg, Muhlenberg, Brooklyn, and West Chester could join The Patriot League.
Great Midwest Conference
Great West
Gulf Star
Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Metropolitan Collegiate Conference
Metropolitan New York Conference
Association of Mid-Continent Universities football
Skyline Conference (Montana, Montana State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, New Mexico, Idaho, UTEP, Utah State)
New England Conference
Southern_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Association
Southwest Conference
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Yankee Conference
Maybe some old D2 conferences like RMAC and Lone Star Conference who were listed as major conferences could still have credits when some Big Name FBS programs were members who made post season play.
WVIAC had West Virginia in the conference.
It depends on what the NCAA officials would say, but the rules did not say former D1 conferences can't get left out since they were already on paper as D1. It would be fun to watch schools take NCAA to court on the issue on restarting D1 conferences that were already D1 and had teams played post season. Southern Conference could actually have the biggest case to be an FBS conference again. They had history, and have teams gone to Bowl games in the past.