(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:44 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:29 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 08:24 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Gotta say that I completely 1000% disagree with this. I feel that Kansas is one of the most perpetually underrated schools on this board (and I say that as someone that personally can’t stand KU). I VERY strongly feel that if Kansas could leave the Big 12 *alone* (meaning not having to bring Kansas State), they would be invited to the Big Ten *today* (much less in a basketball-focused realignment, where it would be misguided to think that they’d be anything less than a top 5 pick). They have the academics as an AAU school and I’ve never understood the geography knock against them when they are effectively in the Kansas City TV market (which is a lot larger than the home markets of the vast majority of flagship universities). They have historically received the largest third tier rights deal in the Big 12 besides Texas, which shows how uniquely valuable their basketball program is compared to virtually anyone that’s not Duke, UNC or Kentucky. The way that so many people seem to not see the value of Kansas is something that I continue to be perplexed by after following conference realignment for so many years.

I agree with about 98 percent on this, Frank.

The realty is that the University of Kansas has a perception problem both with many folks on this board and not on this board.

I talk to a decent number of people (college sports fans and non-fans alike) about universities in general and their athletic programs specifically. And Kansas is very far down the list of P5-aligned schools in terms of drawing interest and respect from these folks.

There are various explanations but lots of the negative (or lack of positive, depending on who you see it) perception stems from 1. Kansas having struggled for years in football; 2. the university being located in a sparsely populated state that most folks have never visited and know nothing about; and 3. the university seemingly lacking racial/ethnic diversity (which is a somewhat unfair perception but often touched upon when I talk to friends and acquaintances of color).

Some of this perception is questionable and even unfair. But, and putting myself in the shoes of others, I can kind of see why that perception exists.

Some of it is just east coast media bias.

In the pre-internet days, you often couldn't even get scores from west of the Mississippi. The papers would have those games listed as "late."

I bet the OP has no clue Texas (currently #5) has been in the NCAA tourney 22 of the last 25 years and was in every year from 1999 to 2012. Texas Tech was runnerup in 2019. Baylor is currently ranked #2. Oklahoma St. has 2 NCAA titles. They have been in the NCAA 19 times and NIT 6 times in the last 29 years (3 of the misses were in the last 8 years).

Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Some conferences have less than 7 members. Also, Idaho in the WCC?

The Big Ten and SEC expanded with football and markets in mind. In a basketball world, it's much more likely that they would stay at ten. Notre Dame will still associate itself with East Coast schools, since they have a lot of subway alumni that will come out to see them at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, etc.. I wonder if, at some point, the Big East would invite Navy and/or Army to enhance its prestige in football. Virginia Tech and Penn State might, eventually, find their way to the ACC. They might squeeze in Miami to take advantage of the Miami/FSU rivalry but probably not South Carolina, as the latter still held a grudge against the ACC.

Big East: Syracuse, Providence, Boston College, Connecticut, St. John's, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Butler, Marquette, Xavier, DePaul

Metro: Houston, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Carolina, Memphis, West Virginia, Rutgers, Temple, St. Louis, Dayton, Virginia Commonwealth

ACC: Maryland, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State, North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami

SEC: Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Louisiana State

Big Ten: Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State

Big 12: Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas Tech, New Mexico

Pac-12: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah

Mountain West: Boise State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Fresno State, Brigham Young, UNLV, Colorado State, Air Force, Baylor, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Wyoming

(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:44 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:29 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 08:24 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Gotta say that I completely 1000% disagree with this. I feel that Kansas is one of the most perpetually underrated schools on this board (and I say that as someone that personally can’t stand KU). I VERY strongly feel that if Kansas could leave the Big 12 *alone* (meaning not having to bring Kansas State), they would be invited to the Big Ten *today* (much less in a basketball-focused realignment, where it would be misguided to think that they’d be anything less than a top 5 pick). They have the academics as an AAU school and I’ve never understood the geography knock against them when they are effectively in the Kansas City TV market (which is a lot larger than the home markets of the vast majority of flagship universities). They have historically received the largest third tier rights deal in the Big 12 besides Texas, which shows how uniquely valuable their basketball program is compared to virtually anyone that’s not Duke, UNC or Kentucky. The way that so many people seem to not see the value of Kansas is something that I continue to be perplexed by after following conference realignment for so many years.

I agree with about 98 percent on this, Frank.

The realty is that the University of Kansas has a perception problem both with many folks on this board and not on this board.

I talk to a decent number of people (college sports fans and non-fans alike) about universities in general and their athletic programs specifically. And Kansas is very far down the list of P5-aligned schools in terms of drawing interest and respect from these folks.

There are various explanations but lots of the negative (or lack of positive, depending on who you see it) perception stems from 1. Kansas having struggled for years in football; 2. the university being located in a sparsely populated state that most folks have never visited and know nothing about; and 3. the university seemingly lacking racial/ethnic diversity (which is a somewhat unfair perception but often touched upon when I talk to friends and acquaintances of color).

Some of this perception is questionable and even unfair. But, and putting myself in the shoes of others, I can kind of see why that perception exists.

Some of it is just east coast media bias.

In the pre-internet days, you often couldn't even get scores from west of the Mississippi. The papers would have those games listed as "late."

I bet the OP has no clue Texas (currently #5) has been in the NCAA tourney 22 of the last 25 years and was in every year from 1999 to 2012. Texas Tech was runnerup in 2019. Baylor is currently ranked #2. Oklahoma St. has 2 NCAA titles. They have been in the NCAA 19 times and NIT 6 times in the last 29 years (3 of the misses were in the last 8 years).

Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Wow! Clemson in Conference USA?? And I thought I hated them! At least I let them stay in the SEC (of course my SEC had fewer wins than the current Pathetic 12)!

I should really try another one limiting it to 12 per conference or maybe even 10 or 11 per conference and see the results.

Last year when I ran a "Millennium Tournament" I took the 64 top teams from 2000-2019 and grouped them into 8 conferences of 8. Ranked by # of NCAA Tournament wins:

ACC (236): North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Maryland, Louisville, Virginia, NC State, Wake Forest
Big 10 (183): Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame
Pac (141): Gonzaga, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, USC, San Diego State
Big East (135): Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Temple, Boston College, St. Joseph's
Big 12 (109): Kansas, Memphis, Wichita State, Iowa State, LSU, Missouri, Kansas State, S. Illinois
A-10 (105): Butler, Xavier, West Virginia, Marquette, Cincinnati, Va. Commonwealth, George Mason, Dayton
SEC (95): Florida, Tennessee, Florida State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Miami, Fla, Alabama, Vanderbilt
SWC (95): Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas A&M, Utah, Nevada

(01-25-2021 12:19 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:44 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:29 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I agree with about 98 percent on this, Frank.

The realty is that the University of Kansas has a perception problem both with many folks on this board and not on this board.

I talk to a decent number of people (college sports fans and non-fans alike) about universities in general and their athletic programs specifically. And Kansas is very far down the list of P5-aligned schools in terms of drawing interest and respect from these folks.

There are various explanations but lots of the negative (or lack of positive, depending on who you see it) perception stems from 1. Kansas having struggled for years in football; 2. the university being located in a sparsely populated state that most folks have never visited and know nothing about; and 3. the university seemingly lacking racial/ethnic diversity (which is a somewhat unfair perception but often touched upon when I talk to friends and acquaintances of color).

Some of this perception is questionable and even unfair. But, and putting myself in the shoes of others, I can kind of see why that perception exists.

Some of it is just east coast media bias.

In the pre-internet days, you often couldn't even get scores from west of the Mississippi. The papers would have those games listed as "late."

I bet the OP has no clue Texas (currently #5) has been in the NCAA tourney 22 of the last 25 years and was in every year from 1999 to 2012. Texas Tech was runnerup in 2019. Baylor is currently ranked #2. Oklahoma St. has 2 NCAA titles. They have been in the NCAA 19 times and NIT 6 times in the last 29 years (3 of the misses were in the last 8 years).

Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Some conferences have less than 7 members. Also, Idaho in the WCC?

What conference has less than 7? Ivy should be the smallest with 8. Idaho had to go somewhere, other ideas were WAC or Sun Belt but Big Sky was capped at 12.

(01-25-2021 06:46 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:44 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:29 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I agree with about 98 percent on this, Frank.

The realty is that the University of Kansas has a perception problem both with many folks on this board and not on this board.

I talk to a decent number of people (college sports fans and non-fans alike) about universities in general and their athletic programs specifically. And Kansas is very far down the list of P5-aligned schools in terms of drawing interest and respect from these folks.

There are various explanations but lots of the negative (or lack of positive, depending on who you see it) perception stems from 1. Kansas having struggled for years in football; 2. the university being located in a sparsely populated state that most folks have never visited and know nothing about; and 3. the university seemingly lacking racial/ethnic diversity (which is a somewhat unfair perception but often touched upon when I talk to friends and acquaintances of color).

Some of this perception is questionable and even unfair. But, and putting myself in the shoes of others, I can kind of see why that perception exists.

Some of it is just east coast media bias.

In the pre-internet days, you often couldn't even get scores from west of the Mississippi. The papers would have those games listed as "late."

I bet the OP has no clue Texas (currently #5) has been in the NCAA tourney 22 of the last 25 years and was in every year from 1999 to 2012. Texas Tech was runnerup in 2019. Baylor is currently ranked #2. Oklahoma St. has 2 NCAA titles. They have been in the NCAA 19 times and NIT 6 times in the last 29 years (3 of the misses were in the last 8 years).

Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Wow! Clemson in Conference USA?? And I thought I hated them! At least I let them stay in the SEC (of course my SEC had fewer wins than the current Pathetic 12)!

I should really try another one limiting it to 12 per conference or maybe even 10 or 11 per conference and see the results.

They aren't a historically very good program according to the data I found.

Top basketball conferences by taking my top 64 and adding 2 members to each conference for a maximum of 10. The two members added don't necessarily have to be added for basketball reasons.

I moved LSU over to the SWC and S. Illinois to the A-10 for better fits. I couldn't get them into the SEC because I was limited to 10 teams. I also couldn't get some pairs together like Penn State and Pitt.

Update: Utah/Nevada and Memphis/TCU switched.

ACC (227): North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Maryland, Louisville, Virginia, NC State, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Clemson

Big Ten (187): Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Notre Dame, Penn State, Minnesota

Pac "Ten" (146): Gonzaga, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, USC, San Diego State, California, Arizona State

Big East (140): Connecticut, Syracuse, Villanova, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Temple, Boston College, St. Joseph's, Seton Hall, St. John's

A-10 (111): Butler, Xavier, West Virginia, Marquette, Cincinnati, Va. Commonwealth, George Mason, Dayton, Southern Illinois, Northwestern

SWC (110): Oklahoma, Texas, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas, TCU

Big 12 (108): Kansas, Wichita State, Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas State, Utah, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado

SEC (100): Florida, Tennessee, Florida State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Miami-Fla, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Georgia, South Carolina

Football:

The Big 10, ACC, SEC, and SWC play as full 10 team conferences.
The Pacific and Big 12 play as nine team conferences.
The Big East invites the A-10 football members (West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Northwestern) as well as Rutgers to form a nine team football conference.

I believe in terms of the Power 6 conferences in men's basketball Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Washington State, Providence, DePaul, and Creighton are left out (Rutgers is out in all sports except football). Gonzaga, Temple, St. Joseph's, Wichita State, Cincinnati, VCU, George Mason, Dayton, and Nevada get upgraded. If you are in the top 64 you automatically get a spot in one of the "Power 8" conferences.

These might be better than my 16 team conferences and I still have Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Louisville in the ACC together.

(01-25-2021 09:58 AM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 12:19 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:44 AM)bullet Wrote:  Some of it is just east coast media bias.

In the pre-internet days, you often couldn't even get scores from west of the Mississippi. The papers would have those games listed as "late."

I bet the OP has no clue Texas (currently #5) has been in the NCAA tourney 22 of the last 25 years and was in every year from 1999 to 2012. Texas Tech was runnerup in 2019. Baylor is currently ranked #2. Oklahoma St. has 2 NCAA titles. They have been in the NCAA 19 times and NIT 6 times in the last 29 years (3 of the misses were in the last 8 years).

Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Some conferences have less than 7 members. Also, Idaho in the WCC?

What conference has less than 7? Ivy should be the smallest with 8. Idaho had to go somewhere, other ideas were WAC or Sun Belt but Big Sky was capped at 12.

My mistake. There was a notification blocking the rest of the Big West and WAC lineups. I cleared it and saw everyone has at least 7 members.

But sharing a league with Sacramento State and San Jose State

lol at the people putting Xavier and Cincinnati in the same conference. That will never happen- too much hostility. The two schools have nothing in common.

(01-25-2021 11:57 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 09:58 AM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 12:19 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:10 PM)bhutchcraft89 Wrote:  

(01-24-2021 11:52 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  Very good points. I'm in the media and see bias even from my colleagues (and sometimes, sadly, from myself).

So I spent way too much time creating this. Took a look at all time win percentages, tried to keep region in mind and not have too many P6 teams left out. Bare with me as I'm from the MW and haven't spent too much time in the NE or Deep South. What big errors did I make? I had a good 20-30 schools I felt could fit in quite a few conferences but I wanted the Old Big East back. Tried to cap conferences at 12.

ACC: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina St, Maryland, FSU, Virginia, Wake Forest, Va Tech, Boston College, Georgia Tech

Big Ten: Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan St, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nebraska

Big 12: Kansas, Memphis, Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State

Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, St. John's, Temple, UConn, Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, Pittsburgh, Depaul, Penn State, Seton Hall

SEC: Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, LSU, Miami, Florida, Mississippi St, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi

Pac 12: UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Washington, California, USC, Stanford, Oregon St, Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado, Baylor

Mountain West: UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU, New Mexico St, Utah St, New Mexico, UTEP, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Wyoming, Fresno State, Boise St

A-10: VCU, Murray St, Dayton, Xavier, St. Joseph's, Butler, La Salle, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Iona, Davidson, UMass

MVC: North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley, North Dakota, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Evansville

Rest of conferences: Basketball Focused Conferences

Some conferences have less than 7 members. Also, Idaho in the WCC?

What conference has less than 7? Ivy should be the smallest with 8. Idaho had to go somewhere, other ideas were WAC or Sun Belt but Big Sky was capped at 12.

My mistake. There was a notification blocking the rest of the Big West and WAC lineups. I cleared it and saw everyone has at least 7 members.

But sharing a league with Sacramento State and San Jose State

Makes sense doesn't it :)

(01-23-2021 09:42 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Since (men's) basketball is my #1 college sport, I at times get sick of the fact that college football calls the shots and gets in the way of college basketball. The old Big East was broken up as football schools and non football schools for the most part seem to not be able to coexist in the same conference anymore (although there are still key exceptions such as Wichita State, BYU, Connecticut, and Hawaii).

A few years ago I put together an "Ideal College Realignment (Basketball Version)" where I realigned schools for basketball first rather than football first, trying to stack conferences in basketball and also to create more geographic ones. Football doesn't care if West Virginia is in the Big 12 because they only travel once a week but if basketball is the #1 sport they would care more about having to travel to Kansas and Texas in the middle of winter. A football conference would treat Villanova as a second class citizen. A basketball conference would treat Villanova as royalty. Finally, this also includes a common Schmolik theme, bringing rivals back together such as Penn State-Pittsburgh, Florida-Florida State, and Texas-Texas A&M but also other rivals between football schools and non football schools such as Temple-Villanova and Cincinnati-Xavier. If Wichita State can be in a "football" conference for other sports, why can't Villanova or Xavier? My conferences also bring back some "old school" rivalries from the past.

https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/2017/...ll-version

Top Tier:

ACC (16):

Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgetown, Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Xavier, West Virginia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Memphis

(I know I've been big on the ACC's academics but I threw that out for this exercise - West Virginia??)

Big Ten (18):

Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, Villanova, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin

(The Big Ten for the most part stayed academically elite with the possible exception of Butler).

Second Tier:

SEC (16):

Florida, Florida State, Miami, Central Florida, South Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Clemson, East Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas

Big 12 (18):

Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Houston, SMU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Wichita State, Creighton

The Pac 12 would remain unchanged.

I don't think I was thinking about football when I wrote this but if you remove the non football members (Georgetown and Xavier from the ACC, Villanova and Butler from the Big 10, and Wichita State and Creighton from the Big 12), you get the SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 at 16 teams and the ACC at 14.

The ACC divisions are easy, the Virginia, North Carolina schools and Maryland in one division and the others in the other. The Big Ten could put the eight original Big Ten schools (Iowa and Minnesota were moved to the Big 12) in one division and everyone else in the other division although geographically that would put Notre Dame away from Indiana and Purdue and Ohio State is further East than Notre Dame but would essentially put in the "West" division.

In the Big 12, there are seven former SWC teams (Rice didn't make the cut) and seven former Big 8 members (Colorado stays in the Pac-12) with Iowa and Minnesota coming over from the Big 10. Either Iowa, Minnesota, or one of the Big 8 schools has to go to the SWC division. Good luck choosing.

SEC? You've got the Georgia pairs, the Alabama pairs, the South Carolina pairs, the Mississippi pairs, LSU and Arkansas are probably a pair, you have five Florida schools, and East Carolina by their lonesome. Florida and Georgia most likely have to be together so if you keep all the Florida and Georgia schools together there's only room for East Carolina with them and that puts Clemson and South Carolina with the "West" and Alabama and Clemson are in the same division.

I suggested the remains of the Big East raid the A-10 but considering the remains are St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul, and Marquette, what incentive do the five of them have of staying together? The three Eastern schools might just join the A-10 and DePaul and Marquette maybe the Horizon or Missouri Valley Conference (maybe Dayton and St. Louis leave the A-10 and joins them).

I’ll use 1980 as the starting point for my basketball-first conference realignment. The NCAA has announced the expansion of the tournament. The Big East has just formed. I’ll also restrict the conferences to no more than 12 members (just a personal preference).

Big East original members: BC, Providence, UConn, Cuse, StJohns, SHU, Nova, GTown and Pitt. Since football revenues aren’t exploding, the primadonnaish PSU is never created. The BE understands the stability created from massive state universities and invites both PSU and Rutgers. The DrJ and Marcus Camby traditions help UMass secure the final spot.
Big East final: BC, Providence, UMass, UConn, Cuse, StJohns, SHU, Rutgers, Nova, GTown, PSU and Pitt

B10 has no real interest in expanding until it creates its BTN. The BTN needs content and markets...it poaches Kansas and brings Mizzou for rivalry and balance. Flagship, land grant, AAU criteria is proudly heralded and maintained.
Big 10 final: OSU, MI, MSU, IN, Pur, NW, Ill, WI, MN, IA, MO and KS.

SEC doesn’t need a football conference championship, but when the Southwest Conference is breaking-up they jump at the opportunity provided by Nolan Richardson’s Arkansas team. Given that football isn’t as popular, Texas politicians don’t block TAMU’s wandering eye. The SEC needs a 12th member and TAMU fits the cultural standards and opens a huge market.
SEC final: UF, UGA, Aub, Ala, TN, Vandy, KY, Ole Miss, MSU, LSU and TAMU

B8 original: UNL, ISU, Mizzou, KU, KSU, OU, OSU and CU
SWC original: UT, TAMU, Ark, SMU, TCU, Houston, Rice, Bay and TTU
Oklahoma and Texas still want to blend their respective conferences. Defections to the B10 and SEC enable these conference to merge into a larger footprint without too much friction. There is excellent basketball in Okie State, Iowa State, UT-Austin, Houston, etc. that no one doubts that the B12 is a basketball force. The Cougars, of Elvin Hayes and Phi Slamma Jamma fame, always maintain their preeminence. Some of the smaller private ex-SWC members get initially jettisoned during the creation of the B12, but only Rice doesn’t make it back.
B12 final: UNL, ISU, KSU, OU, OSU, CU, TTU, TCU, SMU, Baylor, UT and Houston

PAC expands with Utah and New Mexico.
PAC final: UW, WSU, OR, OSU, Cal, Stan, USC, UCLA, AZ, ASU, Utah and NM

ACC original: UMD, UVA, UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake, Clem and GTech
Politics delays expansion, but USC and VT have the connections when the opportunity arises. Eventually markets and eyeballs are needed to renegotiate/improve some media deal...FSU and Miami are the final entrants chosen by ESPN.
ACC final: UMD, UVA, VT, UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake, USC, Clemson, GT, FSU and Miami.

Replicating the Big East model westerly, a seventh power conference emerges. Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and DePaul collaborate to form a redesigned Metro conference. To ensure its basketball prowess, this conference has a large footprint.
Metro final: Temple, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Wichita State, Creighton, StLouis, Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame and Xavier

If football revenues ever become an issue, the FBS members of the Big East and Metro can collaborate to better manage football issues.

End-of-the-day, there are 84 schools in these seven basketball-driven power conferences. The conferences are somewhat culturally and geographically sensible.

(01-25-2021 12:58 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(01-23-2021 09:42 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Since (men's) basketball is my #1 college sport, I at times get sick of the fact that college football calls the shots and gets in the way of college basketball. The old Big East was broken up as football schools and non football schools for the most part seem to not be able to coexist in the same conference anymore (although there are still key exceptions such as Wichita State, BYU, Connecticut, and Hawaii).

A few years ago I put together an "Ideal College Realignment (Basketball Version)" where I realigned schools for basketball first rather than football first, trying to stack conferences in basketball and also to create more geographic ones. Football doesn't care if West Virginia is in the Big 12 because they only travel once a week but if basketball is the #1 sport they would care more about having to travel to Kansas and Texas in the middle of winter. A football conference would treat Villanova as a second class citizen. A basketball conference would treat Villanova as royalty. Finally, this also includes a common Schmolik theme, bringing rivals back together such as Penn State-Pittsburgh, Florida-Florida State, and Texas-Texas A&M but also other rivals between football schools and non football schools such as Temple-Villanova and Cincinnati-Xavier. If Wichita State can be in a "football" conference for other sports, why can't Villanova or Xavier? My conferences also bring back some "old school" rivalries from the past.

https://www.bloggingthebracket.com/2017/...ll-version

Top Tier:

ACC (16):

Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Georgetown, Kentucky, Louisville, Cincinnati, Xavier, West Virginia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Memphis

(I know I've been big on the ACC's academics but I threw that out for this exercise - West Virginia??)

Big Ten (18):

Boston College, Connecticut, Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, Villanova, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin

(The Big Ten for the most part stayed academically elite with the possible exception of Butler).

Second Tier:

SEC (16):

Florida, Florida State, Miami, Central Florida, South Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Clemson, East Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas

Big 12 (18):

Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Houston, SMU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Wichita State, Creighton

The Pac 12 would remain unchanged.

I don't think I was thinking about football when I wrote this but if you remove the non football members (Georgetown and Xavier from the ACC, Villanova and Butler from the Big 10, and Wichita State and Creighton from the Big 12), you get the SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 at 16 teams and the ACC at 14.

The ACC divisions are easy, the Virginia, North Carolina schools and Maryland in one division and the others in the other. The Big Ten could put the eight original Big Ten schools (Iowa and Minnesota were moved to the Big 12) in one division and everyone else in the other division although geographically that would put Notre Dame away from Indiana and Purdue and Ohio State is further East than Notre Dame but would essentially put in the "West" division.

In the Big 12, there are seven former SWC teams (Rice didn't make the cut) and seven former Big 8 members (Colorado stays in the Pac-12) with Iowa and Minnesota coming over from the Big 10. Either Iowa, Minnesota, or one of the Big 8 schools has to go to the SWC division. Good luck choosing.

SEC? You've got the Georgia pairs, the Alabama pairs, the South Carolina pairs, the Mississippi pairs, LSU and Arkansas are probably a pair, you have five Florida schools, and East Carolina by their lonesome. Florida and Georgia most likely have to be together so if you keep all the Florida and Georgia schools together there's only room for East Carolina with them and that puts Clemson and South Carolina with the "West" and Alabama and Clemson are in the same division.

I suggested the remains of the Big East raid the A-10 but considering the remains are St. John's, Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul, and Marquette, what incentive do the five of them have of staying together? The three Eastern schools might just join the A-10 and DePaul and Marquette maybe the Horizon or Missouri Valley Conference (maybe Dayton and St. Louis leave the A-10 and joins them).

I’ll use 1980 as the starting point for my basketball-first conference realignment. The NCAA has announced the expansion of the tournament. The Big East has just formed. I’ll also restrict the conferences to no more than 12 members (just a personal preference).

Big East original members: BC, Providence, UConn, Cuse, StJohns, SHU, Nova, GTown and Pitt. Since football revenues aren’t exploding, the primadonnaish PSU is never created. The BE understands the stability created from massive state universities and invites both PSU and Rutgers. The DrJ and Marcus Camby traditions help UMass secure the final spot.
Big East final: BC, Providence, UMass, UConn, Cuse, StJohns, SHU, Rutgers, Nova, GTown, PSU and Pitt

B10 has no real interest in expanding until it creates its BTN. The BTN needs content and markets...it poaches Kansas and brings Mizzou for rivalry and balance. Flagship, land grant, AAU criteria is proudly heralded and maintained.
Big 10 final: OSU, MI, MSU, IN, Pur, NW, Ill, WI, MN, IA, MO and KS.

SEC doesn’t need a football conference championship, but when the Southwest Conference is breaking-up they jump at the opportunity provided by Nolan Richardson’s Arkansas team. Given that football isn’t as popular, Texas politicians don’t block TAMU’s wandering eye. The SEC needs a 12th member and TAMU fits the cultural standards and opens a huge market.
SEC final: UF, UGA, Aub, Ala, TN, Vandy, KY, Ole Miss, MSU, LSU and TAMU

B8 original: UNL, ISU, Mizzou, KU, KSU, OU, OSU and CU
SWC original: UT, TAMU, Ark, SMU, TCU, Houston, Rice, Bay and TTU
Oklahoma and Texas still want to blend their respective conferences. Defections to the B10 and SEC enable these conference to merge into a larger footprint without too much friction. There is excellent basketball in Okie State, Iowa State, UT-Austin, Houston, etc. that no one doubts that the B12 is a basketball force. The Cougars, of Elvin Hayes and Phi Slamma Jamma fame, always maintain their preeminence. Some of the smaller private ex-SWC members get initially jettisoned during the creation of the B12, but only Rice doesn’t make it back.
B12 final: UNL, ISU, KSU, OU, OSU, CU, TTU, TCU, SMU, Baylor, UT and Houston

PAC expands with Utah and New Mexico.
PAC final: UW, WSU, OR, OSU, Cal, Stan, USC, UCLA, AZ, ASU, Utah and NM

ACC original: UMD, UVA, UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake, Clem and GTech
Politics delays expansion, but USC and VT have the connections when the opportunity arises. Eventually markets and eyeballs are needed to renegotiate/improve some media deal...FSU and Miami are the final entrants chosen by ESPN.
ACC final: UMD, UVA, VT, UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake, USC, Clemson, GT, FSU and Miami.

Replicating the Big East model westerly, a seventh power conference emerges. Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and DePaul collaborate to form a redesigned Metro conference. To ensure its basketball prowess, this conference has a large footprint.
Metro final: Temple, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Wichita State, Creighton, StLouis, Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame and Xavier

If football revenues ever become an issue, the FBS members of the Big East and Metro can collaborate to better manage football issues.

End-of-the-day, there are 84 schools in these seven basketball-driven power conferences. The conferences are somewhat culturally and geographically sensible.

Very well done, Wahoowa84. This actually "feels right" and would have been practical had hoops been the focus as opposed to football.

^^ so the Metro has only 5 FB playing schools?

(01-25-2021 12:09 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  lol at the people putting Xavier and Cincinnati in the same conference. That will never happen- too much hostility. The two schools have nothing in common.

1) "Nothing" in common? Silly me, I thought both schools were in the same city. Or did one of them move out of Cincinnati?

2) Too much hostility? Last time I checked, Ohio State and Michigan don't really like each other that much either and they're in the same conference. So are North Carolina and Duke, Alabama and Auburn, California and Stanford, UCLA and USC, need I go on?

3) Obviously anyone following men's basketball remembers the fight. Clemson and South Carolina also had a big fight in football. Should they never play each other in football again? Obviously they kept on playing (outside of 2020 for the pandemic and cancellation of non conference play, not because of the fight). The fight should not be a reason why Cincinnati and Xavier shouldn't play and shouldn't be in the same conference. And "public vs. private" shouldn't (Duke/North Carolina? Cal/Stanford?) In the real world, football vs. non football likely does separate schools. For this exercise, it doesn't. Put them together! Save travel! I'd rather Cincinnati play Xavier than SMU and Tulsa! I'd rather Xavier play Cincinnati than Creighton!

(01-25-2021 02:03 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  ^^ so the Metro has only 5 FB playing schools?

They combine with the Big East.

I like it Wahoowa84.

(01-25-2021 02:13 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 12:09 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  lol at the people putting Xavier and Cincinnati in the same conference. That will never happen- too much hostility. The two schools have nothing in common.

1) "Nothing" in common? Silly me, I thought both schools were in the same city. Or did one of them move out of Cincinnati?

2) Too much hostility? Last time I checked, Ohio State and Michigan don't really like each other that much either and they're in the same conference. So are North Carolina and Duke, Alabama and Auburn, California and Stanford, UCLA and USC, need I go on?

3) Obviously anyone following men's basketball remembers the fight. Clemson and South Carolina also had a big fight in football. Should they never play each other in football again? Obviously they kept on playing (outside of 2020 for the pandemic and cancellation of non conference play, not because of the fight). The fight should not be a reason why Cincinnati and Xavier shouldn't play and shouldn't be in the same conference. And "public vs. private" shouldn't (Duke/North Carolina? Cal/Stanford?) In the real world, football vs. non football likely does separate schools. For this exercise, it doesn't. Put them together! Save travel! I'd rather Cincinnati play Xavier than SMU and Tulsa! I'd rather Xavier play Cincinnati than Creighton!

It goes much deeper than just the 2011 brawl. The brawl was not even the worst incident that took place between the two schools- heck back in the day a UC player got chucked in the head with a glass bottle by a XU fan and once a Xavier player beat a UC player with a bystanders crutches.
Here is an entertaining read written by Mark Titus in Grantland that sort of describes it.

https://grantland.com/the-triangle/unher...avid-west/

(01-25-2021 02:21 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 02:13 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 12:09 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  lol at the people putting Xavier and Cincinnati in the same conference. That will never happen- too much hostility. The two schools have nothing in common.

1) "Nothing" in common? Silly me, I thought both schools were in the same city. Or did one of them move out of Cincinnati?

2) Too much hostility? Last time I checked, Ohio State and Michigan don't really like each other that much either and they're in the same conference. So are North Carolina and Duke, Alabama and Auburn, California and Stanford, UCLA and USC, need I go on?

3) Obviously anyone following men's basketball remembers the fight. Clemson and South Carolina also had a big fight in football. Should they never play each other in football again? Obviously they kept on playing (outside of 2020 for the pandemic and cancellation of non conference play, not because of the fight). The fight should not be a reason why Cincinnati and Xavier shouldn't play and shouldn't be in the same conference. And "public vs. private" shouldn't (Duke/North Carolina? Cal/Stanford?) In the real world, football vs. non football likely does separate schools. For this exercise, it doesn't. Put them together! Save travel! I'd rather Cincinnati play Xavier than SMU and Tulsa! I'd rather Xavier play Cincinnati than Creighton!

It goes much deeper than just the 2011 brawl. The brawl was not even the worst incident that took place between the two schools- heck back in the day a UC player got chucked in the head with a glass bottle by a XU fan and once a Xavier player beat a UC player with a bystanders crutches.
Here is an entertaining read written by Mark Titus in Grantland that sort of describes it.

https://grantland.com/the-triangle/unher...avid-west/

Beating up a person with some rando's crutches -- that's inspired.

Wahoo’s is pretty good.

I think you’d see the Metro look like this in his scenario:

Temple
VCU (replaces VaTech)
West Virginia
Cincinnati
Louisville
Memphis
UAB (replaces SC)
Southern Miss (replaces St. Louis)
Tulane

South Florida (possibly replaces FSU)

If Penn State is out of the A10 and in the Big East, I think WVU makes the jump to replace Tulane while they’re on probation. If UMass is indeed out of the A10 with PSU and Rutgers, I believe Temple makes the move as well.

There is a possibility Notre Dame and DePaul stay independent with the likes of Dayton and Marquette. Remember, the reason they had to join a conference was due to football-related expansion forcing basketball’s hand.

If Basketball were first the old Big East would still be intact:

Boston College
Providence
Connecticut
Syracuse
Pittsburgh
St. John's
Seton Hall
Villanova
Georgetown

(01-25-2021 03:01 PM)esayem Wrote:  Wahoo’s is pretty good.

I think you’d see the Metro look like this in his scenario:

Temple
VCU (replaces VaTech)
West Virginia
Cincinnati
Louisville
Memphis
UAB (replaces SC)
Southern Miss (replaces St. Louis)
Tulane

South Florida (possibly replaces FSU)

If Penn State is out of the A10 and in the Big East, I think WVU makes the jump to replace Tulane while they’re on probation. If UMass is indeed out of the A10 with PSU and Rutgers, I believe Temple makes the move as well.

There is a possibility Notre Dame and DePaul stay independent with the likes of Dayton and Marquette. Remember, the reason they had to join a conference was due to football-related expansion forcing basketball’s hand.

In my basketball-centric Metro conference, I really wanted a somewhat even split between big public institutions and smaller Catholic schools. Because the Catholic schools are generally located further north, I had to abandon the southern wing of the old-Metro conference. Southern Miss and Tulane don’t move the basketball needle (and Gene Bartow at UAB seemed like an outlier occurrence). I like the suggestion of VCU...it would be an ideal cultural fit with the other big public schools. In a balancing move for TV media revenue, I’d probably also bring-in StJoe’s and dis-invite some non-metropolitan (Wichita State and Creighton) schools.

Metro final...
Greater Chicago area (Marquette, DePaul and Notre Dame)
Mississippi River area (StLouis and Memphis)
Ohio River area (Cincinnati, Louisville and Xavier)
Southeastern Pennsylvania / Philly (Temple and StJoe’s)
Greater DC area / Richmond (WVU and VCU)

This Metro Conference would have stiff competition from all the big state flagship institutions in the B10, SEC, Big East and ACC. Nevertheless, these schools all invest in basketball and most have good ties to their communities/locations.