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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Mar 5, 2013 0:49:01 GMT -6
They definitely aren't a power conference. If the Catholic 7 were in existence right now, 2 of the teams would make the NCAA tournament. Creighton is making a play for the tourney again so that would make 3 out of 8. Butler is a borderline team but Saint Louis is winning the A-10. So 4 teams. Georgetown is clearly the best team in the new Big East/Catholic 7, but the rest are top of the line mid-majors at best. Only three of these teams have competed for a national title in the last 25 years with a total of four chances. Butler with two national title appearances and Georgetown making the Final Four in 2007. Villanova made the Final Four in 2009. This isn't a powerhouse conference by any means and takes a bunch of mid-major teams and puts them in a conference that screams mid-major despite what Fox Sports is saying with it's paychecks. It seems a lot like an Atlantic 10/bottom half of the Big East mashup more than anything. I think you forgot at least one. Marquette with Dwayne Wade was in the Final Four. True I did forget them. I just don't see how they are a power conference yet.
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chuck
Sophomore Member
Posts: 169
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Post by chuck on Apr 17, 2013 8:27:56 GMT -6
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Post by canislatrans on Apr 17, 2013 20:37:32 GMT -6
Thanks for the post Chuck.
Interesting part of article for me, is just how much weight the size of market plays in decision (as well it should), Loyola (Chicago) chosen and UMKC (Kansas City) considered. For all those who dogged UMKC when they left for the WAC, and boasted that the Summit is better off without them, I think they should take note.
For the Summit to remain a viable conference, it needs good programs from biggest markets, IUPUI, Denver, Omaha, and seek expansion in those type of markets, if possible. I'm not saying that smaller markets can't bring value, because NDSU, SDSU, WIU (excuse my geography, not sure of their market size) have provided great value to the Summit, as will Thee University of South Dakota.
But the conference is going to need some big market anchors to provide stability IMHO. It would be nice to add a school in the Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis or maybe Chicago area, or bring back UMKC.
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jackjd
Senior Member
Posts: 657
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Post by jackjd on Apr 17, 2013 21:55:03 GMT -6
Macomb, IL is similar in size to Brookings (2010 census: Macomb population: 22,086 according to Wikipedia; Brookings: 22,056). WIU is a little larger than SDSU: WIU has about 13,600 students while SDSU has about 12,700.
Macomb is about 80 miles south of the Quad Cities and has a satellite campus in the Quad Cities (in Moline, IL). The total population of the Quad Cities metro area is 382,630 but I'm not sure the Quad Cities pay a lot of attention to WIU.
I've been to athletic events at Macomb a couple of times. I think the school has more marketing potential, some of which they realized with the men's basketball success the past couple of years--the foundation is there for WIU to attract more attention in their region.
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Post by GoYotes on Apr 21, 2013 12:33:52 GMT -6
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Post by canislatrans on Apr 24, 2013 7:07:23 GMT -6
Goyotes, thanks for sharing the article, it really is well-written and was informative to me, as to the driving issues of conference realignment and FCS vs. BCS moves. It seems, ISU and the MVFC President have a good grasp as to focusing on that 2nd tier of college football, be it like current FCS or if a BCS sub-division is created. I think the UConn case is eye-opening (and I wonder how Northern Illinois made out financially w/Orange Bowl, they didn't get a lot of love on the PR side). If you aren't going to get a big payoff for Bowl games, when you get there, why BCS?
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