Who gets added to the new league??

[Vegas Jim]

Considering "fan base," how many prospective schools draw 18,000+ against a so-so league opponent in inclimate weather? Omaha is a basketball city, and Creighton has fan support throughout Nebraska, Iowa and even into South Dakota.
Recall that there was a scintilla of rivalry years ago between the Bluejays and St. Louis as well as Marquette, which they played regularly. Think a credible West section in a 12 team league could make sense, with the right schools.
But if the new league would fill up with purely Eastern members, indeed Creighton would be out in left field. The new league would adopt a more provincial character, however, but that may be what the founding group wants.

Better to get it right as to what the 7 want, whatever that may be.

[Hallfan1]

I would like to add Xavier, Dayton, Butler, Creighton, and St. Louis.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[HallHoops]

I think you just put Dayton in the east and Xavier in the west based on geography. I know they are rivals but they will still play once a year and if they wanted to, they can play one non-conference game a year as well.

I wouldn't want to break up the Xavier-Dayton rivalry, that's an asset for the new conference.

I'd add Butler to the East for 3 reasons:

1) Easy to get to Indianapolis for the other East schools.

2) No established rivalries with the Midwest schools.

3) Other than Georgetown, the East schools are currently not very good in mens basketball, they need a boost to that side of the new conference.

[Bluejay]

I think you just put Dayton in the east and Xavier in the west based on geography. I know they are rivals but they will still play once a year and if they wanted to, they can play one non-conference game a year as well.

I wouldn't want to break up the Xavier-Dayton rivalry, that's an asset for the new conference.

I'd add Butler to the East for 3 reasons:

1) Easy to get to Indianapolis for the other East schools.

2) No established rivalries with the Midwest schools.

3) Other than Georgetown, the East schools are currently not very good in mens basketball, they need a boost to that side of the new conference.

Hall, you make some really compelling points. Great post and you have me convinced.

[Jet915]

Good points, Butler to the eastern division isn't a bad option.

[Hallfan1]

Another issue is how many league games will be scheduled? If there is two divisions, I imagine that each team would play a home and home in its division and play each team in the other division once. Assuming 12 teams, this approach would result in 16 conference games. I would expect that there will be 18 or 20 conference games and therefore there will be a great likelihood to play almost all teams twice, which is ideal in my opinion. I expect that the conference will schedule 20 games per season in order to maximize content for tv and to enhance RPI's; furthermore, 20 games will ensure 10 quality home games and that will presumably help season ticket sales.

[xu5595]

No divisions would be the best option and make the most sense. Not really a need for them in a basketball league.

[thefish7]

18,458, standing room only for EVANSVILLE. I was even surprised by the number, 2nd highest ever, we had 18,735 against Wichita State last year.

And you guys want to leave a rivalry like that behind????

Back on topic, I think the travel thing is a bigger deal. Not for basketball, so much, but you're not going to be scheduling direct flights for conference games in your other sports. Could be that Creighton adds enough cache to a new league, that they'll agree to subsidize the travel. Otherwise, I think it'll be a bigger problem than people suspect. Don't get me wrong, if CU gets the offer, they should probably take it... Just not sure it'll work out over time as people think/want if CU ends up that far out on an island by themselves.

[Jet915]

18,458, standing room only for EVANSVILLE. I was even surprised by the number, 2nd highest ever, we had 18,735 against Wichita State last year.

And you guys want to leave a rivalry like that behind????

Back on topic, I think the travel thing is a bigger deal. Not for basketball, so much, but you're not going to be scheduling direct flights for conference games in your other sports. Could be that Creighton adds enough cache to a new league, that they'll agree to subsidize the travel. Otherwise, I think it'll be a bigger problem than people suspect. Don't get me wrong, if CU gets the offer, they should probably take it... Just not sure it'll work out over time as people think/want if CU ends up that far out on an island by themselves.

I think the 2-3 million that Creighton will receive from TV will be more than enough to pay for that.

[courtjester]

So the rest of the schools will use the 2-3 million for the basketball programs and Creighton will use the 2-3 million to pay for olympic sport travel. Won't Creighton fall behind in basketball?