Basketball Scheduling Changes

[CajunNation]

I don't like this alliance thing.

I've always been one to balk at the idea that your conference defines you. The CUSA guys don't want to do this. They would rather align with the MVC and the Colonial. Suppose they do that. Who replaces them in our alliance? The SLC?

What if the Horizon finds a better grouping for them? Now we get the A-Sun?

Where do these alliances stop? Suppose the AAC and MWC hook up for football? Then the MAC and CUSA align. What do we do?

[Cajunsmike]

I don't know if the scheduling alliance will include CUSA. They are fussing pretty hard on their BBS Board about this. Of course, they think they are above us and the Horizon.

At the meeting I went to regarding this possibility about the changes, I directly asked Mark Adams if CUSA was part of the alliance. Without hesitation he said YES. When I remarked some of those schools have egos and would object because they would see it as going backwards since many of them are former SBC members. He said that may be but the situation we are all in today requires a change. I am still skeptical this comes to pass. If it does, certain schools will try to avoid other schools.

[Cajunsmike]

BBS forgets that the last time their beloved team made the dance, the public hadn’t found out that Mili Vanilli were lip synchers.

Edit: I thought you were talking about Rustonia. I’m sure with their inflated egos, they aren’t happy about this either.

I don't think Tech minds the alliance for basketball as we have been playing home and home for a few years now and the series is expected to continue. We need to not have the Tech series count in the alliance. That would give us three non conference games against peer league schools every year.

[Cajunsmike]

I don't like this alliance thing.

I've always been one to balk at the idea that your conference defines you. The CUSA guys don't want to do this. They would rather align with the MVC and the Colonial. Suppose they do that. Who replaces them in our alliance? The SLC?

What if the Horizon finds a better grouping for them? Now we get the A-Sun?

Where do these alliances stop? Suppose the AAC and MWC hook up for football? Then the MAC and CUSA align. What do we do?

CUSA fans may not want to do it but apparently their presidents MAY have agreed to it. Geography may be a reason why.

[CajunNation]

CUSA fans may not want to do it but apparently their presidents MAY have agreed to it. Geography may be a reason why.

Let's hope so.

Still, I hope this is not the extent of our non-conference scheduling changes. I know you don't favor it, but we need a couple more games versus power programs.

[cajun_lannister]

Need to create a partnership with Tulane and host a Smoothie King shootout every year with 4 other teams from other conferences

[Cajunsmike]

Let's hope so.

Still, I hope this is not the extent of our non-conference scheduling changes. I know you don't favor it, but we need a couple more games versus power programs.

Actually I think we should be playing at least three schools from the major conferences and would be OK with four. That needs to be balanced with academics and travel etc. however. The more of those schools we can play in exempt tournaments the better.

[Cajunsmike]

Need to create a partnership with Tulane and host a Smoothie King shootout every year with 4 other teams from other conferences

Tulane wants nothing to do with us.

[Cajunsmike]

Let's hope so.

Still, I hope this is not the extent of our non-conference scheduling changes. I know you don't favor it, but we need a couple more games versus power programs.

Commissioner Benson just finished an interview with Jay. He "virtually" confirmed that CUSA and the Horizon are the peer conferences in the alliance. Another positive development is that Mark Adams will stay employed by the conference as a scheduling facilitator. A part of that job will be to get more league teams into exempt tournaments. We are likely to play in one this coming season. It is not your normal tourney format. We will go to a couple of the big schools and have a couple of mid major schools come here. We did that two years ago.

[CajunPride]

Would love to see Monroe and Ruston together in the same pod.

[zephyr]

I used the St. Peter's argument because even though we swept them, our RPI took a MASSIVE hit with the fact that they went winless. And yes, we lost more games than we would've liked; but we still would've been in a better position for a regional berth without playing them even with those losses.

As far as basketball, I like the proposal that the conference is putting forth. But what it also tells me is that they're desperate. Obviously, our conference isn't that great. We all know that. But one thing that has always bothered me about our conference is that we do not know how to think ahead. This proposal should've been implemented at least 5-7 years ago after the last conference realignment. Knowing that P5 schools would try to create their little monopoly, the likes of the Sun Belt, CUSA, Horizon League, etc. should have known that this was bound to happen. It wasn't until this year where we saw that the Sun Belt and CUSA are obviously one-bid leagues where they decided to do something about it. The P5 schools didn't think of all of this in just one year. This was years in the making. What the mid-major conferences should've done was come up with this type of business model early on and evolve from it. Instead, we are starting from step 1 when it already may be too late.

Desperate or progressive?

[CajunVic]

Desperate or progressive?

Could be both 🤔