Well, they make big money from sports. And to do that schools make business commitments to each other. Part of that is finacial indebtedness. In the long run, every school does what is ultimately in its own interest. Remember that the NCAA is classified as an unincorporated business association, nothing more. The idea that the NCAA has anything to do with students is true only in the sense that by calling them student athletes, they don't have to pay for their services.
"Amazing how the conf shuffle that started with a greedy football itch is now affecting 2/3 of DI and thousands of athletes in all sports....." Pretty certain that the Ivy League will look the same as it ever did going forward...
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if one of the Ivy's decided to take the football gamble and join a conference with a TV deal that needs teams - like the Big East. Maybe they didn't answer the call but I bet the phone is ringing at some of those schools.
Of all the conference change possibilities I can think of, except for maybe a SWAC team joining the ACC, that is about as unlikely as I can imagine.
Here are the power conferences in the year 2025 (according to my future sports almanac, after all further conference realignment is banned, as of Dec. 31, 2024). Atlantic Ocean Conference (AOC) Duke North Carolina Wake Forest Rutgers Arizona State Memphis Middle Tennessee State Western Kentucky Notre Dame Cal Poly BYU Marquette Big East Conference Murray State Temple Rider University Loyola Marymount Furman Boise State University of Maine Delaware State Colgate Boston University Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) University of the United States (as predicted by Eddie Murphy's character in "Coming to America") *as you can see, the Big East took the biggest hit in loss of attrition to other conferences Big Ten Conference Penn University Penn State Indiana Purdue Iowa Iowa State Chicago State Toledo Syracuse Pitt Virginia Utah The Great Midwest of Lakes and Plains Conference Ohio University (Lakes Division) Ohio State (Lakes Division) Michigan (Lakes Division) Michigan State (Lakes Division) Holy Cross (since they couldn't get Notre Dame, they had to settle for Holy Cross) Wisconsin (Lakes Division) Illinois (Plains) Northwestern (Plains) Nebraska (Plains) Oklahoma (Plains) Oklahoma State (Plains) Wyoming (Plains) SEC Minnesota Florida Florida State Texas A&M Missouri UCONN Arkansas N.C. State Georgia Valdosta State Florida Gulf Coast Houston Gulf of Mexico Conference Vanderbilt Tennessee Kentucky South Carolina LSU Alabama Auburn Mississippi Mississippi State UCF South Florida Key West Community College Longhorn Conference Texas Texas Tech Baylor Rice TCU UTEP SMU Tulane Norfolk State University of Texas San Antonio Clemson West Virginia Portland Santa Clara Pac 18 Conference Virginia Tech Boston College Georgia Tech Maryland (Pac-12 raids the old ACC to expand their footprint to the east coast) USC UCLA Arizona Stanford Alex Morgan University (also referred to as the University formerly known as Cal Berkeley) Washington Washington State Oregon Oregon State Colorado Vancouver Whitecaps University Pali Blues University Hawaii Sarah Palin Culinary Arts School of Cookology (located in MooseHead, Alaska)
and what would travel costs be like? I assume no conference would have them. would they have to do buy-in games, or would teams like Stanford and Southern Cal and Kansas enjoy going to Alaska in September?
They're already members of the GNAC. Presumably, they'd play soccer in that league (at the D2 level like all their other sports except hockey).
That did make me smile....why are they even in DI for just soccer as an independent? At least in that D2 conference they have a chance to be competitive. And why did MD take that game? and then allow a goal?
With the ongoing events involving conference realignment, one wonders what the NCAA is thinking in relation to the RPI. The RPI already has problems comparing the conferences and regions to each other within a single national system. If there were to be major conference expansions, with the expanded conferences playing full round robins, there will be fewer inter-conference -- much less inter-region -- games and the RPI problems will become worse. This year, the Women's Soccer Committee changed the adjustments to the RPI so that they now apply only to non-conference games. This means that a strong conference no longer receives bonuses for wins and ties against teams from its own conference. Could this be a preemptive strike by the Committee to push large (and increasingly larger) conferences to not play full round robins?
I think that, if the bonuses are big enough, they might be an incentive that would push the conferences towards less than full round robins. I wouldn't necessarily support it, but the bonuses and penalties seem to me to be something the NCAA could use to push teams in NCAA-desired scheduling directions.
Too bad it can't be like the UWCL... Finishing top 4 in major conference, winning the NCAA tournament last year, or top 2 in minor conference means an automatic bid to next year's NCAA tournament with the tournament spread out over the course of a season. Fill out the rest with remaining high RPI teams or something. (And then it'd never happen but double leg elims would be cool.)
So I know the folks in West Virginia may not be the brightest in the country and this just proves it: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...complains-travel-issues-171404871--ncaaf.html Seriously, this is hilarious. They didn't realize that travel would be a huge concern until NOW?! I saw West Virginia has a pretty good 2013 recruiting class - but only because they have internationals who probably have no clue that they will spend half of their fall season in airports or in flight. Would have to think their realignment has hurt their recruiting significantly. Maryland and Rutgers are probably seeing the effects now too. Hope that extra football TV $ is worth it...
it took UP more than a calendar day to get to Penn State last fall. WVA has no complaints. I could walk to Morgantown from Dulles in less time than that.
UP ought to try flying rather than busing the whole thing. USAir flys non-stop to Philly, bus takes about 4 hrs from there. Total travel time from campus to campus (or local hotel) about 12 hrs (including the 3 hrs. you lose on the way, so actually 9 hrs. of travel time). Flying to Pittsburgh might provide more options and cut time a little more. The Presidents got together and did a bunch of stupid with conference realignment . . . unfortunately now kids/coaches/taxpayers are going to pay the piper. With all the money these guys promise everyone, why aren't they just chartering flights?
Ah, cricket, you forget the NCAA did the scheduling, and decided the best way was to go through LA on the way out and through Wilkes Barry and DC on the way back, and since it was a holiday weekend, part of the team went trough Houston. Did I mention the 6 hour layover the ncaa decided was ok to save about 40¢ per flight? Ok yeah, the genius bus company took about 7 hours for some reason. Honestly, they could have gotten to Ulan Bator in less time than the NCAA travel folks booked.
So, with Denver, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, FAU, FIU all leaving the Sunbelt is anyone coming IN to the Sunbelt? For Soccer it will resemble the SWAC now. The best team left is perhaps Western Kentucky and they struggle against OVC teams. Other sports surely have to be worried about revenues as well. There can't be any television interest at all. Will that conference disappear??
It's all getting a little silly. Look at Butler. Playing 1 year in the Atlantic 10 then jumping to the big East. Xavier and St. Louis to follow and Creighton too. The last three may struggle mightily, as might Butler if they can't parlay what they did last season into something more consistent, and I think they may find that a hard act to follow. Talking purely womens soccer here. The MVC is gonna be kinda small now. Any reason for other teams to join that conference?
The "new" Big East isn't any great shakes for soccer beyond Marquette and Georgetown. If Butler plays their cards right, they could end up as the third or fourth best team in that league. The MVC would probably be fine if they could convince Bradley, Southern Illinois, and Wichita State to start programs.
I just feel bad for Temple. They spent about a decade rebuilding to get in the Big East, and then they get ditched. Hopefully the A10 will take them back. Otherwise, they've ducked and dodged their way into C-USA-lite. Depressing to see all this happening with absolutely NO thought about soccer. Totally understand priorities, but soccer's just completely inconsequential here. Not good.