ZipCat Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 7 hours ago, ClevelandZip said: They definitely are money grabs, but the power conferences got to where they are today with shameless money grabs. Mid-major conferences need to find some new income sources of their own if they want to survive and compete at a higher level. I'm going to be honest...I do believe the ship has sailed on any hope that Mid-Majors will elevate to where the power-conferences. It's just a delusion. Akron, Kent and Ohio haven't become perennial power-houses that the nation at large cares about despite having a nearly 20-year domination between the three schools, with Ohio even making the Sweet-16. Mid-Majors that have become something on the national-scale, either fall quickly because they cannot hold onto the coaches that made them that (Shaka Smart and VCU comes to mind) or they built it during a time when there was more parity almost a half century ago at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronAlumnus Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 45 minutes ago, ZipCat said: I'm going to be honest...I do believe the ship has sailed on any hope that Mid-Majors will elevate to where the power-conferences. It's just a delusion. Akron, Kent and Ohio haven't become perennial power-houses that the nation at large cares about despite having a nearly 20-year domination between the three schools, with Ohio even making the Sweet-16. Mid-Majors that have become something on the national-scale, either fall quickly because they cannot hold onto the coaches that made them that (Shaka Smart and VCU comes to mind) or they built it during a time when there was more parity almost a half century ago at this point. Your right minus Gonzaga & St. Mary's in the WCC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipCat Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 10 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said: Your right minus Gonzaga & St. Mary's in the WCC My dad talks about Gonzaga from like the 80s...so they were able to make a name for themselves in a time that normal people who wouldn't know who they were did, at a time when information wasn't what it is today. Who won the NIT or CIT last year? I doubt even 0% of people could answer that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronAlumnus Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 9 minutes ago, ZipCat said: My dad talks about Gonzaga from like the 80s...so they were able to make a name for themselves in a time that normal people who wouldn't know who they were did, at a time when information wasn't what it is today. Who won the NIT or CIT last year? I doubt even 0% of people could answer that question. Your right - zero idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 1 hour ago, ZipCat said: I'm going to be honest...I do believe the ship has sailed on any hope that Mid-Majors will elevate to where the power-conferences. It's just a delusion. Good thing you weren't the AD at Butler or Creighton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipCat Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 5 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said: Good thing you weren't the AD at Butler or Creighton. Butler rose to national spotlight in the 90s. Creighton has been a noteworthy team since the 1960s...I fail to see where these two programs contradict anything I said... Out of curiosity, can you name a program in the past 20 years that has risen to the National Spotlight/Conversation in the past 20-years that was because they won a non-NCAA tournament? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 10 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said: Good thing you weren't the AD at Butler or Creighton. How about BYU, UCF, Cinci, and Houston just this past year. All joined Big 12 from mid-major conferences. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 40 minutes ago, LZIp said: How about BYU, UCF, Cinci, and Houston just this past year. All joined Big 12 from mid-major conferences. If you believe the A-10 is a major basketball conference, Loyola Chicago just moved up last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 46 minutes ago, ZipCat said: Butler rose to national spotlight in the 90s. Creighton has been a noteworthy team since the 1960s...I fail to see where these two programs contradict anything I said... Butler was in Cleveland State's conference for 20 years, through 2012. Creighton was in the Missouri Valley through 2013. They moved to the Big East. Garvin Clarke plays the five. I rest my case. 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreed5120 Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 When your athletic department supports FBS, football is what drives realignment. It's why UMass moved to the MAC. All these examples of sustained success are of teams moving to a better conference. Where is Akron going to go? If we were still FCS football, I'm sure the MVC would have called a decade ago. But we do have football and given it's poor state, it makes us one of the least attractive expansion candidates in the MAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipCat Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 35 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said: Butler was in Cleveland State's conference for 20 years, through 2012. Creighton was in the Missouri Valley through 2013. They moved to the Big East. Garvin Clarke plays the five. I rest my case. But they both had notoriety prior to those moves...so I don't agree that you've rested any case. Creighton has been in the NCAA 26 times. The Sweet 16 5 times (3 prior to the move to the Big East). Like you're resting no case, Creighton bolsters my exact point I was making. Their notoriety as a Mid-Major was made Long Before this era of Basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipCat Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 27 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: When your athletic department supports FBS, football is what drives realignment. It's why UMass moved to the MAC. All these examples of sustained success are of teams moving to a better conference. Where is Akron going to go? If we were still FCS football, I'm sure the MVC would have called a decade ago. But we do have football and given it's poor state, it makes us one of the least attractive expansion candidates in the MAC. And they all had success prior to moving. Anyone under the dilusion that Akron is going to be Creighton and Butler...I just don't know what to tell you. We can't even own the lowly Mid-American Conference on a Regular basis...unlike Creighton and Butler that regularly owned their respective conferences prior to moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illini Zip Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 (edited) 22 hours ago, kreed5120 said: The NIT is already dying. For the past several decades American media has been preaching if you're not first you're last when it comes to sports. Numerous teams are now declining the NIT. Players on NIT teams are entering the portal. It's not just college basketball being impacted either. Minnesota booster had to pay their third string QB $30k just so they would have a QB for their bowl game. OSU was playing in the Cotton Bowl, which outside the playoff games, was one of the top 2 bowl games. Numerous players sat out or transferred. It's kind of funny how places like ESPN has been preaching that the only thing that matters is championships, but now they're shell shocked when fans don't care about games without title implications. I kind of view the NIT changes as they were trying to revamp it to make it gain interest. It has been dying for many years now. What would help it more than anything is if the NCAA moved the transfer window portal back to April 1st or so. By then 95% of the teams would be done playing. I agree with this. Once Selection Sunday is done and your school's name is not called out it's time to focus on the next season. Nobody cares to watch games with no real payoff. Well, almost nobody. The die-hard fans like us on this forum, we care. Obviously the coaches care, some of the players and their families care. But that's not enough to run large scale secondary tournaments effectively. This is my thought. Chime in. Maybe this is not an original idea. I would like to see a whole bunch of small tournaments in small venues the weekend of the NCAA semi-finals and final (first week of April). Just like we can attend or stream Thanksgiving Tournaments in small venues we could now have 8 team or even 4 team round-robin tournaments in the Spring..."Spring Break Tournaments". Three games in three days. Make a long weekend out of it somewhere nice (example: Hilton Head, SC). Spend time as a team bonding and reflecting, watching the Championship game together on the following Monday night. But here's the twist, no seniors are allowed to play and any redshirt roster players can play. Seniors can travel with the team and enjoy themselves, but this is an opportunity for the upcoming rosters to start their journey. These players are still hungry and want to play. Coaches can get a head-start on molding the next year's team without the pressure of the games counting. Let's call these competitive scrimmages. (I'm sure there are legal loopholes if it's even possible.) I'm thinking of the trip the Zips took last Summer. I would tune in to watch Tavari run the point most of the game. Let's see if Nate, Dawson or Scott are ready to become leaders. Get to watch more of Lyles and Prather in action. And get a taste of what's in store with Baker and MM-K. Some teams/tournaments would play at a high level due to most of the starters returning. Other teams/tournaments might run basic offense and it could get sloppy at times. But you are selling the hope of next year and I think the people who really care would embrace it. Edited March 20 by Illini Zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip JD Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 On 3/19/2024 at 12:57 AM, kreed5120 said: The tournament you mention already exists (CIT). BGSU is actually participating in it. Nobody wants to watch it and teams don't want to participate. They couldn't even get 16 teams to fill the tournament and they had to of called every school. Alabama A&M is in it with an 11-22 record. https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/schedule-results.php I'm all in on Tarleton State (24-9). Now I just have to find out who they are. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip JD Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 11 hours ago, Zip JD said: I'm all in on Tarleton State (24-9). Now I just have to find out who they are. Texas Southern didn’t stand a chance against Tarleton State. BTW, they are the Texans. More importantly, Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJGood Posted March 23 Report Share Posted March 23 On 3/19/2024 at 3:44 PM, AkronAlumnus said: Your right - zero idea! North Texas(NIT over UAB in the final) and Charlotte (CBI) I believe. I remember FAU in the NCAA Final Four as well. All four of those teams were mid-majors from CUSA. There was no CIT last year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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