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Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Dons Central on 7/7/2012, 10:45 am

Pretty much everything is correct

http://www.guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?t=40638

Also, sorry Gonzaga (and others), USF is the key to this whole Jesuit plan.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Dons69 on 7/7/2012, 11:29 am, in reply to "Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

If they do have two seven team divisions, there are seven California schoools and no more likely candidates within the state.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by GODONS on 7/7/2012, 11:32 am, in reply to "Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

thank you dons central for putting that on this board; that is very interesting. i never go on the zag board and i thank you for your sacrifice in doing so. such a plan would turn the wcc into a basketball power conference like the big east or at least A10. some real vision in the admin ranks of the wcc.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Festus on 7/7/2012, 11:37 am, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Our own knowledge vendor Purple Pride mentioned Creighton on this board as a possibility a few months ago. Albeit, more hopeful than anything real. It could still just be wishful thinking. But using Jesuit basketball as a way to rally troops and create a basketball power conference and help scheduling would be genius.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Dons Central on 7/7/2012, 1:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Creighton might be a pipe dream for the WCC, but there is enough smoke out so that there has at least be chats between them and the WCC.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Purple Pride on 7/8/2012, 12:23 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Creighton would be an unbelievably great get for the WCC... and though it doesn't really mean a whole lot, don't forget that their rowing team is an affiliate member of the WCC. But, the MVC has a tremendous basketball culture (great arenas, huge support in terms of attendance, etc.) that the WCC can't match, and the travel issue is huge for all the non-revenue sports. I feel like Creighton would need a very good reason to switch conferences, and (as far as I know) the MVC has remained strong and stable throughout all the realignment.

I've never heard DePaul linked to the WCC, and it's hard to see how that would make sense - I can't imagine many of their alumni, supporters, and fans would be in favor of a move from the Big East to WCC. Of course, it's possible that the school feels like it's in a Big East arms race that it can't keep up with, and I'm sure they spend a ton of money trying (unsuccessfully) to be competitive. Still, like with Creighton, I feel like DePaul would need a very good reason to leave. And while the Big East has lost some of its luster with Syracuse and Pitt bolting, it still has UConn, Georgetown, Villanova, Notre Dame, Louisville, Marquette... teams that are way above and beyond Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and BYU.

We all know about Seattle and Denver. Personally, I feel like Denver is a sleeping giant - lots of resources, a school committed to winning, and in a great location that is booming (population-wise and is doing about as well as can be expected in this economy.)

Seattle still has a ways to go in terms of facilities, but I think it can be competitive in the WCC. It will be a tough slog for Seattle top-to-bottom though... as BYU learned, the WCC is damn tough in every sport.

Personally, I feel like the WCC is in a good spot. Adding Pacific will ease a lot of scheduling problems. If Creighton and/or DePaul wanted to join - awesome. But I really can't see what their motivation would be. As for Denver and Seattle... maybe a few years down the line, but I don't see that as a necessity at the moment.

One thing's for sure though - the WCC will explore its options and keep lines of communication open, while at the same time being very tight-lipped about it. The Pacific expansion shocked all of us, if for no other reason than because the first we heard about it was when the deal had already been signed. You've got to respect how the WCC operates in that regard - no rumors, no media games.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Festus on 7/8/2012, 12:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Yeah, agree. Getting Creighton would be epic, but also don't see why they'd leave. MVC is a fantastic conference. And I believe they ranked 4th in the country in attendance (17,000k?), ahead of teams like Kansas. Their arena impresses NBA people. Would luv it, just don't see how unless the Jesuit pull is that strong.

Would also really enjoy DePaul. But as you said, leaving the Big East? And unlike Creighton they are already with other similar Catholic schools like Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Georgetown? Would be terrific get but I don't understand why they'd leave. Unless they're tired of these conference records over the past few years:

3-15
1-17
1-17
0-18
6-12
9-7
5-11

With A-10 expanding to midwest, I can see the WCC looking to act. These two conferences should mirror each other. I don't see it from Creighton, DePaul's perspective as they are already in solid conferences. Unless there are internal grumblings about things unknown to the public. I would gladly like to hear about them if so.

from 2 months ago

Posted by wccfan on 7/8/2012, 1:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

http://members4.boardhost.com/donscentral/msg/1336093682.html

Re: from 2 months ago

Posted by Purple Pride on 7/8/2012, 2:45 pm, in reply to "from 2 months ago"

Yeesh... I sound like a broken record.

Re: from 2 months ago

Posted by wccfan on 7/8/2012, 2:59 pm, in reply to "Re: from 2 months ago"

Not at all. Just posted to show it came up here first 2 months ago. Terrific posts.

Re: from 2 months ago

Posted by tom70 on 7/8/2012, 5:20 pm, in reply to "Re: from 2 months ago"

if the WCC went to two 7 team conferences with one conference being in the midwest with a nortwest flavor you would have Zags, Creighton and DePaul, BYU and Portland and Denver and one more

California would be San Diego, P-Dine and LMU, SMC, SCU, Pacific, USF...lot to be said for that

Denver

Posted by wccfan on 7/8/2012, 7:28 pm, in reply to "Re: from 2 months ago"

A lot of Denver frustration.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=451&f=2368&t=9118353

Much realignment talk from MVC fans

Posted by Gomer on 7/8/2012, 8:57 pm, in reply to "Denver"

MVC

http://www.mvcfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2201&start=120

Nothing from Creighton fans since Atlantic10 rumors.

http://bluejayunderground.com/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=babada8f3df52ca4bbec1fd5fdad3338

Re: Denver

Posted by Conference TBD on 7/9/2012, 6:46 pm, in reply to "Denver"

This is the funniest thread ever.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=451&f=2368&t=9124080

Even funnier than this post on GU board.

. If true, then Special K could be one of the best ever for the 1-2 years he is here. Robert Sacre is a stud on D.

Meyers Leonard, Blackwell and everyone else think otherwise.

But the WAC/Big East thread is really funniest post of year.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by socal on 7/9/2012, 10:21 am, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

i'm glad we now have something to talk about everyday until November! i expect PP posts to be prolific on this.

- if Creighton comes westward, wouldn't it make sense for them to take Saint Louis with them? Long rivalry between the two, Jesuit schools, big draws in NBA-caliber arenas.

- if a territorial battle is indeed emerging between the nation's two elite non-football schools, the WCC does have the selling point of being a religious-based conference, whereas the A-10 has always been a grab-bag of schools that wouldn't normally have anything to do with each other. however, by adding butler to xavier and dayton and saint louis, I wonder if the A-10 is already too established in the midwest to let creighton slip by them.

- besides, if creighton and depaul are not happy with their conference situations, than it makes too much sense for them just to revive a midwest super basketball conference. i know the business end of it is probably not quite there, but i always thought this would be an amazing conference: Marquette, De Paul, Notre Dame, Xavier, Dayton, Butler, Saint Louis, Creighton. can we get a Papal decree on this?!

- even though football is involved, i can see the MWC getting aggressive and possibly tangling with the WCC over some non-football schools.

- I'm not sure Zaninovich would admit to this now, but what's to stop him from considering some upper-tier public schools along with the seattles and denvers of the world. I've never really agreed with WCC presidents' antipathy for some of the UC shcools. would adding UCSB do any damage to the WCC academic reputation? no. I think UC Davis is actually a bit of sleeping giant athletically. would adding them enhance the WCC academic reputation? probably.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Dons69 on 7/9/2012, 11:29 am, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

I believe the concern about state funded schools in the WCC is for non-revenue sports. There is a NCAA limit on scholarships by sports. At excellent academic schools (like UCSB and UCD) a coach can recruit athletes by just getting them admitted since tuition costs are so much lower, especially in some other states. Basketball is usually fully funded in scholarships, other sports maybe not.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Purple Pride on 7/9/2012, 2:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Yep. A very good point. This is especially true in a sport like baseball, where there are only (I think) 11.7 scholarships available for a roster of at least 25-30 guys. You can split the money up in to a bunch of smaller pieces and academic scholarships can help, but at the end of the day it's a lot harder to get guy to walk-on or play for a very small scholarship at a $30,000-a-year private school versus a $10,000-a-year public school.

As a corollary, conferences tend to like institutions with similar academics because that helps keep the playing field "level" to a certain degree in terms of the types of student-athletes that are admitted into the schools. Of course, that's not to say that every school doesn't bend the academic requirements for admissions from time to time (e.g. Jeremy Pargo).

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Purple Pride on 7/9/2012, 2:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

Any of the UC schools would be a boost to the WCC's academic reputation, though as I just posted in a resopnse to Dons69... academic reputation is more about a "level" playing field in terms of admissions requirements for student-athletes than bragging rights about being smarter other conferences.

Relating to expansion, just to keep things in perspective:

Missouri Valley Conference

A-10

To me, it's doubtful that the A-10 would be interested in poaching any of the WCC's teams simply because of the distance factor, though I can certainly understand the temptation. Gonzaga, BYU, and SMC would all be a nice piece to any competitive mid-major conference. Still, the A-10 is primiarly a mid-Atlantic conference with a handful of midwest teams rather than the other way around.

If the MVC were desperate and needed to add members, I could see them sniffing around teams like Denver, or even Gonzaga or BYU. Still, the MVC is primarily a bus leage, similar to the Big West. The longest distance between any of its schools is 600 miles. That's less than the distance between Portland and any of the Bay Area schools; the distance between Goznaga and USD is more than 1,300 miles.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by Festus on 7/9/2012, 6:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

> Majerus has been very public about his displeasure with the northeast-centric A-10 and his preference for MVC. But as we know, coaches have no say in conference matters.

> I don't think MWC will ever admit non-football sports. They've set a very strong precedent that football is the one and only king, by rejecting BYU and Boise Olympic sports. I understand the MWC was taking this stand as a form of extortion. And true, this could possibly be different than a non-football school. But would a basketball school go to a conference that strictly caters to football?

Very interesting how or what WCC can do to stay ahead of the curve. So far, Commish Z has been sharp as a tack to possibly position the WCC as the top non-football conference. Right now, big points to A-10 with Butler, VCU additions.

Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC

Posted by socal on 7/9/2012, 10:26 am, in reply to "Re: Interesting a drunk Zag poster knows more than their mods about the WCC"

oh, and on the point of an in-season Jesuit tournament:

it could make sense to add some LaSallian, Vincentian and other Catholic schools to this mix from time to time. if having a Saint Mary's, La Salle, Manhattan, St. John's, DePaul or Notre Dame involved helps the event, I see that as only a good thing.

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