OT: Creighton contacted by the seven Catholic schools leaving the Big East

[Huskerpapa]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2013-02-28/catholic-7-new-league-summer-of-2013-big-east-notre-dame-acc

 

Although Creighton may join, I would not necessarily hold my breath.  Although, the Catholic 7 would be crazy not to give the Jays strong consideration.  The fan base, the proximity to transportation, the facilities are all great, the travel and costs associated may cause some concern, but no more so then other schools/locations that are being "considered." 

 

From a selfish perspective, I would much rather beat a team from the new Big East then beating a team from the MVC.

[49r]

I don't think UNO to the Mo Valley is all that much of a stretch actually.  If Creighton leaves, and with spots in the A-10 opening up, I would imagine that other Valley schools will probably be following close behind, particularly the Indiana/Illinois members may seek A-10 slots.  That's going to leave spots that will need to be filled sooner or later.

 

UNO is already rumored to be joining UMKC in the WAC, and the Dakota schools are also being talked about.  I would imagine that if the Valley is going to look for a conference to raid, the WAC (and in particular, schools that are IN the WAC or are candidates, like UMKC, UNO, and the Dakota schools that are also proximate to the Valley footprint) is going to be the place they look.

 

As far as being in a "probationary" period, that's only for NCAA championship play following the move to Division I, that will also be over by the time most of the dust on this realignment stuff settles.  Trev has been aggressive in re-positioning UNO as a Division I school, I suspect we'll continue to see them be aggressive in getting themselves into better position, conference-wise.  I'm not saying it's GONNA happen, I'm just saying it's not as outlandish as one may think.

 

Finally, since the Dakota schools are already IN the MVC for football, I don't see how adding them to replace lost basketball members is anything other than a no-brainer...

[Creighton Fan]

I don't think UNO to the Mo Valley is all that much of a stretch actually.  If Creighton leaves, and with spots in the A-10 opening up, I would imagine that other Valley schools will probably be following close behind, particularly the Indiana/Illinois members may seek A-10 slots.  That's going to leave spots that will need to be filled sooner or later.

 

UNO is already rumored to be joining UMKC in the WAC, and the Dakota schools are also being talked about.  I would imagine that if the Valley is going to look for a conference to raid, the WAC (and in particular, schools that are IN the WAC or are candidates, like UMKC, UNO, and the Dakota schools that are also proximate to the Valley footprint) is going to be the place they look.

 

As far as being in a "probationary" period, that's only for NCAA championship play following the move to Division I, that will also be over by the time most of the dust on this realignment stuff settles.  Trev has been aggressive in re-positioning UNO as a Division I school, I suspect we'll continue to see them be aggressive in getting themselves into better position, conference-wise.  I'm not saying it's GONNA happen, I'm just saying it's not as outlandish as one may think.

 

Finally, since the Dakota schools are already IN the MVC for football, I don't see how adding them to replace lost basketball members is anything other than a no-brainer...

To comment on some of the things you raised ---

 

If the MVC looks to expand/replace Creighton, they will look at Oral Roberts, Horizon League schools or Murray St/Belmont I would think.  The only Summit member which would have any appeal would seemingly be Denver.  I can't see any of the WAC schools as viable candidates, nor would the financially strapped eastern members of the MVC be able to afford that sort of travel.

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt they look at the Dakota schools, or any other FCS schools, for the simple reason that it would upset the delicate balance of football and nonfootball playing schools and the public/private schools in the MVC.  The non football playing schools will not support the admission of any FB schools and would jump to the A10 or elsewhere if one gets added. I think they are all worried that the FB schools could someday try to move up to FBS and leave them.  With Creighton the league is literally 50/50 between Fb and non FB.  (I know it may be confusing, but the MVC and the MVFC are actually separate entities).

[49r]

Denver's a member of the WAC, not Summit.

 

Horizon league schools would look at the Valley as a lateral move at best, they would be more likely to want to go MAC or A-10.  Same goes for OVC schools Murray State and Belmont.

 

Oral Roberts?  I'd think UMKC, UNO, or the Dakotas would be more appealing/appropriate.

 

I'm not sure I follow this "delicate balance" thing, as the MVC has been around for over 100 years and has included widely varying mixes of football and basketball members.  (yes, I realized they dropped football in 1985)  I don't see how it would upset any kind of balance by adding more MVFC members to the MVC mix.  But then again I guess I wouldn't know for sure since the team I support hasn't been in the Mo Valley for 85 years.

[TheGov21]

If this is true it's going to be a bad wake up call for Blue Jay fans.  Word is that they could join the league next year.  Creighton would struggle playing those teams with a team of McDermott (if you think he's leaving for the NBA your crazy) and no other impact player they'll be lucky to finish in the middle of the pack.

 

Yeah this will open up their recruiting to potentially better players, but their are going to struggle for several years.  It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

 

The big question that I have is how is it going to affect Creighton's bottom line.  They'll have to send all their sports to the East coast  for road trips.  No more bus trips.  They'll have to fly everywhere.  I also thought (somebody please correct me if wrong) each school would only get $2 million each for the Fox Sports TV deal.  Is that going to cover their new travel costs?  If things go where I think, we could be seeing the demise of Creighton being a relevant basketball program.

[49r]

I'm not so convinced it'll be a bad thing for them.

 

Yeah, sure they probably won't perennially be in the conference title hunt, but then again, they won't have to be in order to get themselves in position for a tourney bid.

 

The Fox Sports TV deal I think is supposed to be $3 million per team.  Consider, too, that ticket prices for them will likely take a big jump over whatever they are now, and at 18k per game, that'll add up.

[Creighton Fan]

The estimate is between $3M-$4M per team, depending on the number of teams, from the TV contract only.  Compared to the $300k-$400k the school gets from the MVC's TV contracts, the increase is almost unfathomable.  On top of that, the NCAA units distributed to conference members will very quickly be a whole lot greater than anything the school got from the MVC. 

 

Travel will be more for sure, but not as much as you may think.  The basketball team already flies charters to almost every roadie, so that figure is already in the current budget.  Add that the new venues are all major metro areas where there are direct flights from Omaha as opposed to places like Carbondale, Terre Haute, etc and travel costs for men's basketball might actually be less.  Travel for the other sports will certainly be more expensive, but not $2.5-$3M more, especially if east-west divisions are put into place.

 

I suspect home attendance will be better and they can charge more for tickets.  If they can get 16000+ for the likes of Illinois St, Evansville and Indiana St, I don't think it will be hard to get a lot more people (or at higher prices) for Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova.  On top of that, we can probably get some better noncon opponents on the schedule as well, which will also produce some additional revenues.  With a season ticket base of over 13000, even a slight increase can result in a bunch more money rapidly.  The NCAA tourney returns to Omaha in a couple of years, so they can offer that to season ticket holders again and lure a few more.  

 

Without a doubt it will be harder to win titles, but we won't have to win titles to dance in March anymore either. 

[uneblinstu]

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA? 

 

If it's true that there's some big time talent coming up in Nebraska (and Omaha specifically) that can help NU make a climb up the Big Ten ladder, there's no reason they couldn't also help out Creighton if they're in a conference of that quality.  If McDermott can recruit players of that level, and that was his knock at ISU, it won't take them that long to adjust to competing at that level.  

[Creighton Fan]

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA?

 

If it's true that there's some big time talent coming up in Nebraska (and Omaha specifically) that can help NU make a climb up the Big Ten ladder, there's no reason they couldn't also help out Creighton if they're in a conference of that quality.  If McDermott can recruit players of that level, and that was his knock at ISU, it won't take them that long to adjust to competing at that level.  

Is it true about talent in Omaha?  I don't really know much about recruiting and my kids are not yet HS age, so my knowledge of HS sports is pretty limited.  I would love for that to be true, but am a little pessimistic based on the lack of players in the not so distant past.

 

The knock on McDermott at Iowa State wasn't that he couldn't recruit high level talent; it was thta he couldn't keep it.  He brought in some really high caliber kids there, but a lot of them transferred out.

[uneblinstu]

There are at least three players at Central other than Agau that have the talent to play D1.  I haven't seen them yet, but I hear there are a couple of players at Bryan and South that are legit as well.  The next 3-5 years is supposed to be one of the most talented crops in the Metro in a couple of decades.

[TheGov21]

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA? 

 

Usually guys that projected to be an early 2nd round pick at best don't leave school early unless there is other issues going on.  McDermott doesn't have those issues.  He'll probably enter his name for the draft to gauge where he'll go (like a lot of college players do, Ryan Anderson did) and then decide to come back.

[huskerbaseball13]

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA?

 

If it's true that there's some big time talent coming up in Nebraska (and Omaha specifically) that can help NU make a climb up the Big Ten ladder, there's no reason they couldn't also help out Creighton if they're in a conference of that quality.  If McDermott can recruit players of that level, and that was his knock at ISU, it won't take them that long to adjust to competing at that level.  

Is it true about talent in Omaha?  I don't really know much about recruiting and my kids are not yet HS age, so my knowledge of HS sports is pretty limited.  I would love for that to be true, but am a little pessimistic based on the lack of players in the not so distant past.

 

The knock on McDermott at Iowa State wasn't that he couldn't recruit high level talent; it was thta he couldn't keep it.  He brought in some really high caliber kids there, but a lot of them transferred out.

 

 

Weird because previous posts from you regarding local talent like Agau and Thurman would suggest other wise.......

 

I don't think Mcdermott can improve his stock any higher than it is now.  So I'd say if he's projected as a later first rounder or early second rounder its probably smart for him to leave.  Looking at mock drafts he's projected anywhere from a late first rounder to not getting drafted....so it will depend on what he hears back after the season. 

[Creighton Fan]

 

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA?

 

If it's true that there's some big time talent coming up in Nebraska (and Omaha specifically) that can help NU make a climb up the Big Ten ladder, there's no reason they couldn't also help out Creighton if they're in a conference of that quality.  If McDermott can recruit players of that level, and that was his knock at ISU, it won't take them that long to adjust to competing at that level.  

Is it true about talent in Omaha?  I don't really know much about recruiting and my kids are not yet HS age, so my knowledge of HS sports is pretty limited.  I would love for that to be true, but am a little pessimistic based on the lack of players in the not so distant past.

 

The knock on McDermott at Iowa State wasn't that he couldn't recruit high level talent; it was thta he couldn't keep it.  He brought in some really high caliber kids there, but a lot of them transferred out.

 

 

Weird because previous posts from you regarding local talent like Agau and Thurman would suggest other wise.......

 

I don't think Mcdermott can improve his stock any higher than it is now.  So I'd say if he's projected as a later first rounder or early second rounder its probably smart for him to leave.  Looking at mock drafts he's projected anywhere from a late first rounder to not getting drafted....so it will depend on what he hears back after the season. 

I know of Agau and Thurman, but nobody else.  Frankly, one would have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Agau.

[uneblinstu]

Wait, why is it crazy to think McDermott will head to the NBA? 

 

Usually guys that projected to be an early 2nd round pick at best don't leave school early unless there is other issues going on.  McDermott doesn't have those issues.  He'll probably enter his name for the draft to gauge where he'll go (like a lot of college players do, Ryan Anderson did) and then decide to come back.

I remember Anderson doing that, but Doug McDermott is no Ryan Anderson.  Like huskerbaseball13 said, there's not much else McDermott can do to prove his talent level.  He's got NBA level scoring ability.  He'll have to figure out how to defend at that level and he's not likely to be a Stephon Curry, but he's got a skill set that will keep him relevant in the league for a long time.  I don't think it's unreasonable to think he leaves this year and judging from his comments over the weekend, it's something he's going to seriously consider, and he should.  He's as ready as he's gonna get.