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Post by wsuraider09 on Mar 20, 2023 14:14:45 GMT -5
This drops the NEC to 8 members including Merrimack who is still transitioning to D1, and of course, Fairleigh Dickinson, who was the second ever 16-1 upset in the NCAA tournament this past weekend.
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Post by hokieraider on Mar 20, 2023 17:31:57 GMT -5
Having an 8 team league actually could be smart. If you are a power conference, you expand to increase the TV footprint and revenue, and to get more teams into the tournament. That increase in revenue and exposure more than offsets how many ways the pie has to be divided, and is why the big leagues continue to expand.
But if you are a lower league, you get no TV deal, and only one team in the tourney regardless of how many teams are in your league. Thus it could make a lot more sense to stay at 8. Then find another similar league of 8 to schedule 4 OOC games against (play half the other league's teams each year, and rotate the halves annually) so each team can have a full D1 schedule with enough home games. Those two leagues would get two total bids, and two NIT bids if their top teams lose. The money for their one bid then gets split only 8 ways, and each school has a 1 in 8 chance of making the tourney. If those same 16 teams were together in a single league with two 8 team divisions, the odds are 1 in 16 (of making the tourney), the money per school gets cut in half, and the scheduling stays about the same. I can't see that the better league name recognition is enough with the lower leagues to be a benefit. The only downside risk is keeping enough teams to have a conference when schools move up, and possibly having enough teams for the non-revenue sports because different schools will play different sports (but again, a partnership with another league could help). This seems to make a lot more sense than leagues like the ASUN and Sunbelt having 14 schools, or the CAA having 13 for their one and only bid.
Hmmm, HL are you taking notes? Boot a couple of our perennial tailenders out (IUPUI, ...), and partner with the Summit or OVC for some guaranteed OOC scheduling.
Better still grab a few teams from those two leagues to create a new 2nd partner league which also takes 2-3 of the current HL schools. Then set up a relegation system where the top teams all flow to one league to try to keep one of the two leagues as at least a mid tier league. I'm sure that relegation concept would never fly, but it sure seems to make sense than continued expansion to 12 or more teams.
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Post by Big D on Mar 20, 2023 18:24:23 GMT -5
Having an 8 team league actually could be smart. If you are a power conference, you expand to increase the TV footprint and revenue, and to get more teams into the tournament. That increase in revenue and exposure more than offsets how many ways the pie has to be divided, and is why the big leagues continue to expand. But if you are a lower league, you get no TV deal, and only one team in the tourney regardless of how many teams are in your league. Thus it could make a lot more sense to stay at 8. Then find another similar league of 8 to schedule 4 OOC games against (play half the other league's teams each year, and rotate the halves annually) so each team can have a full D1 schedule with enough home games. Those two leagues would get two total bids, and two NIT bids if their top teams lose. The money for their one bid then gets split only 8 ways, and each school has a 1 in 8 chance of making the tourney. If those same 16 teams were together in a single league with two 8 team divisions, the odds are 1 in 16 (of making the tourney), the money per school gets cut in half, and the scheduling stays about the same. I can't see that the better league name recognition is enough with the lower leagues to be a benefit. The only downside risk is keeping enough teams to have a conference when schools move up, and possibly having enough teams for the non-revenue sports because different schools will play different sports (but again, a partnership with another league could help). This seems to make a lot more sense than leagues like the ASUN and Sunbelt having 14 schools, or the CAA having 13 for their one and only bid. Hmmm, HL are you taking notes? Boot a couple of our perennial tailenders out (IUPUI, ...), and partner with the Summit or OVC for some guaranteed OOC scheduling. Better still grab a few teams from those two leagues to create a new 2nd partner league which also takes 2-3 of the current HL schools. Then set up a relegation system where the top teams all flow to one league to try to keep one of the two leagues as at least a mid tier league. I'm sure that relegation concept would never fly, but it sure seems to make sense than continued expansion to 12 or more teams. The problem with everything you are suggesting is that you need a certain number of members that participate in each sport in order for that sport to keep their automatic bid. If you eliminate the bottom several teams in basketball, you might drop us below the minimum for baseball or track or softball, etc. the other real issue is scheduling. Finding OOC games is very hard. If it was just as easy as partnering with another conference to get x number of games don’t you think we would have already done that.
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Post by Sixth Man on May 11, 2023 15:15:44 GMT -5
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Post by Big D on Jul 26, 2023 22:01:00 GMT -5
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Post by Big D on Aug 4, 2023 12:55:05 GMT -5
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Post by Big D on Aug 4, 2023 20:55:07 GMT -5
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Post by Big D on Sept 1, 2023 21:30:26 GMT -5
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Post by Sixth Man on Sept 8, 2023 16:37:59 GMT -5
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Post by Indy Raider on Oct 24, 2023 19:24:16 GMT -5
Merrimack and Sacred Heart are leaving the NEC and will join the MAAC.
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2023 22:03:32 GMT -5
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Post by Former Mascot on Oct 28, 2023 8:49:46 GMT -5
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Post by Big D on Dec 5, 2023 11:30:42 GMT -5
Chicago State to the NEC
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Post by wsuairstrike on Dec 5, 2023 16:55:53 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Dec 20, 2023 20:59:09 GMT -5
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