St. Thomas to DI-approved

[nodak651]

The tommies are better off dropping hockey and putting all that money into their BB programs. The Big East is a pipe dream at least for the forseeable future. They'd probably have to work thru the SL and the Horizon or MVC after that to even think of getting a sniff. Long road to hoe, it's doable but it aint happening over night or the next 10 years.

Is the Horizon still more desirable than the Summit at this point? It helps having DU in conference I'd think - the two schools have a lot in common. As far as the Big East goes, I'd disagree with a Marquette comparison due to hockey - think a Providence type school would be a better fit, but same idea really. Hockey and football may really slow the rate of their growth in basketball, and we have yet to see what their fan support looks like. Could easily see Dakota school fans outnumber Tommie fans in their own gym, and if that is the case it will ne harder for them to move. The people who want NDSU to leave the Summit should instead focus on improving what we have imo. The 4 Dakota schools are all fun rivalry games, as St Thomas will be. DU and Omaha are also solid schools... Strengthen the Summit enough to keep a successful STU from leaving, and maybe the Summit could be in a position to leverage football as a way to steal a couple or a few mvc/mvfc teams 10 years from now. That would be a better scenario than straight up joining the valley wouldnt it? At the same time, vote out a bottom feeder like wiu if possible.

[mnriverbison]

Is the Horizon still more desirable than the Summit at this point? It helps having DU in conference I'd think - the two schools have a lot in common. As far as the Big East goes, I'd disagree with a Marquette comparison due to hockey - think a Providence type school would be a better fit, but same idea really. Hockey and football may really slow the rate of their growth in basketball, and we have yet to see what their fan support looks like. Could easily see Dakota school fans outnumber Tommie fans in their own gym, and if that is the case it will ne harder for them to move. The people who want NDSU to leave the Summit should instead focus on improving what we have imo. The 4 Dakota schools are all fun rivalry games, as St Thomas will be. DU and Omaha are also solid schools... Strengthen the Summit enough to keep a successful STU from leaving, and maybe the Summit could be in a position to leverage football as a way to steal a couple or a few mvc/mvfc teams 10 years from now. That would be a better scenario than straight up joining the valley wouldnt it? At the same time, vote out a bottom feeder like wiu if possible.

Not clear, but this U just went from D3 to D1 in the blink of an eye, and are in a major population and economic center which they'll share only with a school whose city is full of the alums of rivals. They may have a chance to have many of the benefits of the gophers with way fewer of their problems. I think especially if they focus on say hoops, there is a potential Marquette-like juggernaut waiting to happen.

Football the more I think on it the more I don't see how they make the $$ work to really make a lot of noise in FCS.

[Hammerhead]

A D-II school with solid backing of their football program could make noise in the FCS the way things have been lately.

Not clear, but this U just went from D3 to D1 in the blink of an eye, and are in a major population and economic center which they'll share only with a school whose city is full of the alums of rivals. They may have a chance to have many of the benefits of the gophers with way fewer of their problems. I think especially if they focus on say hoops, there is a potential Marquette-like juggernaut waiting to happen.

Football the more I think on it the more I don't see how they make the $$ work to really make a lot of noise in FCS.

[reformedUNDfan]

St. Thomas would have to be a hell of alot better program than NDSU or SDSU for the Big East to care.

[mnriverbison]

St. Thomas would have to be a hell of alot better program than NDSU or SDSU for the Big East to care.

I don't know man-big east is hoops first and TV $$s still rule us. If UST proves to be even competent that media market will be in demand. Already have Creighton, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, and Marquette. A catholic school (like 9 of the 11 BE members) in a major media market in a region where they already have a footprint makes perfect sense. Oh by the way, the BE hoops conference has a pod of 6 teams in the northeast, and 5 in the midwest...

[reformedUNDfan]

I don't know man-big east is hoops first and TV $$s still rule us. If UST proves to be even competent that media market will be in demand. Already have Creighton, DePaul, Xavier, Butler, and Marquette. A catholic school (like 9 of the 11 BE members) in a major media market in a region where they already have a footprint makes perfect sense. Oh by the way, the BE hoops conference has a pod of 6 teams in the northeast, and 5 in the midwest...

St. Thomas isn't going to draw a crowd the BE will care about unless its considerably better than NDSU or SDSU. Dayton, St. Louis, even Belmont would all be more appealing.

"A 2015 study of college basketball team valuations placed Dayton No. 23 in the nation with 2014 adjusted revenues in excess of $16.6 million (highest for non-football conference programs) and a valuation of nearly $84 million (second highest for non-football conference programs and higher than programs such as Florida, Texas, and Michigan).[3]"

The smallest arena in the Big East is Villanova's 6,500 seat arena, after that the Butlers 9100 seat Hinkle Fieldhouse. 7 or the 11 schools have bigger than 17,000 seats. There is no way that a top 3 basketball conference with 9 national titles between them, full of elite private schools is going to invite a third rate pud private school for dumb-rich-kids-who-couldn't-get-into-a-real-school like St. Thomas just to get the Minneapolis media market when *Dayton* is available. NDSU has a much more reasonable path to the Big 12.

[mnriverbison]

Feel like you’re probably confusing how you wish conference alignment worked with how conference alignment actually works.

[reformedUNDfan]

Feel like you’re probably confusing how you wish conference alignment worked with how conference alignment actually works.

You probably can't figure out why Boise and BYU aren't in the Pac12 or UCF and Houston in the Big 12.

The only data point in your favor is the widely panned inclusion of Rutgers in the Big 10

[mnriverbison]

You probably can't figure out why Boise and BYU aren't in the Pac12 or UCF and Houston in the Big 12.

The only data point in your favor is the widely panned inclusion of Rutgers in the Big 10

Those Universities aren't in the Pac 12 or Big 12 because they don't fit in at all with the other universities in those conferences?

UST fits in like a glove with the other big east hoops schools (especially the midwest schools) and adds a Top 15 media market to their cable distribution (which not only has mattered a lot to date, it will matter a boatload more in the next 5 years as all of those deals get redone and conference realignment happens). To a conference which kind of actually could use a 6th midwest team to round everything out. A conference which by the way despite being named the Big East added freaking San Diego a few years back.

I know it feels like a leap and I certainly get that you personally are against this, but if I'm running the Big East and UST shows even the most remote competency early I'm asking my TV partners what adding MSP does to our deal. Looking at where they get their 12th team from, which almost certainly would prefer to be the midwest, I suppose only SLU is a better fit and even that is more about their history of actually playing mid-major hoops because the media market in MSP is about 50% bigger than SL.

[oldmantutters]

Those Universities aren't in the Pac 12 or Big 12 because they don't fit in at all with the other universities in those conferences?

UST fits in like a glove with the other big east hoops schools (especially the midwest schools) and adds a Top 15 media market to their cable distribution (which not only has mattered a lot to date, it will matter a boatload more in the next 5 years as all of those deals get redone and conference realignment happens). To a conference which kind of actually could use a 6th midwest team to round everything out. A conference which by the way despite being named the Big East added freaking San Diego a few years back.

I know it feels like a leap and I certainly get that you personally are against this, but if I'm running the Big East and UST shows even the most remote competency early I'm asking my TV partners what adding MSP does to our deal. Looking at where they get their 12th team from, which almost certainly would prefer to be the midwest, I suppose only SLU is a better fit and even that is more about their history of actually playing mid-major hoops because the media market in MSP is about 50% bigger than SL.

That's all fair... It also assumes that the next round of tv negotiations are similar to those in the past. Whose to say that the next go round isn't more streaming-centric and tv market has way less impact on conference (re)alignment.

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