Major League -- Basketball

[xudash]

Thoughts................

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/03/29/midmajor.leverage/index.html?eref=sihp

[paulxu]

The bigleast made a lot of money with 11 teams in the tournament.

[xu95]

It obviously can't be a legitimate article because Dayton is listed.

[SixFig]

Let's do it.

[XUFAN 51795]

Seriously the A-10 is starting to look like the MCC

[xubrew]

A fun hypothetical, but probably not a reality.

[BMoreX]

I posted a similar idea on another message board:


Warning: The following is just my opinion. In no way does this show any rumors of conference realignment whatsoever.

As a Xavier fan, occasionally I go over to the Atlantic 10 message boards to see what all of the fans of the other universities are discussing. As most of you know, the A-10 is a basketball-centric conference with 3-5 premier programs combined with other, less interested teams. In one thread, someone began a conversation discussing how to improve the league's image, making it "the best of the rest" mid-major conferences.

It has always been my dream to have a Catholic, basketball league, combining the upper echelon of A-10 talent with that of the Big East (pending of course that conference split into basketball/football schools). Xavier, Temple, Richmond, Dayton and Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall, Villanova, just to name a few. But as the Big East's success continues to grow, I see this as a diminishing possibility everyday.

In the thread, one poster suggested forming a 10 team conference, combining the A-10 elite and the Colonial elite. The more I think about this, the more I reflect on how powerful this conference could be. Each team has a storied history and (for the most part...coughdaytoncough) excellent, rising programs. Below is a map of which teams could be included in this "super" "mid-major" conference.

http://www.photoshop.com/users/cbacon/assets/41538960622a4d8586830e6ef85e781f

From the A-10:Xavier, Dayton, Richmond, Temple, St. Joseph's, George Washington
From the CAA: Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, George Mason
From the Horizon: Butler

Many would question the travel time between schools like Butler/Xavier/Dayton to Old Dominion for non-revenue sports, but they are practically the same distance as ODU to Georgia St.

I know this is a long-shot idea. But what say you, CAA fans? I know there are a lot of you on here.

Though after reading the above article, I'm liking the idea of Memphis, so I would probably swap them in for one of GW or St. Joe's.