SLU Kevin

Deutschkind, there's no question that the Big 10 kept open their twelfth slot for a long time in the hopes of getting Notre Dame. But when they finally made their choice in 2010, Missouri seemed like a better option than Nebraska in most regards: Better academics (Missouri has retained their AAU accreditation; Nebraska has lost theirs) About 50% bigger (more students, more alums) Better aligned with the Big 10's stated "southern expansion" strategy Closer fit geographically Existing Big 10 rivalry (Missouri-Illinois) Much better basketball program Better overall in most Olympic sports Much better BTN market (The state of Missouri has triple the population of Nebraska) And Mizzou was really, really eager Nebraska had the better football "brand", but Missouri had/has the better program. Maybe Missouri's PR campaign backfired and the caused the Big 10 to skip over them; but if the Big 10 had a "do over" option today, they might make a different choice. Anyway, my point is that conference expansion often takes unexpected turns. SLU is the best candidate for the Big East and I hope they get there, but only time will tell.

Conventional wisdom says that SLU is the next school invited to the Big East and I certainly hope that comes to pass. But conventional wisdom said that Missouri would get into the Big 10 ahead of Nebraska, Louisville into the Big 12 ahead of West Virginia and SLU into the Big East ahead of Creighton. The Big East could hold at 10 or do something unexpected, like add Gonzaga plus St Mary's or BYU. Future A10 member Davidson dropped their home opener to Wisconsin Milwaukee. U-Mass is out the door as soon as there's an opening in the AAC, and their replacement will have to be someone that the A10 previously passed over in order to snap up Davidson. VCU's been great under Shaka Smart, but what happens if his lifelong commitment to VCU is no greater than Brad Steven's commitment to Butler? As the A10 becomes a less attractive home for SLU, and a Big East future is questionable, it's interesting to at least consider other possibilities. Maybe the Big 12 is the answer. There is no longer any chance that the Big 12 can nab Florida St. and Clemson, but there are recent rumblings of Cincinnati joining. Previously BYU and the Big 12 failed to reach an agreement. But BYU has found a home for their Olympic sports (WCC); and as most BCS conferences are moving to 9 league football games, BYU will find it difficult to schedule football as an independent. A football-only Big 12 membership for BYU (one sport where BYU's prohibition on Sunday games is a non-issue) could be coupled with an Olympics sports membership for SLU. SLU would certainly have a great draw for its conference home games.

SLU continues to be the top candidate for Big East admission, but there's no indication that they ever plan to move beyond 10 teams. Yet remaining as a geographic outlier in the A10 is a lousy option and leaves our teams at a permanent disadvantage, with long road trips for 100% of away games and higher travel expenses than anyone else. Moving back to the MVC would be a better option than staying put. If Dayton came along to bring the MVC to 12, the resulting league would be as good or better than the A10. And the logistics would make sense. Alternatively, we could form a new conference of private institutions. SLU, Dayton, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Loyola, Detroit, Valparaiso, Oral Roberts, Belmont. Everyone would put of a grant of rights so no one can conference hop after joining. This would be an NCAA multi bid league and it would make geographic sense for SLU and everyone else. No longer would we need to make long road trips only to play the Bonnies, Fordham, Rhode Island or Davidson. Shades of the MCC to be sure, but still better than the status quo. In time this could become the #2 basketball-focused conference, after the Big East.