Conference Realignment thread

[MissionTrails]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:48 PM, jdgaucho said:

Speaking of nostalgia @818SUDSFan, I saw a book celebrating the first century of Aztec football when I went to the SDSU-Nevada game at Snapdragon.  It's good that the history is chronicled so that it doesn't get lost.

You should have bought the book and read it during that 6-0 debacle of a game!

[jdgaucho]

On 2/12/2024 at 3:02 PM, MissionTrails said:

You should have bought the book and read it during that 6-0 debacle of a game!

 

A great read for sure.  But then I would have missed this

 

 

[bigd]

On 2/12/2024 at 1:54 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Every time this topic comes up I find myself desperately wishing that Hawaii could find some way to be invited into the MWC as a full member.

While the Big West is the best option for most of our non-football sports, my favorite sport is basketball and I would love to see Hawaii playing top-level competition again.  I know we haven't done anything over the past half-dozen years to show we deserve it, but I was attending games in the Stan Sheriff Center back when our home conference schedule featured former WAC opponents like New Mexico, San Diego State, Fresno State, Nevada and UNLV, and crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 for big games were the norm.  Moreover thanks to our strength of schedule and ability to recruit higher-level talent, we were able to line up non-conference home games with teams like Kansas, Indiana, Michigan State and North Carolina, and not only compete with them but sometimes beat them.  It was an amazing big-time college basketball experience and it's a shame we couldn't hold onto it.

Oh well, who knows, maybe we'll have a coaching change after this season and start winning some Big West championships, and that will open the door to a potential reunion with our old WAC rivals.

 

Didn’t you guys win your only NCAA tournament game as a member of the Big West? 
I’m sure with the right coach your basketball team could have success in the Big West.

Im surprised you guys are struggling so much this year, you looked like a pretty good team when we played you guys this year.

[NorCalCoug]

On 2/12/2024 at 3:46 PM, AztecSU said:

With the PAC ending and the media starting to fawn it’s only a matter of time. If we repeat 2011 or better with 2 schools in the S16 the media will get louder and you’ll have to deal with it. Sorry, I’m just tracking the media and their new found love of the Mtn West. 

OK, good luck with that.  You sound like Aresco claiming that the AAC is P6.   

[AztecSU]

On 2/12/2024 at 6:08 PM, NorCalCoug said:

OK, good luck with that.  You sound like Aresco claiming that the AAC is P6.   

Except Aresco was the one saying it. To pretend like the sports media hasn’t been pumping the MW this season is silly. And let’s be honest here, power status in hoops is a media based status. 

[NorCalCoug]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:11 PM, AztecSU said:

Except Aresco was the won saying it. To pretend like the sports media hasn’t been pumping the MW this season is silly. At let’s be honest here, power status in hoops is a media based status. 

I haven’t heard any media outlet claim the MWC to be a power conference.  The best the MWC can claim is avoiding the mid-major label with some.  Kudos!

Let’s see some actual noise in March then sustain this level of success for a decade.  Just a couple years ago the MWC ranked lower than the WCC for several consecutive years.  Power conference indeed.  

[masterfrog]

I only see one MWC team ranked in the polls. 

[NorCalCoug]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:16 PM, masterfrog said:

I only see one MWC team ranked in the polls. 

POWER CONFERENCE!!!

[NorCalCoug]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:16 PM, masterfrog said:

I only see one MWC team ranked in the polls. 

I don’t see any in the AP poll…. The WCC has a Top20 SMC.  Maybe they’re a power conference now too????

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

[Someone Else]

45 minutes ago, NorCalCoug said:

POWER CONFERENCE!!!

Shocking!  Some fans of schools who are actually in the MWC think their conference is great. 

Who would have expected that?

[Headbutt]

The condescending circle jerk is pretty much an apparent inferiority complex.  You spend years running from a certain conference label only to wake up and find that they are still your peers.  I get it, it's tough.

[HawaiiMongoose]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:05 PM, bigd said:

Didn’t you guys win your only NCAA tournament game as a member of the Big West? 
I’m sure with the right coach your basketball team could have success in the Big West.

Im surprised you guys are struggling so much this year, you looked like a pretty good team when we played you guys this year.

I think you’re right, and that’s the road we need to travel.

Despite returning a veteran lineup, it’s been an up-and-down season for Hawaii due to injuries and a stale offense that conference opponents have found easy to defend.  Coach Ganot is definitely on the hot seat with fans.  There is a bit of hope though thanks to having won our past two home games, which were against two of the top three teams in the Big West standings.

That Hawaii-Nevada game back in December was well played on both sides and fun to watch.  I hope we can get more non-conference games scheduled against MWC opponents in the future.

[AztecSU]

On 2/12/2024 at 7:24 PM, Headbutt said:

The condescending circle jerk is pretty much an apparent inferiority complex.  You spend years running from a certain conference label only to wake up and find that they are still your peers.  I get it, it's tough.

Yep, right now only 3 conferences have more teams in the top 50 net than the MW. Nevermind the conf has multiple teams with wins over Creighton and St Mary’s who are both in the top 20. But it’s more than that. With the death of the PAC looming their is only one true western conference and it seems the MW is benefiting from that perception a year early.

[KayakArmada]

On 2/12/2024 at 6:14 PM, NorCalCoug said:

Let’s see some actual noise in March then sustain this level of success for a decade.  Just a couple years ago the MWC ranked lower than the WCC for several consecutive years.  Power conference indeed.  

I love to bag on SDSU as much as everyone else but were you in a coma by chance last year? 

[jdgaucho]

We know that one year, a reputation doesn't make.

[Destiny Dutch]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:20 PM, AztecSU said:

Yep, right now only 3 conferences have more teams in the top 50 net than the MW. Nevermind the conf has multiple teams with wins over Creighton and St Mary’s who are both in the top 20. But it’s more than that. With the death of the PAC looming their is only one true western conference and it seems the MW is benefiting from that perception a year early.

 

Not bad...

 

[Did I hear a WOOSH?]

On 2/12/2024 at 5:58 PM, Billings said:

they are getting peanuts on the media deal

Not in perpetuity.  Money isn’t the only reason they won’t come over either.  

[NorCalCoug]

On 2/12/2024 at 10:14 PM, KayakArmada said:

I love to bag on SDSU as much as everyone else but were you in a coma by chance last year? 

SDSU no doubt had a dream run last year. But my question for you is, were you in a coma the last 10+ years? The Mountain West conference has not even remotely performed like a power conference in the postseason.  One dream season and run for SDSU does not change the overall picture here for the MWC as a whole.  If all it took was one team then the WCC has been a power conference for 10 years as Gonzaga has matched and even sustained far more success than SDSU.

[jdgaucho]

On 2/13/2024 at 6:01 AM, NorCalCoug said:

SDSU no doubt had a dream run last year. But my question for you is, were you in a coma the last 10+ years? The Mountain West conference has not even remotely performed like a power conference in the postseason.  One dream season and run for SDSU does not change the overall picture here for the MWC as a whole.  If all it took was one team then the WCC has been a power conference for 10 years as Gonzaga has matched and even sustained far more success than SDSU.

 

Included within these last 10 years are a pair of 1 bid, 1 & done leagues. Then following that, 2 bids for four years in a row.

[AztecSU]

If you exlude 2020 since there was no tournament and look at the previous 10 tournaments, the MW is averages just less than 25% of its conference teams advancing to the NCAA tourney. Not bad for a mid-major. Meanwhile, depending on what happens this year the % of MW teams making the tourney since 2021 is likely to exceed 33% of conference members. And when we add Gonzaga/WSU/OSU we'll likely get the official nod from the media. Deal with it B12 interlopers.