There are several conferences that have no business being in division I.

SWAC is a prime example. Standings this year (yes you counted right-FIVE winless teams):

SWAC Standings
TEAM
CONF
OVERALL
Grambling 4-7
Alcorn State 3-8
Jackson State 3-8
Southern 3-8
Prairie View A&M 2-9
Alabama State 0-10
Mississippi Valley State 0-10
Alabama A&M 0-11
Texas Southern 0-11
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-12

In their defense they play a very high percentage of OOC games on road. Also, anyone wanting to demote them will be called a lot of unpleasant names.


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I don't have a problem with it. I would rather have a 15-15 SWAC team representing their conference than a 18-14 12th place ACC team in it.

The more the merrier IMO.

In the current NCAA tournament, the 4 lowest-ranked autobid teams play in the "First Four" for 2 places in the main field of 64.

They're not going to kick any conferences out of D-I, so what they should do for March Madness is have the 16 lowest-ranked autobid teams play for 8 places in the main field of 64. That would mean that every 15-seed and every 16-seed is the winner of a play-in game. Assuming they also did away with the 2 at-large play-in games in the "First Four", that would mean 16 places in the field of 64 go to the top 16 autobid teams, 8 places go to the play-in game winners, and 40 places go to at-large teams.

But, if we had to get rid of some, I'd choose the SEC or Big 10. Turning amateur sports into money making endeavours with no regard to a level playing field for fellow teams is terrible, and those two conferences are the most egregious violators of that. Sometimes examples should be made of the few for the good of the whole.

Well, if there was one tournament that locked out Big Ten and SEC teams, and another tournament that didn't, which one do you think the vast majority of top teams would choose to play in?

No reason to make 15 seed play-in’s. Plenty great 15-2 upsets over the years. Making 4 16 seed play-in’s for a cap of 70 teams is fine.

Why should conference tournament champs have to play for the play in right? Should be the at-larges.

(12-18-2017 12:27 AM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  Why should conference tournament champs have to play for the play in right?

The first post in this thread answers that question.

There's nothing special about being the champ of a conference of teams that should be in D-II or D-III. Especially given that you don't even have to be the best team in that bad conference, you just have to be good or lucky for a few days in a conference tournament.

What I would like to see happen (it never will), is expand the tourney to 96 teams. The top 32 conference winners all get byes. Any and all at large teams (64), have to play the first round. This gives the regular season/conference tourney a lot more weight.

Another thing that would help draw better is keep the teams in their own region meaning East teams play East until final 4.


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(12-17-2017 11:01 PM)bullet Wrote:  There are several conferences that have no business being in division I.

SWAC is a prime example. Standings this year (yes you counted right-FIVE winless teams):

SWAC Standings
TEAM
CONF
OVERALL
Grambling 4-7
Alcorn State 3-8
Jackson State 3-8
Southern 3-8
Prairie View A&M 2-9
Alabama State 0-10
Mississippi Valley State 0-10
Alabama A&M 0-11
Texas Southern 0-11
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-12

Mix ‘em in with the Southland & the SoCon or the OVC.

I think it might be time that some HBCU to go into another conference that are not HBCU conferences. Look at what Tennessee State is doing right now? Right now, they do not have the exposure to recruit for students athletes to join. Southern U. and Grambling do get some exposure thanks to their game being shown on NBC when they were playing on Thanksgiving and all that.

As it is, there seems to be some talks and rumors about Texas Southern going to the Southland. With the issues of Louisiana's financial issues? I could see the southland to split.The Southland Texas schools could take the two from SWAC.
The eastern Southland could look like this.

McNeese State
Nicholls State
NW State La.
SE La.
UCA
Jackson State
UAPB
New Orleans
Christian Brothers
Delta State
Arkansas Tech
La.-Monroe

Yeah, i think La.-Monroe do not belong in FBS anymore.

The Southland do have choices to expand with.
Commerce
Kingsville
Tarleton State
Arkansas Tech
Texas southern
Prairie View
Central Oklahoma
Midwestern State
UTPB
west Texas A&M
Jackson State
Angelo State
UAPB

A new southeastern conference to form or the best HBCU schools from the MEAC and SWAC goes to the A-SUN and Big South.

A-Sun gets Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. Albany State and Valdosta State in Georgia are some good choices.
Big South gets Norfolk State(population), Fayetteville State, Morgan State, NC central and NC A&T. The rest of the HBCUs not list gets demoted to D2. There will be no more SWAC and MEAC.

It's time for many to close and some to fully integrate. They'll still be HBCU's no matter what but it's time to get with the times.

But the number of conferences is fine and and the majority have been with college basketball for decades. The few that haven't mostly have members that have been.

Most schools in the HBCU conferences should probably drop as well as perhaps the NEC but everyone else is fine.

(12-18-2017 02:18 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  Mix ‘em in with the Southland & the SoCon or the OVC.

Even if no schools dropped from the SWAC:

Alabama A&M and Alabama State to the A-Sun (Big South football)
Southland’s Louisiana and Arkansas schools to the SWAC
Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M to the Southland

Those schools benefit by being associated with schools like them. SWAC fans will come out for other SWAC events even if their school isn't playing. They won't as much in the Southland or OVC.

(12-17-2017 11:11 PM)Jjoey52 Wrote:  In their defense they play a very high percentage of OOC games on road. Also, anyone wanting to demote them will be called a lot of unpleasant names.


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There are about 10 conferences in their position. They just seem to be the absolute worst. It wasn't that long ago they were in NAIA. TSU was NAIA champion in 1977.

(12-18-2017 12:17 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  No reason to make 15 seed play-in’s. Plenty great 15-2 upsets over the years. Making 4 16 seed play-in’s for a cap of 70 teams is fine.

15 seeds are 8-124 in the first round and 9-132 overall.

(12-17-2017 11:16 PM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  I don't have a problem with it. I would rather have a 15-15 SWAC team representing their conference than a 18-14 12th place ACC team in it.

Neither have any business.

(12-18-2017 04:30 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  It's time for many to close and some to fully integrate. They'll still be HBCU's no matter what but it's time to get with the times.

But the number of conferences is fine and and the majority have been with college basketball for decades. The few that haven't mostly have members that have been.

Most schools in the HBCU conferences should probably drop as well as perhaps the NEC but everyone else is fine.

Here in Ohio we have Central State (public) and Wilberforce (private) who have no more than 2,500 students between the two of them. They are both located in the town of Wilberforce (just outside of Dayton). Both are financially in the toilet, have dreadful facilities and continue to be mismanaged by their admirations. Wilberforce is private so I realize they can kind of do what they do want, but what is the point of having a university that only has an enrollment of 500 people?