Will MU need to add / change sport offerings?

[Goose85]

A basketball only conference with non football playing schools generally means less sports offered by schools as no football schollie offsets.

If you were to add 3 to the current group of 7 basketball schools, what sports would the conference offer?

With the current 7 there are a few sports that could be in trouble.

Baseball - only 4 of the 7 play (G-Town, SH, ST. John, Vil).
Lacrosse - 3 play men (G-town, Vil, MU) and 5 play women (G-town, Prov, St. John, Vil, MU).
Field Hockey - only 3 of the 7 play (G-town, Vil, Prov).
Volleyball - only on the women side and 6 of 7 play.
Soccer - for both men and women all 7 play.
Softball - all but MU play.
There are other sports as well, but more idividual (Track, Cross Country, Diving,Tennis, Rowing).

If Creighton, Butler and VCU are added they all bring soccer (m/w), baseball (m), softball(w), v-ball (w), tennis, track, cc and golf. VCU has field hockey.

If this were the new conference, would MU be better off going from lacrosse to baseball for men and softball or field hockey for women? Seems that lacrosse would not be a sport in the new conference.

[Djgoldnboy]

What about Quidditch!!!!!!!

[wiscwarrior]

Dropping Lacrosse would be a shame, IMO, it is a fast growing sport popular among young kids across the country. It may turn out to be more popular than soccer. I grew up with no soccer and no lacrosse, but given a choice I would prefer going to a lacrosse match as opposed to a soccer match. There is more scoring and, for me, more excitement in a lacrosse match. I actually watched the NCAA finals this year and I also plan on attending a lacrosse match at Valley Fields when the new team starts playing. To me, lacrosse could be the sport of the future in the U.S, maybe even supplanting football in the distant future.

[MUMac]

Dropping Lacrosse would be a shame, IMO, it is a fast growing sport popular among young kids across the country. It may turn out to be more popular than soccer. I grew up with no soccer and no lacrosse, but given a choice I would prefer going to a lacrosse match as opposed to a soccer match. There is more scoring and, for me, more excitement in a lacrosse match. I actually watched the NCAA finals this year and I also plan on attending a lacrosse match at Valley Fields when the new team starts playing. To me, lacrosse could be the sport of the future in the U.S, maybe even supplanting football in the distant future.

I agree with this. It is in it's infancy, to a degree, in the Midwest. That said, it is growing quickly. In Wisconsin, it is a Club Sport, but many schools have begun to offer it at the Varsity level. I would not be surprised to see the WIAA include it in the near future.

[Goose85]

I agree, but in what conference would MU's lacrosse play?

[ge1974]

Could we possibly become an "adjunct member" to say, the Big Ten in lacrosse? I know some conferences take adjunct members but I'm not sure if the Big Ten would.

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/11/20/whats-future-big-ten-lacrosse

[TheSultan]

I agree, but in what conference would MU's lacrosse play?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECAC_Lacrosse_League

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

The ACC has lacrosse and only has 4 teams (will go to 6 when ND and Syracuse join). The new Big East will have Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, and Marquette. Allow Rutgers to stay as a lacrosse-only member (B1G doesn't have lacrosse) and it'll be fine.

Also, according to Lacrosse Magazine (http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/standings/index) both SJU and Providence play Men's Lacrosse.

[TheSultan]

I think the Big Ten is going to start its own lacrosse league. Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers. Northwestern might decide to add a mens team to go along with their women's team too.

[Goose85]

I thought we added lacrosse to make sure we had a firm position in the Big East. Depending on the new conference makeup, does it make sense to join the CAA or hope to join a new Big 10 league for one sport when we could add a different sport that is already in the new conference (like baseball / softball)?

I hope we do, and would love to keep lacrosse.

[GOMU1104]

After all of the time and investment they have put into LaCrosse...I think they will figure out a place to play.

I would love for MU to start playing baseball. Unfortunately, putting together facilities would be a huge undertaking.

[Goose85]

After all of the time and investment they have put into LaCrosse...I think they will figure out a place to play.

I would love for MU to start playing baseball. Unfortunately, putting together facilities would be a huge undertaking.

I too would love to see baseball as a sport. A stadium shared by MU and UWM might be worth looking into if baseball were to ever be considered.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Even without Rutgers, the ACC is making a go of it with 4 teams currently. They play a freaking 3-game conference schedule. Hasn't stopped Duke from going to the past 6 Final Fours while also finishing runner-up twice and winning a national championship.

At worst, we have 5 lacrosse teams. Maybe we convince one of the new guys to add the sport, or one of the C7 not playing lacrosse gets on board. But even with 5, that's enough.

[Mucrisco]

I have a very hard time believing that lacrosse will be more popular than soccer. I will make a call and say that will never happen.

[lougrant]

Would rather see us venture into baseball than football (hate that effing sport).

[wiscwarrior]

I have a very hard time believing that lacrosse will be more popular than soccer. I will make a call and say that will never happen.

On a worldwide basis, I agree, but I wouldn't be so sure in regard to its popularity in the U.S.. As I told a soccer fan friend of mine from the U.K. The way to make soccer more popular to U.S. audiences is to remove the goalie. Create more scoring opportunities.:cool::cool:

[The Reptile]

What about Quidditch!!!!!!!

Laugh all you want, but my son told me that our Club Quiddich team was highly rated and the top scoring squad in the country.


To answer the OP, that's something that the new conference would need to sort out.

[unclejohn]

Women's Jello Wrestling!

(I know it's wrong, but I'm weak.)

[ge1974]

If we add baseball, we would have to add women's softball due to Title IX. I'm OK with that but that's adding more 40 or 50 more scholarships.

[Mucrisco]

On a worldwide basis, I agree, but I wouldn't be so sure in regard to its popularity in the U.S.. As I told a soccer fan friend of mine from the U.K. The way to make soccer more popular to U.S. audiences is to remove the goalie. Create more scoring opportunities.:cool::cool:

I actually broke down scoring in the NFL compared to the premiere league. I didn't count field goals because those are as exciting as corner kicks. A touchdown was equal to a goal. There was more scoring in the NFL but not by much. Granted, it was a small sample, but you'd be surprised.

Anyway, here is an ESPN article. Soccer is already popular in the US and it's growing.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/blog/_/name/relegationzone/id/262?cc=5901

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Suffice to say NBC didn't just bid $250M for the EPL rights because soccer is struggling in the US. People may not notice because the games are usually done early, but the sport is picking up steam.

[wiscwarrior]

Suffice to say NBC didn't just bid $250M for the EPL rights because soccer is struggling in the US. People may not notice because the games are usually done early, but the sport is picking up steam.

I attended Ft Lauderdale Lightning matches in the seventies. Saw Pele and other soccer legends playing in that league. I am not opposed to soccer, but they were saying that soccer was picking up steam then too. A whole generation or more of youth have grown up playing soccer and still it pales in comparison to the popularity of the big three sports.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

It does, but it's generating money it was never generating before. Lacrosse may be fun to watch, but it's even more a niche sport than soccer. As much as there is a difference between NFL and soccer here, there is probably an even bigger gap between soccer and lacrosse. A much, much bigger gap.

[GOMU1104]

If we add baseball, we would have to add women's softball due to Title IX. I'm OK with that but that's adding more 40 or 50 more scholarships.

Those sports dont usually offer full scholarships, especially at the level we would potentially be playing at.

Baseball might have 10 scholarships that the coach allocates among his 30 guys.

[mutpm]

Baseball can offer 11.7 scholarships and softball can offer 12 scholarships. At MU's current tuition of $32,810, that's $777,597 before any program costs. I would love it, but it's probably not going to happen.

[mufansince72]

Most D1 baseball players get about a 30% scholarship, and it generally only counts toward tuition and not food and housing. Pitchers tend to get more.