The New Frontier

[Nukem2]

As the dust settles on the old BE and the 12-13 season and the Spring signing period begins next week, it's time to look forward to the future of the BE. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done in terms of logistics for our new entity. Certainly recruiting and retaining/ hiring of coaches will significantly impact the success of this conference. What strikes me the most, aside from these factors, is the importance of NC scheduling. We have had the luxury of many high-RPI teams in conference play since we've been in the BE. For starters, this will not be at the level of past seasons. So, we and our new & old compatriots will have to be more selective in NC scheduling to make sure the RPIs in this league are reasonably commensurate with the past. Will be interesting as we forge ahead into the new frontier......

[MayorBeluga]

We may struggle with that non-conference scheduling in the near future. The past few years, fewer and fewer big conference teams were willing to play true home and home series. This will only get worse as conferneces such as the ACC and the B1G Network grow more and more bloated. Coaches will complain about how tough conference play is so they will limit their non-conference play.

One thing we should do is play more 3-1 deals with mid major teams. Yes, it sucks to go to Green Bay and lose, but a win on the road is huge in the RPI an Marquette should be good enough to absord a bad loss once in a while - like this year. Playing on the road, no matter where, toughens up a team and cna be a good thing over the long haul.

All that said, the selection committee should continue to punish teams that play awful non-conference schedules.

[MU/Panther]

Selection Sunday made a bold statement to Maryland, Iowa and other BCS schools the past few years to schedule tougher in the non-league.

[Phantom Warrior]

If we get into one of the major early-season tournaments where we play at least two tough opponents that will help. Plus, we will play UW every year, so that's three, possibly four good non-conference games.

Losing the Big East-SEC set up doesn't help. Maybe the SEC will be willing to keep that going so that 10 of their teams play the members of the NBE. If so, we'd be up to four or even five solid n.c games.

I'd love a home/home with Louisville or ND, but I just don't see either one happening.

[The Reptile]

I disagree with the premise that folks will not want to play a more challenging non-conference schedule. This past year the Mountain West gamed the system by having their teams schedule games against D2 schools rather than playing D1 schools below 250. I don't think that's going to stand. Also, with NBC, CBS and Fox entering into the game there's more opportunities to play on the road for TV money making the 'I have to play at home for revenue' justification a weak argument. So, the door is going to be open for more games against better teams in November and December outside of the tournaments/events and conference challenges. You might even see some counter programming take place with creative events no one has considered yet. All of it points to stronger non-conference schedules rather than weaker ones.

[BLT]

Plus, Fox will arrange games with their partner conferences like the PAC12 and the B1G. I am guessing the AAC and the BE have some sort of arrangement built into the split agreement. I can also see Cuse and Georgetown inking a MSG deal. And MU vs. ND at the United Center.

[Litehouse]

Can we do that? I've always heard other conference teams could veto playing neutral site games in their city, so DePaul blocked from the UC (the example I heard was with Illinois). Don't know if that's true or if it changes with the new conference. A game against ND at the UC would make a lot of sense.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

I certainly could be wrong here but I can't imagine DePaul or Illnois for that matter would have any say in who plays and who doesnt play in the UC....neither school has an ownership stake in the building and neither use it as their pirmary facility.

Now that being said, my dream is for an MU vs ILL nonconf at the UC----would be incredibly entertaining and there are certainly enough alumni from both schools in the city of Chicago to easily fill the UC and then some.

[Litehouse]

I guess I should be more clear. The idea of MU playing Illinois at the UC has been mentioned on these boards several times in the past, and people have mentioned that our conference rules allowed a conference school to veto another school from playing a non-conference game in their city/territory. So DePaul was blocking us from playing the Illini at the UC because it's their market. I don't know if that's the case, but it's been mentioned in the past.

Anyway, here's my idea, stage a 4 game event at the UC with 2 double headers with a day session and night session like the first round of the NCAAs. Do a mid-major game first, and then a bigger game second in each session with regional teams. So something like this:
Day Session
Northern Illinois vs. UIC
Illinois vs. DePaul

Night Session
Loyola vs. Bradley
MU vs. ND

Fox Sports could sponsor it and put a big Fox Sports 1 logo at center court to promote the network. Maybe do it on Sat. in Chicago and do a similar one at MSG on Sun. Georgetown vs. Cuse and St. Johns vs. Rutgers