Another Expansion/Realignment Thread

[Chuck A]

An occasional update on the NET rankings of potential Valley expansion candidates that have been mentioned.

St. Thomas- 100
Milwaukee- 135
Arlington- 214
Toledo- 215
NKU- 227
Kansas City- 234
Bellarmine- 355

[tribecalledquest]

An occasional update on the NET rankings of potential Valley expansion candidates that have been mentioned.

St. Thomas- 100
Milwaukee- 135
Arlington- 214
Toledo- 215
NKU- 227
Kansas City- 234
Bellarmine- 355

St. Thomas is the easy answer here. FWIW - I recently talked to some coaches from the Tommies old D3 league - they all basically said the same thing - they will be in the Big East in 10 years. Now I don’t believe that but it’s going to be a very good program. Heck, it already is. Their new facility is going to be fantastic.

[Chuck A]

I hear people saying A-10 and then the Big East. Personally, I don't believe either Conference will take them. At this point the Tommies look like a one-coach program. Let's see how they do when Coach Tauer is gone. I don't think the program is at a point right now where it recruits itself. It possibly could be, but it isn't right now.

[squirrel]

St. Thomas isn't hurdling the WCC, SLU, Loyola, or Dayton in terms of getting into the Big East.

However, if there is some sort of merger with the WCC and Big East, they'll need to fill the middle of the country, and then St. Thomas may figure in with some other midwest schools, but given Drake's recent history and NCAA success, they are probably higher on the list, too.

[IllinoisState]

St. Thomas isn't hurdling the WCC, SLU, Loyola, or Dayton in terms of getting into the Big East.

However, if there is some sort of merger with the WCC and Big East, they'll need to fill the middle of the country, and then St. Thomas may figure in with some other midwest schools, but given Drake's recent history and NCAA success, they are probably higher on the list, too.

I don't see the Big East being okay with adding a lot of WCC schools because they aren't on the level of the Big East.

[BCPanther]

The Big East isn't adding anyone because they have to hedge against losing UConn and what that would do to future media deals. There is absolutely no need to feed extra mouths for them at this point.

[tribecalledquest]

The Big East isn't adding anyone because they have to hedge against losing UConn and what that would do to future media deals. There is absolutely no need to feed extra mouths for them at this point.

I agree.

[ReZyNeZy]

The only way I see the Tommies going to the Big East is if they agree to split time at either Target Center or Xcel Energy center

[squirrel]

Yeah, the merger scenario would only be in the environment where there were 4-5 total leagues in a future, separated DI where all leagues were national. And even then, many of the WCC members would be squeezed, but the Big East would cherry pick any number of them before St. Thomas gets a sniff.

[MovingScreenOfDeath]

A new NCAA ruling says reduced the time period transitioning teams are ineligible for the postseason, meaning that St Thomas will be edible for the NCAA tournament for the 2025-2026 season.

If the MVC was planning on waiting out the rest of the 5 year transition period before formally inviting St Thomas, that's no longer a concern.

Between that and the fact that their new stadium has broken ground and is well under construction, there shouldn't be any reason the commissioner isn't on the phone with them asap