The powers that be are holding a SBC meeting this week. It appears expansion decisions will be minimal and they will hold at 11. What will be discussed will be scheduling.

What are your thoughts on the following:

Number of conference football games, 8 or 9?

Number of conference basketball games (11 teams), 16, 18, or 20?

Number of sub D1 basketball games allowed?

Setting average RPI scheduling metrics?

Conference tourney formats, only top 8 make it, everyone invited?

Saint3333 wrote:The powers that be are holding a SBC meeting this week. It appears expansion decisions will be minimal and they will hold at 11. What will be discussed will be scheduling.

What are your thoughts on the following:

Number of conference football games, 8 or 9?

Number of conference basketball games (11 teams), 16, 18, or 20?

Number of sub D1 basketball games allowed?

Setting average RPI scheduling metrics?

Conference tourney formats, only top 8 make it, everyone invited?

*8 conference FB games
*18 conference BB games
*No sub D1 BB games
*No opinion on the RPI scheduling metrics (difficult to predict year to year)
*Only top 8 make tourney

What are your thoughts on the following:

Number of conference football games, 8 or 9?
The league needs to stick to 8 conference games for at least the next 2-3 years. Having home games is critical to the success of any program for many reasons. Switching to 9 games would give us less flexibility to get 6 homes games on years where you only get 4 home conference games. Plus we don't know how the new playoff will change the P5 schools scheduling practices until we get through a couple of seasons. At this point I'd most prefer getting rid of Idaho and NMSU to go back to 9 football schools, but that is a whole new issue.

Number of conference basketball games (11 teams), 16, 18, or 20?
With the current travel distances in the conference I'd say 16 or 18 would be the best for us. We have a ton of solid OOC programs that we can schedule within a few hours of Boone, and many of those teams would be comparable to Sun Belt teams in RPI ratings. Going to 20 would add a lot of travel costs and limit our scheduling opportunities.

Number of sub D1 basketball games allowed?
I'd like to see zero sub D1 games allowed. There are 360+ teams in D1 so there is no need to schedule D2 or below. Leave those for exhibition games prior to the season.

Setting average RPI scheduling metrics?
Probably a good idea but this might be tough to get everyone to agree on.

Conference tourney formats, only top 8 make it, everyone invited?
Stick to top 8. It makes very little sense to send a bad to team to New Orleans knowing they have basically no chance to win a game. Plus it helps to ensure the best teams will make the NCAA's. Being a mid pack conference we need our best teams in the national tourneys each year. For baseball, having an 8 team single elimination format keeps teams from having to get too deep into their rotation and bullpen. The best pitchers for each team are on the mound, and it doesn't mess your rotation up for the regionals the following week. Teams should have to earn the conference tourney.

8 conference football games - should ensure that every team can schedule at least 6 home games, along with one OOC money game and one road game vs. another G5.

18 game schedule probably best for basketball, though I can see how 16 might be better for App with travel costs.

I'd be fine with one or two non-D1 basketball games. A little scheduling flexibility is a good thing.

Count me as a resounding YES that the league should schedule strategically for the RPI. Doesn't mean you have to have formal standards or requirements (does any league do that?), but each school should absolutely be conscious of how to best schedule for the RPI, and how doing so can benefit the whole league come March.

I actually like the league's current basketball tourney format - not only the 8 teams, but the double bye for the top two. While it's nontraditional, I think it makes sense for a smaller league to at least give some advantage to the teams that had the best seasons.

I will also add that for basketball, the non-D1 question and the RPI question are related. Every coach wants to schedule a few games his team should be able to win without much trouble and gain some experience. For RPI purposes, you're actually better off scheduling a D2 team than a really terrible D1 team.

8 conference games.

18 basketball games. Limit to 1 D2 game, but strive for an average OOC RPI of 150, limit to three $$$ games.

Only top 8 go to the tourneys.

I like the DE baseball format. Single elimination could lead to the best team running up against the best pitcher from a lower ranked team and being eliminated.

8 conference FB games
16-18 conference BB games
1 sub D1 BB games
No opinion on the RPI scheduling
Top 8 make tourney





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Number of conference football games, 8 or 9? 8

Number of conference basketball games (11 teams), 16, 18, or 20? 18

Number of sub D1 basketball games allowed? 1 I have no issue with playing one local D-II per season, as I have no issue with playing one FCS game per year.

Setting average RPI scheduling metrics? Try our best, but schools will be reaching down to us for a year or two.

Conference tourney formats, only top 8 make it, everyone invited? I like the idea that everyone has a chance.

Number of conference football games, 8 or 9? 8 - IMO most G5 schools need the scheduling flexibility an 8 conference game schedule allows.

Number of conference basketball games (11 teams), 16, 18, or 20? 18 - with us leaving the SoCon we now have more than enough local teams to fill the holes in OOC scheduling that we previously had difficulty doing and also we can maintain a few local rivalries.

Number of sub D1 basketball games allowed? I'd favor 1, it allows scheduling flexibility with a lower cost home only opponent for times when we know attendance will be low (holidays or other times when the students are away).

Setting average RPI scheduling metrics? IMO the conference should have a target average RPI that may slide up or down depending on your team's previous year's record. Essentially if you are one of the best teams in the conference then you should have the best schedule, where if you are at the other end of the conference you should try to find some winnable games (a crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run type of thing)

Conference tourney formats, only top 8 make it, everyone invited?[/quote] I'm typically a fan of everyone that isn't on probation being allowed in the conference tourney. However, I fully understand the thought (especially at the G5 level) to try to get your best teams in the national tournaments and also to reduce travel costs when possible.