(04-09-2017 11:02 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  For athletics purposes, I would like to add GCU. It fills a geographic hole in the footprint of the conference. It provides a large city for the MW with a great fanbase. And if they ever added football, that would be a big bonus.

But, the MW presidents would never go for it.

When was the last time academics mattered in the MWC?

(04-09-2017 01:06 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  GCU is all in for basketball. I doubt they ever consider football. Not when their goal is the WCC.

This is accurate. But I'd add also that college football is not big in the west below the P12 level. It just isn't worth the investment. SDSU's attempts to get a free stadium indicates that even the strongest program below the P12 is not willing to invest capital for it.

GCU wants the WCC. But I think in the classic Great Gatsby sense they are "new money" trying to win approval and club membership in a league of "old money." They are not from the "respectable" affiliations. But give it a generation (literally 20 years) and they might get in if they show staying power.

As for my point on BYU, it is what it is. They are the only one the MWC would consider in the next five years or so. If you ask BYU's athletic department they would prefer to be back in the MWC. But they don't call the shots.

There is value in aligning with like-minded institutions, as BYU currently has done with the WCC. It's been six years now. They seem okay with it.

(04-09-2017 11:08 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Money talks, and GCU has lots of it.

And it speaks loudly at GCU, especially when settling lawsuits accusing you of being a degree mill admitting, and graduating the academically unqualified.

(04-09-2017 12:33 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Of course GCU has zero NCAA appearances as a Division 1 member - they've been ineligible because of the transition period. That ends in July.

Grand Canyon is intriguing and the MW (and Big West too ) should consider them, academics be damned.

You do realize higher education is about more then just athletics? Maybe the Big West doesn't care, I guarantee the MWC do

I don't see any conferences save desperate ones (like the WAC was) wanting to deal with the stigma of for-profit universities like Grand Canyon.

(04-09-2017 02:02 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 11:08 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Money talks, and GCU has lots of it.

And it speaks loudly at GCU, especially when settling lawsuits accusing you of being a degree mill admitting, and graduating the academically unqualified.

I guess I'm playing the villain in this one.

You can find academically unqualified athletes everywhere and no one bats an eye.

(04-09-2017 02:06 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 12:33 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Of course GCU has zero NCAA appearances as a Division 1 member - they've been ineligible because of the transition period. That ends in July.

Grand Canyon is intriguing and the MW (and Big West too ) should consider them, academics be damned.

You do realize higher education is about more then just athletics? Maybe the Big West doesn't care, I guarantee the MWC do

Of course I do. I also recognize everyone speaks the eternal language of money, even in higher education. I wish it weren't so but that's the way the ball bounces.

(04-09-2017 12:52 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  I think Devry would be better

I don't know...... I've heard ITT Tech is pretty good too.

They're Liberty of the west. Only difference is they're for profit. If the Sun Belt didn't want anything to do with Liberty's policies and money. No one is going to touch GCU.

Like us they would bring a lot to the table in terms of facilities, exposure, resources, etc. but when you are an evangelical university with a big online presence you have a lot of misconceptions in the academia world and they control who gets in.

The MWC could do a one step further than AAC.

They invite BYU for all sports.
Invite Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
Invite Hawaii all sports.
Invite UTEP for all sports.

RPI would go up to be up there with the AAC and the Big East.

Without Arkansas Tech, neither the MWC nor AAC will ever be a power conference

(04-09-2017 02:34 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 02:02 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 11:08 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Money talks, and GCU has lots of it.

And it speaks loudly at GCU, especially when settling lawsuits accusing you of being a degree mill admitting, and graduating the academically unqualified.

I guess I'm playing the villain in this one.

You can find academically unqualified athletes everywhere and no one bats an eye.

Can you imagine them getting an invite to the Big West? Hey Poly and Davis, we of know you are academic powerhouses but we've decided that you must now sit at the table with GCU. GCU are lucky to be in the WAC.

it was a clickbait article


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(04-09-2017 04:22 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 02:34 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 02:02 PM)jacksfan29 Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 11:08 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  Money talks, and GCU has lots of it.

And it speaks loudly at GCU, especially when settling lawsuits accusing you of being a degree mill admitting, and graduating the academically unqualified.

I guess I'm playing the villain in this one.

You can find academically unqualified athletes everywhere and no one bats an eye.

Can you imagine them getting an invite to the Big West? Hey Poly and Davis, we of know you are academic powerhouses but we've decided that you must now sit at the table with GCU. GCU are lucky to be in the WAC.

Academics aren't everything. See the rejection of UCSD. Poly and Davis would see the money and a free flight or bus to Phoenix. Davis would see a former conference foe from their D2 days.

As for the MW... while sporting respectable institutions in their own right, they don't have four UCs or Hawaii as full members. The one who might have a problem with GCU is Air Force.

(04-09-2017 02:41 PM)utpotts Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 12:52 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  I think Devry would be better

I don't know...... I've heard ITT Tech is pretty good too.

I suspect you are correct...maybe as a compromise, the MWC takes both?

(04-09-2017 03:54 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  The MWC could do a one step further than AAC.

They invite BYU for all sports.
Invite Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
Invite Hawaii all sports.
Invite UTEP for all sports.

RPI would go up to be up there with the AAC and the Big East.

1. BYU and MWC got divorced in 2011. Tough
2. Yes, that would be interesting. Gonzaga especially.
3. Why would the MWC want Hawaii for all sports. They barely took them in for football, and even then Hawaii had to pay travel $.
4. UTEP makes sense geographically and historically. It should of happened instead of San Joser

It seems as if the Mtn. West is okay with 11 for basketball. B1G made it work for about 20 years, so it's not exactly critical to get #12. But if they want that, I'd take a close look at Univ. of Denver or Seattle Univ.

(04-09-2017 08:21 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  It seems as if the Mtn. West is okay with 11 for basketball. B1G made it work for about 20 years, so it's not exactly critical to get #12. But if they want that, I'd take a close look at Univ. of Denver or Seattle Univ.

It's not that they are okay with 11, as much as there is nobody they could realistically add who will boost basketball. They're not going to drop the football requirement for anybody.

In three of the last four years the MW has earned two bids or less, and the last two years it's been a one bid, one and done league. It's a bad stretch. The MW should improve though, they had three NIT participants.

(04-09-2017 08:21 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  It seems as if the Mtn. West is okay with 11 for basketball. B1G made it work for about 20 years, so it's not exactly critical to get #12. But if they want that, I'd take a close look at Univ. of Denver or Seattle Univ.

Neither of whom add anything positive to the conferences basketball profile. Do some of you know anything about athletics west of the Mississippi? If the MWC want a 12th for BB, only one choice is out there now that WSU are gone, Gonzaga