The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

The Valley. Basketball tournament in St. Louis. Suppose best possible option. Growing on me. If possible.

Someone with greater basketball knowledge could list the "basketball as a main sport conferences" UAB might join IF C-USA ejects us. Perhaps a poll on fan preference should that becomes a reality.

Is The Valley better than C-USA in basketball? See the MVC sponsors football. At the FCS level?

If Coach Bartow was still with us he could likely pull off The Valley membership in a second. Who knows with mr. watts et al. Pitiful delusion by a supposed lover of UAB. mr. watts, the love is not reciprocal. So you know.

Since we are accepting a step down, what about the OVC. At least it has football and we can have a rivalry with JSU.

(01-24-2015 02:39 PM)rook360 Wrote:  Since we are accepting a step down, what about the OVC. At least it has football and we can have a rivalry with JSU.

We'd have a chance to add to Watson Brown's career loss total too.

For Basketball only would be a huge step up - not down,

Its RPI is 10th vs CUSA 17th.

Best option if the A=10 does not want us.

(01-24-2015 05:00 PM)uabbean Wrote:  For Basketball only would be a huge step up - not down,

Its RPI is 10th vs CUSA 17th.

Best option if the A=10 does not want us.

Exactly, for BBall only.

The Missouri Valley has worked really well for Wichita State and in looking at a map their travel is not that much different in the MVC than UAB's would be. A big plus for The Valley is the basketball tournament is in St. Louis on a neutral floor every year.

Listing of The Valley members:

Bradley-Peoria IL
Drake-Des Moines IA
Evansville-Evansville IN
Illinois State-Normal IL
Indiana State-Terre Haute IN
Loyola-Chicago IL
Missouri State-Springfield MO
Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls IA
Southern Illinois-Carbondale IL
Wichita State-Wichita KS

Travel does not look that much different than the Great Midwest days.

Those schools usually have great attendance for basketball.

Considering the turmoil we're in... I just don't see it happening.

(01-25-2015 09:35 AM)Island Blazer Wrote:  Listing of The Valley members:

Bradley-Peoria IL
Drake-Des Moines IA
Evansville-Evansville IN
Illinois State-Normal IL
Indiana State-Terre Haute IN
Loyola-Chicago IL
Missouri State-Springfield MO
Northern Iowa-Cedar Falls IA
Southern Illinois-Carbondale IL
Wichita State-Wichita KS

Travel does not look that much different than the Great Midwest days.

would make for 2 very easy games for me to watch

Possible. Also note that the Missouri Valley's football conference is NOT the same conference as its' basketball conference. They have the same name, but they aren't the same conference. They have 10 members.

So there are two conferences, one is the Missouri Valley Conference which sponsors just about everything but football, and then there's the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is a stand alone FCS conference.

(01-25-2015 10:31 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Possible. Also note that the Missouri Valley's football conference is NOT the same conference as its' basketball conference. They have the same name, but they aren't the same conference. They have 10 members.

So there are two conferences, one is the Missouri Valley Conference which sponsors just about everything but football, and then there's the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is a stand alone FCS conference.

That suggests that joining for other sports might, after some time, allow for a ready place to play when football might be reactivated. BTW, How many of those schools play hockey at some level?

Can we concentrate on football, bowling, and rifle before we add hockey. If the MVFC has 10 teams already why would they want to add an 11th team?

(01-25-2015 10:43 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:31 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Possible. Also note that the Missouri Valley's football conference is NOT the same conference as its' basketball conference. They have the same name, but they aren't the same conference. They have 10 members.

So there are two conferences, one is the Missouri Valley Conference which sponsors just about everything but football, and then there's the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is a stand alone FCS conference.

That suggests that joining for other sports might, after some time, allow for a ready place to play when football might be reactivated. BTW, How many of those schools play hockey at some level?

Zero teams playing in the Missouri Valley Conference sponsor men's ice hockey at any level.

Actually, if UAB has to leave CUSA over its disbandment of football, and they'd like to bring FBS football back at some point, there is one obvious choice for conference affiliation......the Sun Belt.

The Sun Belt provides something that no other conference does...the ability to play sports in a FBS sponsoring conference without playing football.

(01-25-2015 10:58 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:43 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:31 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Possible. Also note that the Missouri Valley's football conference is NOT the same conference as its' basketball conference. They have the same name, but they aren't the same conference. They have 10 members.

So there are two conferences, one is the Missouri Valley Conference which sponsors just about everything but football, and then there's the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is a stand alone FCS conference.

That suggests that joining for other sports might, after some time, allow for a ready place to play when football might be reactivated. BTW, How many of those schools play hockey at some level?

Zero teams playing in the Missouri Valley Conference sponsor men's ice hockey at any level.

Actually, if UAB has to leave CUSA over its disbandment of football, and they'd like to bring FBS football back at some point, there is one obvious choice for conference affiliation......the Sun Belt.

The Sun Belt provides something that no other conference does...the ability to play sports in a FBS sponsoring conference without playing football.

The best case scenario if we have to leave C-USA is we go to the Sunbelt and in the next round of realignment we wind back in C-USA with a new and helpful president and BOT. Hopefully we can pull a TCU and bounce around and up if it all comes down to leaving C-USA.

(01-25-2015 10:50 PM)rook360 Wrote:  Can we concentrate on football, bowling, and rifle before we add hockey. If the MVFC has 10 teams already why would they want to add an 11th team?

As TOM told us, there are two separate leagues but with - I suppose - some common members.

I think we need to keep all possibilities "on the table" until we are forced to do something else. UAB is possibly about to go through a very hard "divorce" and must decide who will get "the children".

If UAB had total control of its situation, we could be very doctrinaire. As it is, we must wait for someone else (like with a judge) to tell us what our choices will be. First C-USA will tell us their decision, then UAB will have to decide where it will attempt to go from there.

(01-25-2015 11:06 PM)rook360 Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:58 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:43 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:31 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Possible. Also note that the Missouri Valley's football conference is NOT the same conference as its' basketball conference. They have the same name, but they aren't the same conference. They have 10 members.

So there are two conferences, one is the Missouri Valley Conference which sponsors just about everything but football, and then there's the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is a stand alone FCS conference.

That suggests that joining for other sports might, after some time, allow for a ready place to play when football might be reactivated. BTW, How many of those schools play hockey at some level?

Zero teams playing in the Missouri Valley Conference sponsor men's ice hockey at any level.

Actually, if UAB has to leave CUSA over its disbandment of football, and they'd like to bring FBS football back at some point, there is one obvious choice for conference affiliation......the Sun Belt.

The Sun Belt provides something that no other conference does...the ability to play sports in a FBS sponsoring conference without playing football.

The best case scenario if we have to leave C-USA is we go to the Sunbelt and in the next round of realignment we wind back in C-USA with a new and helpful president and BOT. Hopefully we can pull a TCU and bounce around and up if it all comes down to leaving C-USA.

If you guys have to leave CUSA, the last conference the "kill UAB FBS football forever" crowd wants UAB to join is the Sun Belt. Because in any other conference, UAB would have to figure out how to gain admission to a FBS conference. There's no guarantee that even the Sun Belt would have a spot for a non-member UAB in 5 years. Everyone could be full. Remember that the NCAA basically penalizes conferences for having more than 12 teams. There's no guarantee that CUSA would want you guys back or have a space for you guys.

Only in the Sun Belt, can you have an easy path back to FBS. Remember that the full members have much more pull on decisions than the football only members. That means that UALR and UTA have much more power in the Belt than Idaho or NMSU.