(09-20-2019 05:14 PM)trephin Wrote: serious question Bogg, what is the attraction of a bridge school? just to fill in the visual on a map? for travel partners? I never understand the concept as it relates to the BE in light of modern transportation etc.
SBU doesn't really bridge midwest/east though.
Geography matters. You want potential new additions to expand the reach of your conference (for recruiting purposes as much as anything) but also be close enough to existing members to get some synergy in terms of rivalries. I think it
absolutely helps, say, Xavier that Butler is one state over and a reasonable drive. If you're just haphazardly all over the map you run into some of the problems the AAC's had with geography.
That being said, the Big East can get along just fine with the kind of two-pod system they're currently operating under, where the East Coast and Midwest groups each have enough geographic coherence that it more or less works for everyone. I don't think the Bonnies are the right team to act as a bridge between the two pods (if somehow the Big 12 blows up in a way that WV winds up a football-only in the PAC, then sure, but otherwise an east-west bridge school may not exist at all). Not a big enough following, not enough success to offset it, and not in a great recruiting location.
It's why I'd stick with the two-pod setup and, if you had to add school #12 out of the A10, go with Saint Louis. The arena's already in place, the support in the A10 is such that they should have an acceptable crowd for the Big East, and Saint Louis the city is a good recruiting area. Coupled with the fact that it's reasonably drivable from most of the Midwest schools, and that's probably got to be school number 12, in this scenario.