Basketball Super Conferences

[creed 1,641]

Just recently 7 Catholic schools banded together to set out on their own to start a basketball conference. Is the the beginning of the creation of basketball super conferences similar to the talk of football super conferences? If so, will this weeken basketball in those conferences (SEC) that are deemed football conferences. Something tells me that once this idea catches on, that there may be schools that could have football in one conference and basketball in another just so they can recruit, compete, and get into the tournament. I'm sure there is more come.

[stealthyfan 124]

You don't have to be catholic to have great BB!

Basketball is getting better in the SEC although other conferences are getting better too. Use Kentucky as the example of the consistency needed in each institution to build a perennial contender. The new additions to the SEC (as well as future additions) have improved the BB strength too.

As cash growth wanes in football, the only other established growth area is basketball. When the AD's figure that out, there will be marked improvement in support which will improve quality and consistency.

[AU64 10,122]

Don't think that basketball getting better in the SEC, especially at the football schools. Check the SI piece posted on another topic on this board.

If anything it seems to be getting worse. Despite the millions being spent on new arenas and high profile coaches, other than at Kentucky, it's difficult to attract top talent to football schools. As example, there are hundeds of pages of comments on boards about some football player who might (or might not) attend AU but check the basketball topics and there are a handful of topics and just a few comments on most topics. There just is not much interest anywhere outside of our Athletic Department for basketball.

HS basketball players that are recognized nationally for their talent and potential are second-class athletes at their own schools at most SEC universities. Most AU students and 98% of the alums wouldn't recognize our players on campus and probably can't even name more than a couple players from the starting line-up. I'm afraid that the SEC is the road to oblivion for coaches and top HS basketball players. It's no surprise to me that the best HS players end up at just a few major schools where BB is THE game and the best players at those schools achieve the same status as star QBs or RB do at AU or Bama or elsewhere in the SEC. On the other hand, the urban school and at the new "Catholic Seven" the basketball players are the BMOCs and those relatively small schools pack areanas for their basketball games.

Some SEC schools hit it lucky every now and then with a good group of players that gel and become a solid team. But, other than KY (and maybe UF) none have shown the ability to be top 10 or to 25 on a regular basis. I'm not negative about AU basketball as such, just at basketball in the SEC in general.

I think TB is a good coach but I would not be surprised if he reaches his coaching prominence somewhere other than AU.

[AUHEARDOC 0]

The thing you have to keep in mind about super conferences in basketball is the nature of the postseason. While it would make it more difficult to attract players to lesser conference teams, each year there are teams that seem to have no shot that make a run in the big dance. Since the field for the NCAA basketball tournament is so large, they will continue to take many teams each year that are not in the superconferences (including the automatic qualifying bids for winning a conference-even a small conference). So IMO even if teams are left to fight over spots in smaller conferences, there is a better chance to make a splash in the post season than there is in college football (BCS).

Just my opinion though.