Gonzaga says they are interested:

[MU_Iceman]

Yeah. And I don't think they have the national cache that people think they do. But the people making these decisions are smarter than me, so if they go ahead and do this, then I'm not going to be vehemently against it or anything...

Well, do you think STL and/or Dayton have a better cache than Gonzaga?? I'd much rather have the expense of going to Gonzaga every other year(for BB), then to be in a conference with SLU and/or Dayton. At least the Zags make the tourney every single year. That's what I want...consistent steady tournament teams. SLU and Dayton are NOT that.

[MUAlphaBangura]

Ultimately, we should want programs that are committed to excellence in basketball. I'll leave those that know better than I to choose which schools fit that category.

[Nukem2]

Well, do you think STL and/or Dayton have a better cache than Gonzaga?? I'd much rather have the expense of going to Gonzaga every other year(for BB), then to be in a conference with SLU and/or Dayton. At least the Zags make the tourney every single year. That's what I want...consistent steady tournament teams. SLU and Dayton are NOT that.

For one thing, not every one is going to make the tourney. So there has to be some disparity in teams...? Who are the bottom feeders going to be....? If a conference can be worked out that includes SLU and Dayton and makes fiscal sense, so be it. They are not Tulane...!

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

BYU is a school I would target if we do look westward. They can leave their football independent and they have good BBall. Not sure I want a national conference, but I wouldn't mind looking at Creighton, I just think Zaga is too much of a logistical nightmare.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

For one thing, not every one is going to make the tourney. So there has to be some disparity in teams...? Who are the bottom feeders going to be....? If a conference can be worked out that includes SLU and Dayton and makes fiscal sense, so be it. They are not Tulane...!

We always have DePaul to be our bottom feeder

[Mucrisco]

This would be my ideal group. Seven Catholics. Memphis, Temple, Butler, Xavier, Dayton(sorry Iceman. Use VCU or Richmond if you want.). I think UConn and Cincy are gone. If only one is gone, slash Dayton. Then take Zags, and three of Creighton, UNLV, San Diego St, BYU, St Mary's or New Mexico. Four, four team divisions. Play home and ho e with your division. Then single game vs rest.

Butler
Marquette
DePaul
Memphis

Xavier
Dayton
Temple
Nova

Providence
St John's
Seton Hall
Gtown

Zags
West Coast
West Coast
West Coast

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

This would be my ideal group. Seven Catholics. Memphis, Temple, Butler, Xavier, Dayton(sorry Iceman. Use VCU or Richmond if you want.). I think UConn and Cincy are gone. If only one is gone, slash Dayton. Then take Zags, and three of Creighton, UNLV, San Diego St, BYU, St Mary's or New Mexico. Four, four team divisions. Play home and ho e with your division. Then single game vs rest.

Butler
Marquette
DePaul
Memphis

Xavier
Dayton
Temple
Nova

Providence
St John's
Seton Hall
Gtown

Zags
West Coast
West Coast
West Coast

I love it Crisco but what would Memphis and Temple do with their fball teams? Move them into CUSA?

[BLT]

But the people making these decisions are smarter than me, so if they go ahead and do this, then I'm not going to be vehemently against it or anything...

Not so sure...your opinion and perspective on this is more thought out and insightful than most of these panic decisions by university presidents.

Agree on the Zags...while a trusted Jesuit partner in a conference...the geographic footprint is not there....would need more from the West. Denver, San Diego, St. Mary's, Santa Clara, USF, Pacific?

[Gato78]

I think the first criteria for conference membership going forward is the financial committment of the universities under consideration as well as their alumni. For instance, when viewed with this in mind, comparing the programs at Marquette and UWM, there are presumably the same number of "eyeballs" but nowhere near the same comittment of the university and the alums. This is why Dayton should be considered as well as a few others to the exclison of many of the other A-10 schools. They may not have the eyeballs but they are comitted to having a top notch program. I have always had this approach--even when MU was in the dumper with Dukiet. The MU fan base would always ensure MU's relevance and I think the same holds true today and should be one of the primary measures of schools with whom we want to associate. I have always hoped DePaul would figure this out but they never have and need to be slapped around to come to grips with their current lack of relevance. DePaul brings a lot of "eyeballs" but so what? No one cares.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

The best thing about this is that for once, the conference reshuffling talk is being driven by basketball and not football. For the past decade, it's been all about football, all about those schools making money grabs, all about the excitement and see changes being made by the B1G, SEC, and other football conferences. For once, finally, we have a modicum of control. The conversation is about us, and it's positive.

I think the key to this is getting a solid 10-12 team basketball base. I think the C7 coupled with Butler, Xavier, and VCU is the starting point. It gives us a solid voting bloc as long as we never go above 16 schools. From there, we can allow the current football playing schools in if they want. I think UConn, Cincy, Temple, and Memphis all get offers. At that point, we consider at most 2 other offers. St. Louis, Gonzaga, BYU, Dayton, Creighton, UMass, whomever fits what we want to do best. If at some point the football schools bail, so be it. We still have a solid basketball base and voting power. We can replace them with whomever we want from the top mid-major conferences.