Post by Whup Em All on Jan 28, 2021 12:55:36 GMT -6
Here are the schools who'll be playing in the ASUN next season and their current conference records, as of Jan 28:
EKU - 7-1 OVC (8 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2014)
JSU - 6-3 OVC (1985 D-II champs; 2017 D-I NCAA Tourney; 2018 CBI Tourney semifinalists)
UCA - 2-5 Southland (made the NAIA finals twice; 2018 CBI Tourney quarterfinalists, losing to JSU; moved to D-I in 2006)
UNA - 5-1 ASUN (1979 & 1991 D-II champs; showing improvement since moving to D-I in 2018)
Lipscomb - 5-3 ASUN (1991 NAIA champs; 2018 D-I NCAA Tourney; 2 NIT appearances, including an appearance in the finals in 2019)
Liberty - 4-2 ASUN (4 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2019, when they advanced to Round 2)
UNF - 4-2 ASUN (2015 D-I NCAA Tourney First Four; 2016 NIT; moved to D-I in 2009)
Bellarmine - 4-2 ASUN (2011 D-II champs; began transitioning to D-I in 2020)
Jacksonville - 3-3 ASUN (5 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 1986; 1970 NCAA Tourney Finalists; six NIT and two CIT appearances, last one in 2017)
Stetson - 2-4 ASUN (no D-I postseason appearances)
FGCU - 1-3 ASUN (3 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2017; 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen; one CIT and two NIT appearances; moved to D-I in 2007)
KSU - 0-8 ASUN (woefully bad in D-I, but D-II champs in 2004)
That's 12 total schools, which leaves a lot of wiggle room for scheduling. Some have advocated a two-division plan, but I just don't see a good way to split it that doesn't screw over one or more of the teams in the middle of the footprint.
For example, a north-south split would inevitably break UNA, JSU, and KSU into separate divisions, which means one group would only have to travel 3-5 hours to their opponents in Tennessee and Kentucky, while the other would be stuck playing Florida teams 500-600 miles away. An east-west split doesn't really help matters.
I don't like that at all.
A round-robin conference schedule with no divisions would be an improvement. Just play every team home and away (22 games total) and flesh out the rest of the schedule with OOC games. You'd just have to make those OOC games count, since you'd only get 5-10 per season, depending on how many games you wanted to play. That's a lot of games, though, if you want to play in tournaments, etc., against higher end opponents while still leaving room for some OOC home games.
Probably my favorite idea is to break the conference into three 4-team divisions.
The Florida teams would be one division. Then you'd break the others up however everyone prefers. Honestly, I like a South-Central-North split:
SOUTH
JU
UNF
Stetson
FGCU
CENTRAL
JSU
UNA
KSU
UCA
NORTH
EKU
Liberty
Bellarmine
Lipscomb
This plan would have three huge advantages:
1) It makes sense geographically. Even though they make up a third of the conference, the Florida teams are geographical outliers. Keeping them together reduces the strain on everyone. Likewise, the three division plan reduces the number of trips required between UCA and Liberty.
2) It keeps rivals and potential rivals together, fostering fan excitement and increasing ticket sales.
3) If you play your three divisional foes twice each (home and away) and play one game each against the remaining teams, you'd wind up with a 14-game conference slate. This would provide a LOT more room for OOC games, which is key to raising the ASUN's profile. To loosely paraphrase Ric Flair, to be ranked with the best, you have to play the best. Also, since even a 10-game OOC slate would only be a 24-game schedule, it would give your top teams plenty of rest for postseason play. (Oh, and somethingsomething academics. Less strain on the student athletes. Yadda yadda.)
Your thoughts?
EKU - 7-1 OVC (8 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2014)
JSU - 6-3 OVC (1985 D-II champs; 2017 D-I NCAA Tourney; 2018 CBI Tourney semifinalists)
UCA - 2-5 Southland (made the NAIA finals twice; 2018 CBI Tourney quarterfinalists, losing to JSU; moved to D-I in 2006)
UNA - 5-1 ASUN (1979 & 1991 D-II champs; showing improvement since moving to D-I in 2018)
Lipscomb - 5-3 ASUN (1991 NAIA champs; 2018 D-I NCAA Tourney; 2 NIT appearances, including an appearance in the finals in 2019)
Liberty - 4-2 ASUN (4 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2019, when they advanced to Round 2)
UNF - 4-2 ASUN (2015 D-I NCAA Tourney First Four; 2016 NIT; moved to D-I in 2009)
Bellarmine - 4-2 ASUN (2011 D-II champs; began transitioning to D-I in 2020)
Jacksonville - 3-3 ASUN (5 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 1986; 1970 NCAA Tourney Finalists; six NIT and two CIT appearances, last one in 2017)
Stetson - 2-4 ASUN (no D-I postseason appearances)
FGCU - 1-3 ASUN (3 D-I NCAA Tourney appearances, last one in 2017; 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen; one CIT and two NIT appearances; moved to D-I in 2007)
KSU - 0-8 ASUN (woefully bad in D-I, but D-II champs in 2004)
That's 12 total schools, which leaves a lot of wiggle room for scheduling. Some have advocated a two-division plan, but I just don't see a good way to split it that doesn't screw over one or more of the teams in the middle of the footprint.
For example, a north-south split would inevitably break UNA, JSU, and KSU into separate divisions, which means one group would only have to travel 3-5 hours to their opponents in Tennessee and Kentucky, while the other would be stuck playing Florida teams 500-600 miles away. An east-west split doesn't really help matters.
I don't like that at all.
A round-robin conference schedule with no divisions would be an improvement. Just play every team home and away (22 games total) and flesh out the rest of the schedule with OOC games. You'd just have to make those OOC games count, since you'd only get 5-10 per season, depending on how many games you wanted to play. That's a lot of games, though, if you want to play in tournaments, etc., against higher end opponents while still leaving room for some OOC home games.
Probably my favorite idea is to break the conference into three 4-team divisions.
The Florida teams would be one division. Then you'd break the others up however everyone prefers. Honestly, I like a South-Central-North split:
SOUTH
JU
UNF
Stetson
FGCU
CENTRAL
JSU
UNA
KSU
UCA
NORTH
EKU
Liberty
Bellarmine
Lipscomb
This plan would have three huge advantages:
1) It makes sense geographically. Even though they make up a third of the conference, the Florida teams are geographical outliers. Keeping them together reduces the strain on everyone. Likewise, the three division plan reduces the number of trips required between UCA and Liberty.
2) It keeps rivals and potential rivals together, fostering fan excitement and increasing ticket sales.
3) If you play your three divisional foes twice each (home and away) and play one game each against the remaining teams, you'd wind up with a 14-game conference slate. This would provide a LOT more room for OOC games, which is key to raising the ASUN's profile. To loosely paraphrase Ric Flair, to be ranked with the best, you have to play the best. Also, since even a 10-game OOC slate would only be a 24-game schedule, it would give your top teams plenty of rest for postseason play. (Oh, and somethingsomething academics. Less strain on the student athletes. Yadda yadda.)
Your thoughts?