Seadragon76

Both Duquense and Robert Morris are in Pittsburgh, which is a short trip from Erie. That will come into play in 2025 as the conference schedule is already set and I don't know if they can change things with Mercyhurst jumping in.

The move helps in a couple of ways. First off, it helps Chicago State out. They don't feel so isolated as the westernmost school in the NEC (weird, I know). It also helps St. Francis out by being not so isolated as well. Secondly, football gets an easier transition - a school gets 63 scholarships at the FCS level. That's an additional 27 scholarships the school has to pay for, which might not be feasible for them. By joining the NEC, the numbers are easier to swallow here - schools in the NEC only give out 45 scholarships. This means Mercyhurst only has to add 9 more scholarships to be at compliance.

So, with the A's moving to Sacramento for two years... what does that do to the River Cats?

Make that 14 runs... something tells me that Arizona might have some pent-up anger from losing the World Series last year. Thankfully, there is no better patsy to beat up on then the Rockies.

It does. A good majority of the road trips they took in the WAC were all westward bound. By joining the Southland, there's no more trips that go west. The farthest east they'll have to go to is New Orleans. The farthest north they'll have to go to is Commerce.

On the NAIA front... The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference is changing their name to the HBCU Athletic Conference - Here's the story. It makes perfect sense to me since all the conference members are HBCU's. This also includes the incoming members of Stillman, Voorhees and Wilberforce. School wise, Union College in Kentucky is changing their name to Union Commonwealth University - Here's the story for this one

In fact, here's the list of teams that would have gotten an automatic bid to the NIT this season had the NCAA not changed the rules... -South Florida (American) -Eastern Kentucky (ASUN) -Richmond (Atlantic 10) -Eastern Washington (Big Sky) -High Point (Big South) -UC Irvine (Big West) -Sam Houston State (Conference USA) -Princeton (Ivy League) -Quinnipiac (MAAC) -Norfolk State (MEAC) -Toledo (Mid-American) -Indiana State (Missouri Valley) -Central Connecticut State (Northeast) -Little Rock (Ohio Valley) -Appalachian State (Sun Belt) Nearly half the field could have been automatic bids this season... and there's the chance for more teams to enter this list by the time of the Selection Show on Sunday.

That's why I said it was a crazy thought experiment. If they wanted 64 teams, then go with the approach that the NAIA does: The regular season champion gets an automatic bid and the tournament champion gets an automatic bid. If the regular season champion and tournament champion are the same team, then the regular season runner up gets the second bid.

Crazy thought experiment time... In my perfect world, the NCAA Tournament would only have 32 teams in it, and all would be conference champions. In this example, this is how the tournament would work: South Region (8) Norfolk State (MEAC) vs. (1) Houston (Big XII) (5) High Point (Big South) vs. (4) Grand Canyon (WAC) (6) Oakland (Horizon League) vs. (3) Samford (Southern) (7) Eastern Kentucky (ASUN) vs. (2) Richmond (Atlantic 10) East Region (8) Merrimack (NEC) vs. (1) Purdue (Big Ten) (5) College of Charleston (CAA) vs. (4) Vermont (America East) (6) Quinnipiac (MAAC) vs. (3) Princeton (Ivy League) (7) Morehead State (Ohio Valley) vs. (2) Connecticut (Big East) North Region (8) Colgate (Patriot League) vs. (1) Tennessee (SEC) (5) Sam Houston State (Conference USA) vs. (4) St. Mary's (WCC) (6) Toledo (Mid-American) vs. (3) Indiana State (Missouri Valley) (7) McNeese State (Southland) vs. (2) North Carolina (ACC) West Region (8) Grambling (SWAC) vs. (1) Utah State (Mountain West) (5) Appalachian State (Sun Belt) vs. (4) UC Irvine (Big West) (6) Eastern Washington (Big Sky) vs. (3) South Florida (American) (7) South Dakota State (Summit) vs. (2) Arizona (Pac-12) TV wise, the four network system will still be in use. Now, each network gets their own region - meaning that they get seven games over a weekend to broadcast. CBS and TBS still has rotating Final Four duties. The NIT is also 32 teams, but it is only open to schools in Top 16 in terms of conference RPI. For this season, the following conferences are allowed to send two teams to the NIT: Big XII, SEC, Big Ten, Mountain West, ACC, Big East, Pac-12, Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, American, Ivy League, Southern, West Coast, WAC, America East and Big West. The remaining 16 conferences are then allowed to send teams to the CBI and CIT, with the second placed teams going to the CBI and third placed teams going to the CIT.

I didn't think it was possible for an actual team to score 200+ points in a basketball game. Granted, it's the All-Star Game and defense is literally taboo, but come on. Try a little bit here.

Bears. The houndstooth stripe is a great touch and a great nod to Paul 'Bear' Bryant.

Silverbacks is my vote. Love the tie in with the Columbus Zoo.

I'm going with Sting, only because the team would have the perfect mascot...

Snowbirds. It's such an original idea and concept.

Swarm