Greg's entitled to his opinion, but I do believe it is being shortsighted not
to give the new conference an automatic bid (and that's my opinion).
 
Doing so to the smaller conferences in basketball is what has made that
tournament an even more fascinating event than it was before (regardless of
your personal taste toward the sport itself).
 
Expanding to 16 teams is a necessity -- every coach wants it, and that's the
best way to achieve it.
 
Perhaps an auto bid should not be given right away.  Let the conference
establish itself for a couple years as a viable entity.  But after that, let
'er rip.
 
Think about it ... you give one bid to the new conference, and there's 3 new
ones for the other 4 conferences to divy up.
 
> First, this doesn't follow.  Getting an undeserved auto bid and losing 11-1
> every year won't help the new conference
 
It absolutely does.  Seeing Murray State play basketball on TV helps that
school to recruit.
 
> Second, once more into the breach: growth is not *necessarily* progress.
> We now return you to Baseball Tonight to watch my cat come out of the Mets'
> bullpen as their set up man because he's left-pawed...
 
I disagree with your premise, though I know the premise is the conventional
thinking.  But that's way off topic.
 
> (Don't laugh -- from the litter box evidence at least *he* remembers to
> "cover first"...)
 
I can't disagree there  :)
 
> >  Btw,  a bid for the new league would shortly draw scholarships into the
> > programs when the administrations of the member schools see the
> possibilities
> > for national exposure.   If that happens at only a few schools,  then it
> will
> > have a ratchet effect on the others who will have to do likewise to stay
> > competitive.
>
> One would think this logic would have occurred to the current
> non-scholarship schools?  Some schools have chosen not to have athletic
> scholarships, even though this puts them at a recruiting disadvantage.
 
Who?  Just about only the Ivy League schools, Union and Colgate.  And those two
schools will come around soon enough, or drop out of Division I.  Colgate is
already making advances in that direction.  St. Lawrence is coming on board
this year because they see themselves slipping, especially in comparison to its
neighbor Clarkson. The Ivies will never give them in any sport.
 
AW
 
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