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NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Kentucky, Memphis and Fresno State headline Sunday Mailbag

By Bryan Mauro

Fresno State Orlando Robinson and Colorado State's Dischon Thomas reach for the lose ball during a game at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.Ftc 0211 Ja Csu Fresno Mens Bball 011
Fresno State Orlando Robinson and Colorado State's Dischon Thomas reach for the lose ball during a game at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.Ftc 0211 Ja Csu Fresno Mens Bball 011 /
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NCAA Basketball Michael Diggins Illinois-Chicago Flames (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Michael Diggins Illinois-Chicago Flames (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

What are your thoughts on conferences banning teams from postseason play after leaving their league – Tristan Freeman (@hoopsnut351)

This is a hot topic and it should be. To fill those in who don’t know there are three teams who are being banned by their current conference tournaments due to them switching conferences. The teams are Illinois-Chicago who is leaving the Horizon League for the Missouri Valley. James Madison is leaving the Colonial for the Sun Belt, and Stony Brook who is leaving the America East for the Colonial.

These new conference moves are all effective at the start of July 2022 and were just announced within the last few weeks. The ban on the conference tournaments ends any chance these teams would have had at the NCAA tournament.

Let’s start with the Illinois-Chicago Flames situation. This one gets a little sticky as the Horizon league has clear bylaws that state each team needs at least a one-year notice to the conference. If the teams failed to provide the one-year notice they would be subject to a $500,000 fee and would lose their ability to compete in the conference tournaments. The Flames knew the bylaws and their school, like every other school in the Horizon, agreed to them.

It is a terrible rule that is punishing the wrong people. The Horizon League aside, as they were just honoring the rules set aside by the conference, it makes the leagues look extremely petty. It also doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. Each one of these teams is still a member of their respective conferences and each of them had a chance to make the NCAA tournament.

Wouldn’t the league want that revenue for their conference, and the conference exposure? The pettiness of the conference commissioners is putting the athletes, who have zero power in making the decision, in jeopardy.

I understand that these are the rules they are following in most instances, but the rules are archaic and punish the wrong individuals. That is just my two cents and I’m sure that the topic will be further debated as the months go on.

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