A Call For Creativity in the Hopeful Multi-Bid Conferences

To: The offices of the American Athletic Conference, Atlantic Ten Conference, Big West Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pac-12 Conference and West Coast Conference

Dear Respective Conference Commissioner,

The narrative that all conferences must become more creative with scheduling has once again made itself clear with every bracketologist's prediction to grace our device screens. Of course, I am acutely aware that the major football conferences and the Big East provide minimal support in boosting the traditional non-conferences schedules of any program that they perceive as a threat to embarrass them. They certainly have no reason to care about your plight and when every team in the SEC spends January, February and March exclusively facing top one hundreds opponents, then they have no need to pick up a challenging game against a team like UAB or North Texas in November.

Those schools are more than happy to go about making their schedules in the simplest possible fashion. And why not, since they seemingly grow in strength as a collective with each passing year. Since the power leagues operate hand-in-hand like an impeccably governed cartel, there is no fear that anyone would feel the itch to get creative and run amok. Certainly they must be thrilled that everyone continues to try and play the exact same game, despite knowingly possessing a worse hand. They are the dealer, a face card is showing and they are laughing inside as everyone keeps deciding to stand while holding fifteen.

You can't beat them at their own game. Sorry to remind you that outperformance of a power conference is simply no longer possible. So it's time to change the strategy. Be louder or sneakier. Be more brash or more cunning. Be far more reckless or far more clever. It doesn't matter, just be noticeably different.

College basketball provides an opportunity available to absolutely no other high level sport on planet Earth. That's the chance to dynamically schedule within a season, and to have the benefit of collecting as much data as possible before setting up big games for the best teams.

Per Bracket Matrix, San Diego State currently sits as one of the last four at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament. Drake, UC San Deigo, VCU, George Mason and UC Irvine sit just below them. San Francisco, Boise State, Dayton, North Texas and Santa Clara would all have still had a chance, if they had more remaining opportunities for quality wins than they all do. All of these teams, along with current projected nine seeds Gonzaga, Utah State and New Mexico would be thrilled with an extra chance or two at a resume boosting win.

The conferences listed at the top of this letter currently combine for sixteen teams in the top seventy-five of the NET rankings. The single bid conferences have another three on that list. That's nineteen teams who offer a quadrant one game on their home court, and a quadrant two game if they come to yours. The old BracketBusters event existed to bring these games to life in the middle of February, but eventually died because none of the multi-bid leagues embrace the idea. In 2026, it is crucial that it come back.

I understand that said event would be a logistical nightmare, but it's certainly feasible. The MAC and Sun Belt left an open spot on every team's calendar last weekend for the final round of the challenge between those two conferences, pitting the best against the best in matchups announced a mere three weeks before. The event went off without a hitch. And while this would be significantly larger, the upside would be immeasurably greater.

Take VCU as an example. The Rams have an exemplary resume in almost all facets, thanks to their NET and predictive rankings all being in the top forty, an above .500 record against quadrants one and two, a whopping five road wins and just one bad loss (Seton Hall), which happened to come so early in the season that no one had even journeyed to the airport for their Thanksgiving travels. Yet, the consensus is that VCU sits right outside the current at-large cut line due to the lack of signature wins and a 1-1 record in quadrant one games with no more left to play. No team has gotten an at-large with zero quadrant one victories, and VCU's only one (at Dayton) meets the threshold by just three spots.

VCU is lumped in with UNC, SMU and Wake Forest on most brackets, and as someone who has extensively covered the A-10 and ACC, I can say with certainty that VCU is the best of the four. They have just been victims of a lack of opportunity to prove it. That need for a quadrant one win hangs over their heads like a Wil-E-Coyote anvil trap. If Dayton finishes seventy-fifth in NET then the Rams have a decent shot. If they finish seventy-sixth, then their rivals are likely screwed.

Wouldn't it be great to give them another shot at boosting the resume? If all of the non-power conferences agree to set aside a week in mid-February to play one home and one away game then they would get it. I mocked up a hypothetical for what it would look like this season. Every game listed is quadrant one for the away team and quadrant two for the home team*.
*In a redo, I would send Nevada to Dayton instead of Bradley to satisfy this requirement.

Said timeline also creates the opportunity to tether this event to a memorable day. The NFL has Thanksgiving, NBA has Christmas and the MLB has the summer holidays. It's time for college basketball to make its mark on President's Day. Play a bunch of games the Friday before, and then spread out the signature matchups on holiday Monday. All day on ESPN, Drake at George Mason (noon), McNeese State at North Texas (2:00), St. Mary's at Utah State (4:00), VCU at Memphis (6:00), Gonzaga at New Mexico (8:00) and San Diego State at UC San Diego (10:00). This year's schedule for the day is putrid, with just two quality games, neither of which starts until 10:00 eastern.

***If you really want to own the discussion that day, then get wacky and bring back twenty-four hours of hoops and play the overnight games in places with awesome fanbases. Akron at St. Bonaventure at 5:00 am with free Tim Horton's for all fans, I'd drive through the tundra to attend that!

Given the relative size of each conference, this next message is mostly for the A-10, but everyone should be taking notes. Stop assigning home and home conference opponents based on pre-season rankings, those never hold up. You shouldn't be looking towards the professional leagues in New York or the big conferences in Rosemont for schedule ideas, you should be looking to our friends across in Edinburgh, where the Scottish Premiership has already come up with the perfect idea. If you're not sold, just remember that they work the shadow of the world's greatest inner-city castle, while the Big Ten operates in a town basically known for being home to America's most poorly located casino and an outlet mall.

In the highest level of Scottish football, all teams play each other three times. Then the standings split in half, one through six play each other again and seven through twelve play each other again. At this point, there can only be standings changes within the confines of those groups. The A-10 should do the same for their final four (or at least final two) games of conference play to, once again, provide the best opportunities for bubble teams. Which brings us back to VCU, who will soon provide a quadrant one game for George Mason when they meet in Richmond. But VCU misses out on a quadrant one chance by not playing in Fairfax as well.

This is the perfect time of year to try and build support for these types of ideas. Like clockwork, the knowledgable segment of the college basketball universe has already begun to lament the mid-major teams who will miss out on the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Those who really dive into the sport would much rather see Drake or UC San Diego make the field than a team that goes 6-12 in the SEC, or a train wreck like Indiana. That same support will be there to provide tv ratings on President's Day, if decision makers are bold enough to provide the games.

So be creative, be clever, be cunning. Because playing the same game as the Big Ten or Big East will just lead to them and their cronies getting exactly what they want (taking the maximus number of at-large bids). That proof has been undeniable for a while now.

Sincerely,
An Unelected Representative For Those Who Care About ALL Of College Basketball