The problem is we sell out for the money games. Money games hurt conference perception, conference & team RPI, and probably the individual team's psychology.
If we want to compete with the Murray State's, Butler's and Northern Iowa's, we need to limit ourselves to 3 or less money games per school. We need to start scheduling some of the other mid-majors, which will hurt at first, but in the end will build both the conference and the individual programs. When we start beating other mid-majors consistently and knocking-off a BCS-conference school every now and again, we will build respect. The only problem is it takes time... and that's the bitter pill nobody wants to swallow. It will take 5-10 years, but it can happen. Individual schools and teams must commit to the long haul and not just wait for a quick fix.
Look at the Missouri Valley a mid-major conference that had 4 selections in 2007 and now has Northern Iowa in the Sweet 16.
See at UNI's Out of Conference Schedule:
November 13 at Denver W 71-65 1-0
November 20 vs. DePaul* L 60-52 1-1
November 21 East Carolina W 74-68 2-1
November 23 vs. Boston College* W 81-69 3-1
November 28 Northern Illinois W 52-45 4-1
December 2 at Iowa State W 63-60 5-1
December 8 Iowa W 67-50 6-1
December 12 Siena W 82-65 7-1
December 19 at North Dakota W 64-41 8-1
December 23 Wyoming W 72-54 9-1
February 19 Old Dominion W 71-62 24-3
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/schedule?teamId=2460
They only played 4 BCS Conference Schools, but all of them are lower tier in their conference, and they were not all money games they played Iowa at home. We need to play the SEC and ACC and Big-12, but look for games we might possibly win.
Also they played other up-and-coming mid majors: Sienna and Old Dominion are both tournament teams, which made them somewhat battle tested by facing other potential double-digit seeds. And they also weren't afraid of scheduling non-conference games during the season. That ODU game, gave them a real good indication of where they stood outside the conference.
Finally, the other 5 games were all against regular, run-of-the-mill D-I teams. They had confidence because they were facing consistent talent week-in and week-out. Ain't no D-II games bunched in there nowhere. We mess our kids up by having them whoop some D-II, puffing their head up and then getting knocked down in these guarantee games. And if they like A&M and lose to D-II schools, then they pretty much can throw the towel in on the whole season.
For SWAC schools to improve they need to do the following:
1) Schedule only 1 or 2 Guarantee games
2) Schedule lower tier schools from BCS conferences as home and home or be creative with a 1-home/2-away arrangement
3) Schedule no more than 1 D-II exhibition game
4) Schedule other mid-majors and finally
5) Make the most of opportunities by going home with a "W" in some of these winnable games
:lecture: One more thing... when we start beating other mid-majors it will also help solve another problem... ATTENDANCE!!! I don't care what conference records are or how many money games you accept. A 7-3 team will garner more fan support than a 0-10 team everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
