Dump the Divisions

Scrap the divisions.

I’ve not been a fan of the divisional format since scheduling does not follow a true divisional format where everyone plays home/home within the division and then single round-robin outside. The quirks that come with an odd number of teams get magnified when it is layered on top of a divisional format

Last season Arkansas State and Louisiana Monroe tied for third best record in the conference but by winning the tie-breaker Arkansas State earned the #2 seed in the tournament over Western Kentucky who had finished a game ahead in overall standings.

This year the same scenario is brewing.

UALR holds a one game lead in the west which would be good enough for the #2 seed unless the Trojans can make up the three game lead USA holds over them for the #1 seed. Western Kentucky trails USA by a game. If the season ended today, Western would be the #3 seed despite being two games ahead of UALR in the overall standings.

While the difference between being a two seed and three seed is nominal since the two seed plays the 7/10 winner and the three seed plays the 6/11 winner with the two then meeting each other the advantage given to a divisional winner could actually be greater. Middle Tennessee is third in the East and trails UALR by a game. The two meet once at MT and if the Blue Raiders win that game and UALR wins the West, the potential exists for MT to finish ahead of UALR or tied with the Trojans overall holding the tiebreaker, yet UALR would get the #2 seed and bye while Western potentially would be the #3 and MT #4 missing the bye and thrown into the same bracket with the #1 seed. Western as the #3 seed instead of facing the league’s #2 team in their second game would face the #4 team.

Ideally the conference tournament should give top teams the best chance to advance deeper in the tournament to improve their NCAA and NIT at-large credentials. The conference has both dollars and credibility to gain by advancing as many teams as possible to post-season with the best seeds possible.

Beyond the potential quirky results that the divisional format produces for seeding the conference tournament it also has a negative impact on accountability and performance standards.

Which is more likely to raise the ire of fans and sounds worse, being fourth in the division or being 10^th? That’s where FIU is right now. UNO is currently 4^th in the West with three teams ahead and three teams behind, but overall UNO is 7^th.

The divisional format is being dumped by several conferences. There are 11 conferences in Division I that have 12 or more members, seven have eliminated divisions. The ACC, Big XII, and CUSA all use a divisional format in football have eliminated or never adopted divisions in basketball.

The Sun Belt should consider joining them in that decision.