Mid Majors Opting Out of Guarantee Games with Power Confernces

Five Two

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Lots to unpack here.
First, its not free. I think $70k is the minimum going rate for guarantee games.
How is this any different than if they play in a MTE or NIT or NCAA game?
I understand the intent, but why give up the payday when its easier now more than ever for kids to be noticed or have connections with coaches around the country?
 
I don't put much stock in this. Majors find high school kids, believe me, they'll know if someone can play in the CAA.

Take the payday instead of worrying an in-person opponent will steal players...in fact some programs HAVE to take those paydays.
 

GMU79

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I don't think KE will be shy about playing the high majors. And over the years, we've already beaten a number of them.
 

mkaufman1

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This seems silly. Theres plenty of ways to get evaluation if you are really interested in a mid-major player as the season goes on. Maybe just flip on one of their games?
 

JPgmuswim

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If that’s some teams logic good for them, that should free up more majors for us. Players want to play top teams, scheduling bigger “should” slightly help recruiting I’d think.
 

tblack33

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Yeah this is one of the more asinine things I've seen today. I'm fully expecting scheduling as usual, 95% of mid majors can't survive financially without buy games. Not surprised that Rothstein bit on this though.

No one is telling me that Dayton is turning down a buy game vs Pitt because they are worried about players getting poached. You also won't convince me that Radford wouldn't take a 100k pay day to go play down the road in Blacksburg in November.
 

Falco

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Lots to unpack here.
First, its not free. I think $70k is the minimum going rate for guarantee games.
How is this any different than if they play in a MTE or NIT or NCAA game?
I understand the intent, but why give up the payday when its easier now more than ever for kids to be noticed or have connections with coaches around the country?
I concur. I think this is a bunch of smoke to wake up the NCAA committee.
 

He15man

Starter
Sounds like a tactic paranoid, "fearful" coaches would use to try to keep their arms around what's theirs. A coach with confidence isn't going to immediately assume their players are going to want to leave them to begin with. To me, a coach that thinks that already knows their program sucks. English strikes me as the kind of guy who'll play anyone, anywhere... and if you beat us, good on you. But I know my players are confident in me and the direction we're heading.
 

FreeGunston12

All-American
I don't buy it.

1. If a player is going to leave, they are going to leave. Why do you care where they go? Is there any data to support the idea that players go to major schools they played previously in buy games? I doubt it. Don't remember playing South Carolina, South Florida, or Georgia recently.

2. Kim English has described the current state of the transfer portal as a two-way street. Every opportunity they have to look at one of ours, we have to look at one of theirs . . . Not that I think either is particularly more valuable live vs on tape.
 

GMUgemini

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There is a reason more mid-majors should shun buy games but this isn’t it.

By the way, this was Coach L’s philosophy post-2006 (Duke being the one exception). Schedule strong mid-majors home-and-home, forego the guarantee games and only play P5s in the MTEs. I’d say it worked pretty well 2007-2011.

Caveat: this is when Bracketbusters was still around and could bolster your schedule if you were highly ranked when they made the pairings.

But if you got the AAC and WCC (outside of Gonzaga, SDSU is also a hard sell from the MWC) on board, there is no reason why you’d have to schedule a P5 outside of an MTE or home-and-home.
 

He15man

Starter
In 10 words he basically summarized the initial point i was trying to make in response to Jon's tweet. He's so spot on. The cowards that aren't playing majors anymore are the same coaches that are paranoid and fearful of the easing restrictions on transfers. These guys know their programs blow, and/or know they're unable to connect to players today. It was easier when you had players by the balls and could limit their options, but now that players are given freedom to move, these old fogies don't know how else to play the role of dictator.

Hopefully Kim's response here go viral or catches the eyes of other media, because recruits should see this. Clearly a guy that isn't afraid of players' free will, and confident in what he has to offer his team. I LOVE it!
 
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