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TMM (The Mighty Midwest)
December 7, 2012 10:31 pm ET by Craig Caswell

You can tell a lot about a college sports fan by the perspective they hold on conference realignment. As with many bad situations, a person usually falls into one of three camps:

OPTIMISTIC

The conference realignment optimist thinks keeping track of the constant shuffling is a headache, but is excited about the development of new rivalries and potentially juicy matchups. This person will give you multiple reasons why Syracuse-Houston could be a compelling matchup. They are members of the realignment minority.

PESSIMISTIC

The conference realignment pessimist thinks the entire exercise is destroying college sports as we know it. This individual loathes everything about conference realignment and its craven motivations. Pessimists know that there is nothing redeeming about a Syracuse-Houston matchup, and pine for the days when Syracuse and Georgetown would play twice a year. They are members of the conference realignment majority. In extreme cases, the conference realignment pessimist is so disgusted with the affair that they are tempted to give up college sports in their entirety.

NEUTRAL

The neutral conference realignment observer doesn't particularly mind much, just so long as his or her team continues to play games. They tend to attend games in person more often than not, and are pleased when they can buy their reasonably priced season ticket and simply go see some basketball.

With these three camps in mind, it was my goal to please everyone in the creation of this hypothetical conference: The Mighty Midwest (or TMM for short). The members of TMM are as follows:

Akron

Bowling Green

Detroit

Duquesne

Indiana State

IUPUI

Kent State

Oakland

Robert Morris

Toledo

Combining members of the Atlantic 10, Horizon, MAC, MVC, NEC, and Summit, this lineup features equally matched opponents and natural rivals within a tight travel footprint with logical partners. Some old rivalries are carried over from the previous leagues, and some new contentions are set to form. Since most rivalries are fueled by geographical proximity, traveling partners are located close together. In fact, save IUPUI and Indiana State, no partners are located further than 26 miles from each other:

Akron - Kent State: 15 miles

Bowling Green - Toledo: 25 miles

Detroit - Oakland: 26 miles

Duquesne - Robert Morris: 18 miles

Indiana State - IUPUI: 77 miles

A profile of each team reveals a pattern of relative recent and historical equity:

AKRON

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #77

- Last 20 Win Season: 2012

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2011

A competitive MAC team that has been overshadowed by Ohio in recent years, Akron brings eight straight 19+ win seasons to the league to provide instant stability to the top.

BOWLING GREEN

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #136

- Last 20 Win Season: 2002

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1968

Bowling Green has had difficulty staying competitive since the MAC heyday of the late 90s-early 00s, but they're my soon-to-be alma mater, so they had to be included here. Plus their location and new facility (built in 2011) make good sense for this kind of league.

DETROIT

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #120

- Last 20 Win Season: 2012

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2012

The team that will look to fill the post-Butler Horizon League vacuum, University of Detroit brings in a major market and an immediately marketable star for TMM Network (of course!) in Ray McCallum Jr.

DUQUESNE

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #128

- Last 20 Win Season: 2009

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1977

Duquesne has enjoyed recent success in the Atlantic 10, and find themselves at a crossroads with new coach Jim Ferry. Once again, the Dukes rope in a major market in Pittsburgh, as well as the ability to host the conference tournament at the state-of-the-art CONSOL Energy Center across the street from campus. Glitzy!

INDIANA STATE

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #143

- Last 20 Win Season: 2011

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2011

The Sycamores bring a wealth of tradition (Larry Bird, anyone?) and yet another recent NCAA Tournament appearance to TMM. Plus, they feature one of the greatest nicknames in all of sports.

IUPUI

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #200

- Last 20 Win Season: 2010

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2003

Relatively new to D-I, the Jags have come a long way in a very short time thanks to former head coach Ron Hunter (currently at Georgia State). IUPUI brings yet another major market and recent league success to TMM.

KENT STATE

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #129

- Last 20 Win Season: 2012

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2008

Kent State is one of the more quietly consistent schools in Division I, putting together a streak of 19+ win seasons dating back to 1999. With archrival Akron, they bring a ferocious northeastern Ohio presence to TMM.

OAKLAND

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #151

- Last 20 Win Season: 2012

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2011

Like IUPUI, Oakland is a new(ish) addition to D-I that's made a huge impact in a short time. The Golden Grizzlies have scored some high-profile RLUs in recent years and create a compelling rivalry with Detroit that many southeastern Michigan sports fans have been clamoring for.

ROBERT MORRIS

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #123

- Last 20 Win Season: 2012

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2010

The Colonials have been in the upper echelon of the NEC for a number of years, and their run would look to continue in TMM, bringing in yet another team that has enjoyed recent success in their league and overall.

TOLEDO

- 2011-12 Pomeroy: #208

- Last 20 Win Season: 2006

- Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 1980

Toledo is the yin to Bowling Green's yang, and I couldn't rightfully include my school without their bitter archrival. Plus, the Rockets seem to be trending up under former UW-Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk and often find themselves scrappily contending late in games. Fun basketball benefits TMM (and obviously TMM Network!) significantly.

The unshakable common thread of geography ties The Mighty Midwest together, but everything else is a pleasant variety designed to appeal to many different tastes, as well as the three conference realignment schools of thought. Some other highlights include:

- Only ten teams to facilitate an 18-game, true round-robin schedule.

- A limited television footprint, but some significant major markets (Detroit, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh).

- Six teams with nine NCAA Tournament appearances in the past five years.

- The Pomeroy conference rating would be .5539, making it the 11th best conference overall in 2011-12, ranking it between Conference USA and the WCC.

Other benefits? Drawbacks? Let's hear some ideas below.