In terms of a mascot (working on it) and a conference (working on it) it's a question of fit. The American Southwest Conference is the best geographic fit because it's full of schools from our region, but I'd prefer to stick to my idea of going to a league that's never had a final four team.
So that leaves the SLIAC or the HCAC. The SLIAC
Code:
2047 St. Louis Intercollegiate Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Principia Panthers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 124 34
MacMurray Highlanders 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 126 14
Blackburn Beavers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 143 38
Webster Gorloks 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 166 22
Spalding Golden Eagles 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 169 24
Eureka Red Devils 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 229 10
Iowa Wesleyan Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 236 17
Westminster (MO) Blue Jays 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 271 17
Greenville Panthers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 369 18
Fontbonne Griffins 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 457 11
The NCAC
Code:
2047 North Coast Athletic Conference Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wittenberg Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 110 23
Wooster Fighting Scots 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 112 28
Wabash Little Giants 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 119 39
DePauw Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 146 17
Allegheny Gators 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 150 6
Denison Big Red 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 174 15
Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 183 23
Hiram Terriers 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 211 14
Oberlin Yeomen 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 241 22
Kenyon Lords 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 262 20
In terms of similar academic fit, NCAC is a much better conference for us, even though it's further away. The SLIAC doesn't quite work as well in that regard and most of the schools in that area are regionally located around St. Louis and so, it might be less of a good fit for that reason too, but for the purposes of world domination, it might be an easier mark. I see us having more rivals in the NCAC though, as those are schools that I see us competing with for students.
So I think we're going to go with the NCAC over the SLIAC, even though when I started this storyline I was pretty sure we'd be a SLIAC team. Then again, another possibility is going with the SLIAC to start off and then switching leagues down the road if we feel like that's a better idea. So let's just say that Savillmont wants to join the NCAC but wasn't voted in at the last minute and so, the SLIAC came clutch with a conference invite but for the first season they'll have to be an independent and then will join the SLIAC in the 2nd year of the program.