Both sides finally agreed. It seemed as though it was inevitable.

At last, Marquette and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee were going to meet on the hardwood. The successful men’s basketball programs from each Division I university in Milwaukee had reached a consensus on a series that would begin next season at the Bradley Center.

However, as soon as it began, the sides collapsed, and the series is off, yet again.

In September, Marquette sent an offer for a 4-for-1 deal to UWM. Milwaukee agreed to play, with the first three games of the series being guaranteed games, and the final two being part of a 1-for-1, in which each school would host one.

The guaranteed games, which would be played from the 2007-’08 season through the 2009-’10 season, would have Marquette giving UWM an agreed upon amount of money.

“The only spot at which there was a disagreement was in finances,” said Bud Haidet, UWM director of Athletics.

This is the spot where the talks shut down. Marquette originally offered $50,000 a year, or $150,000 over the three years of the contract. When UWM initially refused, the Golden Eagles countered by increasing the amount of money to roughly $60,000 for each game, or $180,000 over the series.

Haidet viewed this as a form of disrespect.

“This program at UWM has grown over recent years, and there is a value on this program that should be more than sixty thousand a year,” he said.

When asked why $60,000 is a low number, Haidet said, “This program has been to the postseason for four years in a row. Our RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) has been high for the amount of money Marquette is offering.”

The RPI is a statistic that ranks the entire D-I in terms of victories, strength of schedule, and other key rankings. The NCAA Selection Committee uses the RPI to help make decisions in choosing and seeding teams in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, UWM ended with an RPI ranking of 47, behind Marquette at 40.

Marquette coach Tom Crean was unavailable for comment.

While Marquette will not play UWM, several other “high-major” schools, including Washington State, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Michigan and Wisconsin, will take on the Panthers this season.

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