Ohio State and Dayton in NIT

[passthepuck?]

There has been some buzz on the Dayton board regarding should they support Xavier’s tourney run. I think they should because all A-10 teams benefit financially from the money that X makes in the tourney; i.e. more games more money. From a financial standpoint I doubt if X gets bus fare to Dayton from their great NIT run, so who cares.

[Mr. Neutral]

Most years, I'm pulling for A10 teams to go as far as possible in whatever postseason tourney they're in (NCAA, NIT, CBI). But I'm going with OSU over UD in this one. I'll deal with the UMass issue if and when that arises.

[muskieman]

I'd rather see dayton win. It would afford me the chance to bug my brothers that went to osu.

I hope to see a dayton-umass final. My second choice was a florida-osu with florida winning again. I got a lot of mileage out of the last two years wins by FL.

[MADXSTER]

A Dayton - Umass final would be best for everyone in the A-10.

Go A-10

[Il Saggio]

Is anyone watching? How much better would Dayton have been if Chris Wright hadn't been injured? A lot, I think.

[jaxalum]

I really enjoy watching UDump lose...real, tangible pleasure. Now that OSUs scrubs are in and UDump is going to keep the score respectable, hilljack nation will claim that, but for a few possesions,if Chris "saviour" Wright was 99.00% healthy vs. 98.99% healthy=an extra 10-12 pts/its an ABSOLUTE INEVITABILITY that there will be a post and/or thread holding the refs culpable for their inevitable downfall. ALWAYS excuses. ALWAYS.

For all of you in the camp of wishing goodwill and success to the "hill people" up north, here are a couple things to think about. The Dayton area is an extremely fertile recruitng ground. Xavier has snagged a few very important recruits from that area in the past. If UDump begins to make the jump from being the poster child of mediocrity, middle of the pack in an average conference, to being a player/a mover and shaker vying for A-10 championships, that recruiting ground will dry up completely. Does Xavier get to the Elite 8 without Sato (Dayton), or are we in the Sweet 16 this year (and beyond) without Dayton native D. Brown? In some ways we are feeling some effects already. Miller was recruitng Dayton native Juwan Staten very hard (a top 100 Rivals 2010 PG) who verballed to Gregory a few weeks ago. Adrien Payne is another recruit thats a Dayton native who's high on X's recruiting board.

If and when there's a conference realignment there may be precious few "slots" available. It's imperative that Xavier puts themselves in the best possible position to be picked when the time comes(they are making great strides doing this). If UDump becomes respectable, they could pose a threat to Xs inclusion into this new conference. Some always think that X and UD will be a "package deal" if this new alignment happens. Why would a new conference want two schools that are similar in many ways and only 50 minutes apart. When the Big East expanded there was never a thought to adding both UC and X.

UDump, especially the fans, are the Kevin Federlines of college basketball; they are hilljacks that carry themselves with an undeserved sense of accomplishment.

Understand, I have nothing against UDs players, coaches, athletic dept. personnel, etc. Its the fans/students who are the problem. They are obnoxious, delusional, ignorant, daft, lack the ability to competently debate different concepts/perspectives, are unable to put together cognizant ideas or comprehend the notion of compromise. It's either red and blue or "your dumb", "wait until next year", "the arena is the bestest arena ever","Chris Wright, Chris Wright, Chris Wright". Dear god, we, as X fans, are going to have to hear the Wright crap for another three years. I'd love to see D Brown dunk over him. How tall was the Indiana kid Brown jumped/dunked over?

[udflyerfan]

I really enjoy watching UDump lose...real, tangible pleasure. Now that OSUs scrubs are in and UDump is going to keep the score respectable, hilljack nation will claim that, but for a few possesions,if Chris "saviour" Wright was 99.00% healthy vs. 98.99% healthy=an extra 10-12 pts/its an ABSOLUTE INEVITABILITY that there will be a post and/or thread holding the refs culpable for their inevitable downfall. ALWAYS excuses. ALWAYS.

For all of you in the camp of wishing goodwill and success to the "hill people" up north, here are a couple things to think about. The Dayton area is an extremely fertile recruitng ground. Xavier has snagged a few very important recruits from that area in the past. If UDump begins to make the jump from being the poster child of mediocrity, middle of the pack in an average conference, to being a player/a mover and shaker vying for A-10 championships, that recruiting ground will dry up completely. Does Xavier get to the Elite 8 without Sato (Dayton), or are we in the Sweet 16 this year (and beyond) without Dayton native D. Brown? In some ways we are feeling some effects already. Miller was recruitng Dayton native Juwan Staten very hard (a top 100 Rivals 2010 PG) who verballed to Gregory a few weeks ago. Adrien Payne is another recruit thats a Dayton native who's high on X's recruiting board.

If and when there's a conference realignment there may be precious few "slots" available. It's imperative that Xavier puts themselves in the best possible position to be picked when the time comes(they are making great strides doing this). If UDump becomes respectable, they could pose a threat to Xs inclusion into this new conference. Some always think that X and UD will be a "package deal" if this new alignment happens. Why would a new conference want two schools that are similar in many ways and only 50 minutes apart. When the Big East expanded there was never a thought to adding both UC and X.

UDump, especially the fans, are the Kevin Federlines of college basketball; they are hilljacks that carry themselves with an undeserved sense of accomplishment.

Understand, I have nothing against UDs players, coaches, athletic dept. personnel, etc. Its the fans/students who are the problem. They are obnoxious, delusional, ignorant, daft, lack the ability to competently debate different concepts/perspectives, are unable to put together cognizant ideas or comprehend the notion of compromise. It's either red and blue or "your dumb", "wait until next year", "the arena is the bestest arena ever","Chris Wright, Chris Wright, Chris Wright". Dear god, we, as X fans, are going to have to hear the Wright crap for another three years. I'd love to see D Brown dunk over him. How tall was the Indiana kid Brown jumped/dunked over?

Chris Wright is not a "savior", but very talented and I think you'll agree if he remains healthy the next 3 years, you'll see why we agonized for 10 weeks waiting to get him back. Would CW have made the difference in at least 2 of the 3 games against X this year? You're kidding yourself if you don't think so. The results may have all been the same, but the game's would have definitely been tighter than they were. You're very right about the Dayton basketball "fertile" recruiting ground. Kid's that used to leave the Dayton area are now staying home (as evidenced by Juwan Staten staying here and verballing as a soph). If the Payne kid does the same, I'd say the tide has turned in UD's direction. No doubt that D Brown is athletic and I'm sure UD wanted him, but you cannot win every kid. I think you'll see equal dunks from both these kids over the next couple years. Good luck against WV and Huggins. Despite your "real, tangible pleasure" in seeing UD lose, I'm still rooting for X to win this whole damn tourney. Not because I love X, far from it, but it'll go a long way (even a final 4 appearence) to giving the A10 more respect next year (and yeah, i'm not stupid - it gives UD money as well).

Oh, and I'll add this one thing: back in the 80's before X was making any real noise; themselves just trying to pull out of mediocrity, UD was playing a home and home series with Depaul, Marquette and Notre Dame every year for several years in what was called then the "unholy alliance" among catholic independants. Xavier was not in the "thick of things" at that point. I think you underestimate UD's tradition and also fail to realize X has only very recently (last 20 years) become the power of mid-majors (yes, like it or not, both UD and X are still seen as mid-majors). Don't think for a minute you're pulling US up with you to some new conference alignment.