ESPN: Muskies looking for consistency

[D-West & PO-Z]

I thought the whole deal was that the A10, especially this year, is not "Mid Major".

And regardless, numbers are numbers. We lost on the road to decent team with a bad record as did North Carolina. (In fact, while Maryland's record is better, they have a couple more bad losses than Temple.)

We came back and won on the road. We will probably drop another game or two or three on the road in conference. What does this lady expect?

First, the A-10 as a conference is as "mid-major" as they come. Seriously, there's just no denying that. 10 games early in one season doesn't change that fact.

How is there no denying that. I would deny that, as would many people in the college basketball world, ie. Lunardi, Bilas, Katz, and others. What is your definition, that makes the A10 so undeniably mid major?

[D-West & PO-Z]

The A10 went on a tough stretch the last 2-3 years, but that does not erase previous history and all of a sudden make it mid-major.

[vee4xu]

She's obviously Linda Bruno in disguise. The combination of her getting the gate and Dawn being sent packing my X isn't sitting well with her.

[LA Muskie]

How is there no denying that. I would deny that, as would many people in the college basketball world, ie. Lunardi, Bilas, Katz, and others. What is your definition, that makes the A10 so undeniably mid major?

I shouldn't have said that. I hate the characterization and should not have used it. My point, I guess, is that as a 1-2 bid league for the last few years, the A-10 isn't remotely a premiere conference. In my book at least, we are a great program saddled with a relatively mundane conference. It's not as stark as the West Coast Conference, but I still see a pretty significant divide between us and even the more prominent teams in the A-10 like Dayton, GW, St. Joe's and UMass.

[tacitus]

But you are still wrong: Xavier only sets itself apart in the last 20 years. If you include 10 years before that, then Temple is the best team currently in the A10. And others have had good teams. If you go back further, then X falls out of the running. This is a recent phenomenon, Xavier being a powerhouse. And we need to remember would it took to get here, so that we can stay here. A few stats:

20 win seasons since 1986-1987

Xavier 17
Temple 12
Rhode Island 7
UMass 8
St. Joseph’s 5
St. Bonaventure 1
Dukes 0
Dayton 7
Charlotte 8
Fordham 1
St. Louis 7
La Salle 5
Richmond 9
G. Wash 7

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All time top 50 winningest teams:

Temple #7
St. Josephs #32
Fordham #35
Dayton #47
Xavier not in top 50

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By Percentage
Temple #15
LaSalle #42
St. Josephs # 46
Xavier not in top 50

Xavier has a .573 win-loss percentage coming into this season
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Tournament Bids:
Temple 25
St. Joseph’s 18
Xavier 18
Dayton 13
La Salle 11
Charlotte 11
George Washington 10
U Mass 8
Rhode Island 8
Richmond 7
St. Louis 6
St. Bonaventure 5
Dukes 5
Fordham 4
------------------------------------
Been to the Final Four: Temple, St. Josephs, Dayton, Charlotte, La Salle, Umass, St. Bonaveture, Dukes

Been to the final game: Dayton and La Salle

La Salle won it all in 1954

[tacitus]

Moreover, we need to respect the fact that some of the teams have traditions as old and older than ours. Some are just now on the rise, and others are creeping back in the game. The A10 is not Mid Major, even if some teams might be... We are just fortunate to have continued our rise after joining the A10, while some teams had down years, and to still be on the rise in terms of national prominence and recruiting.

[tacitus]

Though we do need to rectify that national championship issue in the near future.

[LA Muskie]

But you are still wrong: Xavier only sets itself apart in the last 20 years. If you include 10 years before that, then Temple is the best team currently in the A10. And others have had good teams. If you go back further, then X falls out of the running. This is a recent phenomenon, Xavier being a powerhouse. And we need to remember would it took to get here, so that we can stay here.

Anything that happened more than 20 years ago is entirely irrelevant. The fact that St. Bonny and La Salle have at some point in their histories been to the Final 4 only proves that fact. That's ancient history and has no bearing on a program's stature in the 21st Century.

[tacitus]

Fine, the current bottom feeders are out, for now, expecially looking at their investment strategies. But the others?

[LA Muskie]

Fine, the current bottom feeders are out, for now, expecially looking at their investment strategies. But the others?

Since Xavier joined the A-10 the only program even remotely comparable to Xavier's performance, year-in and year-out, had been Temple under John Chaney. Since John left it hasn't been the same, and likely will not be.

Like the MVC (Creighton), CUSA (Memphis), West Coast Conference (Gonzaga), WAC (BYU), etc., the A-10 has one "premiere" team (us) and a pool of about 4-5 other schools who alternately will have very years and rarely will have a particularly bad year. But in the last 10 years, none of those programs have been able to sustain on a consistent basis the way we have.