Conference Choice?

[finalfourorbust]

I've been going to X games since Steve Thomas was a freshman, and Schmidt Fieldhouse was the building that housed the armory. I was there when the football program crumbled in the face of replacing a condemned stadium, and Bill Daily was a visionary for dedicating Xavier's athletic expansion upon a basketball base. From that point forward for X, it's been about creating a brand ...so they helped found the MCC to guarantee an annual shot at the NCAA tourney. Then came a step up to the Atlantic 10. Building Cintas was all part of the grand plan to advance that brand. Now they are on the cusp of the next logical step, and going with any but the pro-forma makes no sense. If offered, take the leap. Improve the brand. Make X a perennial choice for 5 star recruits. Keep moving forward. "Xavier for Aye!"

Just putting them in a strong conference doesn't make them a perennial choice for 5 star recruits. There were several programs in the Big East that didn't attract 5 star recruits.

[xsteve1]

Ban me then.

I want to stay in the A10. Make the BE7 join the A10 or tell them to take a hike.

I want either a 16 team A10 or a 21 or 22 team A10. I don't trust Georgetown, Villanova, and Marquette not to bolt as soon as they get a better offer(like joining the ACC for basketball only).

The BE7 needs schools to join with them, a 7 or 8 team league won't work, unless you play the other teams in the league around 3 times/season, and I doubt anybody wants to play the same teams 3 times/season.

I want the A10 schools to maintain control of this situation by maintaining the majority.

The BE7 needs the A10, the A10 doesn't need the BE7.

Wow is all I can say to this.The new Big East will instantly become a better conference with or without Xavier and they will have suitors throwing themselves at them. The "A-10" is already a fringe "Major" conference and after the defections of a Butler, UD , St Louis etc it will be cast even further into the mid major abyss. Xavier's been building towards this oppty for the last 10-15 years and you want to play hard ball ? No freaking way we pass on this. It is full steam ahead for Xavier if they get the invite.

This in bold, nothing else needs to be said.

[JimmyTwoTimes37]

There is no way the Big East 7 schools would even consider joining the A10. It won't happen. On top of this, the Marquette AD even laughed at the notion that they were even considering this idea. It just won't happen.

Joining a conference with the Big East 7 is much beneficial from a revenue and recruiting standpoint. It's a no brainer

[bbaker06]

If we bolted the A-10 would we really be worried that GW, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Fordham, and St. Bonaventure would hold a grudge against us? Really? We've had as much recent success as Marquette and possibly even Georgetown. We just don't have the history of those programs, yet.

[xu39]

The attendance of the bottom 4 of the BE7 isn't huge. Those attendance numbers are about the same as the middle of the A10.

2011 average home attendance:

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketb ... ndance.pdf

Georgetown-12,675
Villanova-10,511
Marquette-15,586

DePaul-7,676
Providence-7,043
Seton Hall-7,937
St. John's-8,431



The bottom 4's recent NCAA/NIT appearances are about the same as the middle of the A10 too:

DePaul-NCAA in 2000 and 2004, a few/several recent NIT appearances

Providence-NCAA in 2001 and 2004, a few/several recent NIT appearances

Seton Hall-NCAA in 2000, 2004, and 2006, a few/several recent NIT appearances

St. John's-NCAA in 2000, 2002, and 2011, a few/several recent NIT appearances



And if you look at the rpi from last year, the BE7 were actually worse than the A10.

http://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2012/rpi

BE:

Marquette-9
Georgetown-14
Seton Hall-70

Villlanova-120
St. John's-155
Providence-156
DePaul-193


A10:

St. Louis-28
VCU-34
Xavier-38
UMass-62
St. Bonaventure-76
St. Joe's-77
Dayton-91
LaSalle-95

Butler-106
Duquesne-111
Richmond-131
Charlotte-170
GW-189

Fordham-242
Rhode Island-262



Don't be surprised if Georgetown, Villanova, or Marquette bolt somewhere else if they get the chance.

I'd be ok with a 12 team league. I really don't want to cede a big majority and a lot of control to the BE7. If you had a 12 team BE7 plus 5 non-BE7 schools, I could live with that.

But, I really want at least a 14 team 50/50 split, and I'd ultimately prefer a 16 team conference, the BE7 plus 9 non-BE7 schools.

[bbaker06]

Average RPI of the BE7 = 102

Average RPI of the A10 = 114.

I see what you're saying re: quality, but you arbitrarily removing the bottom of the A-10. That's the best argument to bolt. The bottom feeders absolutely drag everyone else down.

You're also missing another major point, the BE7 will bring in more television revenue than the A10.

[bleedXblue]

The attendance of the bottom 4 of the BE7 isn't huge. Those attendance numbers are about the same as the middle of the A10.

2011 average home attendance:

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketb ... ndance.pdf

Georgetown-12,675
Villanova-10,511
Marquette-15,586

DePaul-7,676
Providence-7,043
Seton Hall-7,937
St. John's-8,431



The bottom 4's recent NCAA/NIT appearances are about the same as the middle of the A10 too:

DePaul-NCAA in 2000 and 2004, a few/several recent NIT appearances

Providence-NCAA in 2001 and 2004, a few/several recent NIT appearances

Seton Hall-NCAA in 2000, 2004, and 2006, a few/several recent NIT appearances

St. John's-NCAA in 2000, 2002, and 2011, a few/several recent NIT appearances



And if you look at the rpi from last year, the BE7 were actually worse than the A10.

http://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2012/rpi

BE:

Marquette-9
Georgetown-14
Seton Hall-70

Villlanova-120
St. John's-155
Providence-156
DePaul-193


A10:

St. Louis-28
VCU-34
Xavier-38
UMass-62
St. Bonaventure-76
St. Joe's-77
Dayton-91
LaSalle-95

Butler-106
Duquesne-111
Richmond-131
Charlotte-170
GW-189

Fordham-242
Rhode Island-262



Don't be surprised if Georgetown, Villanova, or Marquette bolt somewhere else if they get the chance.

I'd be ok with a 12 team league. I really don't want to cede a big majority and a lot of control to the BE7. If you had a 12 team BE7 plus 5 non-BE7 schools, I could live with that.

But, I really want at least a 14 team 50/50 split, and I'd ultimately prefer a 16 team conference, the BE7 plus 9 non-BE7 schools.

Please explain where Gtown Marquette or Villa is going to go ? Dont tell us that one of the BIG conferences are going to invite a bball only school, b/c that aint going to happen

[markedman5]

Hi guys Marquette fan here

Just a few comments. Larry Williams comments were not meant to be a rip on the A-10. The reality is this. The CA7 just left a conference that was adding schools that diluted the basketball product. Joining the A-10 is just not in the cards. No way these schools jump into a 20 team conference when they can invite the cream of the basketball only schools to join them in this new venture.

We clearly expect Xavier and Butler to be 2 of the schools invited to join if they haven't been already.

After that it gets a little more uncertain but the conference will likely be 10-12 teams to start. I see little chance they go beyond that. Keeping it smaller gives them options as the landscape continues to change.

I look forward to restarting our long rivalry with X.

[pki1998]

I prefer a 14 team conference with two divisions, which would equate to a 19 game conference schedule. However it seems like the Catholic Seven are focused on a 10 (18 conference games) or 12 (16 conference game) set up.

My choices for a ten team league would be to add Xavier, Butler and St Louis. Xavier and Butler are obvious picks. But I think many are under selling St Louis. I believe St Louis is on the precipice of becoming a big time program. The administration has placed an emphasis on basketball in recent years with the opening of the $80 million Chaifetz Arena in 2008 and the hiring of Rick Majerus in 2007. But the reasons do not stop there.

For years Rick Majerus had expressed an interest in leaving the A10 for the MVC. The major concern was being a geographic outlier from the rest of the conference. I realize that geography means little in the Conference Realignment game, but I think in a basketball centric league geography matters somewhat. If the A-10 takes X, Butler, and Dayton. I would assume that St. Louis would come running to the MVC. This would make it more difficult to get St Louis or Creighton if there was a desire for future expansion. Even adding Creighton over St Louis, might cause St. Louis to head to the MVC and make it harder to get them to join in the future. Dayton on the other hand doesn’t have a choice, and Creighton would still be available when / if the league expands to 12 or 14.

[pki1998]

I look forward to restarting our long rivalry with X.

I agree with everything in your post, but nothing more than the last sentance! I missed playing Marquette in the old MCC days, and I want the change to get some revenge for the but kicking we took in the 2011 NCAAA tourney!