bubble teams for new conference; Duquesne?

[UDMadness]

Interesting to see who the last 3-4 teams in will be. I went to Dayton & would love to see them in the new conference. However the reality is that I think maybe we still belong in the A10...until the new league moves up to 16 teams. As much as I cringe to say it, XU belongs in the new league. They have carried the A10 for years & usually inflict damage in the NCAA; same w/ Butler. I think it would be a tragedy to leave Creighton out just because it is further west. Richmond & VCU is interesting: I figured they have a regional rivlary.....why break that up? I think they should be a package deal....but that is my love of basketball talking, not reason.
Dayton is having a tough year....but when Brian Gregory left....so did most of his signed recruits. Coach Miller has put together some tough kids who play their butts off & in 2 years, they will be back in the NCAAs. Meanwhile, if 3 or 4 A-10 teams leave, the new Catholic league will likely be forced to play the remaining A-10 teams for a few years. At least from Dayton's view, I don't think it'll be that bad if they are not picked right away. What Dayton has on their resume is excellent attendence (only G-Town & Creighton averaged more fans than UD last year); strong overall athletic program...not just basketball; great relationship w/ the NCAA (First Four Tournament); and usually a competitive hoops program. So, if not now, maybe down the road.
Why not Duquesne? The Pittsburgh market would be an ideal fit. I mean if Detroit Mercy is on the radar, why not the Dukes?? Sienna is a bit of a stretch.

[BillEsq]

Duquesne and Detroit would be great except for the fact that they aren't. throw their possibilities with what if Boston College gave up football. I think the thoughts nice they fit the profile at first glance the big catholic/private university of a upper midwest/east coast tier 1 city. However, Detroit is just now building their program to a top 100 rpi team and fighting for power in the post Butler Horizon and their facilities are a lil subpar. Duquesne is more intriguing as i'd think the C7 would love to get back into Pittsburg where people are long used to seeing them. That said their facilities are subpar and even admitting that this year is a disaster; they have not been relevant on the national scene in years 3 NCAA's since 1950, only a few NIT's since the 50's, and have more 20 loss seasons in the past 20 years than any of the other C7 + have 20 plus winning seasons. That said if the goal is to some point go to 14-16 and Duquesne rebounds and Detroit keeps up its progress they would be near shoe ins for the conference.

Odd note in the 40's Duquesne turned down not one but two NCAA bids for the NIT (the also played one year in both).

[BillEsq]

wow just looked at Duquesne's stats i figured they would have been more of a mid line school (never really good but never really bad) but i was wrong and combined with this season i have a whole new respect for Ron Everhart. I mean outside of his tenure there they barely had a pulse, Their past 30 years would make the biggest DePaul detractor blush. Since 1980 only 6 seasons at .500 or above. I mean that is tragic. Most of this board has been a pissing contest of my 10 year rpi is better than your 5 year ken pom, but i really really really feel bad for Duquesne's grads. Be interesting if any Duqies wander the boards who could comment on why their college has struggled so mightily.

[Edrick]

No, of course Duquense isn't under consideration.

It's become pretty clear that the 3 additionals after Butler and Xavier are going to come from this list of 4 - Dayton, Richmond, SLU, Creighton

[Barley]

No, of course Duquense isn't under consideration.

It's become pretty clear that the 3 additionals after Butler and Xavier are going to come from this list of 4 - Dayton, Richmond, SLU, Creighton

No doubt in my mind unless we go big and add Gonzaga.

[jkc_dawgs]

Duquesne and Detroit would be great except for the fact that they aren't. throw their possibilities with what if Boston College gave up football. I think the thoughts nice they fit the profile at first glance the big catholic/private university of a upper midwest/east coast tier 1 city. However, Detroit is just now building their program to a top 100 rpi team and fighting for power in the post Butler Horizon and their facilities are a lil subpar. Duquesne is more intriguing as i'd think the C7 would love to get back into Pittsburg where people are long used to seeing them. That said their facilities are subpar and even admitting that this year is a disaster; they have not been relevant on the national scene in years 3 NCAA's since 1950, only a few NIT's since the 50's, and have more 20 loss seasons in the past 20 years than any of the other C7 + have 20 plus winning seasons. That said if the goal is to some point go to 14-16 and Duquesne rebounds and Detroit keeps up its progress they would be near shoe ins for the conference.

Odd note in the 40's Duquesne turned down not one but two NCAA bids for the NIT (the also played one year in both).

BU's facilities are not anywhere close to D1 standard. If you go to butlerhoops.com nearly everybody complains and says that they are just God awful. I cannot deny that. Even though Butler is renovating Hinkle, they will still be sub-par where most facilites in D1 basketball are. Butler has lost good recruits due to these facilities (Zak Irvin, Cody Zeller, etc.). Sorry to get sidetracked, but I feel like not having the best facilities around is not one of the biggest issues.

[BillEsq]

Dawgs your hard on your boys. Just look at Dusquene and Detroit and compare you have history. Sides as far as Bball goes history Hinkle is a solid facility. Think of it as a wriggly field/fenway park. As nice as SLU's new arena is there is something to be said about playing at Hinkle, go look at the SLU boards when you get past the trash talk i think everyone was really excited to play at Hinkle that goes a long way. Plus Butler has been playing on Horizon money for ever. You are getting more money with the A-ten and once you presumably move up to the C7+5 you will have lots of cash to fund your non-revs, new facilities for the athletic trainers, new facilities for working out ect...

I was at SLU for the Dayton game and looking around and they have built alot in the past decade with Old CUSA and A-Ten money (lots more than Horizon) and i was looking around going wow if they get in the new league they can and will do so much more. I'm sure Butler will do the same. But as a Cubs fan i hope you keep Hinkle, build new practice facilities but keep the games there you can't recreate history. Oh... and do us a favor and beat VCU

[jkc_dawgs]

I hope we can add new facilities just like any other Butler fan. The main problem is that Butler doesn't have much money to spend. Nearly all of the money they got from the F4's went to other improvements on campus. The main thing Butler is lacking is a basketball only practice facility and there is little room on campus to put it anywhere. Hopefully within the next 10 years or so Butler can add something like that, but little money+little room=not likely

[mdfan]

Duquesne and Detroit would be great except for the fact that they aren't. throw their possibilities with what if Boston College gave up football. I think the thoughts nice they fit the profile at first glance the big catholic/private university of a upper midwest/east coast tier 1 city. However, Detroit is just now building their program to a top 100 rpi team and fighting for power in the post Butler Horizon and their facilities are a lil subpar. Duquesne is more intriguing as i'd think the C7 would love to get back into Pittsburg where people are long used to seeing them. That said their facilities are subpar and even admitting that this year is a disaster; they have not been relevant on the national scene in years 3 NCAA's since 1950, only a few NIT's since the 50's, and have more 20 loss seasons in the past 20 years than any of the other C7 + have 20 plus winning seasons. That said if the goal is to some point go to 14-16 and Duquesne rebounds and Detroit keeps up its progress they would be near shoe ins for the conference.

Odd note in the 40's Duquesne turned down not one but two NCAA bids for the NIT (the also played one year in both).

BU's facilities are not anywhere close to D1 standard. If you go to butlerhoops.com nearly everybody complains and says that they are just God awful. I cannot deny that. Even though Butler is renovating Hinkle, they will still be sub-par where most facilites in D1 basketball are. Butler has lost good recruits due to these facilities (Zak Irvin, Cody Zeller, etc.). Sorry to get sidetracked, but I feel like not having the best facilities around is not one of the biggest issues.

Actually, passing up the NCAA for the NIT was not odd at all, back in the day. The NIT was the more prestigious tournament

[pki1998]

No, of course Duquense isn't under consideration.

It's become pretty clear that the 3 additionals after Butler and Xavier are going to come from this list of 4 - Dayton, Richmond, SLU, Creighton

I think it depends on what your definition of consideration is. The C7 likely kicked the tires of many schools during the preliminary stages. I would be shocked if teams like Duquense and Detroit were not given some attention. I doubt that these two schools will be invited, but due dillengence would require more than only considering the favorites. In addition to the above four schools, I believe VCU, St. Joseph's, and Sienna are probaly still under consideration.

For VCU I am sure some people will say that a public school won't get in becuase of their academics. I would like to remind them that despite Georgetown being one of the best schools in the country, Patrick Ewing was illerate upon using up his eligibility. I realize St. Joseph's is a long shot becuase of Villanova, but if a network is willing to pay more for the league with St. Josephs, Villanova will not be able to block. Sienna is probably also a long shot but to say that they have no chance of getting in probably isn't true.

I hope everyone is right about Butler and Xavier being locks. I am a Xavier fan, and I am concern about the direction of the program since Chris Mack took over. From the Brawl with UC (and the pr nightmare that followed), to multiple players coming in ineligble, multiple players leaving, and recruits not panning out. I am hoping the C7 gives invites sooner rather than later. The longer this goes on the worst it is for Xavier.