Last one in - SLU or Dayton?

[Hoya]

What are the pros and cons of each? Dayton has better support and matches nicely with Xavier. Without SLU, Creighton would seem to be way out of the footprint. I originally thought if we went to 12 that Creighton would have been the odd man out but it sounds like they are more appealing for some reason.

[BillikensWin]

I'm admittedly biased, but as a SLU fan, I'd love for it to be the Bills.

SLU has a brand new on-campus arena, and a market that they can lay claim to like the Spoonhour days. Soderberg/Romar couldn't keep the city on edge like Spoonball, and Majerus was making another case for greatness (again) before his untimely passing.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Dayton would be a much, much, much, much better addition.

You do not want SLU(H). They have this thing called Father Biondi that makes them untenable. The A10 hates them and wishes that it would have picked Creighton instead. SLU has a miniscule presence in the city of St. Louis. Yesterday they hosted Loyola Marymount in a basketball game. Nobody even paid attention because of the Braggin Rights game. They don't bring much of an athletic presence in anything. Anything. If you are into 1960s national championship banners for men's soccer then they are your huckleberry. Otherwise pick Dayton which is great at many things over SLU which is a total mediocrity.

[gmoser1210]

One thing that might be notable is the other sports offered by the two schools and the impact it would have on the conference offerings.

Assuming that the C7 adds Butler and Xavier but excluding both Dayton and SLU (so only looking at nine schools) these are the sports offered and the number of schools offering the sport:

Basketball (M): 9
Basketball (W): 9
Baseball (M): 6
Softball (W): 7
Cross Country (M): 8
Cross Country (W): 9
Fencing (M): 1
Fencing (W): 1
Field Hockey (W): 3
Golf (M): 8
Golf (W): 5
Ice Hockey (M): 1
Ice Hockey (W): 1
Lacrosse (M): 5
Lacrosse (W): 3
Rowing (M): 1
Rowing (W): 2
Sailing (M): 1
Sailing (W): 1
Soccer (M): 9
Soccer (W): 9
Swimming (M): 5
Swimming (W): 6
Tennis (M): 7
Tennis (W): 9
Track (M): 7
Track (W): 8
Volleyball (W): 9
Water Polo (W): 1

SLU would add a sixth men's swim team, a seventh women's swim team, and an eighth men's track and field team. Dayton would add a ninth men's golf team and a 6th women's golf team. Any other sports they offer (like Dayton's women's rowing team or SLU's field hockey team) wouldn't have an impact on whether the conference will offer the sport. Assuming you need six teams per sport, Dayton's women's golf team would help with Title IX concerns.

[BillikensWin]

Dayton would be a much, much, much, much better addition.

You do not want SLU(H). They have this thing called Father Biondi that makes them untenable. The A10 hates them and wishes that it would have picked Creighton instead. SLU has a miniscule presence in the city of St. Louis. Yesterday they hosted Loyola Marymount in a basketball game. Nobody even paid attention because of the Braggin Rights game. They don't bring much of an athletic presence in anything. Anything. If you are into 1960s national championship banners for men's soccer then they are your huckleberry. Otherwise pick Dayton which is great at many things over SLU which is a total mediocrity.

I don't like Biondi either, but 8-8ton isn't much of a get. They get First Four games, Saint Louis gets Final Fours.

[LabRatScott]

I'd take Xavier, Butler, Creighton in that order. Then I would add SLU and Dayton next. I would listen to an argument for VCU but don't see that happening.

[MTS]

SLU hasn't done anything in years. If you are going to consider them then it will be foolish to not consider Siena. They went to three straight NCAA's just 3 years ago and even beat Ohio State. Once we get rid of the loser Mitch and bring in Andy Toole to coach we'll be back to a top 25 team. Fans are forever, and we draw 7,000 a game. Bring Georgetown or Villanova to our arena and we'll draw 12,000 easily! Also the Albany tv market has close to 1 million people in it and is the 56th largest in the nation. What does Dayton have that we don't?

[gmoser1210]

This thought of Siena is why I think the 16-team conference argument is ridiculous. I'm nervous enough at the thought of 12 teams. SLU/Dayton are better programs than Siena, but even they haven't shown an ability to have success for more than a season or two at a time. Butler and Xavier, along with Georgetown, Marquette, and Villanova are the types of programs that will make this a high major conference. St. John's, Seton Hall, DePaul, and Providence have the ne recognition to not hurt the conference's reputation. However, once you get to schools like Siena, the conference starts to lose its luster and is unlikely to be viewed as a power conference.

The programs added should be programs who have an expectation of competing during the second weekend of the dance, not programs who have one of their best seasons ever when they make it to the Sweet Sixteen (which is a great accomplishment for a program outside of a power conference and one of which Siena should be proud) or when they knock off a BCS power.

[xman]

What does Dayton have that we don't?

Dayton gets 10,000 a night. I think that helps. Plus, I still believe that XU wants Dayton in so they might try to leverage that as part of us accepting an offer.

[ta111]

What does Dayton have that we don't?

Dayton gets 10,000 a night. I think that helps. Plus, I still believe that XU wants Dayton in so they might try to leverage that as part of us accepting an offer.

Actually, we average around 12,500 and have been in the top 25 nationally just about every year for the past 15 years. There are very few teams that 'travel' like UD. We generally pack the pre-season tourney games. At Charleston Classic this year we had more fans than the home team. There's a reason the NCAA picked UD arena as the opening round every year-very few arenas could pack 12-13k for several relatively unknown teams.