Is Homogeneity Of Membership Good Or Bad?

[Gopher+RamFan]

Yes, VCU is in a nice recruiting area, but they're also 1 of 14 D1 programs in their state and at best the 3rd biggest program. That doesn't include all the North Carolina schools that they're directly competing with too. It'll take more than a Big East invite to consistently steal top recruits from the ACC schools in the area.

The idea of VCU taking over the area for the Big East sounds great but (maybe I'm being overly pessimistic), I don't think it's a reasonable expectation. The increased status may help VCU land a few more high rated local recruits, but the Big East simply doesn't resonate there. It's ACC country and there's not much we can do about it. I think trying to invade ACC territory would just be a waste of resources and we'd be much better off trying to strengthen our hold on the I95 corridor between Boston and DC.

I like VCU. It's a school I'd like to see SHU and other Big East schools regularly schedule OOC. I just don't see a fit as a Big East member school.

VCU has the state record for consecutive NCAA appearances, even though D1 basketball started in the late 1960s. Yes even the Ralph Sampson 1980s UVA squads only made 4 in a row.

Va Tech is getting better but their program is not surpassing VCU's currently. UVA is definitely past VCU, thanks to Tony Benett who may never leave. I think youre underselling VCU consistently. VPI is out there in the valley and concerned with football. That may change in the future but as it is now I think most Virginians would agree with 1. UVA 2. VCU and 3. Tech.

Theres an opportunity from a business perspective to get into Virginia and closer to Carolina for the Big East. If the presidents care more about insitutional similarities then VCU will never be added.

[Gopher+RamFan]

I'm getting tired of the argument of teams racking up 20+ win seasons and NCAA tourney bids from mid or even low mid major conferences as reasons to be invited into the BE. Gonzaga & Wichita St probably don't rack up high 20 win seasons in the BE and VCU certainly doesn't. Are they great in their leagues? Yes. Are they the best fit for the conference? I don't know.

Same thing was said when VCU entered the A10 by fans of Xavier, Dayton and GW. VCU beat all of them and Butler - and didnt miss a beat going from the CAA to the A10. Big East is much better, and Im sure would take some adjustment, but X, Creighton and Butler have done a great job.

[scoscox]

I'm getting tired of the argument of teams racking up 20+ win seasons and NCAA tourney bids from mid or even low mid major conferences as reasons to be invited into the BE. Gonzaga & Wichita St probably don't rack up high 20 win seasons in the BE and VCU certainly doesn't. Are they great in their leagues? Yes. Are they the best fit for the conference? I don't know.

Same thing was said when VCU entered the A10 by fans of Xavier, Dayton and GW. VCU beat all of them and Butler - and didnt miss a beat going from the CAA to the A10. Big East is much better, and Im sure would take some adjustment, but X, Creighton and Butler have done a great job.

What?! No it wasn't. I think it was pretty universally seen as a good move. The A-10 was starving for good teams. Also, you played us i think all of one time. Take it easy

[gtmoBlue]

Crawfishbucket,

You need 15-20 posts/day to get into the Stever20 category. Merely starting many posts is not sufficient. And you should monitor each thread hourly - ready to shift your argument at a moments notice. You're off to a good start, but you've got tons of work ahead to climb to Steverrrr status. Keep workin'!

The Stever has a 4K post head start.

[ThrowDownDBrown]

No expansion. Ever.

[Xudash]

I'm getting tired of the argument of teams racking up 20+ win seasons and NCAA tourney bids from mid or even low mid major conferences as reasons to be invited into the BE. Gonzaga & Wichita St probably don't rack up high 20 win seasons in the BE and VCU certainly doesn't. Are they great in their leagues? Yes. Are they the best fit for the conference? I don't know.

Same thing was said when VCU entered the A10 by fans of Xavier, Dayton and GW. VCU beat all of them and Butler - and didnt miss a beat going from the CAA to the A10. Big East is much better, and Im sure would take some adjustment, but X, Creighton and Butler have done a great job.

Yes, going from the CAA to the A10 is not the same as going from the A10 to the Big East. The adjustment has been striking.

[SJU1987]

Gonzaga and UCONN. Gonzaga wants to take the next step and maintain what they have and UConn wants a packed Madison Square Garden again.
Maybe the AAC added Witchita state because UConn might be leaving soon. Those Big East/UConn conversations a while back must of been serious. UConn started the conversations.

[Dwon]

ACC country ehh. Just like Pitt ,Syracuse and BC are BE country.

VCU has been the most consistent program over the last decade in VA although UVA has succeeded a bit more over the last 3 years.Also, VCU has also racked up wins against UVA and Vtech over the past few years proving its dominancy of the state. That's not a biased opinion, you can ask around Northern VA, Southern VA and in between. Its about a tie between UVA and VCU but I'm not about to plead my case about this anymore. It was interesting to see your views on this subject though. We're happy in the A-10 with all our Cinderella teams and what have you. Good luck to you Big easters. Peace , Adios

[TheBlueTeam]

ACC country ehh. Just like Pitt ,Syracuse and BC are BE country.

VCU has been the most consistent program over the last decade in VA although UVA has succeeded a bit more over the last 3 years.Also, VCU has also racked up wins against UVA and Vtech over the past few years proving its dominancy of the state. That's not a biased opinion, you can ask around Northern VA, Southern VA and in between. Its about a tie between UVA and VCU but I'm not about to plead my case about this anymore. It was interesting to see your views on this subject though. We're happy in the A-10 with all our Cinderella teams and what have you. Good luck to you Big easters. Peace , Adios

As you should be. Why risk joining the BE where the chances are greater that more often then not VCU will finish towards the bottom of the league and thus not making the NCAA tournament. I'd don't ever see VCU beating Nova, Xavier, Butler, Providence, Seton Hall, Marquette, or Creighton on a regular basis. Sure, your gonna beat some of those teams every now and then, but then so does Depaul.

[CrawfishBucket]

I'm starting to warm on the idea of St. Louis too now. Geographically, there should be another team closer to Creighton. Ideally, that should have been Wichita State. When you have the chance to add Top Talent you do it. Nitpicking about private vs public is utter lunacy. There was one team, until yesterday, that was on the market with a popular brand and a rockstar coach, and they are gone now. For those of you speculating on how long Marshall (or the Koch Brothers) will be there, I suggest you listen to his interviews.

Wichita State should have been an automatic take regardless of the numbers. The opportunity to get a John Thompsonesque figure in your coaching ranks is rare. Look at Dayton and VCU if you don't get what I'm saying. They both have new coaches. St Louis is the best the Big East can do now. Think about that. Some of you Round Robin lovers don't get it. More is More. Period. As long as its quality, you build according to the talent. In the current climate, you need to stockpile to ensure legitimacy. With a small conference, all it takes is a prolonged string of close losses OOC to set the table for half the bids the Big East received this year (or less). That's the mercurial nature of college basketball. Every one of the programs who made the tournament this year can become Georgetown next year. In fact, we should be counting on those dips.

If the old Big East taught us anything, its that a greater quantity can coexist with quality. In fact, it pushes the cream to rise to the top. I don't agree with Gottlieb on Illinois State, but Wichita State should have been added a long time ago. Any time you can get a Top 10 caliber team (pre season for next year) that fits the footprint, and you don't expand because you want to stay a small conference, you're running across thin ice. That lack of foresight will eventually be a boon for the Billikins.

Or VALPO. Now that the MVC is looking to replace Wichita State, they may start their push to catch the Big Easts eye. Because its obvious the leadership is trying to push this matchy-matchy concept of building a conference. Even though nobody knows who the coaches of those schools will be in 2 years, or that the financial infrastructure will push them to want to be the best.

The well just dried up significantly. I think a lot of us have been mesmorized by the impossible dream of UConn and didn't even think to WIDEN the gap between the Big East and everyone else. As a result, that gap just narrowed.

Dayton, St. Louis, VCU, etc, are distant #2s. Nevertheless, this conference needs (regardless of public/private) to be willing to pull the trigger if they separate themselves. If there is another Gregg Marshall out there that builds those teams up for 10 years and grows in stature with his team, that's not something you should pass up. IMO, Mark Few is on that level as well. I would snatch Gonzaga up tomorrow if it were up to me. If you love the Round Robin so much, it can still be done with 11 teams.

HOWEVER, as I said before, if this conference wants to compete consistently with the bigger conferences like the ACC (15 teams), B1G (14 teams), etc, it needs to start thinking about size. IMO, the Big East should be looking at 12 soon... and that #12 (if Gonzaga proved to be #11) would probably have to be someone like St. Louis now (to help out Creighton). The option of getting Marshall and Few as a package (#11-#12) just imploded. And that's a shame.

Now we have to have eyes in the back of our heads. Any lead we thought existed beyond the P5, just shrunk.