Big East

[Glorydays2013]

We won the a10 for soccer and beat a few top 25 teams. Not doing amazing but also not bad 

[Clock_Tower]

5 hours ago, Glorydays2013 said:

We won the a10 for soccer and beat a few top 25 teams. Not doing amazing but also not bad 

yes. the team certainly could have done worse. at the same time, this was not a good year by SLU standards.

[HoosierPal]

https://tmgcollegesports.com/2017/03/01/american-conference-looking-to-upgrade-hoops/

A possibility for the Bills?  Always good to keep options on the table. [I'm not a subscriber, so I didn't read the entire article either.]

[Taj79]

Not for me.  Right back where we started with the likes of Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulane and South Florida.  State schools, with PE majors, lax JUCO transfer rules, and trying to bust into the big dollar football egg.  The Big East is optimum; short of that, stay put.

[Pistol]

I think I'm with Taj on this one. That's the ultimate Purgatory conference - 100% made up of teams that would go elsewhere if they could. It's the hodgepodge of former CUSA teams, with a few other strays thrown in for good measure. I'd be worried about jumping in and getting stuck with some tough departure terms if we ever did get a chance to go Big East. We're better off staying put.

[RiseAndGrind]

11 minutes ago, Pistol said:

I think I'm with Taj on this one. That's the ultimate Purgatory conference - 100% made up of teams that would go elsewhere if they could. It's the hodgepodge of former CUSA teams, with a few other strays thrown in for good measure. I'd be worried about jumping in and getting stuck with some tough departure terms if we ever did get a chance to go Big East. We're better off staying put.

Agreed, Pistol. Focus on dominating in the A10 and then see what is there in a couple of years, if anything. 

[prebilliken]

8 minutes ago, Pistol said:

I think I'm with Taj on this one. That's the ultimate Purgatory conference - 100% made up of teams that would go elsewhere if they could. It's the hodgepodge of former CUSA teams, with a few other strays thrown in for good measure. I'd be worried about jumping in and getting stuck with some tough departure terms if we ever did get a chance to go Big East. We're better off staying put.

Agreed 100%. I think we've actually had the chance to see this awkward dance play out in real life. Remember when TCU was the old Big East for a minute and a half and then, "Oh wait, never mind, just kidding the Big 12 called and actually we've wanted to be in this conference since the SWC broke up so see ya never Big East."

I know I rip on the A10, but until the if/when chance for the Big East comes, its the best conference for us. Plus, I don't want the Bills being bossed around by teams with football ambitions. Better to avoid that devil entirely then to dance with it at all. 

I do think that the American could be a better run conference (though I still don't ever want to see SLU in it), if I were them I would try to poach UMass from the A10 and make a consisted effort to strengthen football. Right now it has that solid title of "conference that Notre Dame seems to pluck opponents from when they don't have to schedule ACC teams or any of their 'traditional' rivals." The American needs to focus on beating the MAC as the definitive 6th best football conference. The AAC commish should wake up every morning and say, "Which P5 teams can we schedule? Which P5 conference can we rival in terms of overall strength?" The context of that conferences future depends entirely on tackleball, that's not a group of friends SLU wants to be associated with. 

The biggest problem with the A10, is down the road when it comes to athletic stipends on what programs are willing/are capable of supporting athletic programs with financially. SLU is part of the upper tier of A10 programs in financial abilities, I would hate for us to be bogged down by programs that aren't willing to foot the bill. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

24 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Not for me.  Right back where we started with the likes of Temple, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulane and South Florida.  State schools, with PE majors, lax JUCO transfer rules, and trying to bust into the big dollar football egg.  The Big East is optimum; short of that, stay put.

Agreed.  When the Big East picked Creighton, I thought the American might be a better consolation prize landing spot for SLU, reunion with old rivals Cincinnati and Memphis, even Tulane, the one school we knew we could beat (sometimes) in the old Metro.  But SLU moving to the American would be more of a lateral move.  The A10 has more "like minded institutions" to SLU than does the American.

The ultimate Goal is the Big East.  Until then, stay parked in the A10.  SLU already had to put some more change in the A10 meter, and may have to feed the meter awhile longer.

If the Billikens under Coach Travis Ford go where I think he is taking us, the Big East will come calling again.

[prebilliken]

9 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

The ultimate Goal is the Big East.  Until then, stay parked in the A10.  SLU already had to put some more change in the A10 meter, and may have to feed the meter awhile longer.

If the Billikens under Coach Travis Ford go where I think he is taking us, the Big East will come calling again.

I'm hoping the next couple of seasons might the context of this possibility much, much brighter. Two second weekend runs in a row would make us seem like the only choice. 

[Cowboy]

6 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

 

If the Billikens under Coach Travis Ford go where I think he is taking us, the Big East will come calling again.

-they would have had to have called once to be able to call again and they haven't, while I hope you are correct I have my doubts

[prebilliken]

Just now, Cowboy said:

-they would have had to have called once to be able to call again and they haven't, while I hope you are correct I have my doubts

I believe this was more in the context of "calling for teams in concerns of expansion" again. 

[brianstl]

On 2/15/2017 at 1:29 PM, Pistol said:

 

 

[HoosierPal]

The overwhelming consensus is no, but wow, an A-10 without VCU and Dayton (assuming for the purpose of this discussion they jumped) would be ugly.

[prebilliken]

18 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

The overwhelming consensus is no, but wow, an A-10 without VCU and Dayton (assuming for the purpose of this discussion they jumped) would be ugly.

It would be awful. Awful indeed. 

[slu72]

W/o being able to read the linked article, I'm surmising the American is looking to expand by adding the likes of VCU, Dayton, and WSU w/ poor little ol' SLU being left out in the cold again stuck in a watered down A10. Is this the jist of it? I'm not sure this is a good move for DU given the uncertainty or potential of the Beast expanding. It would make sense for VCU however, since I don't believe the Beast will break with their private school model. If DU were to jump to the American, I doubt they'd be willing to come up with the funds or sacrifice a lot of NCAA money to make another quick move. They'd lose out on A10 money, pay an exit fee, pay an entry fee then repeat these payouts if the Beast came a calling. The only way this would make sense for DU would be if they know X will block them from entering the Beast, and I have no idea if that is the case.

But if this were to happen, ie DU and VCU exit, then it should be SLU's objective to dominate the A10 much like Butler did w/ the Horizon and Zaga does in their conference. We'd still have some credible hoops schools to overcome, but it certainly would be doable as long as we don't make another HC mistake if and when Travis heads back to the bright lights after bringing us some success. If we can achieve that, even in the watered down version, we should enhance our chances if the Beast goes on the prowl for new members.

[Bay Area Billiken]

1 hour ago, Cowboy said:

-they would have had to have called once to be able to call again and they haven't, while I hope you are correct I have my doubts

I'm pretty sure the Big East came calling.  When SLU was in the NCAA in San Jose in 2013, Bernie Miklasz penned in his Saturday column that Xavier President Fr. Graham was in San Jose, had been at Thursday's SLU NCAA game and was expected Saturday.  A veteran SLU fan, a suspected season ticket holder, told me that Fox was there meeting with SLU re help with the A10 exit fee.  While it is true that SLU ultimately did not land in the Big East, for whatever reason, I'm pretty sure SLU was in the discussion.

[Bay Area Billiken]

11 minutes ago, slu72 said:

W/o being able to read the linked article, I'm surmising the American is looking to expand by adding the likes of VCU, Dayton, and WSU w/ poor little ol' SLU being left out in the cold again stuck in a watered down A10. Is this the jist of it? I'm not sure this is a good move for DU given the uncertainty or potential of the Beast expanding. It would make sense for VCU however, since I don't believe the Beast will break with their private school model. If DU were to jump to the American, I doubt they'd be willing to come up with the funds or sacrifice a lot of NCAA money to make another quick move. They'd lose out on A10 money, pay an exit fee, pay an entry fee then repeat these payouts if the Beast came a calling. The only way this would make sense for DU would be if they know X will block them from entering the Beast, and I have no idea if that is the case.

But if this were to happen, ie DU and VCU exit, then it should be SLU's objective to dominate the A10 much like Butler did w/ the Horizon and Zaga does in their conference. We'd still have some credible hoops schools to overcome, but it certainly would be doable as long as we don't make another HC mistake if and when Travis heads back to the bright lights after bringing us some success. If we can achieve that, even in the watered down version, we should enhance our chances if the Beast goes on the prowl for new members.

I don't think Dayton would go to the American.  I doubt VCU would either, but I really doubt Dayton would be seriously interested.

[Glorydays2013]

Could you imagine the 14-15 season in the Big East? Yikes

2 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

When SLU was in the NCAA in San Jose in 2013, Bernie Miklasz penned in his Saturday column that Xavier President Fr. Graham was in San Jose, had been at Thursday's SLU NCAA game and was expected Saturday.  A veteran SLU fan, a suspected season ticket holder, told me that Fox was there meeting with SLU re help with the A10 exit fee.  While it is true that SLU did not get the Big East nod, for whatever reason, I'm pretty sure SLU was in the discussion.

 

[Bay Area Billiken]

57 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

The overwhelming consensus is no, but wow, an A-10 without VCU and Dayton (assuming for the purpose of this discussion they jumped) would be ugly.

I do not think it's happening, am all but certain Dayton would not do this.  I think we know which direction the wandering eyes of Dayton and VCU are pointing, that is if VCU's eyes are wandering.  The eyes of elements of the VCU fanbase are wandering.

[Bay Area Billiken]

By the way, BAB was personally present at Schott Stadium at Santa Clara Sunday, and was very pleased to see the Alma Mater St. Louis U. Baseball Billikens defeat Creighton 7-3.  The Billikens wore little A10 insignias on their left sleeves, while Creighton had Big East insignias on its left sleeves.

BAB contended then, and still contends, that Creighton of Omaha is sitting in SLU's Big East spot.

BAB also wore his Sunday Cardinal cap to the game, just to let the good folks from Omaha know which school was from the Major League City.

True story:  Friday at the Michigan game, BAB had just sat down.  A gentleman from Michigan, older than yours truly, came over and asked if he could ask me a question.  His question:  "What city is St. Louis University in?"  The guy was serious.  I politely answered, and my answer did not include asking if the Pope is Catholic. 

Saint Louis University of St. Louis went 2-1 in this tourney, losing to the Michigan ace lefty (who I'm told is a top 3 rounds pick) 6-1 Friday, but rebounding to beat Santa Clara 5-3 Saturday night and Creighton of Omaha 7-3 Sunday afternoon. 

I see the Baseball Billikens beat #14 Oklahoma State Wed. in Stillwater on Wednesday.  Thus, SLU is 7-1.  SLU has a good team, is very strong up the middle.

[prebilliken]

1 minute ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

By the way, BAB was personally present at Schott Stadium at Santa Clara Sunday, and was very pleased to see the Alma Mater St. Louis U. Baseball Billikens defeat Creighton 7-3.  The Billikens wore little A10 insignias on their left sleeves, while Creighton had Big East insignias on its left sleeves.

BAB contended then, and still contends, that Creighton of Omaha is sitting in SLU's Big East spot.

BAB also wore his Sunday Cardinal cap to the game, just to let the good folks from Omaha know which school was from the Major League City.

True story:  Friday at the Michigan game, BAB had just sat down.  A gentleman from Michigan, older than yours truly, came over and asked if he could ask me a question.  His question:  "What city is St. Louis University in?"  The guy was serious.  I politely answered, and my answer did not include asking if the Pope is Catholic. 

Saint Louis University of St. Louis went 2-1 in this tourney, losing to the Michigan ace lefty (who I'm told is a top 3 rounds pick) 6-1 Friday, but rebounding to beat Santa Clara 5-3 Saturday night and Creighton of Omaha 7-3 Sunday afternoon. 

I see the Baseball Billikens beat #14 Oklahoma State Wed. in Stillwater on Wednesday.  Thus, SLU is 7-1.  SLU has a good team, is very strong up the middle.

A like minded Billiken just started a baseball thread to hype the hot team. 

[brianstl]

I have been thinking about the AAC since a Cincy fan posted on here that many in their fan base would like to see SLU join their conference a few years back. The AAC is actually a pretty good basketball conference.  I, also, think their basketball rights deal with ESPN provides more money per team than the A10.  My guess is that the UConn to the Big East stuff was an attempt by UConn to get the rest of the AAC serious about upgrading basketball.  

If they could add schools like WSU and VCU it is something we would seriously have to think about.  I just don't think a Big East invitation is going to come soon.  I think SLU would be above Dayton when it comes to getting an invite to the AAC.  The AAC is getting ready to enter media right negotiations and it makes no sense to add a program whose media market basically overlaps Cincy's before a program like SLU.   There is a reason why Dayton didn't get the invite to the original CUSA.

If something like this happened, I would like to see both SLU and Dayton make move.  I think it is in both programs best interest to make a move to a conference like the AAC together.

You could do worse than being stuck in a conference with programs like UConn, Memphis, Cincy, Temple, WSU and VCU.  They are not similar institutions, but is Baylor really similar to most of the Big 12?  The AAC has other problems like crazy geography and schools looking to leave.  That said, there really aren't more than two spots that would open up in the Power Five and at least one of those teams to get an invite would be a Florida school to the Big 12.  That program would be no big loss for us if we were in that conference.  A Houston move to the Big 12 wouldn't be a big loss to us either.  A Cincy or Memphis move to the Big 12 would hurt, but only one of those teams would be going.  Plus Cincy and Memphis might even be below a Tulane when it comes to markets the Big 12 wants to add to exploit for football recruiting.

 

If nothing else, rumors about SLU joining another conference with the possibly signing of a granting of rights that would lock SLU into a conference for a decade could force the Big East to expand quicker than they may have planned.  That would require the Big East to actually have plans to expand and I am not sure if they think that is in their best interest.  

[cheeseman]

3 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Agreed.  When the Big East picked Creighton, I thought the American might be a better consolation prize landing spot for SLU, reunion with old rivals Cincinnati and Memphis, even Tulane, the one school we knew we could beat (sometimes) in the old Metro.  But SLU moving to the American would be more of a lateral move.  The A10 has more "like minded institutions" to SLU than does the American.

The ultimate Goal is the Big East.  Until then, stay parked in the A10.  SLU already had to put some more change in the A10 meter, and may have to feed the meter awhile longer.

If the Billikens under Coach Travis Ford go where I think he is taking us, the Big East will come calling again.

The problem is they never really came calling ever.

[cgeldmacher]

I agree with Brian.  If Wich St. and Dayton were moving to the AAC, and we were also invited, I think you have to go.  That basketball conference would be, by its own additions and by the A-10's attrition, a much better conference than the A-10.  Leaving would put us in a more competitive conference than we were in.  Staying would leave us in a worse conference than we were in.

Plus, the regional rivalries would be much better.  I like roadtripping to games.  There are very few options in the A-10.  There would be many more options in the AAC.

The key for me would be Wich St. and Dayton jumping with us.  If that doesn't happen, then stay where we are.  If it does, I think we have to go too.

[Bizziken]

20 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I agree with Brian.  If Wich St. and Dayton were moving to the AAC, and we were also invited, I think you have to go.  That basketball conference would be, by its own additions and by the A-10's attrition, a much better conference than the A-10.  Leaving would put us in a more competitive conference than we were in.  Staying would leave us in a worse conference than we were in.

Plus, the regional rivalries would be much better.  I like roadtripping to games.  There are very few options in the A-10.  There would be many more options in the AAC.

The key for me would be Wich St. and Dayton jumping with us.  If that doesn't happen, then stay where we are.  If it does, I think we have to go too.

Yeah...I was going to pen a 'devil's advocate' post as well. I really enjoy the A-10. Even as some grumble, I like playing St. Joes, La Salle, Fordham and the like. Obviously, I'd prefer the Big East, but if we aren't going to get invited to the Big East in the near future, the AAC would be a pretty decent landing spot. I would think it would depend on which other schools the AAC were to add. Dayton, SLU, and Wichita State would make that a really good conference.