cgeldmacher

Since there's a lot of talk about stats and rankings, here's a sort-of-stat I like. Two summers ago (2011), I went to Vegas and went into a sports book wanting to put $20.00 down on the Billikens to win the national championship. It was more of a symbolic/loyalty bet than smart money. The guy gave me a sheet with the futures odd and SLU was not on the list of about 70 teams. I asked the guy why they weren't on there, and he told me that only so many teams get actual odds, and that the rest are placed in the "field." He said that if I wanted to bet on SLU, I would have to place my money on the "field." I didn't. Last summer (2012), I went to Vegas again and did the same thing. This time, SLU actually made the list and had odds. I think it was 60-1. So, I have $20.00 on SLU to win the title this year. I'm not counting on the $1,200.00, but it was nice to see that we have moved up the rankings in the eyes of the Vegas odds makers.

I meant to write that the story said Xavier and Butler were locks with Dayton & Creighton next in line.

This article cites Peter Thamel of Sports Illustrated as its source saying that Xavier and Dayton are locks and that Dayton and Creighton are next in line. Thamel says that the 12th spot is "up for grabs," but that "Saint Louis would be the favorite for the final spot." http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2012/12/22/3795498/catholic-7-league-xavier-butler-creighton-dayton I'm not all that familiar with Peter Thamel, so I don't know if he has credible information or if he is just providing an educated prediction.

In the article below (fourth to last bullet point), Andy Katz at ESPN says in order for the new league to work, the Catholic 7 "need to go grab Xavier, Dayton, Saint Louis and possibly Butler, Creighton, and Gonzaga to really have staying power. Love where he puts SLU in that sentence. http://espn.go.com/m...lege-basketball

I've been seeing a lot on the other fan sites that say they may only add 2. The reason would be so that there can be a 16 game conference schedule where every team plays every other team home and away. Hope this isn't true, as it would seriously hurt our chances.

Fairly or unfairly, the outcome of all of this is going to play a large roll in the legacy of Chris May and Father Biondi. I hope they both have cancelled all appointments and been on the phone all day. If Father Biondi is truly the mafia like power broker that he is sometimes portrayed to be, which I don't necessarily think is a fair view, then this should be his moment to shine. Father B, please start twisting some arms and calling in favors. If we end up not being invited to this new conference, and end up in a diluted A-10 or in Conference USA or the MVC, then this will be viewed as a huge failure for both May and Biondi. If we end up getting the invitation, then they both should and will get accolades for making it happen. I'm guessing that Father Biondi is thinking that he really needs this right now with all the other issues going on at the campus. Hopefully, some of his Jesuit friends at these other schools agree.

I sure like the last paragraph of this article.

The A-10 is currently composed of 8 catholic institutions and 8 non-catholic institutions. When Temple and Charlotte leave, the numbers will be 8 Catholic - 6 not. If the "Catholic 7" from the Big East join, the numbers would be 15 Catholic - 6 non-Catholic. That's about as "Catholic" as a league can get. I know people have had crazy dreams of a "Catholic" league that spans from Georgetown to Gonzaga, but that's not realistic. These decision are made based upon money and a field hockey team or a swimming team traveling from D.C. to Seattle is not a financially sound concept. I promise everyone that the "Catholic 7" in the Big East think of themselves as the "Basketball Only 7" in the Big East, not the "Catholic 7" for purposes of making a decision. If inviting Butler or VCU to come to their conference makes the most sense in their eyes, as opposed to a Catholic university like SLU, no one at their school is going to stop them and make them choose from a list of Catholic schools.

Totally agree. However, it's somewhat of a Catch 22. The better coach we have, the better chance of us getting into the top level conference, but getting into a top level conference will help us get a better coach. It will be interesting to see what happens first. If we have to hire the coach first, you're totally right, there will be a lot riding on it.

I know it is fun and sounds like a nice idea to divide up the remaining Big East schools with the A-10 schools and MVC, but its not realistic. Georgetown is not going to go along with a plan where they trade Marquette and DePaul for St. Bonaventure and Fordam. Marquette is not going to want to lose Georgetown, and its presence on the east coast for recruiting, to join a league with Bradley and Northern Iowa just because it makes geographic sense to those of us on this site. The fact is none of the recent conference realignment moves make sense geographically. The changes occur because they make sense monetarily. This explains West Virginia in the Big-12 and Boise State in the Big East. We need to realize that if SLU can fall into a situation where we end up in a 21 team league with Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Xavier, Dayton, Butler, and VCU (among other preferables), we should throw a huge party. It's no where near a done deal, but lets just pray that it happens rather than worrying about trying to get into a conference with Creighton. As far as I'm concerned, the Missouri Valley is and should be on the outside looking in. Luckily, it seems we may end up being on the inside looking out. Before we rush to jump into a league with Creighton, remember that the hot team in the MVC changes every other year. Remember when it was Missouri State, for awhile it was SIU-C, then it was Wichita State. I don't hear anyone clamoring to drag SIU-C into our new conference. Give it a few years and Creighton will be Indiana State again.

Here's an update article that talks about the A-10 being prepared to accept the seven basketball Big East schools. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8736716/atlantic-10-open-adding-big-east-basketball-schools-creating-21-team-conference-source The articles are similar, but this one is from the point of view of the A-10. Can we officially call the A-10 vs. Missouri Valley debate over and pronounce the Missouri Valley side the losers? I think it has been over for years, but a combination of the 7 Big East schools and the A-10 would be the final seven nails in the coffin of that argument.

I don't think that SLU necessarily owes Crews a "chance at the job." He was hired as an assistant coach. Granted, he is helping SLU out by being the acting head coach this year, but that is part of the expected duties of an assistant coach. He is inheriting a team that almost made it to the Sweet 16 last year. Being the interim head coach of a team like this can only increase his visability for his search for his next job, if he makes the most of the opportunity. I hope the media stops this silly game of interviewing "basketball experts" who aren't going to say a bad word about any coach, much less one they worked with briefly many years ago. This reminds me of the way that every so called "expert" thinks that Sam Bradford is on his way to being an elite quarterback. The media uses quotes they get from these guys to claim later on that it wasn't the media that pushed a player or coach, it was the "experts." There are some coaches out there, I have mentioned Rick Stansbury a few times, that could come in immediately, because they are not coaching right now. I'm not saying rush out and hire Stansbury or one of the others just in hopes that it saves a recruiting class, but it is an option. My point is that the idea that we don't have that option is incorrect.

I know of one donor who donated almost as much as Dr. C and was given a lifetime box up top. The box goes unused most games or there are three or four people sitting in it. This donor said that if he had known that the building was going to be named after the top donor, he would have given more.

You're not going to get much argument about anything you said. Good points.

What about Rick Stansbury, former Mississippi State coach. I know he technically retired at the end of last year, but he's only 52 years old. I think he got burned out there. Maybe he is starting to get the itch again and would prefer the atmosphere at SLU to what he dealt with at Mississippi State. Stansbury had nine 20 win seasons out of 14 at Mississippi State!!! (27 wins in 01-02 and 26 wins in 02-03). Five of his last six seasons there were 20 win seasons. He would be available to take over at the start of the conference season, if we coaxed him out of "retirement," and, if that happened, could start working to salvage a recruiting class. Given Miss. St.'s proximity, he probably has some good regional connections. Here are his records at Mississippi State. I know he never made it out of the second round of the tournament, but a change of scenery might cause him to get better results. Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1998–2012) 1998–99 Mississippi State 20–13 8–8 T–3rd (West) NIT 1st Round 1999–2000 Mississippi State 14–16 5–11 T–5th (West) 2000–01 Mississippi State 18–13 7–9 T–4th (West) NIT Quarterfinals 2001–02 Mississippi State 27–8 10–6 2nd (West) NCAA 2nd Round 2002–03 Mississippi State 21–10 9–7 1st (West) NCAA 1st Round 2003–04 Mississippi State 26–4 14–2 1st (West) NCAA 2nd Round 2004–05 Mississippi State 23–11 9–7 3rd (West) NCAA 2nd Round 2005–06 Mississippi State 15–15 5–11 5th (West) 2006–07 Mississippi State 21–14 8–8 T–1st (West) NIT Final Four 2007–08 Mississippi State 23–11 12–4 1st (West) NCAA 2nd Round 2008–09 Mississippi State 23–13 9–7 3rd (West) NCAA 1st Round 2009–10 Mississippi State 24–12 9–7 T–1st (West) NIT 2nd Round 2010–11 Mississippi State 17–13 9–7 2nd (West) 2011–12 Mississippi State 21–12 8–8 T–6th NIT 1st Round Mississippi State: 293–165 (.641) 122–102 (.545) Total: 293–165 (.641)

I read an article on Yahoo that I can find now and link to that says that the basketball only Big East schools make too much money being in a marginally relevant football conference to make a move to a basketball only conference.