A Request to the SLU Fans

[D-West & PO-Z]

That's good to know. Setting some standards I believe is realistic. I would like to see the article if you can find it. If a XU fan can recognize the commitment that SLU has now made to basketball and the influence we can start to exert with others in the league who share that commitment, I am not sure why some of our own fans can't grasp it.

I am also a SLU student and Bills fan. So I know what we have been doing to get better at basketball. Unfortunately I will be gone soon and wont be here in person to see it.

[Runnin'Billiken]

The issue is bigger than losing one game on the road to a bad team. It's not about not liking the league, it's about setting standards to make the league better for all.

Great. I'm all for improving the league as a whole. I'm saying we need to be careful about how we go about talking about this. Most posts come off as, "everyone should try to be as good as us, because we're gonna be awesome, and they're not" which comes off as very arrogant and unlikeable.

There is inequity in this league, in terms of facilities, location, enrollment, finances. Getting collective agreements is going to be difficult, no matter how beneficial it might be. I think leading by example is just fine for now.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Yes, we have made commitments with both facilities, finances, and personnel, but we are hardly in a position to criticize anyone in this league.

1) We chose to come here. If we don't like the league, well, we are one of the newest members, maybe we should leave.

2) Let's win the conference, make the post-season, or at least start finishing in the top 5 regularly before we start claiming any entitlement.

3) Let's stop getting blown out 5 times a year in road games. Chaifetz is great, but we only play half of our games there.

4) Let's start beating those supposed "bottomfeeders" before we start running our mouths. Last time I checked, we've lost 3 straight to the "lowly" Bonnies.

As far as I'm concerned, we still pretty much have "guest" status in this conference. RM can take us to the upper tier, but he hasn't done it yet. Patience is a virtue, right?

As far as I am concerned thos bolded points above right there are more than a lot of the "bottom feeders" do. If you are one of the schools doing that then I believe you have the right to want the other schools to do it as well.

One of the biggest problems is that some of these schools at the bottom dont try to get better, they just dont care. They dont schedule well and they have horrible RPI's and then they go and every once in a while, like in every conference, get some big upsets in the conference then they return to sucking. These teams are riding the coattails of the top teams in the conference and taking the money they bring in from the post season. Now I know SLU hasnt been to the post season in some years but one can clearly see that they are doing everything in their power to fix that and aren't content with being mediocre like some schools in this league.

Being critical of these schools isnt saying that SLU doesnt like this conference but it is saying we want it to be the best it can be. Every team has a right to their opinions of how to make the conference better. We have to produce results also but they are coming.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Concerning teams getting so called 'thrown under the bus' with conference affiliations, it has happened to many of us.

When SLU, Marq, and UD bolted the MCC for the Great Midwest, I always thought XU felt slighted and alone with the cream of the MCC gone. Fortunately XU took its anger out on Cincy and annually, for most years, beat them.

Likewise, I always got the feeling that UD was very angry at SLU when SLU, DePaul and Marq went with CUSA.

Both UD and XU joined A10 in 1995, when the A10 was in trouble. It was a period when the UMASS heyday ended with some scandals and many of its big state school members either bolted or in the process of bolting. W Virginia, Rutgers, and Va Tech went to the BE and Penn State went to the Big 10.

I always felt slighted that SLU did not go with DePaul and Marq to the BE and the A10 was just a consolation prize. Part of it was our own doing. It is a shame we woke up to late and did not have the top level coaching and facilities in place when the SLU's CUSA to A10 transition took place.

Since we are now members of the A10 and we are not a guest, we have a obligation to make sure the A10 meets its full potential. If some programs are not meeting its obligations, we have every right to tell them and advocate through the commissioners office either improve or move on.

[Runnin'Billiken]

I always felt slighted that SLU did not go with DePaul and Marq to the BE and the A10 was just a consolation prize. Part of it was our own doing. It is a shame we woke up to late and did not have the top level coaching and facilities in place when the SLU's CUSA to A10 transition took place.

Do you think we have the ability to compete in the Big East even now with our coach and facilities in place? We lost to DePaul on a neutral court, who is currently 0-15 in conference play. Yes, where we are is not where we are going to be in a few years, but I still don't know about that. The Big East in the premier conference in the nation right now, but how much does it help recruiting wise when you usually finish 13th-16th in the conference? So, not trying to belittle our team or hurt anyone's feelings, just asking an honest question: How would you envision SLU if we had been given the 17th spot in the BE?

[MusicCityBilliken]

Do you think we have the ability to compete in the Big East even now with our coach and facilities in place? We lost to DePaul on a neutral court, who is currently 0-15 in conference play. Yes, where we are is not where we are going to be in a few years, but I still don't know about that. The Big East in the premier conference in the nation right now, but how much does it help recruiting wise when you usually finish 13th-16th in the conference? So, not trying to belittle our team or hurt anyone's feelings, just asking an honest question: How would you envision SLU if we had been given the 17th spot in the BE?

I don't think one time 5 pt loss to DePaul means all that much when you look at your program long term. When we both played in GMW and CUSA, we played them pretty much even. Some years better and some years worse. Same with Marquette. Marquette advantage was, they had some very good years which we did not come close to.

I think even if we finished in the bottom part of the BE but still demonstrated commitment, I believe you would have seen much easier recruiting (possibly Harrelson and Roth and ones we probably don't know about, even Majerus has eluded to that on several occasions). We would probably been on national TV. Also look at attendance, wouldn't we have had sell-outs with Marquette, ND, Georgetown, etc.. coming into town. I think playing some of these schools at home we would have pulled them out as we did with BC & UD. Some our best attended games in our history were the Marquette games when we played in the old GMW/CUSA.

A good example is Seton Hall prior to the BE, you could not get any lower, a equivalent to St Peters today. Today they are not a world beater but in the BE they had a final 4 and several players in the NBA. They made a major commitment to basketball but even with what they done, we have done more with a 85mil $ arena/practice areas on campus and the hiring of Majerus.

What I am just saying is the A10 needs to have some schools make the commitment we made or we spin our wheels.

[Clock_Tower]

I always felt slighted that SLU did not go with DePaul and Marq to the BE and the A10 was just a consolation prize. Part of it was our own doing. It is a shame we woke up to late and did not have the top level coaching and facilities in place when the SLU's CUSA to A10 transition took place.

Do you think we have the ability to compete in the Big East even now with our coach and facilities in place? We lost to DePaul on a neutral court, who is currently 0-15 in conference play. Yes, where we are is not where we are going to be in a few years, but I still don't know about that. The Big East in the premier conference in the nation right now, but how much does it help recruiting wise when you usually finish 13th-16th in the conference? So, not trying to belittle our team or hurt anyone's feelings, just asking an honest question: How would you envision SLU if we had been given the 17th spot in the BE?

We would not be at the top of the BE but believe many greatly underestimate how much the drop from CUSA to A10 affected our recruiting. Would it have affected RM? Probably not. Did it affect Brad? Absolutely. Recall that many of Brad's recruits we lost picked BCS schools (Indiana, Iowa, etc. to name a few) in favor of us. We would not have hit the lows we did if we left Conf USA and went straight to the BE. This year's comparison to DePaul is therefore not valid. At the same time, we'd probably be in the bottom half, we would have struggled because of the strength of the BE and because Brad, as a coach, is just not on the level of Calhoun, Pitino, etc. but maybe we'd have still hired RM and our program would be on the upswing with RM in BE as opposed to the A10.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I always felt slighted that SLU did not go with DePaul and Marq to the BE and the A10 was just a consolation prize. Part of it was our own doing. It is a shame we woke up to late and did not have the top level coaching and facilities in place when the SLU's CUSA to A10 transition took place.

Do you think we have the ability to compete in the Big East even now with our coach and facilities in place? We lost to DePaul on a neutral court, who is currently 0-15 in conference play. Yes, where we are is not where we are going to be in a few years, but I still don't know about that. The Big East in the premier conference in the nation right now, but how much does it help recruiting wise when you usually finish 13th-16th in the conference? So, not trying to belittle our team or hurt anyone's feelings, just asking an honest question: How would you envision SLU if we had been given the 17th spot in the BE?

We would not be at the top of the BE but believe many greatly underestimate how much the drop from CUSA to A10 affected our recruiting. Would it have affected RM? Probably not. Did it affect Brad? Absolutely. Recall that many of Brad's recruits we lost picked BCS schools (Indiana, Iowa, etc. to name a few) in favor of us. We would not have hit the lows we did if we left Conf USA and went straight to the BE. This year's comparison to DePaul is therefore not valid. At the same time, we'd probably be in the bottom half, we would have struggled because of the strength of the BE and because Brad, as a coach, is just not on the level of Calhoun, Pitino, etc. but maybe we'd have still hired RM and our program would be on the upswing with RM in BE as opposed to the A10.

I'm not sure how you see it as such a big drop. Its clearly better now as the conferences stand and even back in the mid to late 90's there wasnt much of a difference with teams like UMASS, Rhode Island, and Temple, and later on Xavier being nationally ranked teams year in and year out. What is this drop in recruits you speak of? Did SLU go from making the NCAA tourney year in year out and then move to the A10 and lose recruits and thos psotseason appearances? I dont think so. So I think your argument of losing players to the "big" drop from C-USA to the A10 is a dumb one.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Do you think we have the ability to compete in the Big East even now with our coach and facilities in place? We lost to DePaul on a neutral court, who is currently 0-15 in conference play. Yes, where we are is not where we are going to be in a few years, but I still don't know about that. The Big East in the premier conference in the nation right now, but how much does it help recruiting wise when you usually finish 13th-16th in the conference? So, not trying to belittle our team or hurt anyone's feelings, just asking an honest question: How would you envision SLU if we had been given the 17th spot in the BE?

I don't think one time 5 pt loss to DePaul means all that much when you look at your program long term. When we both played in GMW and CUSA, we played them pretty much even. Some years better and some years worse. Same with Marquette. Marquette advantage was, they had some very good years which we did not come close to.

I think even if we finished in the bottom part of the BE but still demonstrated commitment, I believe you would have seen much easier recruiting (possibly Harrelson and Roth and ones we probably don't know about, even Majerus has eluded to that on several occasions). We would probably been on national TV. Also look at attendance, wouldn't we have had sell-outs with Marquette, ND, Georgetown, etc.. coming into town. I think playing some of these schools at home we would have pulled them out as we did with BC & UD. Some our best attended games in our history were the Marquette games when we played in the old GMW/CUSA.

A good example is Seton Hall prior to the BE, you could not get any lower, a equivalent to St Peters today. Today they are not a world beater but in the BE they had a final 4 and several players in the NBA. They made a major commitment to basketball but even with what they done, we have done more with a 85mil $ arena/practice areas on campus and the hiring of Majerus.

What I am just saying is the A10 needs to have some schools make the commitment we made or we spin our wheels.

While I agree that the schools who are making the commitment should indeed be able to criticize those who dont, I think you are wrong when you say some schools need to make the same commitment because more than some have there are only a few at the very bottom I am concerned about. Also spin our wheels and go where? If there were some place better to go at this point dont you think a team like Xavier would already be gone? Barring another BE breakup there isnt really any good options. Maybe MVC for SLU but that is only because of geographical reasons, it isnt a better conference than the A10. The A10 is still usually one of the top 8 conferences every year and usually never worse than 9th. They are usually the first or second best conference outside the big 6. So lets not pretend like SLU is going to pack up and leave if things dont get changed, because there really isnt anywhere better to go.

[cheeseman]

This whole discussion has several tangents - 1. If I had been the A10 I would not have accepted SLU or UNCC -but they did and they did so for a reason. My guess was that the conf wanted two stronger teams and was considering what to do in the future. I also think Bruno did not want to contract even though some schools probably did. 2. Should we be talking about contraction being so new to the conf? - as a conf member, we have the right to talk about everything related to the conf - now is smart for us to do this - maybe not, just because you can does not mean you should. 3. The A10 has two major short term problems: they need to fix the TV package and reorganize the conf. By going to two 7 team divisions they could set up a scheduling improvement - play all your division teams twice and the other division school once. The TV package could be set up to allow the conf control of it but allow the divisions to be paid differently. A better division could get more money and this might help the lower division to be motivated to improve. 4. This St. Bon discussion is difficult, I can see why they might be upset with us but the problem is their location. Nobody in the conf likes to make that trip and for some it is downright tough. That being said, the conf has to long term decide what it wants to do as far as contraction or expansion. I know most never think about expanding but you go to 16 teams and create a Big East set up. My preference would be to have this whole issue being on the table by the conf as a whole.

[brownwolves]

I find it hard to believe that some of you guys are serious? Look on a map of the USA - SLU "is the outpost". Find something closer to your own hood like the Horizon League.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, none of our other sports teams have done well in the A-10 either.

Has your basketball team won the A-10 yet, runner up, 3rd or 4th place?

Until you prove yourselfs you don't have a leg to stand on...

We're not going anywhere. We like it when we hear how "difficult" it is to come here and play but, truth be know the visiting teams have it pretty nice when they come to play at SBU.

Just leave it, let it go, let sleeping dogs- sleep. Or we'll have to put another "Tyler Relph" show on you next year!!!

GO BROWN INDIANS

[cheeseman]

I find it hard to believe that some of you guys are serious? Look on a map of the USA - SLU "is the outpost". Find something closer to your own hood like the Horizon League.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, none of our other sports teams have done well in the A-10 either.

Has your basketball team won the A-10 yet, runner up, 3rd or 4th place?

Until you prove yourselfs you don't have a leg to stand on...

We're not going anywhere. We like it when we hear how "difficult" it is to come here and play but, truth be know the visiting teams have it pretty nice when they come to play at SBU.

Just leave it, let it go, let sleeping dogs- sleep. Or we'll have to put another "Tyler Relph" show on you next year!!!

GO BROWN INDIANS

[cheeseman]

I will be happy to correct you - our volleyball team won the conf title this ear, our baseball team won the conf. tourney 2 seasons ago, our soccer team has been in the top of the conf every year we have been in the conf, our swim team has done very well also. This is just off the top of my head. Now, I understand why you are so upset at us but why come on a board and attack the comments - if you want to come and read then fine but show some maturity and save your thoughts for your board. By the way, did you read my previous post - I said we should not be discussing this topic and that if I had been the A10 I would not have accepted us and UNCC.

[brianstl]

I find it hard to believe that some of you guys are serious? Look on a map of the USA - SLU "is the outpost". Find something closer to your own hood like the Horizon League.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, none of our other sports teams have done well in the A-10 either.

Has your basketball team won the A-10 yet, runner up, 3rd or 4th place?

Until you prove yourselfs you don't have a leg to stand on...

We're not going anywhere. We like it when we hear how "difficult" it is to come here and play but, truth be know the visiting teams have it pretty nice when they come to play at SBU.

Just leave it, let it go, let sleeping dogs- sleep. Or we'll have to put another "Tyler Relph" show on you next year!!!

GO BROWN INDIANS

To add to what Cheeseman posted we won a women's soccer title in 2005. We finishes fourth in basketball in 05-06 and we have only been under .500 in the conference once.

You guys haven't even made the conference tournament since we have been in the league.

[kevinfootes]

By going to two 7 team divisions they could set up a scheduling improvement - play all your division teams twice and the other division school once.

So you're proposing a 19-game conference schedule?

[TJHawk]

So you're proposing a 19-game conference schedule?

What your looking for is the Big East to split between Footbal Schools and Basketball School.

The new Conference being

1. DePaul 2. Georgetown 3. Marquette 4. Notre Dame 5. Providence 6. Seton Hall 7. St. John's 8. Villanova

All 8 schools will be in so no kicking them out. The battle then becomes who else (if any) they let in.

Xavier seems like a lock for the number 9 spot.

Temple and St. Joes may be on the outside looking in if Villanova doesn't want to share.

So if they only let in 10 schools, its a battle between Dayton and SLU. If they let in 12 SLU is a lock.

If this happens and SLU is on the outside looking in, then its either the Valley or hooking up with Butler and the A-10 cast offs to form a new Conference.

Go Jayhawks

[billiken_roy]

What your looking for is the Big East to split between Footbal Schools and Basketball School.

The new Conference being

1. DePaul 2. Georgetown 3. Marquette 4. Notre Dame 5. Providence 6. Seton Hall 7. St. John's 8. Villanova

All 8 schools will be in so no kicking them out. The battle then becomes who else (if any) they let in.

Xavier seems like a lock for the number 9 spot.

Temple and St. Joes may be on the outside looking in if Villanova doesn't want to share.

So if they only let in 10 schools, its a battle between Dayton and SLU. If they let in 12 SLU is a lock.

If this happens and SLU is on the outside looking in, then its either the Valley or hooking up with Butler and the A-10 cast offs to form a new Conference.

Go Jayhawks

jayhawks, i pretty much agree, and that is why slu needed to try to align themselves with dayton and xaiver asap.

the hopes is they ally up and that marquette and depaul do the same and both sets then see the advantage of the five being one.

[Clock_Tower]

So you're proposing a 19-game conference schedule?

My thought exactly. I don't want to see 19 conference games plus the conference tourney. This year, we are playing 16 conference games and 14 non-conference games. While the trend in college basketball is to keep increasing the number of conference games, I greatly dislike this turn of events and wish the schools would retake power/$ from their conferences and then be able to play meaningful games OOC.

[billikenfan05]

To add to what Cheeseman posted we won a women's soccer title in 2005. We finishes fourth in basketball in 05-06 and we have only been under .500 in the conference once.

You guys haven't even made the conference tournament since we have been in the league.

I will be happy to correct you - our volleyball team won the conf title this ear, our baseball team won the conf. tourney 2 seasons ago, our soccer team has been in the top of the conf every year we have been in the conf, our swim team has done very well also. This is just off the top of my head. Now, I understand why you are so upset at us but why come on a board and attack the comments - if you want to come and read then fine but show some maturity and save your thoughts for your board. By the way, did you read my previous post - I said we should not be discussing this topic and that if I had been the A10 I would not have accepted us and UNCC.

F*CKIN OWNED SIR!!!!

Our Volleyball team has won the Conf. Title 2 times. Went UNDEFEATED in Conference play this season.

You should know about baseball as well. You guys lost to us in a 2 of 3 series to send us to the NCAA tournament.

[kevinfootes]

My thought exactly. I don't want to see 19 conference games plus the conference tourney. This year, we are playing 16 conference games and 14 non-conference games. While the trend in college basketball is to keep increasing the number of conference games, I greatly dislike this turn of events and wish the schools would retake power/$ from their conferences and then be able to play meaningful games OOC.

If you have 19 games, some teams will have 10 home games and others 9. I just don't see it working.