Is at at large out of the question for this team?

[Runnin'Billiken]

I was shocked to find out that Fordham appears to be the largest Jesuit university in America. And they can't upgrade their gym?

Building seems to be out of the question. Where would you build a gym/arena in NYC, and even if you could, what would the property (let alone construction) cost? Putting Chaifetz there would probably cost $200mil. And...

In order to upgrade, there has to be some desire on the part of the school, program, and fanbase to get better. I can't say that I have seen that.

[bonwich]

It's the Bronx, so land prices, while high, wouldn't be as high as elsewhere in NYC. But they may not even have to acquire at all. Two solutions I see would be to replace the parking lot on the east end of campus with a combination of 6-8,000 seat arena and multilevel garage; or tearing down the existing gym/training/union complex and combining them all into one. (What do they do on "Jack Coffee Field"? It looks like they already have separate football and baseball fields.)

[slu72]

Wow, I didn't think we'd see "an at large" post until we were at least 6-0 and sitting alone atop the conference. I still don't see us going any better than 9-7 in conference play. The road is a killer for us and until we get as comfortable on it as Willie Nelson, we've got a lot to prove. If you want a realistic hope for making the dance, think about us being the surprise winner of the A-10 tourney. This team's got another 15 games to keep getting better. But what we still seem to lack is that solid 3 pt threat. Now maybe once CE gets over jet lag and calling co-eds babes instead of sheilas, he'll provide that. But I'd still like to see either CS, KC, or JJ also step up their game in that area as well. If we have 3 guys who can nail 3's just think what that opens up for our inside game and KM's drives to the hoop. That would indeed be fun to watch. One other thing, even though I watched on tiny screen internet yesterday, it seemed CE was a very cool customer out there and had to overcome little or no jitters. He had presence. It will be interesting to see how WR responds to his time out and the presence of CE.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

Okay.

We just beat a top tier team in the A-10 with our best big man out. Ellis completes this team. He is fluid and has a calming presence out there. And we have no Juniors or Seniors. This will be our starting five

Reed

Ellis

Cassity

CS

Mitchell

with BC, JJ, and CR coming off the bench. I am loving this team right now. Okay so here is the question for Kwijbo, thicks and the others who like to predict RPI and such.

Where do the bills have to finish in league play to get an at large? 2nd? 3rd?

I think we will play much better on the road with Ellis. He is just a beast out there.

-Nick

I think its pretty safe to say that we will be making the NCAA tournament this year, I expect the sweet 16 this year.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Yes, they would take something like Ellis' late arrival into consideration, however we could still go 13-3, make the A10 final, and be booking ticket to the NIT and not the dance. Even if they consider the entire season before Ellis a wash and go 16-4 with him for 26-9 overall, we still need one thing that we don't have: quality road wins. We play Dayton, X, Rhody, Temple, and Richmond at home, and even those 5 wins won't get us there. Our only tourney calibre road games are Richmond and Dayton, plus anyone we see in the tournament. It would take winning at least two of those types of games. We played some nice neutral court games in Chicago, but unfortunately didn't win any.

for NIT: 11-5, win two of our "tough" remaining home games, beat Dayton or Richmond on the road, and beat one of those 5 in the tournament. It would be more feasible to win the tournament than get an at large.

While, yes, it's too soon to daydream about the possibility of an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament, I feel compelled to respond to Runnin's comments.

Dude, if the Billikens go 13-3, they will definitely be in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Such a record would put them as one of the top two teams in the A-10, if not the regular-season champion. Even without what you call a quality road win, the NCAA selection committee would deem SLU's résumé worthy. If the conference could get multiple at-large bids, they're not going to omit the team finishing first or second.

Moreover, the Bills' RPI ranking would go up considerably if they go 13-3, which would likely include going 5-3 on the road. Such a road record would command respect regardless of who the wins came against. Dominating the A-10 would result in an at-large bid.

Having said all of that (hypothetically), I don't believe this squad is ready to go 13-3 in this conference. I suspect the 2011-12 squad will be, though.

[slu72]

While, yes, it's too soon to daydream about the possibility of an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament, I feel compelled to respond to Runnin's comments.

Dude, if the Billikens go 13-3, they will definitely be in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Such a record would put them as one of the top two teams in the A-10, if not the regular-season champion. Even without what you call a quality road win, the NCAA selection committee would deem SLU's résumé worthy. If the conference could get multiple at-large bids, they're not going to omit the team finishing first or second.

Moreover, the Bills' RPI ranking would go up considerably if they go 13-3, which would likely include going 5-3 on the road. Such a road record would command respect regardless of who the wins came against. Dominating the A-10 would result in an at-large bid.

Having said all of that (hypothetically), I don't believe this squad is ready to go 13-3 in this conference. I suspect the 2011-12 squad will be, though.

As usual a voice of reason.... we've finally got HOPE going for us. If anything, RM might, and a big might, have us ready for a run in the A-10 tourney. Loved CE's composure yesterday... finally, we've got a big who gets it. Not that WR, CR, and JS don't, but CE's play was fun to watch.

[kshoe]

Moreover, the Bills' RPI ranking would go up considerably if they go 13-3, which would likely include going 5-3 on the road. Such a road record would command respect regardless of who the wins came against. Dominating the A-10 would result in an at-large bid.

A 13-3 record in conference would put us at 21-8 overall. The best estimate of our RPI would be 56.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/teams/St.%20Louis.html

While I agree it would be an interesting test case given the strong finish and addition of a top player, but teams from non BCS conferences don't typically get at larges with RPIs of 56....

[Pistol]

Having said all of that (hypothetically), I don't believe this squad is ready to go 13-3 in this conference. I suspect the 2011-12 squad will be, though.

Has any SLU team ever been that successful on the road?

This year, we've shown we can't win on neutral floors, or places like Bowling Green. And we didn't just lose there, we got smacked. How are we suddenly going to become road warriors? My optimistic conference finish for us is 8-8 because we play 8 road games, and that assumes we win every home game, which probably won't happen. Looking at the 8 road games in conference this year, none of them should see us favored. LaSalle is the best bet and Xavier just barely got out of there with a win this past week.

I'm also not going to project anything crazy like that for next year until we show we can win at least one game on the road. At least next year we play at Fordham.

[slufanskip]

Is it to early to point out that if we don't lose another game this season we will be national champs?

and if we can carry that winning streak through to the end of KM's and WR's Sr years, we'll have 3 National Championships.

THis board has a bipolar disorder.

[Hawk]

I do note that either through our own scheduling or through the usual disrespect we receive, we have no "bracket buster" game or other out-of-conference game for the rest of the season.

Why would we?

a) We haven't had the success recently that would warrant a bracketbuster game. Whole point of it is to give a 'quality' win to a midmajor team that is aiming for the NCAA.

b ) When recently have we had a non-con game past this point in the season? Some major schools do it to shake things up and give their team a challenge during conference. Others do it because they have to because of being in a weak conference.

[Hawk]

THis board has a bipolar disorder.

That it does. After a win, it's ''how far in the NCAA tournament can this team go?' and after a loss it's "I don't seeing us winning another game this year"

[bonwich]

Why would we?

a) We haven't had the success recently that would warrant a bracketbuster game. Whole point of it is to give a 'quality' win to a midmajor team that is aiming for the NCAA.

b ) When recently have we had a non-con game past this point in the season? Some major schools do it to shake things up and give their team a challenge during conference. Others do it because they have to because of being in a weak conference.

a) I submit that all mid-major teams are "aiming for the NCAA." How far in advance do they determine who will be playing in those games? Based on the previous year's record? Do they handicap for teams that did well last year and lost all their best players?

b ) Three years ago and five years ago. (The one I remembered was the Fort Wayne game, and I can't believe that's been five years already.) It seems like we frequently had one before we joined the A-10, but that may be because the prior conference was smaller.

[someoneelse]

It's the Bronx, so land prices, while high, wouldn't be as high as elsewhere in NYC. But they may not even have to acquire at all. Two solutions I see would be to replace the parking lot on the east end of campus with a combination of 6-8,000 seat arena and multilevel garage; or tearing down the existing gym/training/union complex and combining them all into one. (What do they do on "Jack Coffee Field"? It looks like they already have separate football and baseball fields.)

As Fordham grad, '91, it would be tough to expand. The parking lot is used by commuter students and it would be a hardship for them. Parking passes are given by class and there aren't enough to go around. Jack Coffee is the football field, I am not sure what layout you are looking at. Even so, Fordham would like to be more a national school with fewer commuters, but that means more dorms. Off campus housing is limited as parents aren't entirely keen on having their children walk the Bronx at night. Four years of guaranteed on campus housing is an appeal that my parents saw. While Fordham does have a 12? story dorm, I don't know if it wants another one.

The biggest stumbling block is focus, not surprisingly. The Manhattan footprint is expanding. The law and business schools are very highly ranked (due in part to, in my opinion, salaries commanded by the New York labor market, not tremendous schooling). They tried to go 'big time' with Bob Hill as head coach and that failed, pretty badly. The same AD, Frank McLaughlin, has been there for at least 20 years, so he seems pretty protected. I don't have answers, just providing a little background.

The above is a little stream of consciousness, my apologies.

[billiken_roy]

Why would we?

a) We haven't had the success recently that would warrant a bracketbuster game. Whole point of it is to give a 'quality' win to a midmajor team that is aiming for the NCAA.

b ) When recently have we had a non-con game past this point in the season? Some major schools do it to shake things up and give their team a challenge during conference. Others do it because they have to because of being in a weak conference.

actually the point of a "bracket buster" game is to give the lesser conferences like the horizon or the mvc to play some games against each other in hopes that it will enhance their rpi. the stronger conferences like the A-10 dont play bracket buster games.

[RUBillsFan]

As Fordham grad, '91, it would be tough to expand. The parking lot is used by commuter students and it would be a hardship for them. Parking passes are given by class and there aren't enough to go around. Jack Coffee is the football field, I am not sure what layout you are looking at. Even so, Fordham would like to be more a national school with fewer commuters, but that means more dorms. Off campus housing is limited as parents aren't entirely keen on having their children walk the Bronx at night. Four years of guaranteed on campus housing is an appeal that my parents saw. While Fordham does have a 12? story dorm, I don't know if it wants another one.

The biggest stumbling block is focus, not surprisingly. The Manhattan footprint is expanding. The law and business schools are very highly ranked (due in part to, in my opinion, salaries commanded by the New York labor market, not tremendous schooling). They tried to go 'big time' with Bob Hill as head coach and that failed, pretty badly. The same AD, Frank McLaughlin, has been there for at least 20 years, so he seems pretty protected. I don't have answers, just providing a little background.

The above is a little stream of consciousness, my apologies.

Thanks for the info on Fordham. Their situation with sub-par facilities is a little troubling and ideally the school would find a way to work it out. If Fordham could field a good bball team, it would do wonders for the A-10. not only would it boost the RPI b/c Fordham is such a drag on it now, but it would give the A-10 more exposure in NY which is a huge market. The poor facilities probably play a big role in holding Fordham back.

[RUBillsFan]

b ) When recently have we had a non-con game past this point in the season? Some major schools do it to shake things up and give their team a challenge during conference. Others do it because they have to because of being in a weak conference.

I remember a few years ago (when they first joined the A-10) SLU played Houston in a rare out of conference home and home series. I believe one of the games was during the A-10 regular season if I am not mistaken. I am too lazy to look it up.

[Clock_Tower]

I remember a few years ago (when they first joined the A-10) SLU played Houston in a rare out of conference home and home series. I believe one of the games was during the A-10 regular season if I am not mistaken. I am too lazy to look it up.

Yes. That was one of the years when Brad not only could not land recruits but also had trouble landing opponents. Believe he found Houston on the Internet "games wanted" section only weeks before the start of the season. Even with 1/2 of the schedule set (conference games), we barely were able to schedule enough games. Then, in true Billiken form, we stopped playing Houston altogether. The thought process, or lack thereof, behind SLU scheduling continues to amaze me.