Looks like Duke!

[moytoy12]

I don't need to re-read the post. If Duke is in the same category as UNC, Kansas and UCLA why can't they come play a game here like those other schools have done? They've done it before.

UNC came for Hansbrough.

Last played Kansas 8-9 years ago and I suspect R. Williams probably gave some St. Louis kids a chance to play in St. Louis.

UCLA series was over 10 years ago.

Yes, the super elite have come here in the past, but not that often. We've had 3 of the super elite teams come to SLU 3 times total in the last 10-11 years. 1 of those (and perhaps, 2) was to do a favor for a "local" kid.

I don't know why Duke won't agree to come here; I don't care. If you get a chance to play Duke, you do it.

[Archy McNally]

I don't think it is as good as having a home and home with a top 40 team but I like it because:

1) It shows SLU is trying to strengthen its schedule this year now that it has a more experienced team.

2) It gets us on CBS on a Saturday against the #1 team in the country.

3) It helps us prepare for the conference season.

I think this is a one-year thing due to the situation SLU is in as they are just on the cusp of being in the NCAA and if they make the NCAAs next year, I think scheduling gets a little easier.

[Hawk]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there were other reasons like you mentioned. Roy Williams is a class act when it comes to that. We were a hot team in the 90s but UCLA caught us after a pretty bad year (we were 16-14, 4-10 the previous season).

Do you think we should be a buy game for teams like Indiana, Kansas, etc. every year?

I will give you this...we were in a much better conference in those days and that helps a lot.

We could probably get Indiana on a buy game right now

[slufanskip]

right skip, let's become Maryland Eastern Shore and play 25 road games.

If this is more than a one off it's a definite change in approach for the program. Let's see what happens.

yea, that's what I said. We should play 25 road games per year.

[DeSmetBilliken]

I still would like Duke to come to St. Louis for a game. Like I posted, I hope we don't become a regular buy game even for the big names.

Ideally, we would be playing a home-and-home with a program like Duke. Unfortunately, based on our play the past 10 years, we're not in a position for those kind of things to happen right now. We're good enough for top teams to be worried about taking a loss to us if they come to St. Louis, but at the same time we haven't been quite good enough for those top teams to not have to worry about a loss to us being labeled as a bad loss come Selection Sunday. If beginning this season we begin to play at an NCAA Tournament caliber level, which I think is more than reasonable, and we maintain that level for a few years, then playing us home-and-home will make more sense from a scheduling standpoint for the so-called top teams.

If going down to Durham is more beneficial for us concerning the RPI or SOS than beating a 250 or 300+ RPI team like Mississippi Valley State, than it will help us eventually reach that level where the top teams like Duke might be willing to play us in a home-and-home setting.

[Pistol]

UNC came for Hansbrough.

Last played Kansas 8-9 years ago and I suspect R. Williams probably gave some St. Louis kids a chance to play in St. Louis.

UCLA series was over 10 years ago.

Yes, the super elite have come here in the past, but not that often. We've had 3 of the super elite teams come to SLU 3 times total in the last 10-11 years. 1 of those (and perhaps, 2) was to do a favor for a "local" kid.

I don't know why Duke won't agree to come here; I don't care. If you get a chance to play Duke, you do it.

If that's the only way to get big programs in here, let's milk it. The next two classes in St. Louis are huge and maybe we can get:

Florida (Beal)

Kansas (McLemore, allegedly)

And then wherever Young and Biedscheid go, assuming it isn't SLU. If we can keep convincing these programs to give their St. Louis stars a homecoming, then we'd be happy to host. Might be Duke:

http://stlhighschoolsports.com/sports/boys...ches-dukes-eye/

[Iggy]

I'm think it's great. We'll actually be able to watch our guys on television and in high definition rather than watching one camera angle on our laptops.

[SShoe]

Do you think we should be a buy game for teams like Indiana, Kansas, etc. every year?

Not particularly, but because next year is all about taking this program to the next step, I think the circumstances (CBS, defending national champ, rising team) make this an attractive game. Hopefully in the future we won't have to make these types of concessions to play the big boys, but until then...

[SShoe]

I'm think it's great. We'll actually be able to watch our guys on television and in high definition rather than watching one camera angle on our laptops.

Right, I mean how good is Cody Ellis' tan going to look on CBSHD?

[DirtyRican]

Right, I mean how good is Cody Ellis' tan going to look on CBSHD?

How sharp will Rickma's black turtleneck look in HD?

[kshoe]

I'm think it's great. We'll actually be able to watch our guys on television and in high definition rather than watching one camera angle on our laptops.

Iggy, I figured the Shoes would see you in Durham.

[kevinfootes]

yea, that's what I said. We should play 25 road games per year.

skip, do you know what that icon means?

[kevinfootes]

Not particularly, but because next year is all about taking this program to the next step, I think the circumstances (CBS, defending national champ, rising team) make this an attractive game. Hopefully in the future we won't have to make these types of concessions to play the big boys, but until then...

I hope we're not locking ourselves into perpetual mid-major status, but I'm probably in denial. We're already there I guess.

[brianstl]

The CBS coverage is the only thing that makes this tolerable. It sets a bad precedent. Now other teams will automatically want the same deal Duke got. You can bet Kentucky will now want the same deal no matter the friendship and history with Calipari.

The game itself I am excited about, I just don't like the deal that we took to get the game.

[RiseAndGrind]

The CBS coverage is the only thing that makes this tolerable. It sets a bad precedent. Now other teams will automatically want the same deal Duke got. You can bet Kentucky will now want the same deal no matter the friendship and history with Calipari.

The game itself I am excited about, I just don't like the deal that we took to get the game.

Tolerable? This is a chance for SLU to prove itself. It's not like teams were banging down the door to play SLU. If we could have had this game "anytime we wanted" as some other posters are suggesting, it would have happened already. This is a great game for SLU to play. If we win, we finally can make some noise. If we lose, well we were on national television and hopefully kept it close.

I think people are overestimating SLU's position in college basketball. We have ZERO leverage when it comes to scheduling games against teams worth playing. Sure we could make all the 1 and 1's with mid-majors that we want, but where is that gonna get us? We could be like Illinois St. and start 16-0, but in reality still have a very poor basketball team.

I love it.

[brianstl]

Tolerable? This is a chance for SLU to prove itself. It's not like teams were banging down the door to play SLU. If we could have had this game "anytime we wanted" as some other posters are suggesting, it would have happened already. This is a great game for SLU to play. If we win, we finally can make some noise. If we lose, well we were on national television and hopefully kept it close.

I think people are overestimating SLU's position in college basketball. We have ZERO leverage when it comes to scheduling games against teams worth playing. Sure we could make all the 1 and 1's with mid-majors that we want, but where is that gonna get us? We could be like Illinois St. and start 16-0, but in reality still have a very poor basketball team.

I love it.

Well according to Rickma's statements in the past we could have had these games before. He said he wouldn't take them and I will take his word on that. I am sure the thing that tipped the scale was SLU was being able to get the game on CBS.

Like I said, I am excited about the game. I am just not all that happy with the deal we had to take to get it.

IL St.'s scheduling problem isn't that they don't play enough glamour programs on the road.

[billiken_roy]

What excites me most is that rickma wouldn't do this unless he truly felt we had the potential to win. He would not schedule to lose

[DirtyRican]

What excites me most is that rickma wouldn't do this unless he truly felt we had the potential to win. He would not schedule to lose

Good point.

[kshoe]

I agree with some of what Footes and Cheesemen are saying but I don't believe this means we won't be able to get home and homes in the future. Its always been a chicken or the egg thing and you can't get good home and homes until you win and make the dance, but its hard to make the dance if you don't play good teams. Do it this year, ge the exposure, keep the game close and take care of business in the rest of the non-con season and its all good. As my brother pointed out, Cornell got more respect for the close loss at Kansas than any other regular season game they played last year. After we make the dance, getting fair home and homes should be much easier than it is now (similar to how we were able to get the UCLA home and home).

Lastly, people shouldn't act like this is the first time in recent memory that we have been a buy game. The tournies we played at Texas A&M and Pitt where we played two scrub teams and the host team in the final game was nothing but a glorified buy game with two neutral court games added on. I'd much rather do this (play a big name opponent as a buy game on national t.v. AND play in a tournament against not horrible teams which will likely also be on some sort of t.v.)

[SShoe]

Lastly, people shouldn't act like this is the first time in recent memory that we have been a buy game. The tournies we played at Texas A&M and Pitt where we played two scrub teams and the host team in the final game was nothing but a glorified buy game with two neutral court games added on. I'd much rather do this (play a big name opponent as a buy game on national t.v. AND play in a tournament against not horrible teams which will likely also be on some sort of t.v.)

Nor are we the first A-10 team to play a "buy" game at Duke. Xavier (four years ago?), Dayton (three years ago), Rhode Island (two years ago), and Charlotte (last year) have all played at Duke without returns to their campuses.

[Box and Won]

Do you think we should be a buy game for teams like Indiana, Kansas, etc. every year?

I'd love to be a buy game for Indiana. We'd cruise into Bloomington, pick up a W and leave town with some cash.

[TheA_Bomb]

There is the W-L record, SOS, RPI, quality wins, bad losses and HYPE!

You gotta get hype and you can do that by playing THE NATIONAL CHAMPS on NATIONAL TV.

All the Basketball Talking Heads who love Duke will talk about SLU when selection time comes because they will remember this game (assuming SLU is a bubble team or better). Just gotta keep the game close or win (we are not Chaminade).

Hype also translates into greater attention from recruits and fans.

Good game now go get some decent home games too and I will be satisfied.

Plus I love Army Navy always watch even at 4 AM in Camp Doha Kuwait (NOV 2001) wherever I am so this will be a fun day for me.

[slu72]

I hope we're not locking ourselves into perpetual mid-major status, but I'm probably in denial. We're already there I guess.

Being in a strong A-10 is moving us into that territory between mid major and BCS. This was written about last year by the pundits. To really eliminate the stigma we need games like this. I'm just hoping we don't lay a big egg on national TV and give these guys a game. No it won't be a moral victory if we keep it close, but it will give us some credibility. RM's a national figure and if SLU hangs in there until the final buzzer, we will get some attention.

[slufanskip]

skip, do you know what that icon means?

I know what it means, but I thought it was ridiculous to put out the statement like that's what I was saying and then put a wink behind it to mask the intent of writing it in the first place.

Look, I don't think it's a perfect situation and of course it would be better if we got a return game, but obviously that wasn't on the table. Either was a home and home with other top BCS schools. At some point, if you want to play the best teams, you have to make the best deal you can and see what you got. We could sit around forever waiting with our chest stuck out saying we're SLU and you must give us a home and home. In the meantime we can continue to ***** about our poor strength of schedule.

Here's what I think. I think RM believes in this team and thinks that though an upset isn't likely, it's possible. I think he expects to be in the tourney and also believes that the experience a road game at Duke will bring to this team win or lose will help in the long run.

And in the end, I love the we'll play anyone anytime attitude.

[bills10]

A cool thing about this is that probably 10% of America will be rooting for Duke that night, and everyone else who happens to be flipping through the channels will be rooting for SLU!