PD Gordon's views re Temple leaving

[SLU7881]

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Just as St. Louis University made its climb up the Atlantic 10 ladder, the league is starting to wobble.

The Billikens solidified their second-place standing in the conference by muscling up on Xavier Tuesday night. They took another big step toward making the NCAA Tournament bracket, too,

The A-10 looks like a two-bid league this season and SLU appears good for that second slot.

But where is the A-10 headed? If the league loses basketball powerhouse Temple to the Big East, other schools will start assessing their options.

Such is the nature of college athletics in this unstable Realignment Era. One key school makes a move and the dominoes begin tumbling.

If the resulting change makes the A-10 stronger, that would be great for the Billikens. But if the upheaval diminishes the league, that will be SLU's cue to seek a better home.

The Temple board of trustees is meeting today to discuss the school’s athletic future. The Big East desperately needs another football school and Temple has long aspired to move into that conference.

Opportunity is at hand for the Owls.

“This is driven by the 2012 football schedule,” Patrick J. O'Connor, chairman of Temple's board of trustees, told CSNPHILLY.com. “Because of that, decisions have to be made. There are time considerations.”

Temple plays football in the Mid-American Conference and its other sports in the A-10. The school could make a football-only move to the Big East – or it could move all sports to that conference, starting as early as next season.

“We have two world-class coaches in football and men's basketball, and they belong on a national stage,” said O'Connor, referring to football coach Steve Addazio and basketball coach Fran Dunphy.

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan warned Temple not to move. “Once Syracuse and Pittsburgh are gone, and maybe Louisville or Cincinnati, will the Big East still be that much more desirable than the Atlantic 10, where Temple has thrived in basketball, or the MAC, where Temple has revived its football program? What exactly inspires confidence in the Big East and its commissioner, John Marinatto?”

Should Temple ignore this advice and leave, the A-10 would suffer a major blow. Once-relevant basketball programs like Rhode Island, Charlotte, George Washington and Richmond are currently scuffling in the league.

Minus Temple, the A-10 would have a suspect national basketball profile.

This is a patchwork conference, with schools from the South (Charlotte, Richmond) and Midwest (SLU, Xavier, Dayton) tossed in with mostly mid-major programs in the Northeast.

Moving the conference tournament from the abyss (Atlantic City) to Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center for five years will be a plus. That should boost the league’s image and remind some New Yorkers that Fordham still plays basketball.

The A-10 figures to go after George Mason and/or Virginia Commonwealth if Temple leaves. Both schools have excellent basketball traditions and both would be excellent gets.

On the other hand, the Colonial Athletic Association has already been flirting with George Washington, Richmond and Charlotte. Administrators at the latter two schools – like those at SLU – must doubt the sanity of sending their various athletic teams out of their region to collegiate outposts like Olean, N.Y.

Massachusetts could also look to depart the A-10 at some point down the road, due to its ambitious plans for football. Apparently there is some serious UConn envy up there.

All of this leaves many SLU fans yearning for the formation of a basketball-driven Midwestern conference with natural rivals like Xavier, Dayton, DePaul, Detroit, Loyola (Ill.), Butler, Missouri-Kansas City, Wisconsin-Milwaukee . . . well, you get the idea.

Building such a conference from scratch would be quite an undertaking, but SLU has been thinking big in basketball for some time.

The big-time coach is in place. So is the outstanding on-campus arena. While the school is on a roll, it should get proactive on the conference affiliation front if the A-10 starts crumbling.

[brianstl]

Fans are yearning for a conference with UMKC, UWM, and Loyola?

[Taj79]

Gordon's an Antler. Gordon is yearning for us with UMKC, UWM and Loyola. Increases the irrelevance in his mind. The bones of the article we all know about; the bunting he puts on those bones shows a small-mindness that I'd prefer we ignore.

[SLU7881]

I think his point is fans want a Midwest based conference. I suppose thats true to some degree whatever the makeup of the conference. Temple leaving isnt good and I hope the A-10 has a plan A though history suggests it prefers working behind the proverbial 8 ball.

[Taj79]

He is basing his rivalries on geography ---- like Boise State against South Florida. I'm all for it --- as in like-minded schools with like-minded philosophies still. I don't need a conference full of directional/state schools offering degrees in phys ed and welding.

[slu72]

Jeez, this is the best conference a supposed veteran knowledgeable sports journalist could come up with for the hometown team? Shameful. The best mid west options for SLU if the A-10 takes a nosedive are as follows:

1.) If they want to go to the trouble to start a new conference you band with X and Dayton and try to coax Butler, Creighton, Valpo, Detroit, Chicago Loyola, Bradley, and Drake to form basically a private school Mid West conference. Yes, there are some weak sisters in that mix, but overall it's got some quality and rivalry appeal.

2.) Join the MVC.

3.) Or SLU really thinks big time and goes to Marquette, DePaul, and ND (yes, that ND)along with X, Dayton, Butler, Creighton and SLU for a very strong 8 team league w/ national appeal and located in major midwest markets. You want to fill the Fetz for every conference game this alignment would do it. This option might also make schools like Georgetown and Nova think about merging their BB only schools to form a mega conference of BB only schools with East and West divisons. Really, the Beast as it's being configured right now makes no sense at all. The only thing they have going for it is their guaranteed BCS bowl deal. If the other major conferences start adding more teams, the Beast will eventually lose this pearl.

[brianstl]

Gordon has a history of talking fown to Billiken fans.

[JMM28]

Gordon is a hack. When was the last time he showed his face at The Fetz?

[Box and Won]

Gordon may be the P-D's laziest writer.

[Cowboy]

Gordon has a history of talking fown to Billiken fans.

-at a minimum, while i am not on board with the huge conspiracy at the post, if there is one person there that truly does not like SLU it is gordon

[davidnark]

I don't believe Gordon dislikes SLU or has any agenda against SLU. I just think he is lazy and doesn't really know what he is talking about on the issue.

[slu72]

Chris May should call Debbie Yow and get her opinion on what SLU should do. I think Debbie would say be aggressive and try and put the best conference together you can. That conf would not include the likes of UWM or UWGB or Cleveland St or Or the University of Iowa at BumF*&^ Egypt. There are teams out there that, while they may not consider SLU a rival, the fans of ST Louis would consider them to be our rival. ND would be at the top of that list.

[cheeseman]

Gordon has gotten fired from every 1 watt sports station in StL because he knows nothing and cares not to know anything. Why he would pick UWM over Marq is beyong me.

[billiken_roy]

gordon and the rest of his antler buddies like mike smith and vahe gregorge (or whatever the hell his name is) at the PD are just jerkoffs. plain and simple they live to try to minimize the billikens. f em. i hope they have a ball driving to florida, georgia, south carolina, tennessee and mississippi to cover their upcoming yearly football beatings. maybe when the tigers and the wildcats play in basketball it can be titled the cheating felines cup game. they can all sit together with the kentucky writers and jerk each other off telling themselves how great it is to have cheating coaches that just win.

[For-DaLove]

gordon and the rest of his antler buddies like mike smith and vahe gregorge (or whatever the hell his name is) at the PD are just jerkoffs. plain and simple they live to try to minimize the billikens. f em. i hope they have a ball driving to florida, georgia, south carolina, tennessee and mississippi to cover their upcoming yearly football beatings. maybe when the tigers and the wildcats play in basketball it can be titled the cheating felines cup game. they can all sit together with the kentucky writers and jerk each other off telling themselves how great it is to have cheating coaches that just win.

Hahaha Roy's goin' in. Love it.

[Prairie Bill]

The best mid west options for SLU if the A-10 takes a nosedive are as follows:

1.) If they want to go to the trouble to start a new conference you band with X and Dayton and try to coax Butler, Creighton, Valpo, Detroit, Chicago Loyola, Bradley, and Drake to form basically a private school Mid West conference. Yes, there are some weak sisters in that mix, but overall it's got some quality and rivalry appeal.

2.) Join the MVC.

3.) Or SLU really thinks big time and goes to Marquette, DePaul, and ND (yes, that ND)along with X, Dayton, Butler, Creighton and SLU for a very strong 8 team league w/ national appeal and located in major midwest markets. You want to fill the Fetz for every conference game this alignment would do it. This option might also make schools like Georgetown and Nova think about merging their BB only schools to form a mega conference of BB only schools with East and West divisons. Really, the Beast as it's being configured right now makes no sense at all. The only thing they have going for it is their guaranteed BCS bowl deal. If the other major conferences start adding more teams, the Beast will eventually lose this pearl.

Two good ideas out of three ain't bad

As I recall, ND could be in the Big 10 today except they want to control their own destiny in football. The point is we want a league with top-rank basketball aspirations, no desire or need for BCS football, and media markets that justify better TV coverage. We want Chicago and Indy exposure! If SLU joined the MVC, I'd be worse off than I am now for TV.

[GOSLU68]

X game proves SLU can draw fans to watch A 10 games. Now that we can compete for the top tier lets stop this noise about bolting.

RM and Chris May need to boost A10 rivalry and stability.

Playing against other top tier Jesuit and or private schools is a plus if it also means kids from SLU get in grad schools, med school,

Law schools at GW, Fordham, Dayton, etc. Getting into any college may be exciting to sports writers but a high percentage of A10

graduates have life after undergrad in mind.

Add Butler, Bradley, Creighton, etc. it is good for us to be known in New York, Philadephia, Washington DC and if we have to add look for Midwestern schools as good as X and Dayton not weaker markets

[MB73]

gordon and the rest of his antler buddies like mike smith and vahe gregorge (or whatever the hell his name is) at the PD are just jerkoffs. plain and simple they live to try to minimize the billikens. f em. i hope they have a ball driving to florida, georgia, south carolina, tennessee and mississippi to cover their upcoming yearly football beatings. maybe when the tigers and the wildcats play in basketball it can be titled the cheating felines cup game. they can all sit together with the kentucky writers and jerk each other off telling themselves how great it is to have cheating coaches that just win.

My new main man, broy! Well done!

(... waiting for Bonwich to try to smooth this over)

[Pistol]

gordon and the rest of his antler buddies like mike smith and vahe gregorge (or whatever the hell his name is) at the PD are just jerkoffs. plain and simple they live to try to minimize the billikens. f em. i hope they have a ball driving to florida, georgia, south carolina, tennessee and mississippi to cover their upcoming yearly football beatings. maybe when the tigers and the wildcats play in basketball it can be titled the cheating felines cup game. they can all sit together with the kentucky writers and jerk each other off telling themselves how great it is to have cheating coaches that just win.

Billiken Roy = American Hero.

[The Pelican]

gordon and the rest of his antler buddies like mike smith and vahe gregorge (or whatever the hell his name is) at the PD are just jerkoffs. plain and simple they live to try to minimize the billikens. f em. i hope they have a ball driving to florida, georgia, south carolina, tennessee and mississippi to cover their upcoming yearly football beatings. maybe when the tigers and the wildcats play in basketball it can be titled the cheating felines cup game. they can all sit together with the kentucky writers and jerk each other off telling themselves how great it is to have cheating coaches that just win.

Awesome post. Loving the cathartic post.

[bonwich]

My new main man, broy! Well done!

(... waiting for Bonwich to try to smooth this over)

All I can do is point out that I'm almost certain Vahe didn't go to Mizzou, at least not for undergrad. (Fun fact: Vahe's dad is the president of the Carnegie Corporation and used to be president of Brown.)

[Bay Area Billiken]

Trying to lump SLU in with UMKC and UW-Milwaukee speaks volumes. Of course, Mizzou honks/former Antlers would like SLU to be locked in that type of dungeon. He even skipped over the beloved MVC. What's that? This time he has us with Horizon League bottom feeders and the Summit League, a new low.

Quite frankly, there's a better chance that SLU would get Rockhurst to go D-1 and include Rockhurst in a conference than being linked with UMKC. (And nothing has been read about Rockhurst.) SLU would hope to be back in a conference with Marquette, and that would never happen with UW-Milwaukee in it.

Bottom Line: The SLU Billikens were all over STL radio yesterday, and when that happens, Mizzou feels threatened. SLU winning and getting positive publicity as the real hometown team is what will bring Alden to the table. That's what brought Mizzou to the table the last time to put Boone County Duck Season into temporary hiatus.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Didn't he know this article would spawn responses? Likely. The article had relevant points until he tried to be conference maker and lock SLU into a mid-major, even to some extent low-con, Hades, just the type of dungeon the arrogant Yahoos would love to sentence their perceived "Little Brother" once and for all.

[billiken_roy]

All I can do is point out that I'm almost certain Vahe didn't go to Mizzou, at least not for undergrad. (Fun fact: Vahe's dad is the president of the Carnegie Corporation and used to be president of Brown.)

might as well have been a mi$$ouri grad. he obviously sure wishes he was an antler. he is a pr!ck just like the others that loves to talk down to the billikens. he can go to hell for all i care about his patronizing ways. he has never given the billikens a kind word without at least an ounce of "however" downtalk included.

[Box and Won]

All I can do is point out that I'm almost certain Vahe didn't go to Mizzou, at least not for undergrad. (Fun fact: Vahe's dad is the president of the Carnegie Corporation and used to be president of Brown.)

I believe Vahe went to Penn. #uselessknowledge