thetorch Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 NYC is a college town. Everyone is a fan of some college, just no one is the fan of the same college. In STL we have Mizzou, SLU, Illini fans primarily. Sure there are some transplants who support their school they attended but by and large it is those 3 schools. NYC and surrounding area has Hofstra, Fordham, Iona, St. Johns, Seton Hall, Columbia, LIU, Manhattan, St. Francis, Wagner, even Army and Marist. Not to mention schools like Syracuse, UConn, Notre Dame, Penn St, Michigan, North Carolina, etc who have huge alumni bases there. Fan bases are so disparate that coverage of college sports suffers because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Is that a case of "well we screwed up on getting the invite so let's spin it that the A10is better"? I just can't see a scenario where the A10 is better than the Big East. Do tell. Nope. It is opinion. Beyond this board (yes, there is a world beyond billikens.com) there are a lot of people who really like the A10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Nope. It is opinion. Beyond this board (yes, there is a world beyond billikens.com) there are a lot of people who really like the A10. Hard to imagine why, when you consider the schools we could be playing in the BE. Yes I realize some of those are down at the moment.. but something tells me if we joined the BE, none of these A10 people would be putting up a fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Agreed. It's definitely spin. There is certainly nothing wrong with talking about the positives of the a-10 but it's hard to see how those positives can outweigh the geography, program recognition, tv dollars, etc of the big east. It is spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have no problem with staying in the A10. But the Big East is better. Don't really care what conference we're in as long as we have sustained success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 It's spin. Same as last year when we were dissed by the new Beast. Granted A10 had a really nice run this past year, but in the long run we want in the Beast, so we better keep up our winning ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Agreed. It's definitely spin. There is certainly nothing wrong with talking about the positives of the a-10 but it's hard to see how those positives can outweigh the geography, program recognition, tv dollars, etc of the big east. I've been very happy with the A-10, but yes, it is just spin. There is a reason Xavier and Butler jumped at the Big East and we would do the same. We would want to align with Xavier again in a conference. Also, look at some of the top markets in our conference: New York, DC and Philly. Aligning with St. John's, Georgetown and Villanova is clearly better than Fordham, GW and St. Joe's. Plus, getting into the Chicago and Milwaukee markets would be MUCH better than Olean and Kingston, RI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'd be willing to bet some beer and NYC pizza that if Duke played UCLA in the garden they'd draw well. Or, if St.John's or Fordham were ever again to be ranked and played another ranked/name team the place would be hopping. You do realize there are many fans out there that rank college hoops as their favorite sport, and NY's sports fans interests are many and varied, who would pay simply to see a good college game? Heck back in the Beast's early days w/ primarily the 7 schools that are still there, a lot of those Garden games w/ St. Johns were sold out, and I'll bet they weren't all St.Johns fans. Could you not say that about any big city - Duke and UCLA - of course - heck it was not to long ago when they had a 4 team Big 12 /ACC event at Scott Trade and it sold out. From what I have been told - and saw it in person - that Duke fans can not get tix at home - same with NC - and so they travel to other cities to see their teams play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 After talking to a lot of people, especially at the golf tournament, I am becoming more and more convinced that the A10 is as good as, if not better, in terms of a fit for SLU. I am beginning to think the same - just wish the TV money was more. I know some only want to call this idea "spin" - however, yes being in the BE would be good for a number of reasons but there is also drawbacks - the cost of getting out of the A10 and the loss of the NCAA credits all have to be factored in. I know the TV money is better - I acknowledged that above - but while in the long term we may get more $ by going there would be some short term loss. Additionally, while all of this is just rumors - the idea that the BE would not share the TV equally with the new teams would be disconcerning. We are not that bad off in the A10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 It's spin, but since the A-10 is where we're going to be, I guess it makes sense to be somewhat happy about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 It's spin, but since the A-10 is where we're going to be, I guess it makes sense to be somewhat happy about it. Exactly. You don't knock your neighborhood when you don't have the money to move to a better one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sludevil Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 From what I have been told - and saw it in person - that Duke fans can not get tix at home - same with NC - and so they travel to other cities to see their teams play. Duke (and UNC) students have to camp out (which is a process in itself) for the opportunity to enter a lottery to buy tickets. Duke non-student tickets are obscenely expensive (and also carry a lengthy wait-list), and are often passed down through generations. So, yeah, it's difficult to get tickets in Cameron. And between that and a pretty substantial national fanbase, we tend to fill up opposing gyms. Which makes it strange that against a quality team in NYC - with its massive population and huge Duke alumni base - we didn't even sell out the Garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Duke (and UNC) students have to camp out (which is a process in itself) for the opportunity to enter a lottery to buy tickets. Duke non-student tickets are obscenely expensive (and also carry a lengthy wait-list), and are often passed down through generations. So, yeah, it's difficult to get tickets in Cameron. And between that and a pretty substantial national fanbase, we tend to fill up opposing gyms. Which makes it strange that against a quality team in NYC - with its massive population and huge Duke alumni base - we didn't even sell out the Garden. Still, 15k is pretty good for teams not located in NYC. I know pro sports are big in NYC, but good college games will bring fans as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesycow Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Still, 15k is pretty good for teams not located in NYC. I know pro sports are big in NYC, but good college games will bring fans as well. Yeah but that game WAS located in NYC. Obviously there are college sports fans here in NYC. I am one of them. This is by far a pro town though. St. Johns, Fordham, UCONN, and Syracuse could be in the final four and people would still be talking more about the Knicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STLfan Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 The A10 has been good to us but I'd still much rather join the Big East if/when the opportunity arrives. I think we would fit in even better there with schools like Marquette, DePaul, Xavier, and Butler. Plus we would have much more recognizable programs on the schedule and coming to town which would help get more of the casual fans excited and into the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Creighton could become the best actual rival we've ever had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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