Memphis and Cincy to Big 12?

[notkirkcameron]

Since when has realistic criticism been hate?

Expansion blind resume time!

Team A
Has only 1 flukish Sweet 16 appearance in the past 20 years.
Arena capacity: ~7600
Local TV market rank: 57th
Private or Public?: Public
No FBS Football
US News Colleges Ranking: 156th Nationally

Team B
Has only 1 flukish Sweet 16 appearance in the past 20 years.
Arena capacity: ~7600
Local TV market rank: 53rd
Private or Public?: Public
No FBS Football
US News Colleges Ranking: 152nd Nationally



Pretty similar, no?



Team A is VCU.
Team B is the University of Rhode Island.

[redmen9194]

Wasn't VCU a final four team?

[stever20]

Since when has realistic criticism been hate?

Expansion blind resume time!

Team A
Has only 1 flukish Sweet 16 appearance in the past 20 years.
Arena capacity: ~7600
Local TV market rank: 57th
Private or Public?: Public
No FBS Football
US News Colleges Ranking: 156th Nationally

Team B
Has only 1 flukish Sweet 16 appearance in the past 20 years.
Arena capacity: ~7600
Local TV market rank: 53rd
Private or Public?: Public
No FBS Football
US News Colleges Ranking: 152nd Nationally



Pretty similar, no?



Team A is VCU.
Team B is the University of Rhode Island.

Did Rhode Island EVER put together 2 straight years of entering the NCAA tourney as a #5 seed? Nope. Like I said, if you put the same intense light on Creighton that you are VCU- Creighton never would have gotten in here.

All I am saying is it is has absolutely zero to do with basketball why VCU is not in the Big East right now. I ask you 1 simple question. If Richmond had VCU's credentials, would they be in the Big East right now? My answer is 10000000% yes. They would have been frankly in and Creighton out from the start.

[Omaha1]

I wondered for a while, but I'm fairly certain that we've now got confirmation of stever20 being a VCU fan.

[notkirkcameron]

Wasn't VCU a final four team?

Fair point. More Blind Resume Time!

Team A
One Final Four Appearance since 1974
One Sweet Sixteen Appearance since 1974
Third-most-prominent public school in the state behind two big F5 Conference Schools
6 NCAA Tournament Appearances in last 10 years
2013-14 Average Attendance: 7,741
3 mid-major conference championships in last 10 years
Media Market Size: 57th

Team B
One Final Four Appearance since 1974
Three Sweet Sixteen Appearances since 1974
Third-most-prominent public school in the state behind two big F5 Conference Schools
4 NCAA Tournament Appearances in last 10 years
2013-14 Average Attendance: 10,732
3 mid-major conference championships in last 10 years
Media Market Size: 65th



Pretty similar, no? Maybe a slight edge to team A, maybe not, either way, not exactly earth-shattering.




Team A is VCU.
Team B is Wichita State.

I fail to see why VCU is such an expansion favorite of people on this board. I'm convinced it is only because they are in the State...err..Commonwealth of Virginia. If VCU was in Kansas, nobody would be seriously discussing them, because Wichita State offers almost the exact same credentials as VCU, but very rarely do I hear the Shockers being mentioned as logical fits for this league.

[stever20]

I wondered for a while, but I'm fairly certain that we've now got confirmation of stever20 being a VCU fan.

I'm a Hoya's fan- but VCU like it or not is a top 25 program now. If you look at what they've done since the final 4- that's the big difference between them and all the other 1 time deals. Just look at their recruiting. Right now- #25 for 2015, after being #14 in 2014. They are relevant. Look at the list of teams that have been top 5 seeds the last 2 tournaments. It's about 10 teams, and VCU is one of them.

And my point is plain and simple. It's got nothing to do about basketball. NOTHING. If VCU was private, they would be in the conference in 15 minutes. Period. So everyone saying that their resume doesn't deserve to get in the Big East is frankly full of it. It's got EVERYTHING to do with public/private, NOTHING to do with basketball.

[stever20]

Wasn't VCU a final four team?

Fair point. More Blind Resume Time!

Team A
One Final Four Appearance since 1974
One Sweet Sixteen Appearance since 1974
Third-most-prominent public school in the state behind two big F5 Conference Schools
6 NCAA Tournament Appearances in last 10 years
2013-14 Average Attendance: 7,741
3 mid-major conference championships in last 10 years
Media Market Size: 57th

Team B
One Final Four Appearance since 1974
Three Sweet Sixteen Appearances since 1974
Third-most-prominent public school in the state behind two big F5 Conference Schools
4 NCAA Tournament Appearances in last 10 years
2013-14 Average Attendance: 10,732
3 mid-major conference championships in last 10 years
Media Market Size: 65th



Pretty similar, no? Maybe a slight edge to team A, maybe not, either way, not exactly earth-shattering.




Team A is VCU.
Team B is Wichita State.

I fail to see why VCU is such an expansion favorite of people on this board. I'm convinced it is only because they are in the State...err..Commonwealth of Virginia. If VCU was in Kansas, nobody would be seriously discussing them, because Wichita State offers almost the exact same credentials as VCU, but very rarely do I hear the Shockers being mentioned as logical fits for this league.

A few things-
1- VCU is the #2 basketball school behind only UVA. Give me a break about Virginia Tech....
2- location matters. It's the Big EAST. VCU fits geograpically like a glove. Wichita no where near as much.

[R Jay]

OK, say it is Public/Private. Remember the last time there was a conference made up of big, secular, public and small, Catholic, private Universities? It ended really well. (Yes football was also a factor in the OBE falling apart, but the different makeup of the universities provided for football becoming a dividing point).
If you want to fault the Big East for going this route, fine. I don't. The presidents feel that having members with the same makeup is important to maintaining the stability of the conference, at least right now they do.

[stever20]

OK, say it is Public/Private. Remember the last time there was a conference made up of big, secular, public and small, Catholic, private Universities? It ended really well. (Yes football was also a factor in the OBE falling apart, but the different makeup of the universities provided for football becoming a dividing point).
If you want to fault the Big East for going this route, fine. I don't. The presidents feel that having members with the same makeup is important to maintaining the stability of the conference, at least right now they do.

I have no problem with that. But to nitpick at VCU acting like their resume is what is keeping them out of the Big East is frankly a joke. Because it just isn't the case at all.

[notkirkcameron]

OK, say it is Public/Private. Remember the last time there was a conference made up of big, secular, public and small, Catholic, private Universities? It ended really well. (Yes football was also a factor in the OBE falling apart, but the different makeup of the universities provided for football becoming a dividing point).
If you want to fault the Big East for going this route, fine. I don't. The presidents feel that having members with the same makeup is important to maintaining the stability of the conference, at least right now they do.

I have no problem with that. But to nitpick at VCU acting like their resume is what is keeping them out of the Big East is frankly a joke. Because it just isn't the case at all.

I'm not nitpicking. Factors other than VCU's resume are keeping them out of the Big East....but their resume, what with its one trip past the first weekend in over 40 years of basketball isn't that impressive. It's like if you're in a job interview, and the boss doesn't like your qualifications, but you also took a dump on the floor of his office....sure, you're probably not going to get the job because of the dump, but that's not the ONLY reason you're not getting the job.

For the record, VCU's history, even since their program's founding in 1973-74 would be one of the worst pedigrees in the Big East...

Sweet 16 appearances Since VCU's 1st Season in 1973-74 (VCU would be tied for last in the conference)
Georgetown (11)
Marquette (9)
Villanova (9)
Xavier (6)
DePaul (6)
Butler (4)
Seton Hall (4)
St. John's (4)
Providence (3)
Creighton (1)
VCU (1)

NCAA Tournament Appearances since VCU's 1st season in 1973-74 (VCU would be near the bottom of the conference)
Georgetown (28)
Villanova (24)
Marquette (23)
Xavier (23)
St. John's (21)
Creighton (16)
DePaul (16)
VCU (13)
Providence (11)
Butler (11)
Seton Hall (9)

but VCU like it or not is a top 25 program now.

Except they're not (Source: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings)