DudeAnon wrote:We don't have the elite brand names, but 9/10 teams in this conference could compete in any of the F5 conferences. Maybe we wouldn't be the power programs in each conference, but we sure as hell would be the upper half. People need to realize that the F5 conferences are more than just their standout programs. SEC is more than Florida and UK. PAC12 is more than Arizona and UCLA. Top to bottom, we have probably the 3rd strongest conference after B12 and ACC.
Recipe for getting respect: 5 teams in tourney, 2-3 to sweet 16, 1 in Final Four. That happens, everyone shuts up. And I definitely think its possible. CBB is not the lopsided landscape people make it out to be. UCONN was no where near the most talented team in the country last year but they got hot when it mattered.
I agree. We need to get 1 team into the final 4 and a NC would do wonders. The Elite programs are in the final 4 and win NCs. The cream of the crop of the BE brand wise haven't won the NC since the 80s, if any of the programs that have won already do it again they'll elevate. Louisville hadn't won since the 80s and look what that title did for them a couple years ago...
Even when the Big East was getting 8,9,10,11 teams into the dance the league was lucky to see 2-3 make the elite 8 and maybe 1 made the final 4. It is hard to do.
I also think some of the non elite but very strong basketball programs (Wisconsin or Michigan as an example) that play big time football benefit in their brand.
Lastly, and this is a biggie, the Big East schools are tiny! DePaul is BY far our biggest with 16k+ undergrads, AFter that the drop off is pretty big and the smallest Providence has ~3800 undergrads........The top level football playing schools with big national brands also have tens of thousands of undergrads and hundreds of thousands of alumni. With all that said it is amazing how we compete and also how strong we draw what we do for attendance compared to them.