Commissioner "Val"

[BEX]

http://m.omaha.com/article/20140503/BLU ... =mobileart

[robinreed]

I do not share your opinion. You can't keep trashing conferences that aren't the Big East. The Big East needs to aspire to be as good as the AAC - winning national championships (and I guess to senditjerome that means being a mid-major conference). I won't be surprised if the AAC once again has more bids than the Big East next tourney.

The AAC hasn't won any NC's. UConn has. That's not a conference achievement.

I guess you turned off the NCAA after the Big East was flushed. The AMERICAN CONFERENCE went 9-3 in the tourney, surpassed only by the SEC CONFERENCE at 12-3. If you didn't follow the tourney, our big east conference went 2-4.

So where is your dividing line on conference power? The NCAA tourney is all that matters. CONFERENCES are awarded units (MONEY) based on the performance of the CONFERENCE.

"That's not a conference achievement." I will let you retract that one.

In all honesty we must admit that the AAC had a much better first year than the BE. I give them credit for the achievement however without Louisville they have taken a significant step down. The replacement schools do not approach Louisville in merit, history or strength. Henceforth we will be at worst equal but more often the superior conference. Of course the AAC will have it's good years but I suspect in most years the BE will be better. In either case this should not be an argument between two good conferences as the AAC does not threaten the BE nor does the BE threaten the AAC. The real enemy is the so called P-5 who are determined to take over and dominate all aspects of college sports. With the coming changes in the NCAA I thank God we do not have football in the BE.
(no insult to Nova or G-town intended)

[TheHall]

Gonzaga was talked about as a possible member for about a week before they were dismissed as not being realistic. It's not about the splash they would make, thats short term thinking. We need long term members, those who can compete every year and bring value even when they are down. Saying the travel isn't an issue shows a clear lack of understanding of what long flights actually feel like. Are you seriously saying that the Gonzaga BBall team wont be effected by flying to the mid-west/east coast for every away game? Also they haven't done anything in the NCAA tourny and have dominated a 1-2 bid league. The WCC pretty much plays in small gyms, not arenas like the Big East and other power conferences. Their success and reputation is based on playing inferior opponents. There is a definite possibility that they just can't hang in the Big East and along with the travel becomes a bottom feeder. What happens then?

Dayton and SLU has been playing in a much tougher conference and both have had similar if not better success than the Zags. If the Presidents wouldn't add them when they were the #1 overall seed no way they get an invite now or ever.

1. No one out there is more of a sure thing as a competitive program than Gonzaga. They've made the tournament every year since 1999. Since then, they've gone to 5 Sweet 16's and an elite 8. They've won a total of 19tournament games in that run. You'd be hard pressed to find many teams that could match that record. Taking them would not be short term thinking in the slightest. They are as proven a program as there is out there.

2. As for bringing value, they sell out every home game. I'd say that kind of rabid fan base is very valuable. Not an albatross at all.

3. I actually agree with you on the effects of long travel. But it's really not a concern for teams that take one trip a year. It's an issue for Gonzaga. It's not up to you and me to make that decision. It's their call and they seem to be willing to take it on. Schools out west already have to travel a lot compared to what we're used to in the East, so the increase for them isn't as great as it appears since they're already far removed from everyone else in the conference and because their teams don't fly commercial.

4. Their success and reputation isn't based just on beating inferior opponents. I've already given their tournament resume, But they've also built up their OOC schedule to challenge themselves and have picked up impressive wins every year in addition to their conference titles. Here are some headline victories in recent years, many played in big arenas:

2013-14 - Arkansas, @West Virginia, BYU twice
2012-13 - West Virginia, Clemson, Oklahoma, Davidson, Kansas State, Baylor, @Oklahoma State, BYU twice
2011-12 - Notre Dame, Arizona, Butler, @Xavier, BYU twice, West Virginia
2010-11 - Marquette, Baylor, Xavier, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, St. John's
2009-10 - Colorado, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Davidson, Oklahoma, @Illinois, @Memphis, Florida State

That's just a 5 year sample, but it should be enough to show that they're bearing big time programs annually. In addition to the road wins, a number each year were played before large crowds during in-season tournaments. I also included BYU even though they're a conference opponent because they're the exception to the other "high school gym" opponents in the WCC. Two wins a year means at least one win either in front of the 16,000 that BYU routinely packs in at its arena or before a conference tournament crowd.

5. St Louis and Dayton have NOT had "similar if not better success than the Zags." Not even close.

From Jeff Goodman:

"Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley, giving the Zags a key piece that makes them a Preseason Top 10 team."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10950249/byron-wesley-former-usc-trojans-guard-transfer-gonzaga-bulldogs

The Zags are THE premier potential invite for the BE outside of Uconn or Memphis IMO.

[NJRedman]

From Jeff Goodman:

"Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley, giving the Zags a key piece that makes them a Preseason Top 10 team."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10950249/byron-wesley-former-usc-trojans-guard-transfer-gonzaga-bulldogs

The Zags are THE premier potential invite for the BE outside of Uconn or Memphis IMO.

Come on now, a transfer now makes them THE premier potential candidate? The Presidents didn't think they were one when they were the #1 overall seed, but now they are? Every writer who had any decent reputation in realignment wrote them off as a candidate not to long after the C7 broke off.

No one wants to answer the question that the Presidents more than likely have asked each other. What happens if they start to play poorly? What happens when we are sending all of our sports to Spokane F'ing Washington to play a school who is finishing in the bottom half of the league regularly? You can say they wont all you want, but that wont keep it from happening 5-10 years down the road. These decisions are being made with the future in mind, not the right here right now. No matter how any of you slice it they have been playing in a 1-2 bid league. At least the A-10 schools have been playing in a much deeper conference. Winning the A-10 outright (Both reg season and con tourny) is a much bigger accomplishment then winning the WCC and getting over seeded and losing in the first weekend of the NCAA.

So go ahead and disagree with me and tell me how i'm wrong, but the odd's of Gonzaga NOT being in the Big East moving forward are clearly in my favor.

[TheHall]

From Jeff Goodman:

"Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley, giving the Zags a key piece that makes them a Preseason Top 10 team."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10950249/byron-wesley-former-usc-trojans-guard-transfer-gonzaga-bulldogs

The Zags are THE premier potential invite for the BE outside of Uconn or Memphis IMO.

Come on now, a transfer now makes them THE premier potential candidate? The Presidents didn't think they were one when they were the #1 overall seed, but now they are? Every writer who had any decent reputation in realignment wrote them off as a candidate not to long after the C7 broke off.

No one wants to answer the question that the Presidents more than likely have asked each other. What happens if they start to play poorly? What happens when we are sending all of our sports to Spokane F'ing Washington to play a school who is finishing in the bottom half of the league regularly? You can say they wont all you want, but that wont keep it from happening 5-10 years down the road. These decisions are being made with the future in mind, not the right here right now. No matter how any of you slice it they have been playing in a 1-2 bid league. At least the A-10 schools have been playing in a much deeper conference. Winning the A-10 outright (Both reg season and con tourny) is a much bigger accomplishment then winning the WCC and getting over seeded and losing in the first weekend of the NCAA.

So go ahead and disagree with me and tell me how i'm wrong, but the odd's of Gonzaga NOT being in the Big East moving forward are clearly in my favor.

First, I don't disagree with much of the concerns you list, but those are "what-ifs", they aren't facts. The facts on the court are what make the Zags compelling, the geographic fact is what eliminated them from being 8, 9, or 10 IMO, remember you/me/we don't actually know the resaon for sure. As far as one transfer making the Zags a premier choice, no the part of the post which you removed written by Bill I thought did the job there. I also put the link to the article so all could see for themselves that it wasn't just that USC's leading scorer would transfer to the Zags, but what his logic was:

The 6-foot-5 transfer, who led the Trojans in scoring last season, told ESPN that he has opted to play for Mark Few and Gonzaga over Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh. "It starts with the winning culture," Wesley told ESPN on Sunday of his decision to pick Gonzaga. "They've been to the NCAA tournament 16 straight times, and it's an opportunity for me to play in the tournament in my last year."

Gonzaga may not have convinced you that they are a top flight bball program now, but I gotta believe you're in the minority on that one. The BE will be great with or without the Zags but to say they aren't up to it is out-dated logic, kind of like the people not accepting that Uconn is a a, if not THE, premier basketball school in the country now.

Btw you need stop hating on Spokane, makes you seem old. I don't think there are many ballers in the BE who wouldn't love to a road trip to the Great state of Washington.

[Bill Marsh]

From Jeff Goodman:

"Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley, giving the Zags a key piece that makes them a Preseason Top 10 team."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10950249/byron-wesley-former-usc-trojans-guard-transfer-gonzaga-bulldogs

The Zags are THE premier potential invite for the BE outside of Uconn or Memphis IMO.

Come on now, a transfer now makes them THE premier potential candidate? The Presidents didn't think they were one when they were the #1 overall seed, but now they are? Every writer who had any decent reputation in realignment wrote them off as a candidate not to long after the C7 broke off.

No one wants to answer the question that the Presidents more than likely have asked each other. What happens if they start to play poorly? What happens when we are sending all of our sports to Spokane F'ing Washington to play a school who is finishing in the bottom half of the league regularly? You can say they wont all you want, but that wont keep it from happening 5-10 years down the road. These decisions are being made with the future in mind, not the right here right now. No matter how any of you slice it they have been playing in a 1-2 bid league. At least the A-10 schools have been playing in a much deeper conference. Winning the A-10 outright (Both reg season and con tourny) is a much bigger accomplishment then winning the WCC and getting over seeded and losing in the first weekend of the NCAA.

So go ahead and disagree with me and tell me how i'm wrong, but the odd's of Gonzaga NOT being in the Big East moving forward are clearly in my favor.

Besides dropping a "F bomb" on Spokane, you really haven't explained what the problem is with one road trip a year per sport to Washington State. Frankly, every sport wouldn't go every year, so it isn't even as bad as you make it out to be.

Gonzaga's the one who has the travel problem and they seem to be okay with it. Frankly, an air flight to Spokane is less time consuming than a St. John's bus trip to Buffalo was 50 years ago. Yet school survived those trips not just 50 years ago but 100 years ago when they were traveling by train instead of by bus.

[NJRedman]

[quote="TheHall"][quote="NJRedman"][quote="TheHall"]

From Jeff Goodman:
[quote]
"Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley, giving the Zags a key piece that makes them a Preseason Top 10 team."

[url]http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10950249/byron-wesley-former-usc-trojans-guard-transfer-gonzaga-bulldogs[/url][/quote]

The Zags are THE premier potential invite for the BE outside of Uconn or Memphis IMO.[/quote]


Come on now, a transfer now makes them THE premier potential candidate? The Presidents didn't think they were one when they were the #1 overall seed, but now they are? Every writer who had any decent reputation in realignment wrote them off as a candidate not to long after the C7 broke off.

No one wants to answer the question that the Presidents more than likely have asked each other. What happens if they start to play poorly? What happens when we are sending all of our sports to Spokane F'ing Washington to play a school who is finishing in the bottom half of the league regularly? You can say they wont all you want, but that wont keep it from happening 5-10 years down the road. These decisions are being made with the future in mind, not the right here right now. No matter how any of you slice it they have been playing in a 1-2 bid league. At least the A-10 schools have been playing in a much deeper conference. Winning the A-10 outright (Both reg season and con tourny) is a much bigger accomplishment then winning the WCC and getting over seeded and losing in the first weekend of the NCAA.

So go ahead and disagree with me and tell me how i'm wrong, but the odd's of Gonzaga NOT being in the Big East moving forward are clearly in my favor.[/quote]
First, I don't disagree with much of the concerns you list, but those are "what-ifs", they aren't facts. The facts on the court are what make the Zags compelling, the geographic fact is what eliminated them from being 8, 9, or 10 IMO, remember you/me/we don't actually know the resaon for sure. As far as one transfer making the Zags a premier choice, no the part of the post which you removed written by Bill I thought did the job there. I also put the link to the article so all could see for themselves that it wasn't just that USC's leading scorer would transfer to the Zags, but what his logic was:

[quote]The 6-foot-5 transfer, who led the Trojans in scoring last season, told ESPN that he has opted to play for Mark Few and Gonzaga over Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh. "It starts with the winning culture," Wesley told ESPN on Sunday of his decision to pick Gonzaga. "They've been to the NCAA tournament 16 straight times, and it's an opportunity for me to play in the tournament in my last year."
[/quote]

Gonzaga may not have convinced you that they are a top flight bball program now, but I gotta believe you're in the minority on that one. The BE will be great with or without the Zags but to say they aren't up to it is out-dated logic, kind of like the people not accepting that Uconn is a a, if not THE, premier basketball school in the country now.

Btw you need stop hating on Spokane, makes you seem old. I don't think there are many ballers in the BE who wouldn't love to a road trip to the Great state of Washington. [/quote]

And Butler dominated the Horizon league, that doesn't mean they were able to come right in and continue to be a top flight program. If Doug Mc didn't come back Creighton would have struggled as well after dominating the MVC. Dominating a 1-2 bid league is not the same as being a legit top tier program.

That kid said he wanted to play in the NCAA tourney, so he went to a team that dominates a mid-major conference.

You can't even compare the Zags to UConn, the Huskies have been in a legit conference every year since 1979. Even this season they were competing with programs like UofL and Memphis.

Spokane is the Alabama of the Pacific Northwest. One of co-workers is from up there. It's all about hunting, riding off road vehicles and being a redneck. It's beautiful but not even close to bring similar to most of the leagues culture. Oh and it's 3000 miles from half the league.

[stever20]

Gonzaga is so overrated it's not funny. They haven't even done the final 4 that VCU or Wichita or Butler were able to do. heck, not even elite 8 after their 1st time either. I think they would be a terrible add....

[TheHall]

Hey Redman I can tell you're losing it on this one just by that scrambled up post of yours. If I couldn't tell from the post then it would have been how you wasted your time with that straw man comparison between Uconn & Gonzaga. Where did you see me make that ridiculous comparison? Anyway about the Butler comparison though, you don't think they were a good addition? I do but back to back final fours can be attributed to a coach and a few key players. 16 NCAA bids in a row can't be explained away by 1 coach, a couple of players, a recruiting class, or even a weak league. You're simply hating and its ok but just come out and say it though.

[TheHall]

Gonzaga is so overrated it's not funny. They haven't even done the final 4 that VCU or Wichita or Butler were able to do. heck, not even elite 8 after their 1st time either. I think they would be a terrible add....

The schools you listed were or would be great additions too, but none of them have had the sustained success of the Zags. Also I think its short sighted to downpllay how the Zags could be a West Coast gateway for recruiting to the rest of the Big East. We currently get no play out there, but in the oBE cuse had a nice pipeline to LA. So besides flexing your oscar the grouch muscle what's your point with over criticizing a solid program that did it the right way?