hortle wrote:
Dayton probably would have leapfrogged Creighton in the last wave if not for Xavier pretty much accounting for all of Dayton's tv market.
Xavier has absolutely nothing to do with Dayton’s college basketball TV market.
STL 25th in NCAA tourney ratings, which isn't as bad as it looks - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - March 26, 2015
St. Louis isn’t much of a college basketball market to begin with. While St. Louis University has had some nice seasons recently, that follows a drought in which the Billikens didn’t make the NCAA event for 11 consecutive seasons. Nielsen says 7 percent of area homes with a TV tuned in, on average, to the first four days of coverage that was spread across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV.
Louisville is only about 75 miles to the west of UK’s Lexington campus, plus it has its own team still in the tourney — the Louisville Cardinals. That adds up to it being the nation’s top-rated market for the tourney. Nielsen said 22.8 percent of TV households there were tuning in through last weekend.
Dayton, about 135 miles to the north of Lexington, is second (17.3). Like Louisville, it also helps that the University of Dayton was in the tourney.
Cincinnati, only about 80 miles north of Lexington, was third (15.4) and it also benefited by having two schools (Xavier and Cincinnati) in the field.
Louisville Again No. 1 College Hoops TV Market - Louisville Courier-Journal - March 9, 2016
Now 14 years running, count the Louisville TV market No. 1 for college basketball ratings. Again, it wasn't close for the top spot.
ESPN on Tuesday announced games airing in Louisville averaged a 4.9, listing ground zero for the Cardinals and Cats ahead of Raleigh-Durham (2.7), Kansas City (2.5), Greensboro-High Point (2.5), and Cincinnati (1.8). Other markets in the top 10 include Dayton (1.7), Greenville (1.7), Indianapolis (1.6), Nashville (1.6) and Memphis (1.5).
Nine Great College Basketball Towns - NCAA.com - February 17, 2016
Bloomington, Indiana
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Dayton, Ohio
Each year the NCAA tournament begins in the University of Dayton Arena, site of the First Four games that trim the field to a 64-team bracket. It’s an appropriate home, considering the pride and passion shown each year by fans of the University of Dayton Flyers, which is one of the premier programs in the Atlantic 10 and has won five NCAA tourney games the last two years. Since the arena opened in 1969, the Flyers have ranked top 35 in the nation in attendance every year, drawing sold-out crowds of 13,455 to the building on a regular basis.
Indianapolis, Indiana
The largest city in the Hoosier state has become a regular host of the Final Four (six times since 1991, and most recently in Lucas Oil Stadium). There’s also historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, home to Butler University men’s basketball. It opened in 1928 and underwent a $36 million renovation in 2014, seats 9,100 fans today and is frequently filled to capacity when the Bulldogs are competing in the Big East. IUPUI is another Division I member that competes here, as does the University of Indianapolis, one of the stronger programs in Division II.
Lawrence, Kansas
Lexington, Kentucky
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The City of Brotherly Love is the home to six Division I basketball programs -- the Big Five of La Salle, Penn, St. Joe’s, Temple and Villanova -- as well as Drexel. It’s also home of The Palestra, known as the Cathedral of College Basketball. Every major college team has played there and the 8,722-seat arena has been the site of more college basketball regular season and NCAA tournament games than any other venue. Need more examples of the game’s deep roots here? These college stars are Philly natives: Gene Banks (Duke), Wilt Chamberlain (Kansas), Len Chappell (Wake Forest), Wayne Ellington (UNC), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky), Rasheed Wallace (North Carolina).
Richmond, Virginia
Each year, the University of Dayton generates more alumni than most Big East schools, and they remain rabid college basketball fans for life.
Enrolment 23,799 -
DePaul University 20,448 -
St. John's University 17,858 -
Georgetown University 11,745 -
Marquette University 10,920 -
University of Dayton 10,735 -
Villanova University 9,627 -
Seton Hall University 8,236 -
Creighton University 6,538 -
Xavier University 4,848 -
Butler University 4,687 -
Providence College . . . but most of UD’s alumni do not remain in Dayton after graduation.
University of Dayton Alumni ChaptersAtlanta • Austin • Boston • Charlotte • Chicago • Cincinnati • Cleveland • Columbus • Dallas / Ft. Worth • Dayton • Denver • Detroit • Houston • Indianapolis • Los Angeles • Louisville • Miami • Milwaukee • Nashville • New York / New Jersey • Northwest Ohio • Orange County, CA • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Puerto Rico • Raleigh / Durham • Rochester • San Diego • San Francisco • Seattle • St. Louis • Tampa Bay • Washington DC / Baltimore • Western MichiganMany of you may not be aware of the information posted above (or its significance), but Fox Sports and ESPN certainly are.
In any event, Xavier, Butler, and Creighton were all very deserving candidates at the time that the presidents of the Catholic 7 schools chose them for expansion, and all three schools remain a big part of the Big East's very considerable success. This morning's
RPI Rankings show:
2 - Creighton
4 - Villanova
9 - Xavier
11 - Butler
27 - Dayton
304 - Saint Louis