The Case for Dayton

[UD_Earl]

First and foremost, I am a Dayton homer. UD Grad. UD 20+ Year Season Ticketholder. Heck, I spent 2 years in the Army after I graduated from high school to earn enough college money to attend UD. I was a Part Time Professor their for about 10 years as well. So yes I am a homer. But I believe I have somewhat of a good case for adding Dayton to the NBE that really has nothing to do with Money or Markets. It has to do with hate. I have been thinking about it for sometime now and it has really come to light on this board in the last week or so. What the NBE lacks in a lot of hate. Who hates DePaul, Butler, Seton Hall, Providence or Creighton? Not many. Who hates Dayton, well I guess you all now that Xavier fans do. Marquette fans to a certain degree.

Dayton fans are passionate. That annoys some and irritates others. But we love our Flyers. Yes, we may have an bit of an inflated sense of worth. We wish our NCAA record of late was better, but it has not been. I think it all goes to the notion that we think that we have everything necessary to be a big time major program. We have it all. We are located in a Greater Metro area of about 1 million people. We have a tremendous home court. Check out this link from the USA Today about the Dayton area, UD and the Arena:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/03/18/why-the-ncaa-tournament-starts-in-dayton/6559801/

We have such a passionate and loyal fan base. Check out this link from this week's Columbus Dispatch:

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2014/03/18/dayton-basketball-it-really-is-a-big-deal.html

We love College Basketball in Dayton - as do those who post here. If Dayton is added I believe that it will add much more than the others schools that have being mentioned. We will add quite a bit of spice to the league. Spice that the league surely needs right now. UConn, Pitt, BC, ND and Syracuse are not coming back. A lot of the heated rivalries are gone. I for one, truly miss playing Xavier. There is nothing like the atmosphere inside the arena for those games. Love it.

So I have said my piece, I am sure many may pick it apart and make the typical derogatory shots. But for us as fans, it is really all just about the money? How about rivalry, great games and great atmosphere? You would get that with Dayton, I promise you.

[Bulldog_Muskie]

This could easily be placed in the existing expansion thread instead of cluttering up the main page.

[ivet]

Are you sure you want to be associated with us? I mean, everyone hates us, they would love nothing but to see us fail collectively.

[marquette]

First, and not to be a dick, but the reason we have an expansion thread is so we don't get 100 of these every day. Second, UD has a fairly strong case for being added which will only be helped with a win over Ohio State. Third, nobody whose opinion really matters will be spending any time on message boards during March Madness. Finally, we don't hate Dayton. We get annoyed when ud poster clutter up our individual message boards for no reason. Otherwise most Marquette fans don't spend much time thinking about ud. I'm an exception because I find expansion stuff interesting. Most don't care that much.

[GumbyDamnit!]

I'm glad you are passionate about your team but let me try to be frank without being a complete dick: "We don't care about your team."

Thanks and so we return to actually focusing on the 10 teams that make up the conference.

[Omaha1]

What I don't get about Dayton is that they spew hate about the Big East every chance they get, yet it's so obvious that they want to get an invitation to the Big East. I really just don't get it.

Good luck tomorrow against Ohio State.

[SJHooper]

If Dayton wants to get a Big East invite and get us looking at them they need to A) show the ability to recruit well B) show the ability to belong with major teams and beat the occasional ranked power conference team and C) a total commitment to basketball i.e. facilities, coaches, fans, etc.

Not sure Dayton has the brand name yet to be poached by the Big East. Butler had it. Xavier had it. Creighton had it. And they all proved a lot. VCU has the brand name and St. Louis is still developing but if they have another string of 2 or 3 good seasons they will start to become a brand name as well.

I understand Dayton has consistently been among the better mid majors, but what have they done that is nationally impressive recently? Just an honest question because I don't follow them.

[handdownmandown]

While there are many fans who are in favor of it, I think the majority of people who are BE fans aren't huge fans of expansion.

The biggest proponents are, as stated, people who want in.

I hate to sound like a snot but I'd be just fine with leaving it at 10 for the foreseeable future and build the brand organically rather than with additions. Plus I agree, Dayton is one step behind the three that were just added and two steps behind most of the rest of the C7 in cachet.

[ElDonBDon]

Marquette, go over to MUScoop and everyone there hates Dayton. The UD hate there is contagious. In fact, I even hate Dayton, and I'm not sure why.

Anyway, it's a moot point. If SLU is a lock on the 11th place, I doubt the 12th team will be another Midwestern team. Way back, I remember Gtown lobbying for Richmond, and not being the biggest fan of the Creighton addition.

Not sure how big of a deal it is, but one reason I do not like Dayton as a candidate is that they do virtually nothing for the conference in terms of recruiting base. The Dayton MSA geographical footprint is already covered by Xavier, located in very nearby Cincinnati.

[marquette]

Marquette, go over to MUScoop and everyone there hates Dayton. The UD hate there is contagious. In fact, I even hate Dayton, and I'm not sure why.

Anyway, it's a moot point. If SLU is a lock on the 11th place, I doubt the 12th team will be another Midwestern team. Way back, I remember Gtown lobbying for Richmond, and not being the biggest fan of the Creighton addition.

Not sure how big of a deal it is, but one reason I do not like Dayton as a candidate is that they do virtually nothing for the conference in terms of recruiting base. The Dayton MSA geographical footprint is already covered by Xavier, located in very nearby Cincinnati.

Only time I see anyone comment about Dayton on scoop is when a ud fan or "Marquette fan who has family at ud" comes around looking for trouble. There are rarely mentions of ud or expansion in general. There are a few who will just post ABD in unrelated threads, but I see mostly disinterest.