WSJ: Most Valuable College Basketball Teams

[Bill Marsh]

Wade did not single-handedly carry us to the Final Four in case you didn't realize there was 2 other future NBA players on that team.

I agree. Travis Diener was actually my favorite player on that team. As good as Wade was in college, he hadn't yet become the do-everything player that he became in the NBA. There were indeed other keys to that Final Four team.

[GoldenWarrior11]

So DePaul draws 6k a game, plays way off campus, has the same tv deal, gets the same NCAA unit payout, and a recent history of losing yet somehow is 12 spots ahead of Creighton? Curious.

DePaul actually averaged 1,900 fans per game last year. For comparison's sake, Marquette, which had its worst basketball season in 51 years, STILL averaged over 12,000 people per game at home.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140310/BLOGS04/140309795/depaul-basketball-attendance-finishes-below-2-000-per-game

[Bill Marsh]

So DePaul draws 6k a game, plays way off campus, has the same tv deal, gets the same NCAA unit payout, and a recent history of losing yet somehow is 12 spots ahead of Creighton? Curious.

DePaul actually averaged 1,900 fans per game last year. For comparison's sake, Marquette, which had its worst basketball season in 51 years, STILL averaged over 12,000 people per game at home.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140310/BLOGS04/140309795/depaul-basketball-attendance-finishes-below-2-000-per-game

Quoting from the article, "The low (attendance) figures aren't shocking when you consider the Blue Demons 11-20 record this season . . ."

1,900 per game isn't shocking???

Who is he kidding? Shocking is exactly what that is. In fact, that kind of attendance is beyond shocking when we're talking about a team in a basketball power conference. Especially when we consider the fact that DePaul won its first few conference games, giving fans some reason to be hopeful.

1,900 would be bad for a mid major. Here's a mid major with an identical 11-20 record this year - Siena College. With an enrollment (3200) a fraction of the size of DePaul's (25,000) and competing in the mid major MAAC, Siena drew 6242 fans per game this year, or 3 times what DePaul drew.

In light of this little interest in the team, I would suggest that Dave Leitao was definitely the wrong coach for the job of turning this situation around. I've seen Leitao up close and personal. He's not exactly Mr. Excitement. Bad hire. I don't see him as someone who's going to create a new sense of enthusiasm around DePaul basketball.

[GoldenWarrior11]

But, Bill...

Dave Leitao was the head coach of the last winning DePaul team in the Big East, errrrrr Conference USA. He is friends with a lot of Big East coaches. He was also personally recommended by two (TWO!) former players via email. And, he has also beaten Tom Crean (Marquette), John Calipari (Memphis), Bob Huggins (Cincinnati), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Coach K (Duke), and Roy Williams (UNC). And, I would like to close by saying that fundraising and basketball facilities do not make a basketball program successful.

Facepalm.

[Jet915]

Gotta love email recommendations!

[stever20]

The article was saying how many fans were actually there. You can't use Siena's attendance because that is the attendance that Siena reported, not how many fans were actually there... DePauls reported attendance was 6238 this year.

Bottom line, if DePaul goes 20-10 instead of 10-20, they're going to see their attendance go up. Folks like winners.

[Butlerfan28]

The article was saying how many fans were actually there. You can't use Siena's attendance because that is the attendance that Siena reported, not how many fans were actually there... DePauls reported attendance was 6238 this year.

Bottom line, if DePaul goes 20-10 instead of 10-20, they're going to see their attendance go up. Folks like winners.

I'm not knowledgable of the Chicago sports market. So I am curious if winning would make a significant impact or is Chicago such a Pro Baseball, Football, NBA town that even if DePaul got good it couldn't break through. It Butlers case Indy is a college basketball town so when they are good they draw coverage.

[Butlerfan28]

According to the Wall Street Journal, these are the most valuable non-P5 college basketball teams:

13. UConn
20. Xavier
23. Dayton
28. Marquette
35. USF
40. Villanova
42. St. John's
44. Georgetown
45. Memphis
47. Providence
48. Gonzaga
49. San Diego State
58. VCU
67. New Mexico
70. DePaul
72. Cincinnati
73. SMU
79. BYU
80. UCF
81. Wichita State
82. Creighton
83. Seton Hall
89. Nevada
90. Temple
91. St. Louis
92. UAB
93. Tulsa
94. Butler
95. Houston
96. UMass
97. Ohio
98. Boise State
99. Wyoming
100. San Jose State

Surprise #1 is that Notre Dame doesn't show up until #104, just ahead of James Madison and just behind Marshall. Not much different than LaSalle at #109.

Surprise #2 is that there are so few teams from the A10 - only Dayton, VCU, St Louis, and UMass in the top 100.

interesting trivia note is that Dayton was not only #23 on this list but was also #21 on a similar - but shorter - list recently published by Forbes, which placed both Xavier and Marquette in the top 20.

If you're interested in reading the article and how they arrived at a monetary value for each program, you can read it here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-your- ... 1427903905

How would San Jose State be on this list and not UNLV, Colorado State, or Fresno State. The Bay Area is not a college sports town in general and San Jose State has terrible fan support. I can only surmise you missed some teams when adding them on this list.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The article was saying how many fans were actually there. You can't use Siena's attendance because that is the attendance that Siena reported, not how many fans were actually there... DePauls reported attendance was 6238 this year.

Bottom line, if DePaul goes 20-10 instead of 10-20, they're going to see their attendance go up. Folks like winners.

But DePaul hasn't had a winner since when Dave Leitao was head coach.

wait a second...

[Bill Marsh]

But, Bill...

Dave Leitao was the head coach of the last winning DePaul team in the Big East, errrrrr Conference USA. He is friends with a lot of Big East coaches. He was also personally recommended by two (TWO!) former players via email. And, he has also beaten Tom Crean (Marquette), John Calipari (Memphis), Bob Huggins (Cincinnati), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Coach K (Duke), and Roy Williams (UNC). And, I would like to close by saying that fundraising and basketball facilities do not make a basketball program successful.

Facepalm.

Good points. I'm probably wrong.