Add Dayton and VCU

[GoldenWarrior11]

VCU has one single Sweet 16 in its program's history. The magical year of 2011 was created - in most part - by an excellent young coach playing a unique brand of basketball that opponents were not ready to play. Since that season, the Rams have not even reached a Sweet 16 - despite plowing through the A-10 on a yearly basis. Since 2000, VCU has played a top-25 team 29 separate times, and in those games, they have gone 10-19.

Fact of that matter is that VCU has a better and hotter resume in 2013, when the C7 was looking at reorganizing the Big East, and they were passed over by Creighton - a program that has not gone to a Sweet 16 since the 70's and is located far away from the conference center in New York City. Why did that happen? Because the Big East schools decided and collectively chose to keep the new Big East as a similar institution entity. VCU is a public school, and the Big East only has private/Catholic universities.

VCU will never be added to the Big East, period. They are a strong program, a solid academic school and one of the best mid-major basketball programs in the country - in the same vein as Gonzaga, Wichita State and Dayton. However, they do not fit the profile of this incarnation of the conference. The Presidents care very much about institutional, academic and geographic fit, as well as history of strong basketball success.

The only, and it is absolutely the only, exception to this rule is UConn - but that is because of prior relationships and blue blood status of its basketball programs.

[Dwon]

I don't believe that religious school qualification. People want to see great basketball, not religious aaaffiliation.Go to church for that.They added Creighton's because their extraordinary large TV market and extraordinary large arena.it was a money move not to mention Creighton's was a hot team at the time with mcdermott. Guess you don't need a long history to join... Its not about the past, its the future that matters and they are clearly projecting that. This is not a religious thing and it never was in the big east , it was a football thing. So don't make it out to be something its not.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I don't believe that religious school qualification. People want to see great basketball, not religious affiliations.They added Creighton's because their extraordinary large TV market and extraordinary large arena.it was a money move not to mention Creighton's was a hot team at the time with mcdermott. Guess you don't need a long history to join... Its not about the past, its the future that matters and they are clearly projecting that. This is not a religious thing and it never was in the big east , it was a football thing. So don't make it out to be something its not.

Ok, let's then - as you say - disregard the religious affiliation (made possible due to a strong Marquette, another fellow Jesuit school, connection for Creighton), as well as the long history (which Creighton had while in the MVC . TV market and extraordinary large arena are now the two qualifications you list. For argument's sake, Dayton has a 13k arena and Saint Louis has a 10k arena - both significantly larger than VCU's home arena. Both have greater TV markets than VCU (Richmond). By those two qualifications, those two schools would automatically get higher consideration than VCU. Toss in the religious affiliation - which the league chose in expansion - and VCU's non-candidacy becomes concrete.

I'm not trying to get into a beat-your-chest argument, but VCU is not coming to the Big East. Sorry.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

For argument's sake, Dayton has a 13k arena and Saint Louis has a 10k arena - both significantly larger than VCU's home arena.

In all fairness to VCU, the Richmond Rams outdrew the Saint Louis Blue Thingies by more than 2000 fans per game this season.

Final Atlantic 10 Average Home Attendance – Atlantic 10 Conference – March 24, 2017

Dayton - 13,018
VCU - 7637
Richmond - 6317
Saint Louis - 5593
Rhode Island - 5173
St. Bonaventure - 4274
George Mason - 4235
Davidson - 4231
Saint Joseph's - 4179
Massachusetts - 3297
George Washington - 3150
La Salle - 2283
Fordham - 1657
Duquesne - 1218
A10 Average Home Attendance: 4688

Toss in the religious affiliation - which the league chose in expansion - and VCU's non-candidacy becomes concrete.

. . . VCU is not coming to the Big East.

Correct.

[Dwon]

Whatever...Can't believe some of you tie religion with basketball.It really just shows how shallow you are. You ought to stop

[GoldenWarrior11]

For argument's sake, Dayton has a 13k arena and Saint Louis has a 10k arena - both significantly larger than VCU's home arena.

In all fairness to VCU, the Richmond Rams outdrew the Saint Louis Blue Thingies by more than 2000 fans per game this season.

Final Atlantic 10 Average Home Attendance – Atlantic 10 Conference – March 24, 2017

Dayton - 13,018
VCU - 7637
Richmond - 6317
Saint Louis - 5593
Rhode Island - 5173
St. Bonaventure - 4274
George Mason - 4235
Davidson - 4231
Saint Joseph's - 4179
Massachusetts - 3297
George Washington - 3150
La Salle - 2283
Fordham - 1657
Duquesne - 1218
A10 Average Home Attendance: 4688

Toss in the religious affiliation - which the league chose in expansion - and VCU's non-candidacy becomes concrete.

. . . VCU is not coming to the Big East.

Correct.

Uh, if my math is correct - Richmond only outdrew Saint Louis - which was at the bottom of the A-10 this past year, by 724 fans on average. So, a team that finished 12-21, in year one of a new coaching regime in Travis Ford - who has already started recruited exponentially better than Jim Crews - was third in the entire conference. For a program in a city which has just lost its NFL franchise, and is in dire need of winter sporting events, I would say that Saint Louis - even when they are down, would bring fans to games. Big East conference schedule > A-10 conference schedule. Ford will have them near the top of the A-10 in a couple of years.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Whatever...Can't believe some of you tie religion with basketball.It really just shows how shallow you are. You ought to stop

Get off your high horse. This conference is built on like-minded schools, in big metropolitan cities, with a clear mission within athletics towards elite men's basketball. I suppose the B1G is, too, shallow for only looking at land-grant universities with AAU membership huh? Clearly, the Ivy League is also shallow for only allowing elite academic, selective enrollment, universities within the conference as well too?

[JohnW22]

Well this post is a little more funny to look back at now...

[Omaha1]

Well this post is a little more funny to look back at now...

Both schools lost their coaches. Speaks to what the A10 is.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Well this post is a little more funny to look back at now...

Both schools lost their coaches. Speaks to what the A10 is.

And the Big East has lost only one coach to another job since it reorganized in 2013 - Buzz Williams to Virginia Tech. So much for not being a power conference...