big picture view of Big East teams

[stever20]

Of course Creighton will "compete." Does that mean they're going to be a top 2-3 team and compete to win the Big East every year? Probably not. I see them making the tourney more years than not, finishing in the 4-6 range most of the time, with a top 3 finish and a bottom 4 finish (they'll be a down year every now and again) sprinkled throughout.

My main concern with Creighton is Big McDermott. He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course). The question will be, does his style and recruiting fit better in a mid-tier conference a la MVC, or was Iowa St just an aberration? Cause I think this league will be much much closer to the Big XII than it will ever be to MVC where he enjoyed great success being a big fish in a smaller pond.

Big 12 always very underrated. In the 4 years McDermott coached there- Big 12 in Ken Pom was ranked 6,1,2,1. Last 3 years they got 6,6,7 teams in the tournament. So it was pretty close to world beaters.

[TrueBlueJay]

Of course Creighton will "compete." Does that mean they're going to be a top 2-3 team and compete to win the Big East every year? Probably not. I see them making the tourney more years than not, finishing in the 4-6 range most of the time, with a top 3 finish and a bottom 4 finish (they'll be a down year every now and again) sprinkled throughout.

My main concern with Creighton is Big McDermott. He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course). The question will be, does his style and recruiting fit better in a mid-tier conference a la MVC, or was Iowa St just an aberration? Cause I think this league will be much much closer to the Big XII than it will ever be to MVC where he enjoyed great success being a big fish in a smaller pond.

A fair question that has been raised before. Only time will tell. I think Coach Mac is on the path to do things right at CU and to have a winning program. He readily admits he didn't run the program at ISU like he should have and that he won't compromise on that going forward...hopefully a lesson learned and he'll have many successful seasons with Creighton in the BE.

[whiteandblue77]

He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course).

Texas with Kevin Durant is "outside KU of course"? The ISU arguments against McDermott are kinda shortsighted in the big picture (which is supposed to be what this thread is about, right?). TONS of great coaches had speedbumps along the way, and were in situations that weren't a good fit. Dana Altman had a bad experience at KSU, where he HATED being in Bill Snyder's shadow and the administration that expected too much right away... he pretty much got run out of there before he came to Creighton, where he was our winningest coach. Doing quite well on the big stage at Oregon. I'm imagining they do things in Eugene a little different than in Ames Iowa or Manhattan Kansas.

[aughnanure]

Of course Creighton will "compete." Does that mean they're going to be a top 2-3 team and compete to win the Big East every year? Probably not. I see them making the tourney more years than not, finishing in the 4-6 range most of the time, with a top 3 finish and a bottom 4 finish (they'll be a down year every now and again) sprinkled throughout.

My main concern with Creighton is Big McDermott. He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course). The question will be, does his style and recruiting fit better in a mid-tier conference a la MVC, or was Iowa St just an aberration? Cause I think this league will be much much closer to the Big XII than it will ever be to MVC where he enjoyed great success being a big fish in a smaller pond.

Big 12 always very underrated. In the 4 years McDermott coached there- Big 12 in Ken Pom was ranked 6,1,2,1. Last 3 years they got 6,6,7 teams in the tournament. So it was pretty close to world beaters.

Meant that as more none of them were powerhouses outside KU. Wait, Texas was actually still rolling then, so yeah those two. Fair enough. But after that it really was a lot of depth. And he couldn't win there, and it wasn't pretty. That's what worries me, cause it won't be as easy to pull out of 3-4 year down cycle as it was in the MVC. And this goes for everyone for that matter. Have a couple bad years, make a bad new hire, give him 3-4 bad years before firing, etc...its really easy to go through a 6-10 year down period in good leagues.

[aughnanure]

He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course).

Texas with Kevin Durant is "outside KU of course"? The ISU arguments against McDermott are kinda shortsighted in the big picture (which is supposed to be what this thread is about, right?). TONS of great coaches had speedbumps along the way, and were in situations that weren't a good fit. Dana Altman had a bad experience at KSU, where he HATED being in Bill Snyder's shadow and the administration that expected too much right away... he pretty much got run out of there before he came to Creighton, where he was our winningest coach. Doing quite well on the big stage at Oregon. I'm imagining they do things in Eugene a little different than in Ames Iowa or Manhattan Kansas.

Well when no one actually beats KU, I have a hard time calling another program a powerhouse. But you're right, that's when Texas was rolling as a program and looked every bit like a Florida, Ohio St level (up till 2009 ish though). I like Dana. Grew up as a KSU fan. But no one wanted him to leave. Hell he beat KU twice in his last year! If Altman were still there, I like Creighton much more. Just concerned.

FUN FACT: Texas didn't even make it to the Sweet 16 with Kevin Durant. I'll let that sink in for a moment.

[whiteandblue77]

He was pretty terrible at Iowa St, and its not like the Big XII was world beaters then (outside KU of course).

Texas with Kevin Durant is "outside KU of course"? The ISU arguments against McDermott are kinda shortsighted in the big picture (which is supposed to be what this thread is about, right?). TONS of great coaches had speedbumps along the way, and were in situations that weren't a good fit. Dana Altman had a bad experience at KSU, where he HATED being in Bill Snyder's shadow and the administration that expected too much right away... he pretty much got run out of there before he came to Creighton, where he was our winningest coach. Doing quite well on the big stage at Oregon. I'm imagining they do things in Eugene a little different than in Ames Iowa or Manhattan Kansas.

Well when no one actually beats KU, I have a hard time calling another program a powerhouse. But you're right, that's when Texas was rolling as a program and looked every bit like a Florida, Ohio St level (up till 2009 ish though). I like Dana. Grew up as a KSU fan. But no one wanted him to leave. Hell he beat KU twice in his last year! If Altman were still there, I like Creighton much more. Just concerned.

FUN FACT: Texas didn't even make it to the Sweet 16 with Kevin Durant. I'll let that sink in for a moment.

Well, to be honest, I wasn't thrilled myself with the Coach Mac hire, at the time I wanted Kevin McKenna real bad. But since he's been at CU I'm 150% convinced Big Mac was the right hire. It's why our AD Bruce Rasmussen is one of the smartest around (and he's been around for a long ass time). Greg is the PERFECT coach for Creighton and Omaha and the Big East.

But as TrueBlue pointed out, this is ALL speculation at this point in time.

What we REALLY need to be worried about is the BCS conferences and all the Division 4 talk (sorry to bring up the white elephant but that's what I do).

[aughnanure]

Texas with Kevin Durant is "outside KU of course"? The ISU arguments against McDermott are kinda shortsighted in the big picture (which is supposed to be what this thread is about, right?). TONS of great coaches had speedbumps along the way, and were in situations that weren't a good fit. Dana Altman had a bad experience at KSU, where he HATED being in Bill Snyder's shadow and the administration that expected too much right away... he pretty much got run out of there before he came to Creighton, where he was our winningest coach. Doing quite well on the big stage at Oregon. I'm imagining they do things in Eugene a little different than in Ames Iowa or Manhattan Kansas.

Well when no one actually beats KU, I have a hard time calling another program a powerhouse. But you're right, that's when Texas was rolling as a program and looked every bit like a Florida, Ohio St level (up till 2009 ish though). I like Dana. Grew up as a KSU fan. But no one wanted him to leave. Hell he beat KU twice in his last year! If Altman were still there, I like Creighton much more. Just concerned.

FUN FACT: Texas didn't even make it to the Sweet 16 with Kevin Durant. I'll let that sink in for a moment.

Well, to be honest, I wasn't thrilled myself with the Coach Mac hire, at the time I wanted Kevin McKenna real bad. But since he's been at CU I'm 150% convinced Big Mac was the right hire. It's why our AD Bruce Rasmussen is one of the smartest around (and he's been around for a long ass time). Greg is the PERFECT coach for Creighton and Omaha and the Big East.

But as TrueBlue pointed out, this is ALL speculation at this point in time.

What we REALLY need to be worried about is the BCS conferences and all the Division 4 talk (sorry to bring up the white elephant but that's what I do).

Not worried at all about that. They WILL NOT murder the NCAA tournament. They know if they do, they will never, ever, ever get it back.

[pki1998]

A message to Creighton fans....

1) Haters are going to hate.
2) Scoreboard

Listen people are always going to give reasons why someone on a roll will fail. You guys are 3-0 in confernce! Just concentrate on winning not on arguing against the haters. If you keep winning they will be proven wrong.

That being said I a nervously awaiting our game. It will be a big challenge for Xavier. X has been playing well as of late, but only have played one true road game. And Lets face it Alabama is not on the same level, so this should be the biggest challenge X has faced this year. Unfortunately I think X will probably lose but it still should be a good hard fought game. Lets hope the refs let them play more than they did in the X-Marquette game

[billyjack]

I like that none of the 10 BE coaches act like a-holes on the sidelines. I can't stand to watch McCaffery, Crean and Motta. Buzz roams the sideline but he doesn't act like a jackass.

[ChelseaFriar]

I like that none of the 10 BE coaches act like a-holes on the sidelines. I can't stand to watch McCaffery, Crean and Motta. Buzz roams the sideline but he doesn't act like a jackass.

Buzz seems to be a likeable guy. Good interview and a ton of passion.

How about Hurley at URI on the sidelines? Oh, wait, I mean how about Hurley standing on the free throw line the entire game in a defensive stance when his team is pressing?