Can private schools compete?

[Bill Marsh]

Can private schools compete for national championshs any more?

That's the question that the Big East is constituted to answer. It's the athletic mission that it pursues.

With public money funding on campus arenas. With massive enrollments filling those arenas. With enormous numbers of alumni guaranteeing high TV ratings. With state name brand generating large followings even among the non-affiliated. With former football-only schools now investing their vast resources into basketbal. The formula for success is there.

Can private schools compete with that?

It's been 25 years since Seton Hall went to the championship game. Since 1990 Duke and Syracuse are the only private schools to win national championships. 3 private schools won national championships in the first post-UCLA decade alone. 3 private schools won national championships in the decade immediately preceding the UCLA dynasty. Coincidentally all 6 of those schools were Catholic colleges.

Since 1990, only 7 private schools have even gotten to the Final Four in championship competition - Syracuse, Duke, Butler, Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, and Stanford. There were that many in just 5 years in the late '80's when the old Big east was in its hay day! There were 7 in the decade (1975-84) before that and 4 of them were different than the 7 of the late '80's. There were 8 in the decade before that with 4 being different than any from the 15 years already mentioned. So, 15 privates made it to the Final Four in the 25 years prior to the most recent quarter century, which is more than double the number who made it in the past 25 years.

In The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus, Sisyphus spends all of his time and effort pushing a large rock up an enormous hill, only to have it roll back down just as he approaches the top. Sometimes as I college basketball fan, I feel like I'm trapped in this story ever since 1985. Seton Hall got to the championship game in 1989 only to have it stolen from them when they had it within their grasp. Gonzaga was everyone's Cinderella & darlings of the tournament in 1999 only to lose to the eventual national champs by 5 and miss the Final Four. St. Joe's was #1 in the country and only a point away from the Final Four in 2004 only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Butler had 2 shots at the title in 2010-11 but came away empty.


In the Bible, David beats Goliath. But if you root for David, it's been a tough 30 years.and it feels like it will never end.

It was a very bad weekend.

[DudeAnon]

At face value, I would say no. The collective enrollment of all 10 BE schools is less than 2 big state schools. So how can we compete their money, clout etc.? But it can't be that simple, right?

[Randy]

Duke is a private school.

Butler made back-to-back national title games.

Not exactly what you mean here?

If you mean "can a small private school with limited resources win a national title" I would answer that with yes, but there are more hurdles than at Kansas, for instance.

[BEwannabe]

for 30 years the big schools have made it their mission to have the have nots play in their own division and while they haven't accomplished it they're getting pretty darn close and they finally have more of the pieces to that stage being set. That stage, no football? You don't matter in their championships. Basketball is currently an anamoly because of 2 rules, NBA and 3 point line. Combined these 2 make small schools able to compete, the NBA rule keeps elite rosters young and 3 point line levels the playing field for a lot of teams. The next 5 years will be telling, Mark Cuban is working his arse off on NBA D league encouraging prospective top talents players to jump right to D league. What will NCAA response be? BCS response? Player response? And how do the new conferences feel about non football schools competing for basketball championships, they don't like it is going to be a large segment of their opinion.

[marquette]

The era of states mindlessly throwing money at large state schools is rapidly approaching it's end. The student loan bubble will see to that soon enough.

@bewannabe, until the nbdl has nationally televised games, draws 10,000 plus a game, and pays more than $25,000 per year I don't see very many players going there.

[FriarJ]

It's all about the coaches; find a good one, keep them there, let them establish their brand, recruit at a high level and the sky is the limit.

[ArmyVet]

Absolutely. The privates have a lot to offer. I think what we saw this year is that the one and done guys may actually hinder some schools from advancing deep into the NCAA tournament. We have some of the best private basketball schools in the nation in our league and I think in the next couple of years you'll see the Big East elevate its game.

[gosports1]

i think it also depends on the type of kid you want to attract. some kids may prefer a small school environment and all that brings. others may not

[SJHooper]

As much as I want to say yes I have to be honest…no. Now that's not an absolute statement. Every once in a blue moon a non-Duke/Cuse type of private school will make a run, but 99% of the time it will be giant state football schools i.e. Michigan, MSU, L'Ville, OSU, UNC, Pitt, etc.

The amount of resources and influence they have compared to private schools could not be any more apparent.

[Piratefan]

Of course. The issue is commitment and resources. Football is very difficult but basketball is achievable. Marquette pays its head coach more than 99% of state schools and has a top 5 budget.

Recruiting. I would argue that basketball is one of the easiest sports for private schools to compete on a national basis. A hoops team needs 2-3 top recruits per year, many fewer than football, soccer or baseball.

Facilities. Private schools need top facilities, including a practice facility. The one issue private schools may have is the absence of an on campus arena; that said, playing at a professional arena has its advantages. Current BE teams either have top facilities or they are massively upgrading (eg, Georgetown, Butler, DePaul).

Budgets. Schools need to pay up for top Assistant Coaches and charter flights. It appears that the BE schools are committed to this goal. Seton Hall has massively upgraded its staff in the past year.

Attendance. Although private schools are often a fraction the size of state schools, basketball arenas are much smaller than football and successful programs have no problem filling their arenas (eg, Prov, Creighton, Xavier, Nova).

TV Exposure. National exposure is very important. Clearly espn dominates viewership BUT there are relatively few schools that get consistent exposure-- this is one of the largest relative disadvantage of most private schools. BE schools can tell recruits that every game will be on national tv. FOX does not fail and will gain viewership over the next 3-5 years.

If one were to objectively evaluate the key success factors, I believe it is clear that BE schools can compete at the highest levels if (1) school Presidents and Regents are truly committed, (2) budgets are adequate, and (3) execution is well done. All elements are needed but there are no structural reasons that BE schools can't compete and win national championships. It won't be easy but it is certainly possible (Butler proved this).