Katz: C7 looking to add Richmond?

[yorost]

Richmond fits the academic profile but doesn't add near as much from a hoops standpoint. I'm not sure it matters as I think Fox is going to force at least 12 right away.

No, they aren't as successful as VCU, but they aren't that far behind, either. They had a Sweet 16 the same year VCU made its run, plus they have a second Sweet 16 in the 80's, something VCU does not have. Both teams are .500 in the NCAA's, while VCU has 2 more appearances. If you wanted to spin it for Richmond, since 1984 they have 1 more appearance than VCU. That's cheap, though, since it cuts off VCU appearances in the years right before that and ignores the last decade was stronger for VCU in bids, 5-3.

What does concern me is that some VCU stompers have indicated Richmond's popularity pales in comparison to VCU in Richmond. How true is that over the last two decades?

[XU85]

After Butler and Xavier, Richmond is the best choice for the new conference.

They are geographically perfect, have a HUGE endowment, and do not require other programs added to make them work in the short term.

Richmond buys you a few years at 10 if it's desired.

Ultimately, I think it'd likely go to:

nBE West: Creighton, SLU, Depaul, Marquette, Butler, Xavier
nBE East: Seton Hall, St Johns, Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Richmond

But, there's no reason to even rush into that....

(BTW, Butler fan)

Edrick for commissioner!

[Peter]

Huge mistake in my mind to add Richmond just to appease Georgetown. There have to be better schools that the C7 can agree on. Does Richmond even have a message board and are their fans even aware of this? I've not heard one peep about the Spiders until this blast from Katz.

There is a rivals board for Richmond. I'd be interested to get their input if anyone has a rivals subscription and wants to invite them over to discuss them possibly joining.

[nathanhm]

I wouldn't put too much stock into Andy Katz saying Georgetown wants Richmond. We don't have a basketball relationship with the school. JT3 has never played Richmond, he doesn't really recruit the Richmond area that much, and it doesn't make sense why we'd want a school with a partially overlapping media market.

[yorost]

I wouldn't put too much stock into Andy Katz saying Georgetown wants Richmond. We don't have a basketball relationship with the school. JT3 has never played Richmond, he doesn't really recruit the Richmond area that much, and it doesn't make sense why we'd want a school with a partially overlapping media market.

Fun to talk about, though. Wasn't Georgetown the one linked to pushing for VCU in rumors, too? Somebody must think Georgetown loves that city. I am curious, which school of the two do you think Georgetown would prefer?

[ArmyVet]

What does concern me is that some VCU stompers have indicated Richmond's popularity pales in comparison to VCU in Richmond. How true is that over the last two decades?

Richmond only averages about 5k per game and VCU owns the town.

[yorost]

What does concern me is that some VCU stompers have indicated Richmond's popularity pales in comparison to VCU in Richmond. How true is that over the last two decades?

Richmond only averages about 5k per game and VCU owns the town.

They were averaging in the 7k's in the 90's, though. That kind of thing can change quickly. VCU was in the 5k's just a few years ago, too.

[James]

I'm not against adding Richmond - very much like Dayton, it's a city where college basketball comes before everything else.

I think ultimately St. Louis are going to find themselves on the outside looking in.

[Natty]

What does concern me is that some VCU stompers have indicated Richmond's popularity pales in comparison to VCU in Richmond. How true is that over the last two decades?

Here's an entire thread on this question from Richmond's forum:

http://richmond.rivals.com/showmsg.asp? ... 99&style=2

And here are some quotes from that...and remember, these are from Richmond fans commenting on Richmond versus VCU.

There is a buzz about their program, but I don't believe that it's generated by the AD, I think it's generated by their success, atmosphere and fans.

I've given up on our atmosphere. It is what it is. One note I will say I was home last night and watching Texas vs. West Virginia. Game was at Texas, there place was half full and not loud at all.

What they have at VCU is pretty special, I think it starts with their students creating that atmosphere.

They do a better job marketing and advertising than we do, their creative is better, and frankly, their product and atmosphere are better. Plus, they are a much bigger institution than we are. Unless Shaka leaves, and the program crashes and burns, I just don't see us doing better than VCU in these areas.

I agree with pretty much everything on here.

Look, they start with a 10:1 advantage in student population and they are located downtown in a fairly easy place to get to. Their arena is smaller than ours by at least 1500 seats. Those are three TREMENDOUS advantages for them, no matter how you slice it. For every one person in the metro region with a UR connection, there are probably 15 or 20 with a VCU connection. That doesn't hurt either.

I also noticed that on the local TV news, when Richmond and VCU play on the same night, VCU ALWAYS gets mentioned/has their clips shown first. It's like that on every channel I have watched. I reckon there isn't much we can do about that, it's certainly a function of the much larger VCU numbers in the viewing audience.

The local media hearts VCUand not us. Does anyone else find it funny that Greg Burton seems to do remote broadcasts for every home VCU basketball game for his afternoon show. More frustrating is that on at least two occasions this season, he was holding a remote brodcast at the siegel center when we were playing at home that night. If your a casual fan who knows no better, that comes of as...the VCU game is more important, go to that game....

The way it's going, in 20 years from now, VCU is going to be WAY past us in college hoops. A new arena will be built downtown to replace the Coliseum because VCU needs more room for fans when they play teams like Georgetown and Villanova in conference play. Meanwhile, we'll be lucky to draw 2000 for a game against Bucknell in Patriot League action.

I think it is time we all just be realistic as to what we are at UR. We have a small student body that is made up of scholars and could care less about athletics. Our admissions office could care less about well-rounded students; only GPA and SAT scores. This produces a small number of alumni who may excel in the business world and give lots of money back to the university but could care less about attending or supporting our athletic teams unless we are winning big. Many do not even stay in the area after graduation as they have no ties here and disperse around the world and become successful wherever their career leads them.

To be honest, it would be generous to consider Richmond even the fourth most popular team in the city of Richmond. They are certainly behind VCU, UVA and Virginia Tech, probably behind UNC, and may even be behind both George Mason and ODU. Richmond die hards are pretty much a 60+ crowd, probably because their student population (which is just over 4,000) are mostly from the Northeast if I'm not mistaken.

[Natty]

Wanted to enter this into evidence of Richmond's support/atmosphere:

Richmond v Rhode Island this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2SoRE5aZ3U
That's from a Wednesday night home game, A-10 conference play.
Attendance: 4,024

And for comparative purposes...

VCU v Western Kentucky: http://www.vcuramnation.com/2012/12/vid ... -kentucky/
Sold out rowdy game against a Sunbelt team from Bowling Green, Kentucky on a Tuesday night.
Attendance: 7,693

Something to consider -- and I say this as someone who sells ads for a living -- is that Fox has to be able to sell these teams/games.

People don't want to watch games in boring/empty arenas. Sure, Richmond is a nice small private school that may closely match your institution, and naturally you'll tune in to watch your team play them....but will anyone else? If University of Richmond fans and students don't care to watch their team....what makes you think a national audience will want to tune in to do so?