Creighton or Dayton for #10?

[Flyer11]

Katz reporting the same thing..

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... ver-altman

2. The reason the new Big East might not start out with 12 schools in the fall instead of 10 is the lack of consensus among the seven schools forming the new league. The best-case scenario would be for the new Big East to start fresh with a dozen. But if there isn't agreement on the schools beyond 10, they will wait for another year. Butler and Xavier are the locks to get first invites, with a debate raging among different factions over Creighton and Dayton for No. 10. Saint Louis is the other school that could ultimately be in the group. Having a primarily basketball-driven conference isn't a new concept. It's called the Atlantic 10. Georgetown coach John Thompson III wasn't being sentimental about the end of the Big East on Thursday. He said the Big East isn't going anywhere and neither is the tournament. He's technically right.

Flyer11

[SpiderFan]

One question from a procedural standpoint is this: does every potential expansion target have to be a unanimous choice? I'm guessing so since I know when the A10 invited VCU last year it was specifically reported that Richmond didn't block the move, otherwise if we did they wouldn't be in. But that may have just been a "same market" situation? Not sure, but at least GTown is still pushing for us that helps. So maybe it was like posters who were talking a couple months ago that Marquette and GTown (the perceived power brokers) are pushing for "their" schools (Creighton for MU and UR fro GTown) and eventually these opposed institutions make compromises and not blackball the others favorite and the other school fall in line? I don't know just speculating?

[Flyer11]

One question from a procedural standpoint is this: does every potential expansion target have to be a unanimous choice? I'm guessing so since I know when the A10 invited VCU last year it was specifically reported that Richmond didn't block the move, otherwise if we did they wouldn't be in. But that may have just been a "same market" situation? Not sure, but at least GTown is still pushing for us that helps. So maybe it was like posters who were talking a couple months ago that Marquette and GTown (the perceived power brokers) are pushing for "their" schools (Creighton for MU and UR fro GTown) and eventually these opposed institutions make compromises and not blackball the others favorite and the other school fall in line? I don't know just speculating?

Can't be bad to have Georgetown on your side. I am really interested to see how this plays out. However, it looks like Butler and Xavier are official from this tweet (not that it wasn't official already):

Pete Thamel ‏@SIPeteThamel
Presidents and athletic officials at Xavier and Butler left A-10 meetings this am. No announcement expected, but they are gone.

Flyer11

[BillEsq]

One question from a procedural standpoint is this: does every potential expansion target have to be a unanimous choice? I'm guessing so since I know when the A10 invited VCU last year it was specifically reported that Richmond didn't block the move, otherwise if we did they wouldn't be in. But that may have just been a "same market" situation? Not sure, but at least GTown is still pushing for us that helps. So maybe it was like posters who were talking a couple months ago that Marquette and GTown (the perceived power brokers) are pushing for "their" schools (Creighton for MU and UR fro GTown) and eventually these opposed institutions make compromises and not blackball the others favorite and the other school fall in line? I don't know just speculating?

My guess is someone from Fox showed up with a 400-600 million dollar check and said... wanna play ball... here's your teams...

[PorkTornado]

Thamel went on to say that Creighton has the edge.

[Flyer11]

Thamel went on to say that Creighton has the edge.

That seemed more of a guess on his part, just because UD or SLU did not get up from the table. It is possible that the 10th team has not been decided, and you sure are not leaving conference meetings until things are finalize.

Flyer11

[yorost]

One question from a procedural standpoint is this: does every potential expansion target have to be a unanimous choice? I'm guessing so since I know when the A10 invited VCU last year it was specifically reported that Richmond didn't block the move, otherwise if we did they wouldn't be in. But that may have just been a "same market" situation? Not sure, but at least GTown is still pushing for us that helps. So maybe it was like posters who were talking a couple months ago that Marquette and GTown (the perceived power brokers) are pushing for "their" schools (Creighton for MU and UR fro GTown) and eventually these opposed institutions make compromises and not blackball the others favorite and the other school fall in line? I don't know just speculating?

My guess is someone from Fox showed up with a 400-600 million dollar check and said... wanna play ball... here's your teams...

I would guess you're wrong. For one, I would be surprised if Fox didn't want Gonzaga, but it seems all but a distant possibility, now. Second, they don't have to tell them since the goals of Fox and the Seven are going lead them to most of the same teams. I can't see Fox making an offer like that then not being willing to negotiate one or two teams being different. The world doesn't hinge on one or two programs being swapped for one or two other decent choices.

If you are right, that would really put a damper on VCU fans. They didn't even bother to worry about whether they were right or not in flinging around the "Fox wants us" argument. Are they a big tv draw overall? They might be, I have no idea. If there are still VCU fans around, I'm not knocking you, calm down, I just think it's a fair question I'd like to see a verifiable answer to. I get that you're strong in your market and have been a draw in the A-10, doesn't mean all of that translates onto national tv.

[PorkTornado]

Thamel went on to say that Creighton has the edge.

That seemed more of a guess on his part, just because UD or SLU did not get up from the table. It is possible that the 10th team has not been decided, and you sure are not leaving conference meetings until things are finalize.

Flyer11

I agree.

[BillEsq]

Fox doesn't care about gonzaga... it already has the PAC in that time zone. It needs teams in the eastern and central time zone. Really- lets face it I like gonzaga- you like gonzaga but the whole gonzaga being some sort of media golden goose is false. They play in freaking spokane, and the average numbers of people watching their games is far from high. The fact is in college sports markets are what matter that is unless you are ND in football and maybe Duke in basketball. No one else has any real national pull. And for those of you who like useless facts to back up arguments. Here is a listing of every nielson rating for the first 11 weeks of basketball this year.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/01 ... far/#week5

[yorost]

I'm aware of the PAC-12, but Gonzaga would play half their games in the East and weekend games don't have to be at night. If they draw better they might be a better add even with only a partial set of games available for the Eastern slots. Also, if you don't think Fox wants Gonzaga or cares much beyond Duke, why on Earth do you think Fox bothered to come to the table with a hard set of 12 teams?

Heck, a quick browse of the list you posted makes it look like Gonzaga would definitely be a preferred choice for Fox.

Bradley outperformed VCU against Wichita St. Both were on ESPN, though VCU had a Tuesday slot. Creighton vs Wichita St., though 4-5 times larger draw (ESPN2). VCU didn't have the greatest opponents, but they don't have a single good national draw on here.