St. Louis and Duquesne (OR Detroit Mercy)

[DumpsterFireA10]

Interesting take, but not happening.

The conference lineups you see right now...that's going to be the way it is unless a "supposed" candidate drops a program.

[redmen9194]

The more I read these expansion threads the more I think there are no good choices for 11 and 12. Duquesne and Detroit Mercy should never appear on the Big East radar at all at any time. When I look at the ten we have, they all have good programs and / or pedigree that carries weight and potential to improve. But look at what is left out there. St. Louis, Dayton, VCU, Richmond, etc.,. Do we really want to expand and bring two of these programs in? Why? We have a TV contract that gives us $500,000.00 for ten schools. We have all survived on much less, why do we need two more schools. The answer is we don't. The problem with what is now the AAC is that they were becoming forced to add schools just to get the numbers up. So it's great you have 12 teams, but those teams include, Tulane, UCF, Tulsa, etc. I like ten. It's a strong ten and there is a drop off to 11 and 12. We don't need the drop.

[DumpsterFireA10]

The more I read these expansion threads the more I think there are no good choices for 11 and 12. Duquesne and Detroit Mercy should never appear on the Big East radar at all at any time. When I look at the ten we have, they all have good programs and / or pedigree that carries weight and potential to improve. But look at what is left out there. St. Louis, Dayton, VCU, Richmond, etc.,. Do we really want to expand and bring two of these programs in? Why? We have a TV contract that gives us $500,000.00 for ten schools. We have all survived on much less, why do we need two more schools. The answer is we don't. The problem with what is now the AAC is that they were becoming forced to add schools just to get the numbers up. So it's great you have 12 teams, but those teams include, Tulane, UCF, Tulsa, etc. I like ten. It's a strong ten and there is a drop off to 11 and 12. We don't need the drop.

As a SLU fan, I wish you weren't right. But you've got a good point. There's questions about everybody out there. The day they announced 10 and blew off expansion questions was the day I figured the Big East candidates were Xavier, Creighton, and Butler. The Omaha article about Creighton's entry brought up some dramatics (losers receiving the BE package), but in the end the Big East got what they wanted. It makes more sense to stay at 10 (the starting point) than to add after the fact.

[butlerguy03]

St. Louis would be a decent add, the problem is there is no #12. Dayton would fit, Richmond would fit...but neither are strong candidates. Beyond that it is a stretch to mention Duquesne, Detroit or any other. In fact, I think Valparaiso would be a better fit than ANY other candidate. Basketball crazy, could carry quite a bit of media coverage in NW Indiana (in Chicago metro, but still a large population with many non-Chicago media outlets) along with Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois and Indiana.

[BillEsq]

The more I read these expansion threads the more I think there are no good choices for 11 and 12. Duquesne and Detroit Mercy should never appear on the Big East radar at all at any time. When I look at the ten we have, they all have good programs and / or pedigree that carries weight and potential to improve. But look at what is left out there. St. Louis, Dayton, VCU, Richmond, etc.,. Do we really want to expand and bring two of these programs in? Why? We have a TV contract that gives us $500,000.00 for ten schools. We have all survived on much less, why do we need two more schools. The answer is we don't. The problem with what is now the AAC is that they were becoming forced to add schools just to get the numbers up. So it's great you have 12 teams, but those teams include, Tulane, UCF, Tulsa, etc. I like ten. It's a strong ten and there is a drop off to 11 and 12. We don't need the drop.

I understand your concern... unfortunately NoderDamer is a clear troll and well anyone who puts Duquesne or Detroit as must haves for 12 are clearly just trolling. Whether you are for or against expansion i hope you don't place any value in these kind of trolling posts. While i'm flattered that he thinks so highly of SLU i really don't want our schools name mentioned with this kind of tom foolery. Please table all conversations about expansion. NOTHING NEW TO SEE HERE

[SpiderFan]

Look I'll be the 1st to admit as a Richmond fan, yes we definitely have some negatives, as does every potential expansion candidate. Maybe you will expand, maybe you won't, but to tell me the 10 you have are all strong is as hypocritical as you can get. DePaul, really? Seton Hall? C'mon, the only reason those schools are in, is because they are catholic and were part of the original Big East. So don't pick apart all the other schools believing that all those within the castle walls are perfect. I can come up with several negatives of every school within the current conference.

[yorost]

Bravo on the Catholic card, it's totally a reason DePaul and Seton Hall are still in. ...like a conference can avoid having bottom teams or flaws in its programs. Who is in, is in, and at least DePaul and Seton Hall are stronger programs than the bottom of either the A10 or AAC. Our group is a group, end of story. It matters not how good any particular program already in is when evaluating candidates. If you think Richmond is better than DePaul and Seton Hall, that's great, you have been the last few years, but that doesn't mean people have to think Richmond is a positive add for the Big East. As far as I'm concerned, it isn't. You try to add to the top of a conference, not anywhere in the middle (unless you have to, obviously). There's nothing hypocritical about people debating who the best add is.

[SpiderFan]

My post was mainly for redman9194 since he was saying how great the current membership. You can debate all you want, as I stated in Line #1, our program has faults just like anybody else. I'm not campaigning for good press or to be looked favorably on. At the end of the day its not the message board posters who decide these things anyway...but it does keep them up and running and active everyday. No matter what conference you talk about, someone is always going to finish last. There are debates yearly on the A10 message boards about kicking Fordham out of the conference for various performance issues. It is what it is.

[redmen9194]

Before you bash DePaul or Seton Hall, or even St. John's for that matter, lets look at some facts. First DePaul is a school of 25,000 in Chicago with a storied basketball history. They need new leadership and there is no reason why they cannot have sustained success. Same for Seton Hall. Even St. John's who essentially imploded the program in 2004 and started from scratch. It takes time to rebuild the right way. Then add 2005 to the mix. Why 2005? Because that is when Big East Hoops shot to 16 teams. Now you are rebuilding and needing to climb over programs such as Cuse, Louisville, West Virginia, G'Town, Nova, Marquette, Pitt, UConn, etc. So if you are DePaul and are rebuilding, its a steep climb out of a 16 team Big East cellar with half of the league ranked in the top 25. It took St. John's eight years and a name head coach to get to third place in the league in 2011. The following year they dropped because rookie teams get eaten alive in the Big East. So don't compare Richmond to Seton Hall or DePaul because Richmond loses that battle every time. It's one thing to have to jump over Fordham and St. Bonaventure in the standings and another to have to jump UConn and Pitt.

[Dave]

UConn