Ackerman: "Expansion isn't even on our plate"

[BillEsq]

Burrito: Noder is a troll he has made two posts both have duquesne and detroit involved. His posts are just agitation he might as well just say St. Francis PA and St Francis NY will be 11 and 12.

Katz... typical Katz article. Poorly researched the NEC is so desperate right now and a lot of those schools are looking to leave... The Patriot is a rare high academic conference its additions were not made in regards to sports, The Valley was not going to stay at 9 without the Bracketbusters. No way they were going to go into the college basketball season with an odd number. The Colonial Athletic Conference is at 10 because it got raided and Davidson turned it down and well the fall of the Colonial over the past few years has been well noted. The WCC has its perennial expansion rumor in Seattle but once again it won't expand until it is sure of achieving an even number. Seriously they quoted the NEC commissioner on why the NEC is not expanding... The NEC is a entry level Div 1 conference, just who is the NEC going to take teams from? The NEC is below the BE, A-10, AME, MAAC in the east, unless it brings a Div 2 school up it will stay at 10 and like it until it is raided again.

Seriously there are lots of valid reasons to stay at 10 teams and expand. The fact that there are other conferences who have stumbled their way to ten is not a one of them. Not to mention that every time i see an article that says the B12 is pleased at 10 teams i get sick. I don't care how much they type it the B12 is the most unstable conference.

All in all more reasons that i hate ESPN's hack journalism. I don't care whether you are for or against expansion. If you think the BE should do what the NEC is doing because the NEC got raided by the MAAC i think your crazy.

[aughnanure]

I really wouldn't mind just going to 11. Big Ten made it work for a very long time, and SLU belongs with us anyways.

[DeltaV]

Seriously there are lots of valid reasons to stay at 10 teams and expand. The fact that there are other conferences who have stumbled their way to ten is not a one of them. Not to mention that every time i see an article that says the B12 is pleased at 10 teams i get sick. I don't care how much they type it the B12 is the most unstable conference.

B12 is a football conference...they desperately want their football championship game back, and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.

I really wouldn't mind just going to 11. Big Ten made it work for a very long time, and SLU belongs with us anyways.

I'm ok with this. The season is roughly 11 weeks long anyway; each team would only have to deal with one weekend 'off', and they could use it to try and schedule a quality non-conference game/rivalry game. I know I'd love to see Nova/St. Joes back in the prime of the season; I think it has been pushed back to December recently (or Nova/Temple, which will be a great BE/AAC grudge match, and has been the top Big5 matchup in recent years). GTown/Syracuse would be another, St. Johns/UConn could be one, Xavier/Dayton ( )

[gmoser1210]

Which of these schools do you want?

Team A:

• Five wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 50s
• Two NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Never won more than one game in the NCAA tournament

Team B:

• Six wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 70s
• Six NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Twice recorded two NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, both since 2000

Team C:

• Sixteen wins in the NCAA tournament in nineteen appearances since the 50s
• Four NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Five times recorded two or more NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, including one elite eight appearance since 2000

[DudeAnon]

D. None of the above.

[aughnanure]

Which of these schools do you want?

Team A:

• Five wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 50s
• Two NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Never won more than one game in the NCAA tournament

Team B:

• Six wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 70s
• Six NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Twice recorded two NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, both since 2000

Team C:

• Sixteen wins in the NCAA tournament in nineteen appearances since the 50s
• Four NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Five times recorded two or more NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, including one elite eight appearance since 2000

Curious who these teams are. I'm guessing SLU is A since they never really had to make a run when to get to the Sweet 16 when they did a long time ago. Still think their longtime projection is stronger than any other potential add save for Gonzaga.

[cm5yz6]

Which of these schools do you want?

Team A:

• Five wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 50s
• Two NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Never won more than one game in the NCAA tournament

Team B:

• Six wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 70s
• Six NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Twice recorded two NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, both since 2000

Team C:

• Sixteen wins in the NCAA tournament in nineteen appearances since the 50s
• Four NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Five times recorded two or more NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, including one elite eight appearance since 2000

Which team is private and the best academic institution? Also, what cities are they in? What is the non-revenue mix of sports for these schools?

Also, why does Team B's NCAA appearances only go back to the 70's?

[Jet915]

Which of these schools do you want?

Team A:

• Five wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 50s
• Two NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Never won more than one game in the NCAA tournament

Team B:

• Six wins in the NCAA tournament in eight appearances since the 70s
• Six NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Twice recorded two NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, both since 2000

Team C:

• Sixteen wins in the NCAA tournament in nineteen appearances since the 50s
• Four NCAA tournament appearances since 2000
• Five times recorded two or more NCAA wins in an NCAA tournament, including one elite eight appearance since 2000

Which team is private and the best academic institution? Also, what cities are they in? What is the non-revenue mix of sports for these schools?

Also, why does Team B's NCAA appearances only go back to the 70's?

Guessing A is SLU, B is Richmond and C is ???

[BillEsq]

Jett.. I'm pretty sure C is Dayton if B is Richmond.

I agree with CM as there are a lot of other factors in than just NCAA appearances. Using NCAA appearances are tough as well especially when you go back so far. In the 50's i think only 16 or so teams got in and I think the first at large bids appeared in the 70's. Comparing the structure of the tournaments from even a decade or so ago is radically different than today. While the history buff and sports triva geek in me loves old time stuff, I don't think its very productive to compare stats over eras. Really in a sport where the entire team will be different in 4 years if not less the most you can do is look for recent success, the ability to sustain a level of play over a long period of time, and likelihood to sustain the success and level of play in the future. Even then this is not too much more than an educated guess.

Look at DePaul no one would have figured they would have fallen off so badly. However you figure/hope that DePauls location and alumni resources will eventually bring DePaul back up. Thats why you want to avoid a school that might not have the location/long term support capabilities in the event of a collapse that school might never recover. All in all its really 50% guess work. Predicting the future when your dealing with institutions run by academics, boosters, large money donors, and the labor of 18-22 yo's is obviously problematic. If the BE chooses to expand I hope they focus more on future projections then past accolades.

[yorost]

C is St. Joseph's and B is not Richmond.