(01-22-2013 05:05 PM)College Basketball Fan Wrote: Well, neither Dayton or Saint Louis are tournament teams this year and Wichita State is.
We're not building a conference for "this year", we're building a conference for the next 10, 20, 30 years.
Quote:That is one point in their favor. If they have a lot of success in the postseason this year (and in a year with this little top talent, they could go a fair ways), then the gap grows.
Obviously, if they make the Final Four this year, that puts them on the national map. On the other hand, if they go out in the Sweet Sixteen, you're hanging your hat on two Sweet Sixteens in ten years, which isn't exactly a Superfriends-caliber resume. (The Aquaman and Robin spots are all full, thank you, only Superman/Batman/Flash/Green Lantern caliber applications are being considered at this time, thank you.)
Quote:To be honest, one VERY important point is how good a team is right now.
No, that's actually not that important. We're not looking to add a team because they were at their peak when we were handing out invitations, and then have them DePaul up the conference for the next 25 years.
Which is an injustice to DePaul--their Chicago location means that they always have the potential to put something together as long as we're a top-level league.
Quote:Saint Louis is an NIT team that could very easily fall of the edge and be the worst team in the C7 for years to come without Majerus.
I agree. I'm very leery of the Billikens. Their booster club sounds a lot like the booster clubs of a lot of the New Big East teams we're leaving behind.
Quote:Dayton is not a post-season team (NIT or CBI) at this point, and would enter the league as a punching bag.
With those two teams, you are adding them and hoping they improve dramatically while playing against stiffer competition. That does not happen very often.
In the case of Dayton, they have the fanbase and the basketball revenues to go on a big run at almost any time. They haven't had the success that Xavier has, but the money their program brings in makes them a potential power when they find the right coach, and the Big East tag will give them a boost.
Quote:Whereas with Wichita State, you are getting a quality team RIGHT NOW. A team that has 4 straight 25 win seasons, and two straight NCAA appearances. A team with a coach that has improved the team every year.
In other words, a team that is probably at its peak, with nowhere to go but down?
Quote:It is much more likely that Wichita State will be good early on in the conference's existence than that Dayton or SLU will be competitive.
But Dayton is much more likely to be competitive for the next 10 or 20 years, because they've been consistently competitive for the last 30-40 years, without an "elite conference" tag.
Quote:You can argue that historically SLU and Dayton are either comparable or better, but history does not mean they will bring a competitive program.
It's a better indication than looking at who's in the top 25 right now.
Quote:The C7 conference would look less mid-major if they earned more bids, and in the foreseeable future (1-3 more years), it is likely Wichita State will earn more bids than Saint Louis or Dayton, regardless of conference alignment.
WSU will earn more bids if they're in the MWC running through the tournament against inferior competition, yes. In the C-7 Big East, playing quality opponents every night in conference, that's a lot less certain.