Did the Big East make a mistake adding Butler?

[JohnT]

Not trying to start a flame war, but I can't help but wonder if we added the wrong team. I don't think the loss of Stevensis going to be the impetus for a massive fall, but reading more about their lack of community support one has to wonder how successful they will be in the future. This ain't the Horizon or the A10 so there are going to be lean years. If they don't own their own town, would SLU or Dayton have been a better long term play?

[DumpsterFireA10]

Butler was one of the top non-BCS schools out there in terms of resume. They were a good choice.

I'm not a Butler fan, but got to give credit where credit is due. Butler is more than Brad Stevens.

[yorost]

No, it was not a mistake. They were an obvious add and skipping them would have been ridiculous. Stevens leaving isn't good, but it happens.

[XU85]

No. Absolutely not a mistake! Butler will be fine. Xavier doesn't own Cincinnati either.

[Dew]

I'll ask your question a different way: in 10 or 20 years would we have rather had Butler or one of the other schools? We can't say it was a mistake before they ever play a big east game but I can understand why someone would ask I suppose.

[JOPO]

Not trying to start a flame war, but I can't help but wonder if we added the wrong team. I don't think the loss of Stevens is going to be the impetus for a massive fall, but reading more about their lack of community support one has to wonder how successful they will be in the future. This ain't the Horizon or the A10 so there are going to be lean years. If they don't own their own town, would SLU or Dayton have been a better long term play?

Well, then maybe answer it this way...where were Butler and the others 20 years ago vs where are they today? I'm sure Butler will be fine. Will they suffer some growing pains? Sure, that seems obvious but they will weather the storm and do fine.

[Omaha1]

Just send them to RCIA classes and they'll be good in my book

[bluejayfanatic]

The Big East just added a team that recently made back-to-back national championship game appearances. And a team that broke into national relevancy long before that coach was steering the ship. Butler was not invited with the understanding that Stevens would always be the coach. I believe the infrastructure is in place for Butler to continue that success into the Big East.

It's true that Butler does not "own" Indianapolis. But this is true for just about every Big East team. Marquette does not own Milwaukee, DePaul does not own Chicago, Xavier does not own Cincinnati, and Creighton does not own Omaha. However, when it comes to basketball, Big East teams are highly respected, have rabid fanbases, and are regarded as the undisputed last word in college hoops when it comes to those markets. This has always been the calling card of Big East basketball and I think Butler still fits that profile.

[Jet915]

Butler has the best performanceNCAA resume out of the candidates, great historic arena, private school and are in a large city. The only minus is the lack of fan support. It's a small school and with all their success, I'm not sure why they can't sell out Hinkle for every game....that's the one negative. However, I think it's a lesson that you can't pick a team based on their coach (cough cough VCU). Without Stevens, Butler is less attractive but they still have a great resume.

[butlerguy03]

I can't sit here and let "lack of fan support" keep getting thrown around. 7,000 fans per game for games against Detroit, UW-Green Bay, Valparaiso, Duquesne, etc. is pretty impressive when you are competing with Indiana University, Purdue University (very large, traditional family fanbases) added with Indiana State and Ball State (large alumni bases), the Indiana Pacers with several home games on the same days, Indianapolis Colts on Sundays, Notre Dame & Purdue football, IndyCar & NASCAR, and a high school basketball crazy Indianapolis region (you can find games with 2+ MAJOR D-1 recruits almost every Friday & Saturday)...man you're asking a lot for a fan base to come out to support the Dawgs vs St. Joseph's or Wright State.

Indianapolis is a much more crowded market than many medium-large metro areas. Economics of sport says you can only support so much. I think names like Georgetown, St. John's, Xavier, Villanova and Marquette will help attendance a lot.

Butler can own the market in a good season. When they came home for the Final Four in 2010 there were 30,000 fans for PRACTICEat Lucas Oil.