Top 144 Countdown

[DumpsterFireA10]

Except Xavier is gone, which means the current teams average two bids per year. Then take St. Louis OUT, and replace them in the Valley with Evansville, and the two conferences are a lot closer than you give them credit for - and by your measurement the Valley and the A10 both will get two bids this year.

Which was my point.

It's better for SLU to be in a conference with 2 other teams that make the tourney than a conference like the Valley with 1.

Looking at Ken Pom-
this year A10 has 8 schools in the top 90. 2 over 150. Worst one Fordham at 198. 8th best conference
MVC has 1 school in the top 90. 3 over 150. 11th best conference. 2 teams worse than 200. MVC is closer to the #16 MAAC than they are the A10 by the ratings.

It's not even remotely close between the two. A10 is so much deeper than the MVC now. The loss of Creighton crippled them.

Do you own a map? The A-10 is an insanely bad fit for Saint Louis. There's no team within multiple states.

Wichita and VCU are very similar, so I'd take not playing Fordham/St. Bonaventure/Duquense over maybe playing one more tournament team.

It's all moot because SLU won't leave this disaster area no matter how bad it gets.

[stever20]

I don't think you realize just how bad the MVC is now.

It'll be interesting if the A10 remains the way it is now if they go out and try to make things a bit more geographically sane for SLU.

Ken Pom has VCU at 21, Wichita at 40. Probably a lot due to the conference.

the thign is the next 2-3 teams
MVC:
No Iowa 97
Indiana St 98
Bradley 134
vs
A10 taking out SLU:
La Salle 55
UMass 60
Richmond 66

hell, add Dayton 68, St Joes' 74, and GMU 89 before you even get to the 2nd best MVC school. GW and Rhode Island are better than 4th place Bradley.

[DumpsterFireA10]

I don't think you realize just how bad the MVC is now.

It'll be interesting if the A10 remains the way it is now if they go out and try to make things a bit more geographically sane for SLU.

Ken Pom has VCU at 21, Wichita at 40. Probably a lot due to the conference.

the thign is the next 2-3 teams
MVC:
No Iowa 97
Indiana St 98
Bradley 134
vs
A10 taking out SLU:
La Salle 55
UMass 60
Richmond 66

hell, add Dayton 68, St Joes' 74, and GMU 89 before you even get to the 2nd best MVC school. GW and Rhode Island are better than 4th place Bradley.

It just makes zero sense to sit in a conference with no upside. But SLU won't leave the Dumpster Fire hoping for an invite to the Big East. Hope is not a strategy.

After the Big East/AAC (next season), the gap is so big to the next tier down that conference affiliation outside the P5/BE/AAC that it's probably not even relevant which league a team is in.

[Bulldog_Muskie]

I don't think you realize just how bad the MVC is now.

It'll be interesting if the A10 remains the way it is now if they go out and try to make things a bit more geographically sane for SLU.

Ken Pom has VCU at 21, Wichita at 40. Probably a lot due to the conference.

the thign is the next 2-3 teams
MVC:
No Iowa 97
Indiana St 98
Bradley 134
vs
A10 taking out SLU:
La Salle 55
UMass 60
Richmond 66

hell, add Dayton 68, St Joes' 74, and GMU 89 before you even get to the 2nd best MVC school. GW and Rhode Island are better than 4th place Bradley.

It just makes zero sense to sit in a conference with no upside. But SLU won't leave the Dumpster Fire hoping for an invite to the Big East. Hope is not a strategy.

After the Big East/AAC (next season), the gap is so big to the next tier down that conference affiliation outside the P5/BE/AAC that it's probably not even relevant which league a team is in.

Out of curiosity what do you want SLU to do? Go independent?

[stever20]

I don't think you realize just how bad the MVC is now.

It'll be interesting if the A10 remains the way it is now if they go out and try to make things a bit more geographically sane for SLU.

Ken Pom has VCU at 21, Wichita at 40. Probably a lot due to the conference.

the thign is the next 2-3 teams
MVC:
No Iowa 97
Indiana St 98
Bradley 134
vs
A10 taking out SLU:
La Salle 55
UMass 60
Richmond 66

hell, add Dayton 68, St Joes' 74, and GMU 89 before you even get to the 2nd best MVC school. GW and Rhode Island are better than 4th place Bradley.

It just makes zero sense to sit in a conference with no upside. But SLU won't leave the Dumpster Fire hoping for an invite to the Big East. Hope is not a strategy.

After the Big East/AAC (next season), the gap is so big to the next tier down that conference affiliation outside the P5/BE/AAC that it's probably not even relevant which league a team is in.

The conference with no upside is the MVC.

And, no I don't buy that there is as huge of a gap between the P5/BE/AAC and the A10/MWC even. I do think there's a huge gap between those 9 and the others.

[DumpsterFireA10]

I don't think you realize just how bad the MVC is now.

It'll be interesting if the A10 remains the way it is now if they go out and try to make things a bit more geographically sane for SLU.

Ken Pom has VCU at 21, Wichita at 40. Probably a lot due to the conference.

the thign is the next 2-3 teams
MVC:
No Iowa 97
Indiana St 98
Bradley 134
vs
A10 taking out SLU:
La Salle 55
UMass 60
Richmond 66

hell, add Dayton 68, St Joes' 74, and GMU 89 before you even get to the 2nd best MVC school. GW and Rhode Island are better than 4th place Bradley.

It just makes zero sense to sit in a conference with no upside. But SLU won't leave the Dumpster Fire hoping for an invite to the Big East. Hope is not a strategy.

After the Big East/AAC (next season), the gap is so big to the next tier down that conference affiliation outside the P5/BE/AAC that it's probably not even relevant which league a team is in.

Out of curiosity what do you want SLU to do? Go independent?

Independence is impossible, I've looked at it. I'm a big Valley fan, and I think that a league headquartered in St. Louis wouldn't be a bad fit for a school that is in...St. Louis.

[Dave]

Independence is impossible, I've looked at it. I'm a big Valley fan, and I think that a league headquartered in St. Louis wouldn't be a bad fit for a school that is in...St. Louis.

Why not the West Coast Conference?

[DumpsterFireA10]

Independence is impossible, I've looked at it. I'm a big Valley fan, and I think that a league headquartered in St. Louis wouldn't be a bad fit for a school that is in...St. Louis.

Why not the West Coast Conference?

Same problem, opposite direction.

[walijones]

I'd like to revisit my post made earlier in this thread regarding the fact that Villanova has not allowed JUCOS or Prop 48's (non-qualifiers), which resulted in a few posts noting the fact JUCOs have a bad image, primarily due to racial prejudice, a point to which I agree. There is still a lot of racism out there.

However, my objective was not to demean JUCOS (in fact, I was very complimentary of them in my post), but rather to point out that neither Rollie Massimino nor Steve Lappas nor Jay Wright have had the ability to plug holes in their lineups with Junior College Players and/or non-qualifiers, which every other school in the history of the Big East has been able to do. Since the thread, at that point, had evolved into a discussion regarding Buzz Williams vs Jay Wright, I thought it appropriate to offer a defense of Jay.

This year offers a case in point......Villanova goes into it with one gaping hole, no one over six foot seven to back up 6'10" Danniel Ochefu in the post. And that 6'7" backup is a very raw freshman. Now, Jay isn't stupid. I'm sure he would love to have plugged that hole with a JUCO. The fact that he can't do so doesn't make him less of a coach.

[Bill Marsh]

I'd like to revisit my post made earlier in this thread regarding the fact that Villanova has not allowed JUCOS or Prop 48's (non-qualifiers), which resulted in a few posts noting the fact JUCOs have a bad image, primarily due to racial prejudice, a point to which I agree. There is still a lot of racism out there.

However, my objective was not to demean JUCOS (in fact, I was very complimentary of them in my post), but rather to point out that neither Rollie Massimino nor Steve Lappas nor Jay Wright have had the ability to plug holes in their lineups with Junior College Players and/or non-qualifiers, which every other school in the history of the Big East has been able to do. Since the thread, at that point, had evolved into a discussion regarding Buzz Williams vs Jay Wright, I thought it appropriate to offer a defense of Jay.

This year offers a case in point......Villanova goes into it with one gaping hole, no one over six foot seven to back up 6'10" Danniel Ochefu in the post. And that 6'7" backup is a very raw freshman. Now, Jay isn't stupid. I'm sure he would love to have plugged that hole with a JUCO. The fact that he can't do so doesn't make him less of a coach.

Great point. Wali. Academic standards matter and they change overtime even at the same school.

To me. Jay is the epitome of an outstanding college coach and a class act.