big picture view of Big East teams

[Bluejay]

I realize some of you have given up on this year and are already looking at next year. Creighton fans, on the other hand, would like to see this season play itself out before worrying about the next one!

Two points about the future:
(1) Creighton had over a half dozen recruits at the game tonight. The wide open, take lots of outside shots style is really resonating with Chicago high schoolers. Just wait until they take in a game at our house.
(2) Mac isn't going anywhere. He's from neighboring Iowa and had a horrible experience at Iowa St. We pay well (especially when you take Omaha's cost of living into account), McDermott and his wife have moved several of their relatives to town from throughout Iowa and are both pretty active in the community.

[billybluejay]

All this questioning of Creighton means to me is that we're relevant. Not that starting conference play 3-0 amounts to much, but if we were 0-3, this discussion wouldn't exist because nobody would care. I don't think many are surprised we're 3-0, but perhaps others are surprised at how easily we've marched through the first three games. Tonight we didn't even play well, had Doug nursing an injury, and still nearly won by 20.

Nobody is saying Creighton has the history of some of the other Big East schools. But Creighton has been remarkably consistent the past 20 years; it is why we have the facilities we have, the crowds we draw, and it's why we were attractive to the Big East in the first place. My personal belief is that the whole argument of tournament success needs to be taken into context. Seeding is extremely important and, as a member of the MVC, Creighton wasn't getting any breaks. Two years ago I believe we were ranked with 28 wins and still received an 8 seed.

And to the question of coaches, I would be shocked if Greg McDermott went anywhere. He's a Midwest guy- he has money, stability, and an infrastructure at Creighton that would be difficult to match. Perhaps he was the captain of a sinking ship at Iowa State, but how rare is it for a guy to leave a BCS school for a mid major program? And why do you think he did that?

[stever20]

All this questioning of Creighton means to me is that we're relevant. Not that starting conference play 3-0 amounts to much, but if we were 0-3, this discussion wouldn't exist because nobody would care. I don't think many are surprised we're 3-0, but perhaps others are surprised at how easily we've marched through the first three games. Tonight we didn't even play well, had Doug nursing an injury, and still nearly won by 20.

Nobody is saying Creighton has the history of some of the other Big East schools. But Creighton has been remarkably consistent the past 20 years; it is why we have the facilities we have, the crowds we draw, and it's why we were attractive to the Big East in the first place. My personal belief is that the whole argument of tournament success needs to be taken into context. Seeding is extremely important and, as a member of the MVC, Creighton wasn't getting any breaks. Two years ago I believe we were ranked with 28 wins and still received an 8 seed.

And to the question of coaches, I would be shocked if Greg McDermott went anywhere. He's a Midwest guy- he has money, stability, and an infrastructure at Creighton that would be difficult to match. Perhaps he was the captain of a sinking ship at Iowa State, but how rare is it for a guy to leave a BCS school for a mid major program? And why do you think he did that?

I don't think anyone is surprised at the ease with the first 3 games. Marquette maybe- but the others were Seton Hall and DePaul- the 2 doormats of the league.

All that was said here is that Creighton has questions when you compare to the other 5 "locks" if you will. You would have to agree that's reasonable wouldn't you. It's not saying that you are awful or anything, just can you keep this high trajectory when McDermott/Gibbs leave? Butler and Xavier didn't have tourney success with great seeds.

[Friarfan2]

Nobody is hating on creighton. I actually put them in my top tier.

But reality is: creighton has 3 tournament wins in 20 yrs with only 9 appearances.
Villanova, georgetown, marquette, xavier and butler (five of the teams) have 3 tournament wins in a single season multiple times in the past 20 yrs.

Sorry, but I'm not impressed by cbi or nit or cit wins. Those tournaments are cause to be fired for your coach.

[MUBoxer]

$1.5 mil would put mcdermot at about 40th nationally. Definitely enough to keep him long term (more than buzz williams makes). Jay wright is the top paid in the conference at $2.4 mil, which makes him about 10th nationall, and oliver purnell is second at $2.1 mill, which makes people scratch their heads. Jtiii is about 1.8 mill.

The hell did you get these stats? Buzz makes 2.8mil

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eddf45kf ... -williams/

[MUBoxer]

Creighton fans: For years people have halfway respected the A10 going as far as to say it was a major conference on certain years (not every year) so of course X is going to get tons of credit for their work. Butler has been enormously successful recently making the 3 all-time powerhouses, in this conference, kinda look foolish with their recent body of work so everybody respects them. The problem is you guys made the biggest jump to major of any of the teams (even if you throw MU and Depaul from the CUSA days in there) so you are going to get hated on. I hope you guys continue to have success and find another player in line with Korver and McDermott but right now doubt is going to be cast on your program's future by other fans. (if anythings weird about this post my bad I've had some wine with dinner)

[Friarfan2]

Buzz williams makes $1.2 mill. Multiple sources have reported that. Usa today database included.

[Sumdumguy]

Just thought i would do some quick research on Creighton vs Georgetown. Creighton is a question mark and Georgetown is a lock... whatever that means. From the 08-09 season, CU is 11-5 vs the BCS conferences in pre-conference games while GU is 9-5. As a 'lock' You are probably thinking that GU has a better record if we include the post-season. So if we include the post-season, CU is 14-10 while GU is 9-7. I thought this to be very strange since GU is a powerhouse and CU is the mid-major trying to make it in a major conference. Fact is you have to go back to GU's Final Four run in 06-07 to find the last time they beat a BCS team in the post-season. They have also lost to 4 non-BCS teams since then which include FL ATL, Ohio, VCU and Davidson. With the exception of Ohio, the other 3 non-BCS schools went on to have arguably the best seasons in their school's history. Maybe seeding and luck have a lot to do with success in the NCAA tourney, but if you look at the last 5-6 years and want to argue GU is a lock and CU will struggle, I'll wait until i see the results.

[fellahmuskie]

As someone who admittedly doesn't follow college basketball a ton outside of Xavier and its conference, here's how I would have ranked the teams in the Big East right now in terms of relevance and recent success:

1. Villanova
1. Georgetown
3. Marquette
4. Butler
5. Xavier
6. Creighton
7. St. John's
8. Providence
9. Seton Hall
10. Depaul

I may be biased towards Creighton because Xavier used to play them and I just loved that rivalry. I loathe Butler and Gonzaga, but Creighton is the one b-ball school in the Xavier mold (as I would view it) that I genuinely like and always root for.

[marquette]

Buzz williams makes $1.2 mill. Multiple sources have reported that. Usa today database included.

If you have a link for that then please post it. Otherwise I am inclined to believe the link to the (highly reputable) Forbes numbers.

The lowest I've found is 1.8