I mean, I agree that in light of the Big East looking at expansion that building up an announcement the way they did was poor timing, but people are overreacting in the opposite direction now. It's a perfectly nice building and the kind of thing they should be doing to keep recruits home and win the A-10. That kind of facility is something they should have as a possible Big East candidate. The reality is probably that they had to have a formal press conference to publicly thank the donors who wrote very big checks to finance things. No, the presidents of the Big East aren't going to eliminate SLU because someone with the login credentials got a little overactive with their twitter fingers.

while there are programs with greater success in BB than SLU, it doesn't mean those programs are an institutional match with the BE.
SLU has the academics, location and basic institutional mission. They have history with some current BE members. They have improved their product and facilities.
i have no doubt they are a serious contender, certainly more so than Wichita St, Temple or most of the rest of the A 10. Nothing against those schools, the same could be said about Kansas, Indiana and Oregon

(10-20-2021 05:58 PM)gosports1 Wrote:  while there are programs with greater success in BB than SLU, it doesn't mean those programs are an institutional match with the BE.
SLU has the academics, location and basic institutional mission. They have history with some current BE members. They have improved their product and facilities.
i have no doubt they are a serious contender, certainly more so than Wichita St, Temple or most of the rest of the A 10. Nothing against those schools, the same could be said about Kansas, Indiana and Oregon

Agree fully.

Saint Louis is a perfect fit for the Big East based on multiple metrics.

It’s not that I disagree with the institutional fit. But, using those more specific yet undefinable traits exposes the inner mechanics and biases of the conference. It’s not SLU’s fault if they get selected over Dayton or Temple because Xavier and Villanova have issues with them. Yet, it doesn’t make SLU a better school than those two, either. Or VCU and Wichita because they are public schools. And this works both ways: academically, SLU is superior to some current members, and the real chaser: Gonzaga.

If the Big East takes SLU, fine; it is what it is. And, honestly, as an A10 fan, it may even be addition through subtraction, rather than other A10 candidates. But, the Big East takes a big hit here. Credibility had been strong there with its last four additions. SLU will be a reach, and a choice that may age like milk if you see nothing from them on the court over the course of its first five or ten years. That’s new to the Big East, because even for conferences like A10 with VCU, WCC with BYU, OVC with Belmont, AAC with Wichita, MWC with the likes of its WAC pickups, and now the MVC with Loyola: you have a plug-and-play addition providing value for the conference and their bottom line. But, yeah, that’s on the Big East, and not SLU. If the Big East wants to pretend it’s more academically elite like the Patriot or Ivy, again, that’s on the conference and not SLU.

What is on SLU, however, are the years of frustrating little to no contribution to the A10 except when there was a chance for the school to move to the Big East. Apparently, it was a motivating factor with the Majerus hire. Now, the school lays it on thick about a building. You know, I’d have no “beef” with the Billikens if they’d just stick to their work and not try to broadcast themselves as being committed to the sport. Because that’s not what’s being done at like all of these other schools coast to coast. I would even say Wichita State with their Koch money…they just ball. It becomes annoying when you try to steer a false narrative about your program. The history over the last 20-30 years expose a bit of a lie there.