(08-28-2018 06:00 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-28-2018 11:03 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(08-27-2018 11:28 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-27-2018 11:17 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  So you’re basing your assertion on an unnamed DU blogger. Was his name DavidSt?

So in other words, you are making stuff up again

There were journalists that followed the story too. But, as usual, you are too lazy to look up at their stories.

DavidSt had zero chance of gaining admittance to DU. NAU is more on par with his academic potential.

I did a google search. And what I quoted was the most found. As usual, you are full of crap.

DU is a bad fit for the Big Sky, since it's sports mix and the Big Sky sports have about 50% overlap.

And as for low budget schools not wanting DU, that makes NO sense. DU would help save travel costs, since schools could get two games (DU and UNC) for one flight, since they are flying into Denver anyways.

N Colo went to beg and borrow from the Big Sky years back when this was going on. The lowly schools in the Big Sky wanted and needed more FCS teams, which Seattle and Denver could have provided, but Seattle and DU said not just no, but $#&& No.

This is my last post until the Montanas and Idaho give public notice of leaving the Big Sky. It may not need to be until the actual conference season begins or they may have already given the conference notice, but just haven’t publicly announced.

In other words, you have no counter for the truth in my post, can't admit you've been making stuff up, and are taking your keyboard and going home.

(08-28-2018 04:41 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Denver and Colorado College are going to need more than just Arizona St and a rumored UNLV program if they are going to start a new western hockey league. They'd need Air Force on board and at least 3 more. Denver also has to be careful not to anger UND and Omaha since they are conference mates in the Summit.

He seems to think Western Michigan and Miami of Ohio WILL leave the NCHC WHEN the other schools vote Las Vegas and Arizona St in, which WILL turn the NCHC into a more-western conference, and that there's about 5-7 other western schools that WILL be starting D1 hockey SOON.

(08-27-2018 07:22 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-27-2018 05:46 PM)Bogg Wrote:  Denver's long-term goal should probably be to build basketball up enough to eventually land in the WCC. They have an adequate facility, they could be an attractive option in the event BYU and/or Gonzaga left if they were a regular Summit contender.

The WCC makes sense as a goal, but the Big East is a bolder goal. Longer term, single sport western men’s lacrosse and hockey leagues with PAC12 members is what I would want as a DU President.

I mean, sure, if you're making a wish list the Big East is the goal for basically every school that doesn't play FBS. There's a lot working against Denver in that regard though, foremost being that in order to get the BE to expand further west from Omaha you probably need the conference to go to 14 members or for Denver to very rapidly become a sustainable Gonzaga-level program. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if Denver is basically at the top of the list for the WCC going forward, particularly if Gonzaga doesn't want in-state competition from Seattle, and it's much less hard to build toward being a decent enough WCC program than a decent Big East program. The WCC is achievable in the medium-term while the Big East is a very-long-term goal at best.

Hockey's a different animal and I don't know enough about it, but I'd be surprised if Denver pursued a west-coast-centric lacrosse league over their current Big East affiliation for a few reasons. The footprint of the Big East basically overlaps the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region that doubles as the sport's main talent base and being able to promise a recruit and his/her family that they'll be playing a set number of conference games and the conference tourney within a reasonable driving distance helps in pulling recruits that far out west.

Additionally, Denver isn't going to need any help in scheduling start-up PAC/MWC/etc lacrosse programs out west - they'll get those teams as out of conference games whenever they want due to the strength of the Denver program and geographic proximity. If anything locking in a Big East conference schedule and recurring series with choice western-based OOC programs makes the AD's job much easier, where they're basically working on a small number of headliner OOC matchups and that's it.

Lastly, Denver is never ever getting a PAC invite and doesn't have football scheduling considerations, so the PAC association isn't going to mean as much to them as it might to, say, an Air Force or a Nevada (assuming any west coast league would form under the PAC banner). However, while they'd be a real long-shot candidate Denver does fit the general institutional profile and sports offerings of the Big East (and the BE is probably worth adding a sport or two if you had to). Because of that there's a non-totally-crazy scenario where you could at least picture their name coming up in expansion to 14. The Big East association and opportunity for the ADs to be in communication means something there (even if it's relatively minor) it wouldn't with the PAC.

I would argue the Summit is pretty ideal for Denver. Skiing, hockey, and lacrosse are the priorities. In all three sports Denver gets to pick which single sport conference it wants to join, because the Summit offers none of them. And Denver is in the/a premier conference for each. Denver doesn't have to handcuff itself to a group of bad lacrosse teams because its all sports conference sponsors the sport. The Summit also isn't going to mandate that Denver spend a certain amount of money on basketball like the WCC or Big East would. Denver can continue to allocate most of its resources to non-Summit sports, have decent travel, and not be yelled at by Gonzaga or Villanova for not being competitive enough and dragging down their RPI.

(08-28-2018 04:41 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Denver and Colorado College are going to need more than just Arizona St and a rumored UNLV program if they are going to start a new western hockey league. They'd need Air Force on board and at least 3 more. Denver also has to be careful not to anger UND and Omaha since they are conference mates in the Summit.

Here are two schools that any Far West league could easily have:





The WCHA would not object to losing the Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. The travel is expensive. Problem is, the travel costs don't go down by much by putting them in a Far West league.

Before the Big Ten blew up college hockey, there seemed to be an understanding between the WCHA and CCHA that each would take on one Alaska school for the good of college hockey. Unfortunately, conferences don't seem to play nice like that anymore.

(08-29-2018 10:29 AM)ccd494 Wrote:  I would argue the Summit is pretty ideal for Denver. Skiing, hockey, and lacrosse are the priorities. In all three sports Denver gets to pick which single sport conference it wants to join, because the Summit offers none of them. And Denver is in the/a premier conference for each. Denver doesn't have to handcuff itself to a group of bad lacrosse teams because its all sports conference sponsors the sport. The Summit also isn't going to mandate that Denver spend a certain amount of money on basketball like the WCC or Big East would. Denver can continue to allocate most of its resources to non-Summit sports, have decent travel, and not be yelled at by Gonzaga or Villanova for not being competitive enough and dragging down their RPI.

While Hockey is the flagship sport at Denver, it drives its own million dollar profit, and the program is funded in the top 5 hockey programs nationally at $2.5ish million annually. Lacrosse also in funded at the very top of the sport nationally ($2 million+), hence it is also top 5 program. Skiing is not a huge funding priority for Denver, but since there are only 23 schools fielding teams in the entire sport, DU remains a top national power by virtue of its location and history, although I'm sure the budget is more than appropriate for the sport compared to the other 22 programs.

DU Basketball is funded at $3 million plus, and has is the largest hoops budget in the Summit League, and the basketball thus has largest overall budget of any team at Denver. Of course, that's like being the tallest pygmy in college basketball, where a school like Villanova spends $11 million on basketball, and where bigger budget schools like Duke or Kentucky spend almost $20 million a year on hoops.

DU will likely never be a Villanova in basketball due to budget, history and a tough recruiting location in the sport, where Colorado has little basketball tradition and rarely produces top level players. But I do believe that DU could find more money for basketball if the program begins to produce Summit League titles and ever makes it to the NCAA tournament. Some of that money would come from increased attendance, and some from a larger donor/institutional commitment. Local big publics like Colorado State and U of Colorado are spending $4-6 million on hoops, and I think that's the budget range that the DU athletic administration would like to spend on hoops in the near future. But theres a chicken-and-egg struggle to go from a 15 win program to a 20+ win program to justify the additional investment.

In the long term, I could also see DU looking to build a slightly smaller basketball only facility, as our current multi purpose arena is now 20 years old and to an an 18-year old recruit, that might appear ancient.

(08-29-2018 12:29 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(08-28-2018 04:41 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Denver and Colorado College are going to need more than just Arizona St and a rumored UNLV program if they are going to start a new western hockey league. They'd need Air Force on board and at least 3 more. Denver also has to be careful not to anger UND and Omaha since they are conference mates in the Summit.

Here are two schools that any Far West league could easily have:





The WCHA would not object to losing the Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. The travel is expensive. Problem is, the travel costs don't go down by much by putting them in a Far West league.

Before the Big Ten blew up college hockey, there seemed to be an understanding between the WCHA and CCHA that each would take on one Alaska school for the good of college hockey. Unfortunately, conferences don't seem to play nice like that anymore.

That's a pair of western schools that, while available, no one starting a new conference is going to want to touch. Something about travel complications I read.

(08-30-2018 08:25 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:29 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(08-28-2018 04:41 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Denver and Colorado College are going to need more than just Arizona St and a rumored UNLV program if they are going to start a new western hockey league. They'd need Air Force on board and at least 3 more. Denver also has to be careful not to anger UND and Omaha since they are conference mates in the Summit.

Here are two schools that any Far West league could easily have:





The WCHA would not object to losing the Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. The travel is expensive. Problem is, the travel costs don't go down by much by putting them in a Far West league.

Before the Big Ten blew up college hockey, there seemed to be an understanding between the WCHA and CCHA that each would take on one Alaska school for the good of college hockey. Unfortunately, conferences don't seem to play nice like that anymore.

That's a pair of western schools that, while available, no one starting a new conference is going to want to touch. Something about travel complications I read.

Given the way college hockey works -- a two game series on each weekend -- the Alaska schools don't even work as travel partners. Bowling Green is going to make two trips up there this next season.

God bless Alaska. I'm glad they have Division I hockey. It's good for the sport. No conference should stretch from there to Alabama, though.

(08-30-2018 11:03 AM)puck swami Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 AM)ccd494 Wrote:  I would argue the Summit is pretty ideal for Denver. Skiing, hockey, and lacrosse are the priorities. In all three sports Denver gets to pick which single sport conference it wants to join, because the Summit offers none of them. And Denver is in the/a premier conference for each. Denver doesn't have to handcuff itself to a group of bad lacrosse teams because its all sports conference sponsors the sport. The Summit also isn't going to mandate that Denver spend a certain amount of money on basketball like the WCC or Big East would. Denver can continue to allocate most of its resources to non-Summit sports, have decent travel, and not be yelled at by Gonzaga or Villanova for not being competitive enough and dragging down their RPI.

While Hockey is the flagship sport at Denver, it drives its own million dollar profit, and the program is funded in the top 5 hockey programs nationally at $2.5ish million annually. Lacrosse also in funded at the very top of the sport nationally ($2 million+), hence it is also top 5 program. Skiing is not a huge funding priority for Denver, but since there are only 23 schools fielding teams in the entire sport, DU remains a top national power by virtue of its location and history, although I'm sure the budget is more than appropriate for the sport compared to the other 22 programs.

DU Basketball is funded at $3 million plus, and has is the largest hoops budget in the Summit League, and the basketball thus has largest overall budget of any team at Denver. Of course, that's like being the tallest pygmy in college basketball, where a school like Villanova spends $11 million on basketball, and where bigger budget schools like Duke or Kentucky spend almost $20 million a year on hoops.

DU will likely never be a Villanova in basketball due to budget, history and a tough recruiting location in the sport, where Colorado has little basketball tradition and rarely produces top level players. But I do believe that DU could find more money for basketball if the program begins to produce Summit League titles and ever makes it to the NCAA tournament. Some of that money would come from increased attendance, and some from a larger donor/institutional commitment. Local big publics like Colorado State and U of Colorado are spending $4-6 million on hoops, and I think that's the budget range that the DU athletic administration would like to spend on hoops in the near future. But theres a chicken-and-egg struggle to go from a 15 win program to a 20+ win program to justify the additional investment.

In the long term, I could also see DU looking to build a slightly smaller basketball only facility, as our current multi purpose arena is now 20 years old and to an an 18-year old recruit, that might appear ancient.

I will say that the Summit also isn't a bad situation for a conference in which Denver can build up their basketball program. It's a winnable conference without too many members (whether you have 9 members or 15, there's the same number of conference championships to go around) and a relatively well-attended conference tournament thanks to the Summit becoming Conference Dakotas (UND joining should only help this). Looking it up, there also appears to be a direct shuttle that runs between Denver and Sioux Falls a couple times a day, so the tournament is accessible to the fans base if they care to go. The biggest downside is that the conference footprint doesn't exactly overlap with a hotbed of basketball recruiting, but everyone else in the conference is dealing that that as well. All in all, there are worse places to be.

I like the Summit for what it is and the tournament in Sioux Falls is first rate for mid majors. Having UND on board will hopefully strengthen that rivalry across the board. Plus, DU has some dynamic, athletic recruits coming in this year to add to their solid foundation. They should be able to compete with SDSU.

Puck wrote:
"In the long term, I could also see DU looking to build a slightly smaller basketball only facility, as our current multi purpose arena is now 20 years old and to an an 18-year old recruit, that might appear ancient."

Puck, would retrofitting Hamilton Gymnasium ever be a viable option?

(08-24-2018 08:18 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-24-2018 07:40 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Will Arizona St ever join a Conference? Thought they were joining the Big 10 but I guess not eh?

Only the WCHA has offered so far, but Ariz St rejected them as most of its schools are DII.

When the arena gets built, think the NCHC offers. The Big Ten has flatly rejected their overtures in the past.

The problem is that the NCHC needs two schools, and UNLV could be the second. Miami-O and Western Mich will likely have major problems voting in those two.

In that scenario, Miami U (the other one is U of Miami) seems likely to avoid the major problems "voting yes" for two desert Southwest schools in the NCHC by voting No on UNLV.