Just something to discuss during the dry months:

It's getting awfully quiet around here. Thought some statistics might spur some thought:

2009 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE TEAM LEADERS

Rank School Average
1. Kentucky 22,239
2. Syracuse 21,044
3. North Carolina 21,035
4. Tennessee 20,483
5. Louisville 19,397
6. Wisconsin 17,230
7. Maryland 17,048
8. Memphis 16,933
9. Kansas 16,350
10. Marquette 16,200

2009 Games Avg. Conf. Tourney Avg.

1. Big Ten 12,519 13,620
2. Southeastern 11,625 11,856
3. Atlantic Coast 10,943 26,352
4. Big East 10,882 19,375
5. Big 12 10,395 15,769
6. Pacific 10 8,541 15,490
7. Mountain West 8,280 9,522
8. Missouri Valley 7,752 10,880
9. Conference USA 5,799 11,220
10. Atlantic 10 5,640 4,814
11. Western Athletic 5,375 5,258
12. Colonial 12 3,630 7,116
13. Horizon 3,483 3,235
14. West Coast 2,892 7,845
15. Mid-American 2,949 6,615
16. Summit 2,689 4,421
17. Sun Belt 2,538 2,621
18. Ohio Valley 2,500 3,104
19. Metro Atlantic 2,462 7,193
20. Southern 2,421 4,107
21. Big Sky 2,292 3,714
22. America East 2,036 3,912
23. Mid-Eastern 2,005 8,009
24. Atlantic Sun 1,972 1,979
25. Big West 1,871 2,235
26. Ivy 1,792
27. Big South 1,785 2,589
28. Patriot 1,693 2,028
29. Southland 1,658 1,513
30. Southwestern 1,531 1,007
31. Northeast 1,130 1,525

Here's my question, is the attendance bump from the ASUN to the OVC worth the smaller odds of winning the conference tournament? As much as I hate to say it, I like the situation we've put ourselves in... small conference where we are in the top 2 or 3 teams year in and year out.

So you'd rather play weaker teams than actually become a better basketball team?

(06-23-2009 12:23 AM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  So you'd rather play weaker teams than actually become a better basketball team?

I personally would prefer to play in a bigger conference with better teams. When we left NAIA and went D-1, we spent some time in the middle of the league until we developed well enough to move to the top. I think we have the administration and coaching staff that can do it again. Moving to a bigger league would take some time to adjust, but we could get there eventually.

As far as attendance, we aren't the only option in town. It is well known that Lipscomb is only 2 miles away from the Curb Event Center, but the Curb is only 1.35 miles from Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym. How many D-1 schools have two other D-1 schools within a 2 mile radius? Yes, I think attendance should be better than it is, but attendance will come when better teams come to town. A couple of miles away people can watch major D-1 teams play or they can come to our house and watch us play SEMO.

What I don't understand is how Mercer and Campbell can get some of the big boys to come to their house and we are not able to do it.

(06-22-2009 09:03 PM)afro4president Wrote:  Here's my question, is the attendance bump from the ASUN to the OVC worth the smaller odds of winning the conference tournament? As much as I hate to say it, I like the situation we've put ourselves in... small conference where we are in the top 2 or 3 teams year in and year out.

I don't think the jump to the OVC would keep us from the top of the league. Compare the RPIs of the top teams in each conference and you'll see that ETSU and Belmont are already there.

Rank / Team
111 - ETSU
118 - Belmont
135 - Morehead St.
140 - TN-Martin
144 - Jacksonville
146 - Austin Peay

What holds back the ASun from a stronger RPI is not the top teams, but the teams after the top 3. There is a huge drop after Jacksonville. After Jacksonville here are the rankings of the rest of the league.

181 - Mercer
226 - Stetson
236 - Lipscomb
257 - Campbell
287 - USC Upstate
310 - FL Gulf Coast
326 - North Florida
336 - Kennesaw St.

(06-23-2009 07:03 AM)Bruin2002 Wrote:  

(06-23-2009 12:23 AM)ETSUfan1 Wrote:  So you'd rather play weaker teams than actually become a better basketball team?

I personally would prefer to play in a bigger conference with better teams. When we left NAIA and went D-1, we spent some time in the middle of the league until we developed well enough to move to the top. I think we have the administration and coaching staff that can do it again. Moving to a bigger league would take some time to adjust, but we could get there eventually.

As far as attendance, we aren't the only option in town. It is well known that Lipscomb is only 2 miles away from the Curb Event Center, but the Curb is only 1.35 miles from Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym. How many D-1 schools have two other D-1 schools within a 2 mile radius? Yes, I think attendance should be better than it is, but attendance will come when better teams come to town. A couple of miles away people can watch major D-1 teams play or they can come to our house and watch us play SEMO.

What I don't understand is how Mercer and Campbell can get some of the big boys to come to their house and we are not able to do it.

Not only that, but TSU is only 4.5 miles away. We've said it before, the Nashville sports dollar is stretched with lots of pro and college options, but mainly the media is too stretched to do anything beyond the pros and SEC. Most days you wouldn't know Belmont or DLU were playing unless you go to the "fine print" area.

I think it pretty safe to say that we could stay in the same conference and still become a better basketball team, going from an NAIA team to 3 straight NCAA births is a pretty nice improvement. I'm just not convinced that it's better to be an average team in a slightly better conference than an above average team in the ASUN.