(03-05-2016 09:35 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(03-05-2016 09:09 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Heck, forget about the MAAC and NEC, schools like UMass and even BC, Rutgers and Syracuse pale greatly in comparison to some of the elite private schools nearby.

But BC and Syracuse and St Johns and even Siena and St Bonaventure get some visibility from their athletics. BC athletics definitely gives them an edge vs Boston University.

You can't really say that about Canisius or St Francis or Central Connecticut State or Marist or Robert Morris or Towson or Bryant or Quinnipiac or Monmouth or Iona or Fairfield. Their local reputations rise and fall based on academics and advertising, not on occassionally snagging an NCAAT bid.

The thing with using athletic success to boost the profile of the university--it only works if it works. Otherwise you're just spending money to buy a ticket to a rat race that doesn't end. With rising tuitions and rising enrollment since World War II, schools could afford it. If the tide turns the other way, being in the bottom half of Division I doesn't look as good.

(I'm setting aside state flagships and pseudoflagships like the SUNYs and Temple. Notice I didn't say anything about America East.)

Towson got a lot of buzz a few years back for their football team that was scoring points on an SEC school, and was never blown out.