While I do enjoy football season and love it when Ohio is successful, I feel that OU is and will always be a basketball school first and football second. I would like to hear from other fans their opinions on what makes their school one or the other and why.
Some are pretty obvious. My guess is most Toledo fans will say football and Akron fans will say basketball but others are not so obvious.
NIU is pretty obviously a football school. I don't know if that was always the case - but good bb teams at NIU are rare in the past 20+ years.
My school is Ohio and I think locally its more of a football school.
Its one thing to get 12k for an occasional basketball game when the students bring the house but not many small college town schools can get 25-26k live people down to a football game on Friday/Saturday night.
I'm not seeing it happen at other comparable small market schools in the MAC like BG or Miami. Central can do it when WMU is in town.
Maybe Appalachian State and JMU are the two other schools that can do it small market but that is about it.
Basketball, the MVC teams usually out average Ohio so I'm not that impressed with our hoops attendance. For the MAC our attendance is outstanding but that the MAC where the average school is drawing 2500 a game.
How many times has Ohio drawn 26k for a football game?
Ohio is a basketball school and it is not close. Jim Christian said it himself after the Portland game, the Convo had a "high major feel" Saturday.
(11-11-2012 06:40 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]How many times has Ohio drawn 26k for a football game?
Twice this season.
In the last 3-4 or for seasons the school has had 10 crowds 23k+. Attendance has definitely gone up even against shoddy competition that doesn't bring visiting fans.
I still don't think Ohio has much of a reputation in basketball. We've had some nice runs but its not the kind of school that you put in the same vein as Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. Those are real basketball schools.
(11-11-2012 06:49 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ] (11-11-2012 06:40 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]How many times has Ohio drawn 26k for a football game?
Twice this season.
In the last 3-4 or for seasons the school has had 10 crowds 23k+. Attendance has definitely gone up even against shoddy competition that doesn't bring visiting fans.
I still don't think Ohio has much of a reputation in basketball. We've had some nice runs but its not the kind of school that you put in the same vein as Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. Those are real basketball schools.
The difference between Ohio and other MAC to the schools to the ones you mentioned is that those schools only play basketball. Those are great basketball schools though. I would argue that Gonzaga has the longest run of success of the three although Butlers 2 trips to the championship game would constitute the peak of success for the group. VCU is solid but we'll see how they do long term.
You don't need to compare Ohio basketball with Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. You just need to compare it with Ohio football. Ohio is a basketball school first and has accomplishments on a national level far beyond what football has done. Football hasn't done enough to counter that and basketball will further its position again this year. Saying it's a football school is just wishful thinking.
It's funny....although Miami has always been more of a football school in most folks' minds, since I went to Miami b-ball camp as a high school kid I went there thinking of it as a basketball school. In many ways we've had as much or more success consistently in hoops as football, but football is more popular with the students (well, at least it used to be). Lately you could argue we've even become a hockey school, with a perienniel top 10 kind of program in DI hockey with a state of the art, $32MM hockey arena.
Things have been going so badly for Miami in football and hoops (except for Big Ben in 2003 and our unexpected football crown and bowl win in 2010) that I might even say we're a hockey school now. But that's not the way most alums want it I would think.
(11-11-2012 07:00 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote: [ -> ]It's funny....although Miami has always been more of a football school in most folks' minds, since I went to Miami b-ball camp as a high school kid I went there thinking of it as a basketball school. In many ways we've had as much or more success consistently in hoops as football, but football is more popular with the students (well, at least it used to be). Lately you could argue we've even become a hockey school, with a perienniel top 10 kind of program in DI hockey with a state of the art, $32MM hockey arena.
Things have been going so badly for Miami in football and hoops (except for Big Ben in 2003 and our unexpected football crown and bowl win in 2010) that I might even say we're a hockey school now. But that's not the way most alums want it I would think.
Miami is a school that has had a lot of success in many sports so I am curious what the response is going to be from it's fans. From the outside looking in I think of Miami as a football school first that has historically played really good basketball.
As down as Miami has been in football, I think it is primarily a traditional football school. And despite their struggles, they have as many MAC football championships in the last decade as the rest of the East combined. I think they would like their off years to be a little better, though.
(11-11-2012 07:00 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]You don't need to compare Ohio basketball with Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. You just need to compare it with Ohio football. Ohio is a basketball school first and has accomplishments on a national level far beyond what football has done. Football hasn't done enough to counter that and basketball will further its position again this year. Saying it's a football school is just wishful thinking.
That is complete BS because Ohio hasn't won the MAC East ever in basketball and has done it 3 times in football.
If Ohio basketball was a staple of the NCAAs and regularly ranked I would agree with you but its not.
When did winning a division title become more important than a conference title?
(11-11-2012 07:00 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote: [ -> ]It's funny....although Miami has always been more of a football school in most folks' minds, since I went to Miami b-ball camp as a high school kid I went there thinking of it as a basketball school. In many ways we've had as much or more success consistently in hoops as football, but football is more popular with the students (well, at least it used to be). Lately you could argue we've even become a hockey school, with a perienniel top 10 kind of program in DI hockey with a state of the art, $32MM hockey arena.
Things have been going so badly for Miami in football and hoops (except for Big Ben in 2003 and our unexpected football crown and bowl win in 2010) that I might even say we're a hockey school now. But that's not the way most alums want it I would think.
Interesting.
On that topic, I think a lot of Akron fans will argue they are a soccer school and not a basketball school. They might also have a few guys who point to their football stadium and call it a football school.
I went to high school outside of Akron and played soccer. A lot of my friends went to Akron, but a lot of them didn't... They are still posting about Akron soccer on social media... Akron soccer outdraws a lot of MAC basketball programs.
(11-11-2012 07:10 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]As down as Miami has been in football, I think it is primarily a traditional football school. And despite their struggles, they have as many MAC football championships in the last decade as the rest of the East combined. I think they would like their off years to be a little better, though.
Miami was traditionally the BYU of the MAC, #1 in sports and academics.
That has begun to change over the last 15-20 years with many MAC schools upping their athletic and academic profiles, Kent State being one of them.
(11-11-2012 07:11 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ] (11-11-2012 07:00 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]You don't need to compare Ohio basketball with Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. You just need to compare it with Ohio football. Ohio is a basketball school first and has accomplishments on a national level far beyond what football has done. Football hasn't done enough to counter that and basketball will further its position again this year. Saying it's a football school is just wishful thinking.
That is complete BS because Ohio hasn't won the MAC East ever in basketball and has done it 3 times in football.
If Ohio basketball was a staple of the NCAAs and regularly ranked I would agree with you but its not.
I agree with axeme on this. Football had 2 lost decades (70's and 80's) and began to emerge again in the 90's but never began to have any measurable success until Solich's arrival. Basketball has for the most part always been a factor in the MAC. I am not talking recent tradition but instead one that has been established over decades.
(11-11-2012 07:14 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]When did winning a division title become more important than a conference title?
Ohio hasn't done that in basketball either since the advent of divisions.
(11-11-2012 07:18 PM)Gallia Cat Wrote: [ -> ] (11-11-2012 07:11 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ] (11-11-2012 07:00 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]You don't need to compare Ohio basketball with Gonzaga, VCU or Butler. You just need to compare it with Ohio football. Ohio is a basketball school first and has accomplishments on a national level far beyond what football has done. Football hasn't done enough to counter that and basketball will further its position again this year. Saying it's a football school is just wishful thinking.
That is complete BS because Ohio hasn't won the MAC East ever in basketball and has done it 3 times in football.
If Ohio basketball was a staple of the NCAAs and regularly ranked I would agree with you but its not.
I agree with axeme on this. Football had 2 lost decades (70's and 80's) and began to emerge again in the 90's but never began to have any measurable success until Solich's arrival. Basketball has for the most part always been a factor in the MAC. I am not talking recent tradition but instead one that has been established over decades.
Football had some good teams into the 70's. The 1976 team should have won the MAC title but they gave it to Ball State because they played more MAC games.
Football was bad 1977-1995 because Charles Ping was in power and focused all of the schools resources on academics. The overall athletic budget was one of the lowest in the MAC at the time.
I can agree that you can get a high major feel ocassionally in the Convo and the potential is there to make a Final 4 with this school but I would also argue that football has a high major feel too on gamedays (though we cap out at maybe Top 20 in the rankings).
The season ticket base, donations to the Ohio Bobcat Club and Student attendance are tilted 4-1 in favor of football. That wasn't the case during the Ping years when it would have been 1 for 1.
Winning the conference tourney is better than being the #1 seed in the tourney. Ohio basketball is traditionally strong, going back decades. Football has had some recent modest success, but nothing to compare with 3 NCAA wins in the last few seasons. Basketball is king, both historically and in the present.
(11-11-2012 07:19 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote: [ -> ] (11-11-2012 07:14 PM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]When did winning a division title become more important than a conference title?
Ohio hasn't done that in basketball either since the advent of divisions.
The reason I believe Ohio is a basketball school is in the rafters of the Convo. There are Championships in every decade since the 1940s. Some are conference regular season and tournament championships, NCAA appearances in each decade, Pre Season NIT Championship, an Elite 8 and Sweet 16. While basketball has had bad years it's usually for only a season or two and then things turn around.
In my opinion the history of success just is not there in football.....yet There is no wrong or right answer to this thread. Purely opinion.