(09-28-2015 09:44 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I'm basically in agreement with the video commentary from the OP - SLU and Dayton are probably the top options if the Big East were to expand today, with Davidson, Richmond and VCU being the alternatives. I would consider SLU to be a lock in any future expansion because they hit all of the metrics that have mattered the most in conference realignment: TV market, academic profile, institutional fit, etc. It would be better if they were on more of an upswing on-the-court, but the Big East is in the position where it's looking for long-term marriages, so the off-the-court metrics matter much more. Dayton has performed better on-the-court and has one of theb best fan bases in college basketball, but their location being so close to Xavier is going to be a major negative (even though Dayton is technically a separate TV market from Cincinnati). There's also the issue of the Big East schools wanting balance between Eastern schools and Midwestern schools.

IMHO, Davidson is really on the upswing. They adjusted well to moving up to the A-10 last year, it's a legitimately elite academic institution with massive wealth, it's located in the Charlotte TV market, it opens up the state of North Carolina for recruiting and it's an Eastern-based school that would make Georgetown happy. (When it comes to the Big East expansion, Georgetown and Marquette are going to be the most important decision-makers.) It also doesn't hurt that Steph Curry is a walking billboard for that school right now for future recruits. (That's not to say that Davidson is competing with UNC and Duke for top players, but I feel that the school can get guys that can compete well in the Big East long-term.) The only negative that I see is how small the school is enrollment-wise, but I've always felt that sheer enrollment is an overrated factor by fans in conference realignment, particularly when dealing with a private school league like the Big East where its viewership generally comes from outside of its own alumni base. Dave Gavitt put together the Big East nearly 4 decades ago almost entirely based on TV interests, and that continues to this day.

Richmond has a lot of the attributes that Davidson has - the main differences are that Richmond is a larger school but in not-quite-as-good of a TV market and location. VCU has little chance of getting into the Big East with it being a public university, although it at least has the argument that it is really similar institutionally as a lot of Big East schools as a major urban university (similar to DePaul and St. John's except that it happens to be a public school). Wichita State has ZERO chance of getting into the Big East - there is absolutely no institutional fit there at all. (That is a pure fan-based wish that ignores all of the off-the-field/court factors that drive conference realignment. It would be akin to saying that Boise State ought to be getting an invite from the Pac-12 soon, which we know won't happen no matter how many wins the Broncos might have.)

I agree with most of what you said here but I can't imagine Davidson being an option. Charlotte is a nice city to be in but their enrollment is like less than a 1000 students. They are one of the smallest D1 schools out there. Is anyone is Charlotte really aware of them other than Steph Curry is an alum?