(05-21-2013 11:20 AM)JackMort Wrote: I agree with all of that except VCU certainly being a great long term add. They might be, I just don't think anyone can really tell for sure right now. A few years ago nobody would have even considered them a candidate, and they still have only made the Sweet 16 once in program history. Given the choices, I think they're the best bet, but it's tenuous. They will fade at some point, all programs do. How will their fan base withstand that? We don't know, their best arguments are just such recent developments.
Don't take that as big negative against them, as I emphasize that I agree they should be part of the next 12.
Fair point. There are 2 sides to any decision - pros and cons. You've done a good job calling attention to some factors that should lead the league to proceed cautiously with this decision. That would be prudent.
Here are some arguments in their favor that don't include the run to the Final Four.
Let me begin with the fact that they are a program, not just a one-year-wonder or a Shaka Smart creation:
1. They have won 20+ games 7 years in a row and 8 of the last 10.
2. They have done a superb job hiring coaches. They plucked Smart out of nowhere. Before him, they hired Anthony Grant, Jeff Capel, and Mack McCarthy. Capel had a name in college basketball but not the others.
3. They have invested in facilities. They used to play their games as a tenant in the Richmond Coliseum, but they decided to build their own on-campus arena, The Siegel Center with a capacity of 7700. They now have access to two venues. As a member of the Big East, they could take their big games to the Coliseum with a capacity of 11,000. That's the same model that UConn uses and that a lot of Big East schools use.
4. They have an enrollment of 30,000. That offers a huge upside for potential growth. Contrast that with a school like University of Richmond with an enrollment of 3,000.
While they've only gone as far as the Sweet 16 once, let's look at their 6 losses in the past 10 years:
2013 - lost to national runner up, Michigan
2012 - lost to Indiana 63-61
2011 - lost to national runner up, Butler
2009 - lost to UCLA 65-64
2007 - lost to Pitt 84-79
2004 - lost to Wake 79-78
Every time they've been in the tournament they've given a good accounting of themselves - 2 one-point losses, a 2-point loss, and a 5-point loss. And it's certainly no disgrace when you're being eliminated by the national runner up on 2 occasions. In some ways that's a better record than Georgetown has had in the same span.
And 6 trips to the tournament in 10 years under 3 different coaches is a damn good record all by itself. The fact that they keep coming up with good coaches who get them to the tournament engenders more confidence in a way than a program that is solely dependent on a single coach for its success because you have to wonder if that program will continue to be as successful after that coach is gone.
And it's not like this program has just emerged in the past decade. They've gotten to the tournament each of the previous 3 decades and at one point won games in the tournament 4 years in a row. There is a long track of interest in this program and of valuing its success. Frankly they're better positioned for continued long term success than UConn was when they joined the Big East. While both programs had success on a lower level, VCU has taken it to the next level without the Big East platform and they have better facilities than UConn did at the same point in the development of their program.
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What's the latest on Saint Louis & Dayton?
