Wku's Success Will Bring Cash To Sbc

[Brett Vito]

Mean Green Blog

[LoveMG]

wku may bring cash to unt be not name affiliation being in the same league. ask anyone on the street in dfw who represented unts conference in the tourney. think for a minute they would know, no. the sbc may be the only choice unt has at the moment but it should not be content with it. the wkus of the world do nothing for us.

[CMJ]

The avarage person on the street might not, but the average person on the street probably doesn't know what league Gonzaga plays in either because they only truly pay attention come March. That doesn't mean Gonzaga's profile hasn't given the WCC alot more respect tho. Just last year they had 3 teams in the field.

[eulessismore]

Money is good.

[VideoEagle]

wku may bring cash to unt be not name affiliation being in the same league. ask anyone on the street in dfw who represented unts conference in the tourney. think for a minute they would know, no. the sbc may be the only choice unt has at the moment but it should not be content with it. the wkus of the world do nothing for us.

People who don't know a think about college basketball will never know. If you ask who the WCC rep was they don't know either, but they recognize the name Gonzonga now even if they don't know the conference. WKU does raise our profile among the people who actually care enough to know basketball. The people who count know a SBC team went further than the WAC rep for the second straight year.

Edited March 23, 2009 by VideoEagle

[LoveMG]

People who don't know a think about college basketball will never know. If you ask who the WCC rep was they don't know either, but they recognize the name Gonzonga now even if they don't know the conference. WKU does raise our profile among the people who actually care enough to know basketball. The people who count know a SBC team went further than the WAC rep for the second straight year.

no, wku will not raise our profile. i follow college basketball as much as regular sports fans but i can not tell you who else is in the wcc or where gonzaga is located, or care. they did not raise the profile of any schools in their conferencde. wku is just another fodder team in the way of the bigger conference schools. we have to elevate our conference level.

Edited March 23, 2009 by LoveMG

[CMJ]

no, wku will not raise our profile. i follow college basketball as much as regular sports fans but i can not tell you who else is in the wcc or where gonzaga is located, or care. they did not raise the profile of any schools in their conferencde. wku is just another fodder team in the way of the bigger conference schools. we have to elevate our conference level.

Last year the WCC got 3 schools in the field. They've gotten two a few times during the Bulldogs rise to the Elite of basketball(and probably should've this year with St. Mary's). I don't believe they ever got more than one before Gonzaga.

It's not so much that Gonzaga made the other schools better as much as other schools had to compete with Gonzaga, so they just all got better.

(And Gonzaga is in Spokane Washington, which if you really followed college basketball you would know)

[Censored by Laurie]

It's not so much that Gonzaga made the other schools better as much as other schools had to compete with Gonzaga, so they just all got better.

And thats exactly how national perspective changes...when Gonzaga had Dickau and Stepp and Violette and Turiaf then ran pretty much rough shot over the WCC and the perspective was that the rest of the WCC sucked (un-true)...when Pepperdine, Sand Diego and St. Mary's started to challange Gonzaga on a regular basis the entire conference gained more recognition and multiple NCAA bids followed (last season's 3 was the most I beleive).

The same thing can happen to the Sun Belt...assuming Western continues to improve its national profile (read, important OOC wins) and the rest of the conference continues to challange, and occassionally beat the thought of "powerhouse" of the Belt...adding a couple of solid OOC wins wouldn't hurt either. For what its worth, I don't believe WKU is as far above the SBC as Gonzaga was in the WCC in the early Mark Few years.

This is also the reason that C-USA gets no love. Tulsa should've been mentioned in the same breath as Creighton, St. Mary's and San Diego State as teams left out...but Memphis is just so far superior that the entire conference suffers.

[CMJ]

I think the last couple of years Tulsa has made alot of strides, and has a very real chance of getting an at-large next year if they keep it up. It'd be nice to see them really and truly back. They used to always have great teams in the mid to late 90's. Didn't they go to the Sweet 16 like four times? They also won the NIT in 2001 or so.

[Censored by Laurie]

I think the last couple of years Tulsa has made alot of strides, and has a very real chance of getting an at-large next year if they keep it up. It'd be nice to see them really and truly back. They used to always have great teams in the mid to late 90's. Didn't they go to the Sweet 16 like four times? They also won the NIT in 2001 or so.

Shea(?) Seals and Michael Ruffin. They need to be on our OOC schedule...like now.

[CMJ]

Shea(?) Seals and Michael Ruffin. They need to be on our OOC schedule...like now.

But will they want to? They had us on a few years ago and we swept them. I know they were down at the time, but it might be one of those "why should we play them" kinda deals.

[untjim1995]

no, wku will not raise our profile. i follow college basketball as much as regular sports fans but i can not tell you who else is in the wcc or where gonzaga is located, or care. they did not raise the profile of any schools in their conferencde. wku is just another fodder team in the way of the bigger conference schools. we have to elevate our conference level.

Gonzaga plays in the WCC with: San Diego, Portland, St. Mary's, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Loyola Maymount, and Santa Clara. Over the years, with Portland being the exception, all of the other teams in that conference have made the tournament and have had some level of success. But, again, most casual hoops fans who only follow the conferences that they "know" (BCS or close-to-home conferences), so I can understand how you feel. The SBC is a good league for hoops, better than many others, but WKU doesn't make people from all over the Metroplex flock to the Pit for a home game against them. But, even if we were in CUSA, I doubt very seriously that a game against Memphis would sell out because college hoops just doesn't matter much here in DFW--and it never has, which is really too bad. College hoops is my favorite sport, just ahead of college football. Luckily, college hoops knows how to crown a champ, unlike football.

[Censored by Laurie]

But will they want to? They had us on a few years ago and we swept them. I know they were down at the time, but it might be one of those "why should we play them" kinda deals.

To tie it back in...maybe Western's success helps us? While we haven't beat them we've hung very tight...probably two of the best conference games of the year. Wojcik doesn't seem too timid about playing up and coming or regional middies fighting for national respect (Ohio, Mizzou St. TAMCC, Oral Roberts, Charolette this year...UALR and Arkansas State last year). I understand the trepidation, but I don't think basketball coaches have the same "bad-loss fear" as football coaches do.

Hopefully Jim Christian sees things the same way as well...

[LoveMG]

Gonzaga plays in the WCC with: San Diego, Portland, St. Mary's, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Loyola Maymount, and Santa Clara. Over the years, with Portland being the exception, all of the other teams in that conference have made the tournament and have had some level of success. But, again, most casual hoops fans who only follow the conferences that they "know" (BCS or close-to-home conferences), so I can understand how you feel. The SBC is a good league for hoops, better than many others, but WKU doesn't make people from all over the Metroplex flock to the Pit for a home game against them. But, even if we were in CUSA, I doubt very seriously that a game against Memphis would sell out because college hoops just doesn't matter much here in DFW--and it never has, which is really too bad. College hoops is my favorite sport, just ahead of college football. Luckily, college hoops knows how to crown a champ, unlike football.

good post as you seem to undersytand what non-cmj basketball fans image of the wcc and gonzaga is. they are a name we have heard but not the others so much. dfw is football country and basketball will not draw capacity unless you have weekly opponents most have heard of and want to see. the point is that wku may make us have to be better to compete with them but will not raise our image just by beingf in a conference with them.

[CMJ]

good post as you seem to undersytand what non-cmj basketball fans image of the wcc and gonzaga is. they are a name we have heard but not the others so much. dfw is football country and basketball will not draw capacity unless you have weekly opponents most have heard of and want to see. the point is that wku may make us have to be better to compete with them but will not raise our image just by beingf in a conference with them.

But according to that argument our image will not be raised by anything short of being in the Big XII.

[Censored by Laurie]

good post as you seem to undersytand what non-cmj basketball fans image of the wcc and gonzaga is. they are a name we have heard but not the others so much. dfw is football country and basketball will not draw capacity unless you have weekly opponents most have heard of and want to see. the point is that wku may make us have to be better to compete with them but will not raise our image just by beingf in a conference with them.

I think there may be some crossed wires here when we're discussing program recognition. CMJ and myself aren't discussing what necessarily puts more butts in the seats at the Pit...but rather what can get us better recruits and more national recognition in terms of things like at-large bid discussion...and in that case a good Western Kentucky is good for this North Texas program.

You are right...the Pit isn't going to sell out when Western comes to town next season...but attendence is steadily climbing for UNT basketball as both the level of talent of our opponents and ourselves continues to increase. The SBC is a very good basketball conference and most of the programs are, or at least should be, on the rise. Right now we're a solid step behind the Missouri Valley in terms of overall depth...and honestly I think a step ahead of the WCC.

[GrandGreen]

Reminds me that way back when I was in school, late sixties. There were a lot of students who thought that the all mighty Southwest Conference was a much better basketball league than the MVC. No matter that the SWC was all white and seldom had any ranked teams, and the MVC was easily the best conference in the land with perennial powerhouses in Cincinnati, Drake, Memphis, Louisville and others. The people who believed the SWC was better were beyond basketball ignorance, however they reprensented a large part of the student body.

It is not anywhere close to as redicoulous today, but you do have a segment of potential fans who do not recognize that the Belt is a good basketball league. Probably as good or better than CUSA if you eliminate the monster of non-BCS teams, Memphis. However, scheduling is not NT biggest problem it is just the overall lack of fans. Yes, attendance is better for local teams or the ocassional big name team OSU, Indiana, and Alabama. But if you eliminate the number of those teams' fans from the crowd and in most cases the NT segment of the fans is still disappointing. Not to pick on the student but they are just easier to identify but the difference in a good student contingent and a bad one is less than an hundred on the small side and maybe a max of a thousand for a marquee game. An impressive ten fold increase but at at 1000, about three percent of the student body.

This lack of fans is not unique to NT, as you realize if you have been to a SMU, TCU, or UTA game. It is just another example of the continued erosion of fan support due mostly to other entertainment options. NT has shown a gradual increase in support in Jones' years as the team got better. I hope that NT basketball can get to a point were it's base attendance is around 3000, no matter who the opponent is, and eventually get close to a 5000 average.

[UNTLifer]

I hope that NT basketball can get to a point were it's base attendance is around 3000, no matter who the opponent is, and eventually get close to a 5000 average.

Well, you should be happy considering NT average just over 3,000 per game this year.

[CMJ]

Well, you should be happy considering NT average just over 3,000 per game this year.

True, but a base average of 3K would mean an average attendence significantly higher than that. I mean if we could get 3K for Houston Baptist, we'd get 4K+ for every conference game.

That said, this is the 2nd year in a row we averaged over 3K(we were around 3200 last year, and just over 3000 this season). We also didn't have the huge draw of Oklahoma State this season(6700+), so I'd guess minus that contest our average probably went up this season.

[GrandGreen]

Well, you should be happy considering NT average just over 3,000 per game this year.

First, the 3000 objective was for base attendance which is not the same as an average. Base describing the number of fans that can be usually counted on to be there every game no matter the timing or opponent. NT's base would be closer to a 1000 than 3000. Second, the announced numbers are very generously counted.

[CMJ]

To sort of go back to the WKU becoming the next Gonzaga thing....

http://www.sports-central.org/sports/2009/...rch_madness.php

The third lesson learned. Major props for the Hilltoppers

[greenminer]

To sort of go back to the WKU becoming the next Gonzaga thing....

Hilltoppers had tradition long before Gonzaga became a S16 regular, right?

[CMJ]

Definitely, but not much Tourney success in about 15 years.