I was going to start this thread tonight! You beat me to it!

I went to the game tonight. They are playing great basketball, they especially have a fantastic defense. Chaifetz is a great place to watch a game too. I think I'll be going back!

Lost to both ranked teams they've played, Wisconsin and Wichita State. If they have a few slip ups rest of the way, not having one of those high quality wins will hurt

SLU's the best team in the region. Mizzou is mediocre, and my Illini stink (although I think they're actually mediocre, too, just in the toughest conference).

I can't ever root for Mizzou, but I enjoy seeing SLU's success.

Very impressive. SLU now ranked #13, at 20-2. Can you imagine if they would have pulled off the 2 close games they lost. They'd be 22-0 and ranked near the top of the polls. Can you imagine!! ?

Go Billikens!

Would someone inform me why SLU is in the Atlantic 10 Conference? The teams are mostly on the eastern seaboard and the competition seems subpar.

innov8ion wrote:Would someone inform me why SLU is in the Atlantic 10 Conference? The teams are mostly on the eastern seaboard and the competition seems subpar.

When SLU made that jump, they too were subpar. And it was a lack of foresight and logic. SLU was right to jump ship from Conference USA, but landing in the A10 never made sense.

SLU has always belonged in the Missouri Valley Conference. I'm not sure it was ever on the table, though, and SLU certainly didn't push or wait for it to be.

That said, now that the Big East has split apart and the current/new Big East is made up of Catholic institutions (aside form Butler, though they are private), that is where I'd like to see SLU go. If they continue this run of strong basketball program, I see them ultimately joining the Big East. That would put the Big East at 11 members, so likely another team would join with them.

The MVC v. A-10 debate is a great one. Coach Majerus always advocated for SLU to be in the Missouri Valley. He thought it would be better for the players, because with less travel it would leave them with more time for their studies, and he was right.

From a pure basketball standpoint, SLU aligns much better with the A-10. With the hiring of Majerus and Crews, and the construction of the Chaifetz, SLU has committed resources to its basketball program that are really beyond the MVC. I love the MVC, but at the end of the day it's just not as competitive as the A-10, especially with Creighton gone (although the A-10 is admittedly weaker without Butler & Xavier). Last year the A-10 sent 5 teams to the NCAA tournament. The MVC sent 2. This year the A-10 will probably send 4 teams (SLU, VCU, GW, UMass) , and the MVC will send just 1(Wichita State). The A-10 has the 6th highest RPI and the MVC has the 11th. There are simply more competitive teams in the A-10, giving SLU more opportunities to rise through the ranks. Also, like the Big East, the A-10 is a non-football conference, which matches SLU's interests. Not to knock the MVC, but I think in these last few years SLU has outgrown it.

Like jstriebel said, the ideal situation would be for SLU to join the Big East. It will be hard losing the 5 starting seniors next year, but if SLU can keep dominating the A-10 for another 3-5 years, they'll be a top choice to join the Big East if they ever expand.

I love the conference debate with SLU. I used to love the old Conf USA with other big city Jesuit schools (DePaul, Marquette, Memphis, UA-Birmingham, Charlotte, Tulane, Cincy, Louisville, etc)...great competition with top 25 teams every year. When that conference became unstable, I was pulling for SLU to join the MVC for the regional aspect. You would have geographical rivalries and plenty of travel opportunities for away games.

I've since changed my tune, and agree with a previous poster that SLU has out grown the MVC. The facility and academic side is just much better here. Now, Wichita St. is a top 5 team and they are in the MVC, but I think the level of play across the top 5 teams in the A-10 has been consistenly better than the MVC in the last 5 or so years.

VCU, Richmond, UMass have all had great years. But it's hard to get into these rivarlies. I mean, can you muster up any animosity against St. Joes's or Dusquene...

I think the Big East would be great for the future, but I really enjoy the games in the A-10.

roger wyoming II wrote:I believe there is a pretty strong "enrollment effect" of schools that find themselves surging in college football.... not so sure about basketball but it would be interesting to see if they keep up strong play for the next couple years how that might translate into increased enrollment.... e.g. how has Butler's success on the national stage translated into increased enrollment? btw, is SLU in general a growing school with enrollment numbers or is it pretty steady?

According to the last two Messages from the Interim President, SLU's enrollment is on a slight three year downward trend- a trend experienced by most private universities over the same time period.

My understanding is that while national attention on successful sports programs can help application yield (it's really about applications and competitiveness more than simply growing enrollment), the biggest impact is on alumni giving. Schools whose teams play in bowl games and the NCAA tournament see significant boosts in alumni dollars flowing in.

Mark Groth wrote:Biggest basketball crowd in Chaifetz history yesterday! Great game even though the Bills were worn out in the end.

You're making it sound like they lost. SLU beat VCU yesterday. Have a pretty good shot at being a top ten program tomorrow. At worst they'll be #11 in the polls. This team has more records in the SLU history book then I can keep track off. By the time this season ends I think this team will dominate the record book at SLU both on the team level and the personal level.

They have a tough Rd ahead of them but im really hoping they make it to 20 wins in a row this is a once in a lifetime win streak for this program ... Go SLU

SLU up to #10. Heard some major love for them on ESPN radio.