m-v-c wrote:Clearly Creighton was better off than they were 10 years ago, Jays likely never would've been in the new Big East 10 years ago. Drake has accomplished more in the past 10 yrs than it did before that (admittedly that's not saying much, but the program is still a fair amount better than it was). Wichita State, UNI are both far better off. Indiana State's program is overall more solid than it was 10 years ago-Waltman had some good teams, but Sycs weren't a team competing for postseason every year. Think they are at that point now.
Guess I brought Indiana State on myself given the ten year period. However, they were much better in the 1999-2001 seasons than they are now.
Every team is going to have a good season or a few good seasons in a row. Just as they're going to have a few bad seasons in a row. You're not going to win every single year. Wichita State had a few terrible seasons in the last ten years, but overall we've been a very strong program in that time frame ... even in those bad years we were a strong program with strong fan support and financials.
I'm not just saying to compare their record from this year to the one from ten years ago and see which one is better. I'm saying, how many people here think their team is in a better position now than in the past? How many of us are looking at the past and wishing for the success they had then? How many fans here are seriously looking at the future thinking the best days are yet to come?
I forgot about UNI. I would add them in. Obviously the teams that are new to Division 1 have been pretty happy with how things have worked out. Creighton did, and they left, but the MVC can count that as a victory, as they can with WSU. But Indiana State? Bradley? SIU obviously had some great years, although that seems like a distant memory now. I don't know. A feel like a lot of programs have been stagnating long-term.
This isn't about just having a few good years in basketball. Lots of programs get a good coach, have a few good years, and then have him hired away. That's just on the talent level of the coach. Are the programs themselves improving? Are facilities being built and renovated? Attendances increasing? Fan support growing? Market share growing? How many programs here have a long-term upward trajectory on the overall health of their programs?
Every one of these schools did it in the Valley. As far as 'moving up in the world'...if a fan's definition of success is jumping to better conferences every 10 yrs, they're almost never going to be happy with their team. (And several of the schools who have left the Big East only wish they could have the success now that they had before leaving. Boston College is flat-out lost in the ACC, and Miami football has stunk in the ACC. Maybe they make a little more money, but they traded success for money. As a fan, I could care less how much money the school makes-I want to see wins.)
BC and Miami don't stink because of the ACC ... you don't go from being a national title contender (or champion in Miami's case) to bottom of the conference because of a conference move. Miami's problems are mostly due to the massive corruption of that program and the NCAA watching them so much more, as well as absolutely abysmal fan support. BC's situation is the same as Drake's ... good coach brought the program up to a level it is rarely at, left, and now the program is settling back to historic levels. I'll grant you that both of those are weaker programs now than they've been in the past, though.
