Big East: Can the non-football schools survive?

I've never been to St. John's but the impression I've had over the years is that it's essentially in the same boat as Temple in terms of facilities, location, etc. but it doesn't have a beyond horseshit football program. If that's the case I would think it would be pretty hard to recruit kids there, even local kids.

Is that accurate?

 

Blame Mike Jarvis. He pissed off the city's AAU, CHSAA and PSAL coaches, and they sent their best kids to other schools. Norm Roberts may be a lousy in-game coach, but he's been doing a good job to rebuild the burnt bridges.

 

Respectfully disagree. That was a great game, full of emotion, with a lot -- see: a No. 1 seed possibly -- on the line. Each of the past three years when KU and Texas have played in the conference final, they've produced great games. It doesn't take an NCAA Tournament berth to create interest in a game.

 

St. John's is stuck in a time warp. The athletic department still thinks it is the 1980s. They try to sell recruits on Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson and Lou Carnesecca when it needs to look to the future.

The biggest problem is that Jarvis poisoned the atmosphere around the program. His disdain for the NYC prep talent was unbelievable. High school coaches in the City have marveled at the job Norm Roberts and his staff have done, often saying, "(We) see his people more often than Jarvis'."

 

That's the only way any program can survive.

I don't get the griping. The teams that didn't qualify for the Big East tourney were DePaul, South Florida, St. John's and Rutgers, right? That's a 2-2 football/no-football split.

In the Big East final four, it was two no-football, two football.

What's the problem?

I think St. John's sucking pipe for so long is skewing the argument because the NY team sucks.

 

Exactly, Bubs. And because the stench from the Jarvis era still lingers over Norm Roberts.

 

This post needs to be repeated. No need to fuck with happy.

 

And I think taking a basketball first mindset when every other conference knows that football dollars is the engine that drives the car is short-sighted. You cant take the approach of "we're a hoops conference because we've always been a hoops conference." We'd still be watching black and white television if Zenith and Magnavox thought this way.

As for USF, Louisville and Cincinnati "hurting" the BIg East. Lesse', Louisville made a New Years Day Bowl and BCS bowl in its first three years and its hoops team has made the NCAA tournament three consecutive years. USF's made three bowls and Cincinnati's made two and made a couple of NCAA appearances. WTH have charter members Seton Hall, Providence, St. Johns contributed over the past five years? These programs were shit-suckers well before the raid and merger.

 

BYM,

Louisville's made it back-to-back years, not three consecutive.

05: Final Four (lost to Illinois in semis)
06: NIT Final Four
07: NCAA Second Round (lost to Texas A&M in a defacto home game for Louisville)