Butler and Xavier sound like done deals....VCU should be the 3rd Team

[mufan2003]

We care about the basketball brand of this new league. Butler and Xavier are great choices. Butler 2 of the last 3 Final Fours and Xavier is coming off back-to-back Sweet 16's.

I think VCU is crucial as a 3rd team. Shaka Smart is nationally recognized from their Final 4 appearance in 2011 and has a personality, in my opinion, similar to Buzz Williams. He was Illinois' first choice before hiring John Groce. VCU lost a nail-biter to Indiana in the 3rd round last year. Shaka has shown he is fairly committed to VCU by turning down Illinois. If VCU joins this new league, it should only further his desire to stay, competing against the likes of Brad Stevens, Buzz Williams, John Thompson III, Jay Wright, Steve Lavin, Chris Mack, etc twice a year. That might be the beauty of staying at 10 as well, an 18-game schedule like the Big East is now with the exception being that every team plays each other home and away.

Starting a new league is unchartered water for MU. It is important to add not only successful programs but "national brand" coaches as well. I think that is part of the recipe of forming a dynamic new league. That is partially my concern about any St. Louis talk right now. Who will be their coach and what direction are they going? Adding schools that not only have proven they can win but also possess young coaches that are nationally recognized can only help push the league to higher competitive levels as time goes on.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Gonzaga should be the third team. VCU has had a couple good years and is starting to show some commitment to their program, but Gonzaga has had a couple good decades and has shown a consistent commitment to their program while establishing themselves as the premier private basketball school in the Pacific time zone.

[kneelb4zerg]

Gonzaga should not be the third team. Keep it cohesive geographically.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

This conference should be about quality basketball. No team in the country outside the BCS has more cachet than Gonzaga. Their merchandise outsells all but 2 C7 teams, including Marquette. They give us a presence that is national rather than regional. If they aren't in the first wave, there's no excuse for not adding them by year 2.

[unclejohn]

Shaka Smart is great. How long is he going to be at VCU? Coaches come and go, and many a team has been a flash in the pan under one coach, then faded. Providence made the Final Four under Pitino. Seton Hall made it to the final game under P.J. Carlisimo. VCU does not have a long history of success, and there is no indication that they will do nearly as well if someone else is their basketball coach. Not so with Xavier and Butler, who have both prospered under a succession of coaches. I would rather see Dayton or Saint Louis.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Again, Gonzaga. Great under Monson and better under Few, who's going on 14 years there.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I really feel strongly that Creighton should be the 10th team, or at the very least if they to 12 they definitely have to be included.

I agree with the others that while Gonzaga is a great school they don't make sense geographically. If they were in the Midwest it would be 100% different.

[Phantom Warrior]

Actually, starting a new league is not "unchartered water for MU." MU helped create the Great Midwest Conference in 1990. Here's info on the league's formation from Wikipedia:

"The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference which existed from 1991 to 1995.

It was formed in 1990 with six members--Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference; UAB from the Sun Belt Conference; Marquette and Saint Louis from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League), and independent DePaul. Dayton joined in 1993."

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Shaka Smart is great. How long is he going to be at VCU? Coaches come and go, and many a team has been a flash in the pan under one coach, then faded. Providence made the Final Four under Pitino. Seton Hall made it to the final game under P.J. Carlisimo. VCU does not have a long history of success, and there is no indication that they will do nearly as well if someone else is their basketball coach. Not so with Xavier and Butler, who have both prospered under a succession of coaches. I would rather see Dayton or Saint Louis.

I was going to post essentially the same thing and then remembered that Anthony Grant did a pretty damn nice job for them (2 tourney's in 3 years). Again, 5 years doesn't make a program but they've been more than just Shaka. I still don't know who I'd want as my third (if my pipedream of adding temple and memphis and having them park fball in cusa doesnt happen)...vcu, creighton, gonzaga, not really sure who i prefer.

[MUBasketball]

Again, Gonzaga. Great under Monson and better under Few, who's going on 14 years there.

No, absolutely not. This is a full membership conference we are talking about. Having the volleyball team, or the soccer team, or the cross country team, fly to Spokane, Washington is ridiculous.