Handicapping odds of who gets added:

[unclejohn]

Sweetens the pot for Xavier - a traditional rival.

VS

Not a bad choice. I am not sure I would choose them over Creighton or Saint Louis, but not a bad choice. Dayton has been consistently strong, has made the NCAA tournament often, and has a good fan base.
They are a worthy opponent.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Love the school (my sister and cousins are there now) but as far as joining the conference, dayton just doesnt do much for me, sorry.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Love the school (my sister and cousins are there now) but as far as joining the conference, dayton just doesnt do much for me, sorry.

Agreed, however I'd change my tune if someday they go to 12 teams and add St. Louis and Creighton.

[kneelb4zerg]

How is it that Creighton and SLU are that much more exciting than Dayton? Creighton is ranked right now, but what happens when McDermott graduates?

[IWB]

Creighton has one of the top attendances in the country every year, an impressive program.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Look at the Sargin ratings, those take into account the last 10 years and Creighton is ranked above Dayton... So I guess if your going to question what happens to Creighton going forward you have to question even more Dayton. Creighton was a solid program even before McDermott and everyone points to Dayton's fans... Well Creighton draws more per game so that's a moot point. Creighton brings everything Dayton brings except they being a little more.

I'm sorry but if you ask people around the nation what is the better basketball program I'm almost certain people will go with Creighton. Perception is everything right now... As for St. Louis I don't think they should be in over Dayton, but I think if we go 12 they should be in.

[kneelb4zerg]

Fair enough re Creighton, but I still think Dayton is a solid choice which makes more sense than Creighton for a variety of reasons.

[IWB]

2011-12 Home game attendance....

Rank	School	Games	Total	Avg
The Big East 7
13	Marquette	16	242,205	15,138
35	Georgetown	16	180,530	11,283
39	Xavier	16	162,474	10,155
44	Villanova	15	133,839	8,923
54	St. John's	20	168,560	8,428
63	Providence	17	134,007	7,883
67	DePaul	17	123,832	7,740
76	Seton Hall	18	124,935	6,941
Big East Candidates
6	Creighton	16	266632	16665
28	Dayton	18	218776	12154
66	St. Louis	16	124106	7757
78	Butler	19	125376	6599
85	Gonzaga	18	105610	6212
Iscariot Wing
2	Syracuse	19	448,736	23,618
3	Louisville	20	430,052	21,503
46	Pittsburgh	22	193,616	8,801
61	Notre Dame	17	135,975	7,999
98	Rutgers	18	96,511	5,362
Unfortunate Castaways
11	Memphis	20	324,670	16,234
26	UConn	17	214873	12640
58	Temple	13	106143	8165
59	Cincinnati	18	145235	8069
92	UCF	17	97297	5723
USF, Houston, SMU & Tulane not top 100

[MUBRACES]

I don't understand why Dayton makes more sense "for a variety of reasons"...... Such as? Creighton has more attendance, puts us in a market that we wouldn't already have (as would be the case with Dayton and Xavier), is a catholic institution (which some dont necessarily care about), is closer to Milwaukee than Dayton, they have a top notch soccer stadium and soccer program, if MU were to develop a baseball team they could play at the Home of the college World Series in the new TD Ameritrade ballpark, they would pull in more revenue and raise the price for the tv deal highe......maybe it's just me but I don't see why Dayton makes more sense than creighton

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I don't think adding Dayton is a mistake, but I think not adding Creighton is. IWB I know you said that they will start with 10 but have they mentioned anything about going with 12? I just think 12 makes more sense.