Butler - Gonzaga of the East

[jamal4xu]

I'm not an ESPN Insider, so all I saw was the title, but did anyone read this article on ESPN Insider? Mind filling me in on what the general sentiment was?

[Drew's Crew]

It basically says that many people think of Butler as the Gonzaga of the East but they aren't sure that is fair to Gonzaga. Bilas notes that Gonzaga has been so much better over the past decade and praises the Zags for winning their conference 9 years in a row.

That's basically the main points.

[MD Muskie]

When you win your conference 9 times in a row, does that say more about your team or the lack of competition in your league?

[D-West & PO-Z]

Whoever wrote the initial blog for rumor central though says that a better point may be that Gonzaga is the Butler of the West. He said Butler had been a successful team for years before Gonzaga transitioned to Division 1.

[Drew's Crew]

When you win your conference 9 times in a row, does that say more about your team or the lack of competition in your league?

I don't know. We'll know for sure in 6 years I guess.

[D-West & PO-Z]

When you win your conference 9 times in a row, does that say more about your team or the lack of competition in your league?

I think it says more about your team than anything. I think it is hard to win any conference 9 times in a row. Think about it, you usually have close to the same resources with other teams in your conference and get close to the same types of players. Teams like Gonzaga and Xavier have done better than others in their conference in those areas but still dont have the resources of the Big 6 conference schools. So I would hate for anyone to take away from our 3 straight A10 conference championships because I think that is a tough feat just like Gonzaga's 9 straight.

[danaandvictory]

When you win your conference 9 times in a row, does that say more about your team or the lack of competition in your league?

Portland looks like a damn good team, the Zags may have some competition this year. St. Mary's was no slouch the last few seasons, and San Diego beat Kentucky and UConn a couple of years back.

[MuskieCinci]

I think it says more about your team than anything. I think it is hard to win any conference 9 times in a row. Think about it, you usually have close to the same resources with other teams in your conference and get close to the same types of players. Teams like Gonzaga and Xavier have done better than others in their conference in those areas but still dont have the resources of the Big 6 conference schools. So I would hate for anyone to take away from our 3 straight A10 conference championships because I think that is a tough feat just like Gonzaga's 9 straight.

For some conferences this is true but the playing field is definitely not level. The gap from top to bottom in conferences like the Atlantic 10 and WCC is much wider than that of one of the Big 6 conferences. Fordham, LaSalle, Duquesne, etc. do not have anywhere close to the resources that Xavier has. Xavier can recruit and schedule on par with the best programs in the country and has the Nike Elite deal. I think it is still a huge accomplishment when you can win 3 conference titles in the A-10 or 9 in the WCCbut at some point schools like Xavier and Gonzaga became bigger than their conferences. People don't think of Xavier or the Zags as an A-10 school and a WCC school like they might with the other teams in the conferences. Xavier and Gonzaga are expected to win their conferences now so it isn't surprising to most people when they do. Other impressive programs do get associated with their conference while Xavier and Gonzaga get recognized for which conferences they aren't in.

I think basically what I'm saying is that it is still an impressive feat, but there is sort of a pecking order. Winning the ACC title 3 years in a row > winning A-10 title 3 years in a row > winning WCC title 3 years in a row etc.

[JTG]

I don't get it. We've done way more than Butler the last 10 years. Or are we not even part of the discussion because we aren't considered mid major ? If it is the former, then we are light years ahead of Butler. I know, I live in Indy, and they are in order of importance behind Colts, Pacers, IU BB,Purdue BB, IUFB, PU Bball, and Racing. Anyone who complains about the A10, remember the MCC? That's where Butler is, playing cow colleges and directional schools.

[D-West & PO-Z]

For some conferences this is true but the playing field is definitely not level. The gap from top to bottom in conferences like the Atlantic 10 and WCC is much wider than that of one of the Big 6 conferences. Fordham, LaSalle, Duquesne, etc. do not have anywhere close to the resources that Xavier has. Xavier can recruit and schedule on par with the best programs in the country and has the Nike Elite deal. I think it is still a huge accomplishment when you can win 3 conference titles in the A-10 or 9 in the WCCbut at some point schools like Xavier and Gonzaga became bigger than their conferences. People don't think of Xavier or the Zags as an A-10 school and a WCC school like they might with the other teams in the conferences. Xavier and Gonzaga are expected to win their conferences now so it isn't surprising to most people when they do. Other impressive programs do get associated with their conference while Xavier and Gonzaga get recognized for which conferences they aren't in.

I think basically what I'm saying is that it is still an impressive feat, but there is sort of a pecking order. Winning the ACC title 3 years in a row > winning A-10 title 3 years in a row > winning WCC title 3 years in a row etc.

I dont know, sure those schools at the bottom have less resoruces but what has stopped GW, UD, St. Joes, SLU, from doing what Xavier has done? Not much at all. So I would say it is pretty damn impressive that Xavier has gotten to where they are and won 3 A10 tourneys in a row.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I don't get it. We've done way more than Butler the last 10 years. Or are we not even part of the discussion because we aren't considered mid major ? If it is the former, then we are light years ahead of Butler. I know, I live in Indy, and they are in order of importance behind Colts, Pacers, IU BB,Purdue BB, IUFB, PU Bball, and Racing. Anyone who complains about the A10, remember the MCC? That's where Butler is, playing cow colleges and directional schools.

We werent part of the conversation because it didnt have anything to do with us. It didnt have anything to do with people not thinking we were mid major or anything, it was just talking about those two schools being compared to one another.

[JTG]

I dont know, sure those schools at the bottom have less resoruces but what has stopped GW, UD, St. Joes, SLU, from doing what Xavier has done? Not much at all. So I would say it is pretty damn impressive that Xavier has gotten to where they are and won 3 A10 tourneys in a row.

UD and maybe SLU are the only schools with the resources and commitment of X. There are high schools with bigger budgets than St. Joes. Martelli is a miracle worker with his resources.

[Xman95]

I don't get it. We've done way more than Butler the last 10 years. Or are we not even part of the discussion because we aren't considered mid major ?

I don't want to be in the discussion because we're not the Gonzaga of the midwest or the east. We're not the Butler of any territory either. We're Xavier. We don't need to be linked with another school to justify our program. Xavier...that's it.


(FYI - I'm not saying that as a smart ass response to your post, that was just a nice lead-in to what I had to say!)

[MHettel]

Who cares?

There is always room for a great team.

Gonzaga, Xavier, Butler, Memphis, Creighton...

Attention for Non-Big-6 winners.