Davidson to the A10?

[whaler11]

BU got worse outside the ECAC. When I was there, they were drawing 4000 a game (capacity). But they had good players (2 NBA) and good coaches. When Am East started losing ground, the program suffered. They even began to move games to Case Gym instead of Walter Brown.

I imagine they draw a few hundred these days because all the support has moved to hockey. Also becoming a school that draws so many international students doesn't bode well for attendance.

It's almost impossible for a northeast mid-major to be successful long term in basketball. Vermont is about the ceiling. Rhode Island and Stony Brook have a bigger ceiling I guess - but URI almost lost their coach after going 8-103.

 

[upstater]

I imagine they draw a few hundred these days because all the support has moved to hockey. Also becoming a school that draws so many international students doesn't bode well for attendance.

It's almost impossible for a northeast mid-major to be successful long term in basketball. Vermont is about the ceiling. Rhode Island and Stony Brook have a bigger ceiling I guess - but URI almost lost their coach after going 8-103.

They used to draw even more for hockey back then when they were winning national championships regularly and had many future NHL all-stars going there. Hockey has been big at BU for many decades. The int'l student population has also dropped by a huge number at Boston U. since the 1980s. Used to be 15%. It's now 7%. 1,300 students total. There's a reason for this. BU opened up campuses in Sydney, London, Dubai, Brussels, and they did it long before this trend caught on. It's huge Middle Eastern contingent (at least when I was there) now studies in Dubai instead.

As an urban school, Boston U. has natural advantages over Vermont. They simply haven't cared enough since the 1980s.

 

[IMind]

I actually think BU is a pretty good fit for the Patriot League. You can sustain a solid national program from there (see Lehigh Wrestling) while keeping the rest of your budget relatively low. Scholarships in basketball and football...