Adding another weak opponent to an already weak schedule does not benefit us if the goal is to make the tournament. Possibly in the future it might make sense but it’s dumb to suggest we should be playing them now.
Depends on if it’s a gopher home game or not and if the attendance would really be that much higher than just scheduling a decent opponent. I have doubts it would be.
What does that statement have to do with a game between the Gophers and St. Thomas?
The premise of the article is that it would be a Gopher Home game.
Obviously it would be a gopher home game, and attendance would also be obviously higher than for the majority of our awful non-conference slate. It's just embarassing to refuse to play them.
Oh, of course.
I’d hardly call it embarrassing if all we gain is a little better attendance. We could have better attendance with a better quality opponent for our non conference slate as well.
Playing in the Summit? No.
Well, you did show your out-state ignorance.
Even if they wouldn't be there yet, this is assuming the goal is to become another Butler or Marquette, yes. The main reason I think they will surpass the Gophers is money. UST has a wealthy alumni base that gives back to the school. They more or less are being given a new arena. And with basketball, it's relatively easy (compared to football) to build a really good team quickly if you're willing to pay guys enough.
Very obtuse response. Same media market which for me alone would qualify as being the "same city" just as Northwestern and DePaul are, even though one is in Evanston and the other Chicago.
www.startribune.com
Can you explain to me why I should care about St Thomas basketball? Or NDSU, SDSU etc? There’s no rivalry or excitement there. Maybe yall work in an industry where the tommie fans are psycho and hang on every game like it’s all they have, but all it’s going to mean is a loss to a bad team if so, not add some additional existential thing like I’m going to get razzed about a sport we suck at
The level of hubris some folks have over St. Thomas is so over the top. Sure they're going to go from DIII to dominant program in the state and Big East member all within 7-10 years. Book it.
The only thing I would say is that the local media dunking on them if they lose might be less annoying than hearing them whine about not playing this game after every other non-conference game. Gophers vs Buthune Cookman: "Boo. Why don't they play St. Thomas?" Gophers vs UTSA: "Who cares, why don't they play St. Thomas?". Gophers vs IUPUI: "I guess they won. But why won't they play St. Thomas?"
The U has significantly more rich alumni who make more on average and donate more to the school.
I'm not sure why you would assume a Gopher-St. Thomas game wouldn't end up on BTN +. If anything the potential TV audience is smaller than Gophers-IUPUI because both teams are in the same market and more of the potential viewers will actually be at the game.
Not obtuse, it was pedantic.
The market for St. Thomas vs. Minnesota is much larger than IUPUI.
Serious question. Does recruiting play a role? I don't mind having potential Indiana and Chicago recruits see us via the likes of IUPUI, South Carolina Upstate, and Florida Gulf Coast. I don't see us playing UST helping with local recruiting.
