The best college basketball Cinderella story you won’t hear about in March (St Thomas Tommies)

[swede2]

I mean it's definitely cool.....but getting through two hockey schools in Denver and North Dakota.....who were both way under .500 in both total and in conference....isn't exactly a major accomplishment. The Summit has to be one of the worst conferences in division 1 basketball.

No one should be surprised at St Thomas' success so early in its transition. It's not unprecedented. Schools that have put the resources into their athletics have fared well in the Summit early on. NDSU on the men's side and SDSU on the women's side are good examples.

Not to take anything away from StT but perennial powers SDSU and NDSU were decimated by the portal (SDSU for instance lost Zeke Mayo to Kansas and Will Kyle to UCLA) and then head key injuries late in the season. UST split the season series with SDSU, winning on on controversial call in St Paul and getting whipped in Brookings to av team the returned zero starters and started 3 freshmen. So UST's success should be tempered some.

The result tonight should be taken with a grain of salt to. Omaha is in the dance regardless of outcone. UST is playing it's championship game.

 

[GopherGrit]

St Thomas would love to get into the Big East someday (don't know how long that would take, won't be tomorrow).

New arena a nice step in the right direction for them

 

[Ope3]

They are lucky to be in this predicament- the NCAA waived the requirement that they first transition to DII.

That's why I tend to think that the Tommies jumped out of the MIAC instead of being pushed.

 

[swede2]

St Thomas would love to get into the Big East someday (don't know how long that would take, won't be tomorrow).

New arena a nice step in the right direction for them

UST team plays in a HS gym and the arena is absolutely necessary but it will at best put UST on par with the best arenas in the Summit. USD has a brand new arena (although it's fans suck and it has no atmosphere). SDSU just finished a gut and rebuild of it's venerable Frost Arena and has the best atmosphere in the league. NDSU gutted and rebuilt Scheels a number of years ago. Omaha plays in a nice arena although it doesn't draw well.

It will be interesting to see how well UST's dual purposes arena works out at such a small size (5000k). Some on here have a real disdain for dual purpose college arenas.

No doubt UST would love to get in the Big East. They certainly fit the profile but would their inclusion turn on TVs in the Twin Cities? That's the real question. I wonder what kind of ratings they've been getting over the air?

 

[Some guy]

UST team plays in a HS gym and the arena is absolutely necessary but it will at best put UST on par with the best arenas in the Summit. USD has a brand new arena (although it's fans suck and it has no atmosphere). SDSU just finished a gut and rebuild of it's venerable Frost Arena and has the best atmosphere in the league. NDSU gutted and rebuilt Scheels a number of years ago. Omaha plays in a nice arena although it doesn't draw well.

It will be interesting to see how well UST's dual purposes arena works out at such a small size (5000k). Some on here have a real disdain for dual purpose college arenas.

No doubt UST would love to get in the Big East. They certainly fit the profile but would their inclusion turn on TVs in the Twin Cities? That's the real question. I wonder what kind of ratings they've been getting over the air?

USt to the big east is insanely far away.
Upside potential is them joining the Missouri valley in 4-6 years

 

[swede2]

39-33 Omaha at the half. Madelia MN native Jansen Glover is a rotational player for Omaha. 0-3 tonight but averaging 8 and change for Omaha this season.

 

[Ope3]

UST team plays in a HS gym and the arena is absolutely necessary but it will at best put UST on par with the best arenas in the Summit. USD has a brand new arena (although it's fans suck and it has no atmosphere). SDSU just finished a gut and rebuild of it's venerable Frost Arena and has the best atmosphere in the league. NDSU gutted and rebuilt Scheels a number of years ago. Omaha plays in a nice arena although it doesn't draw well.

It will be interesting to see how well UST's dual purposes arena works out at such a small size (5000k). Some on here have a real disdain for dual purpose college arenas.

No doubt UST would love to get in the Big East. They certainly fit the profile but would their inclusion turn on TVs in the Twin Cities? That's the real question. I wonder what kind of ratings they've been getting over the air?

Without looking it up don't most of the Big East teams play the majority (or all) of their Conference games Off Campus?

Providence
St John's
Georgetown
Villanova
DePaul
Marquette
Creighton

I don't think UConn plays many games in Hartford. No idea about Seton Hall who used to play at the Meadowlands or Xavier.

 

[swede2]

USt to the big east is insanely far away.
Upside potential is them joining the Missouri valley in 4-6 years

That's a more likely result short term. MVC has shown a preference for private schools in big markets for expansion regardless of actual following. It wouldn't be entirely shocking to see it target UST and Denver and maybe even Omaha and Kansas City (although the latter 2 are public schools). But, I don't think the MVC media deal is great. Certainly better than the Summit but it's still not much.

There are internal debates among Summit fan bases about whether an MVC invite would or should be accepted were one to come. 20 years ago when the MVC was a 2 bid league it was an easy answer but it's a much closer question now.

 

[stocker08]

The Summit is currently ranked #17 of 31. So bottom half, but nowhere near one of the worst conferences in Division 1.

Conference NET Ranking - 2025 Men's College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com

2025 Men's College Basketball Conference NET - a ranking of conference based on the average NET Ranking of the teams in the conference.

www.warrennolan.com

Not as bad as you might think according to this NET ranking by conference showing the conferences ranked below them (Summit ranked 17th)

The Summit League	17
Big South	18
Horizon League	19
Sun Belt	20
Big Sky	21
Southland	22
Mid-American	23
ASUN	24
MAAC	25
America East	26
Patriot League	27
Ohio Valley	28
MEAC	29
Northeast	30
SWAC	31

Are we sure that half of these conferences aren't made up?

 

[howeda7]

Are the Tommies distracted by Johnny Tauer's pending move to Indiana?

 

[stocker08]

Omaha is draining threes. Tough when the other team is shooting this well.

 

[swede2]

Omaha is draining threes. Tough when the other team is shooting this well.

Refs also not allowing UST to play their typical antagonistic physical style.

 

[Bad Gopher]

Omaha has pressured St Thomas into uncharacteristic errors, and they're simply not sharp. More missed free throws than you would expect.

 

[swede2]

UST making it interesting. Omaha is something of a Cinderella too. Picked by most to finish last in the Summit. Will be first trip to the tourney.

 

[Ope3]

UNO helps out the Gophers record against the NCAA Field and Conference Tournament Champions.

Scheduling the 2nd Place team would have been a waste of time.

 

[FinnGopher]

Not sure what the hype was with St Thomas. They looked average last night and below average tonight. Basically a good D2 team.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Yet the Gophers have admitted publicly they are afraid to play them… SAD….

Dip $hit alert…

 

[Roland Brooks]

Look at that, I poked a Tommie and now he's butt hurt.

Hmm your knowledge about poking and butts well exceeds your basketball knowledge.. dip $hit…

 

[Roland Brooks]

St. Thomas is Summit League good.

Let’s play! AND you can pick the refs!!

 

[Roland Brooks]

St Thomas got smacked. Omaha was better and the refs were fair.. UST needs to get bigger to get better…

I made it to 13 UST games and 5 Gopher games fun season..

 

[FinnGopher]

Hmm your knowledge about poking and butts well exceeds your basketball knowledge.. dip $hit…

Roland "Butt Hurt" Brooks displaying his brilliance as he tucks his tail after a Tommie beatdown by an Omaha team that will get a 15 or 16 seed in the Dance.
Roland, the current St Thomas team would be a top notch D2 team.

 

[Roland Brooks]

Finster with his lil beach comeback.. no insight as usual or states obvios things like power schools have more talent than Summit great posts.. What’s next? You will tell us Michael Jordan was good at basketball…… .. Dip $hit..

UST great season… it’s ok bro I support both D1 schools ..

 

[Roland Brooks]

Tim Doyle doing the last two Summit games… wow! The play by play guy refernced Farley Dickinson… interesting duo

 

[GopherBlood777]

Roland "Butt Hurt" Brooks displaying his brilliance as he tucks his tail after a Tommie beatdown by an Omaha team that will get a 15 or 16 seed in the Dance.
Roland, the current St Thomas team would be a top notch D2 team.

Why even make a statement like this? They just won their league in a D1 low major, obviously they would be top notch in D2. I bet the Gophers would be top notch playing a league down as well. Brilliant.

 

[Minnesconsin fan]

Well said.

In fairness to the posters that have TDS (Tommie Derangement Syndrome), the Tommies split with Oral Roberts, a really ba

Well said.

In fairness to the posters that have TDS (Tommie Derangement Syndrome), the Tommies split with Oral Roberts, a really bad loss.

oh, yeah-- that is right. I had tried so hard to forget that game, that i did. Had a lucky win against the last place Roos from Kansas City too. But the prognosticators had KC picked to win the league

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

No one should be surprised at St Thomas' success so early in its transition. It's not unprecedented. Schools that have put the resources into their athletics have fared well in the Summit early on. NDSU on the men's side and SDSU on the women's side are good examples.

Not to take anything away from StT but perennial powers SDSU and NDSU were decimated by the portal (SDSU for instance lost Zeke Mayo to Kansas and Will Kyle to UCLA) and then head key injuries late in the season. UST split the season series with SDSU, winning on on controversial call in St Paul and getting whipped in Brookings to av team the returned zero starters and started 3 freshmen. So UST's success should be tempered some.

The result tonight should be taken with a grain of salt to. Omaha is in the dance regardless of outcone. UST is playing its championship game.

UST also lost Rhode, you can’t just pick their opponents. The portal gives and takes from all teams now (it sucks)

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

St Thomas got smacked. Omaha was better and the refs were fair.. UST needs to get bigger to get better…

I made it to 13 UST games and 5 Gopher games fun season..

UST got outclassed. Omaha had the best two players on the floor in the PG and Sutton. UST now knows what to go get in the portal now that they’re NCAA eligible.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

UST also lost Rhode, you can’t just pick their opponents. The portal gives and takes from all teams now (it sucks)

Did we recruit Rhode?

 

[Bad Gopher]

UST got outclassed. Omaha had the best two players on the floor in the PG and Sutton. UST now knows what to go get in the portal now that they’re NCAA eligible.

I like St. Thomas' future. They've gained a lot of profile and notoriety with their success this year. That'll put them in the living rooms of some talented guys.

 

[SelectionSunday]

UST got outclassed. Omaha had the best two players on the floor in the PG and Sutton. UST now knows what to go get in the portal now that they’re NCAA eligible.

Correct.

Tommies need a presence in the paint, primarily defensively. They get beat up a lot on the boards. Physical, rim protector, rebound, doesn’t need to score much.