[Rosiak's Blog] MU eyeing deal with USC, O'Neill

[ToddRosiakSays]

MU eyeing deal with USC, O'Neill
               

Marquette University is in discussions to begin a home-and-home series with USC next season, deputy athletic director Mike Broeker said on Thursday.

The Trojans, of course, are coached by Kevin O'Neill, who helped bring MU back to national prominence during his tenure from 1989-'94.

"They're one of a number of schools we've talked about for home-and-homes next year, and based on the calendar and availability the most likely to get done," Broeker said.
               

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/82982827.html
               

[MUfan12]

LSU?! The Craig Pintens Bowl!

[chapman]

2010: UW, @UWM, UWGB, @USC, CBE (according to the JSOnline entry; includes a home game vs. Bucknell and one more at home, with the neutral floor field of Duke, Gonzaga, and KSU)
2011: @UW, UWM, UWGB, USC, @LSU, Paradise Jam (??)
2012: UW, UWM, UWGB (away here or in '11?), LSU, 76 Classic

Any help adding to/clarifying the above?  Anyway, looking very nice.  And good to know that we're not that hard up that playing one more good team instead of a cupcake will paralyze the program financially (especially if it actually helps us get in the tournament).

[The Lens]

I was pretty involved with Athletics as a student so I was well aware of the 16 game model and MU's dependence on it.  Our student organziation (foolishly) proposed several ideas to Mr. Cords and others and we quickly learned there were good reasons for why MU did the things it did.

Furthermore I once said to Greg Kleibahn during one of those early successful TC year (02 or 03): "This extra revenue (sudden sullouts) has to be welcome and a surprise"  His reply was something to the effect, there's always places to put in, it doesn't stay in the cookie jar for long.  So obviously as MU's gate revenues have risen so have their expenses.  However, I have to think that with all the success of TC & Buzz that moving the schedule around is feasible.  Now I am totally guessing here but...with UWM & UWGB you have no chartered flight costs & no hotels.  You may lose the home rev, but you don't exactly add the road expense.  UWGB is a couple of nice coach buses rented out for the day.

Finally, at a Chicago Golf Outing Buzz said he was dedicated to improving our schedule.  This was in the summer of '08 and he kind of took a shot at the SOS he was left with (I guess all but one game was done before he took over*).   He promised up better opponents.  I'd say adding USC & LSU in one day is a start.

*Yes I'm aware assistant coaches do the scheduling and that in fact Buzz himself (as an assistant) might have been 100% responsible for our '08-'09 schedule.

[tower912]

The only way MU can afford these road trips is if they switched their insurance to Geico.   Or this is what the tuition hike is for.    For years we have heard the 16 home games are sacred.    WTH?     Sombody's got some splainin to do.......

[ChicosBailBonds]

I was pretty involved with Athletics as a student so I was well aware of the 16 game model and MU's dependence on it.  Our student organziation (foolishly) proposed several ideas to Mr. Cords and others and we quickly learned there were good reasons for why MU did the things it did.

Furthermore I once said to Greg Kleibahn during one of those early successful TC year (02 or 03): "This extra revenue (sudden sullouts) has to be welcome and a surprise"  His reply was something to the effect, there's always places to put in, it doesn't stay in the cookie jar for long.  So obviously as MU's gate revenues have risen so have their expenses.  However, I have to think that with all the success of TC & Buzz that moving the schedule around is feasible.  Now I am totally guessing here but...with UWM & UWGB you have no chartered flight costs & no hotels.  You may lose the home rev, but you don't exactly add the road expense.  UWGB is a couple of nice coach buses rented out for the day.

Finally, at a Chicago Golf Outing Buzz said he was dedicated to improving our schedule.  This was in the summer of '08 and he kind of took a shot at the SOS he was left with (I guess all but one game was done before he took over*).   He promised up better opponents.  I'd say adding USC & LSU in one day is a start.

*Yes I'm aware assistant coaches do the scheduling and that in fact Buzz himself (as an assistant) might have been 100% responsible for our '08-'09 schedule.

All good points, but I'd rather have Arizona come to town than USC.   I'd rather have a quality SEC school come to town than LSU.   We seem right now to be going after the mid to low level BCS conference teams.  NC State, USC (though they are having a good year), LSU.  Crean did the same thing with Nebraska.

I miss the days of Wake Forest, Arizona, Notre Dame (before we were in the same conference), Minnesota, Xavier, Dayton, etc.

Plus anything that helps UWM or UWGB, well I don't see how that helps MU.

[The Lens]

NC State - I'm pretty sure TC scheduled them, so that's on SJS's boy.

LSU - Coached by Trent Johnson.  I would have to think Buzz is thinking, this guy Trent prepared his team so well that they beat a TC led team without Trent on the sidelines, so it will fantastic competition for Buzz's squad. 

USC - Coached by the 2nd best coach in MU history, what could be better?  And we know for certain that KO will there the whole contract, so it will be good for ticket sales when KO makes his triumphant return.

[HoopsMalone]

I would love to see a game v. Illinois at the United Center in Chicago every Christmas break.  Who cares if that is 2 Big Ten teams because Chicago is such a big part of Marquette, we should cater to that.  I don't know if Illinois would ever go for it, but it would be a fun holiday tradition.

Love the idea of getting to California and to the South, though, from a recruiting standpoint.

[77ncaachamps]

Buzz is first and foremost a recruiter.

By engineering games in recruiting hotbeds, he's positioning Marquette to tap into those areas.
Premier D-I teams already poach the little talent Wisconsin produces, so it's time to start doing the same in SoCal and the South.

[ChicosBailBonds]

NC State - I'm pretty sure TC scheduled them, so that's on SJS's boy.

LSU - Coached by Trent Johnson.  I would have to think Buzz is thinking, this guy Trent prepared his team so well that they beat a TC led team without Trent on the sidelines, so it will fantastic competition for Buzz's squad. 

USC - Coached by the 2nd best coach in MU history, what could be better?  And we know for certain that KO will there the whole contract, so it will be good for ticket sales when KO makes his triumphant return.

LOL.   KO did have that 2nd worst year in MU history, maybe that's what you meant.  All Buzz has to do is go to Kinko's to have a life size blowup cutout of any number of gals from 1989 through 1994, including a few in their uniforms (ahem) and it should make for great fun.

It should be fun even if he doesn't opt for the cutout, hope the game is scheduled early, preferably on a Saturday when the Toejam football team is playing.

[MerrittsMustache]

All good points, but I'd rather have Arizona come to town than USC.   I'd rather have a quality SEC school come to town than LSU.   We seem right now to be going after the mid to low level BCS conference teams.  NC State, USC (though they are having a good year), LSU.  Crean did the same thing with Nebraska.

I miss the days of Wake Forest, Arizona, Notre Dame (before we were in the same conference), Minnesota, Xavier, Dayton, etc.

Plus anything that helps UWM or UWGB, well I don't see how that helps MU.

Minnesota, Xavier and Dayton are big name basketball programs but NC State, USC and LSU aren't?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Minnesota, Xavier and Dayton are big name basketball programs but NC State, USC and LSU aren't?

USC, NC State and LSU are definitely big name basketball programs.....they're just poor basketball teams right now.  

LSU is 0-6 in conference, 9-11 overall
NC State finished last in the ACC last year and this year are 2nd to last
USC is doing pretty good ....tied for 5th.

[The Lens]

Not to go all SJS on you...but here was Wake's record the 3 years prior to playing us:

17-14, 7-9 (NIT 2nd Rd)
22-14, 7-9 (won the NIT)
19-11, 8-8 (NCAA 1st Rd)

Didn't LSU win the SEC West like last year?  And go to the Final Four like 4 years ago?  And hire a coach who beat us from the locker-room?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Not to go all SJS on you...but here was Wake's record the 3 years prior to playing us:

17-14, 7-9 (NIT 2nd Rd)
22-14, 7-9 (won the NIT)
19-11, 8-8 (NCAA 1st Rd)

Didn't LSU win the SEC West like last year?  And go to the Final Four like 4 years ago?  And hire a coach who beat us from the locker-room?

Yes, they had two NBA players about 7 feet tall, were ranked higher than us, were seeded higher than us, and playing in a gym dominated by their fans....they won by 1 point. That is correct.

Yes, LSU went to the NCAA last year.  This year, 0-6.  Prior to last year...6-10 in conference.  The year prior...5-11 in conference.  That will make 3 of 4 years where they couldn't even get to the NIT.  I wouldn't call that a team playing very well right now.  They have a good program, just not a very good team at this point.

[TallTitan34]

LSU?! The Craig Pintens Bowl!

Pintens you magnificent bastard!

[smellofhotbeeftips]

Pintens you magnificent bastard!

I read your book!

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

The only way MU can afford these road trips is if they switched their insurance to Geico.   Or this is what the tuition hike is for.    For years we have heard the 16 home games are sacred.    WTH?     Sombody's got some splainin to do.......

I think several things have changed from a financial perspective that allows us to do more of these home-and-home series than before.

1) The Big East's TV contracts with ESPN/CBS are very lucrative, far exceeding those of any conference affiliations that MU previously had.  Remember, even up to a few years ago, some games were barely on local TV, let alone was every conference game broadcast on an ESPN outlet as they are now.

2) Marquette has raked in some very good NCAA tournament money over the last 4 years, thanks to 4 straight bids and deep runs by multiple Big East teams during this time.

3) Nelligan Sports Marketing has helped get MU better local media coverage (namely the deal with ESPN Milwaukee) and sold a lot more advertising on sponsorships for men's basketball and the entire athletic department as a whole. 

4) MU has far better merchandising than years' past with the Nike/Converse deals via Dwayne Wade. While the university still exercises a fair bit of control over licensing, Marquette merchandise is more readily available on a national basis than about 8-9 years go.

5) Revenues from ticket sales have increased quite a bit too due to more season ticket holders and increase in prices (going from $55 to $100 over the last 2 years for student season tickets nets about $150-$180K more/yr for example).

6) The arrangements with UWM and UWGB are structured as 2 for 1 deals with 1 buy game and a home and home. By going to this model, Marquette is saving another $60-$80K a year in terms of buy games.

[smellofhotbeeftips]

How about MU being much more competitive and therefore a more attractive Non-Conference opponent? Think about it. Beating MU is a positive for a quality team while a loss can be rationalized given MU's improved play and status as a member of the Big East. This was certainly not the case when we were a part of MCC, Great Midwest, and even C-USA. Make no mistake - BE membership is the single most important development to happen at MU since the 77 season.

[downtown85]

Could this be an indication that we are about to land a recruit from Southern California for 2010?  Sometimes a home-home series revolves around letting a recruit's family see the kid play for his team. 

[4everwarriors]

Has anyone checked the recruits available from Baton Rouge also? Rick told me years ago that the only real "sleeper" recruits are in the deep South.

[TheButlerDidIt]

In LSU's defense, everyone on that team (outside of Tasmin Mitchell and Bo Spencer) is a sophomore or freshman. By the time they're on our schedule, they'll have had some SEC seasoning and should be a possible, if not probable, NCAA team. I'll take that. USC on the other hand...who knows what direction they're headed. They're one of the better teams in the Pac10 this year, but that really isn't saying much.

[chapman]

Looking at the RPIs of some of our future opponents, it looks fine to me...

USC #67
LSU #205
UW #11
UWGB #106
UWM #160

Can't say this is awful.  Remember that despite a horrible non-conference schedule this year, our SOS is currently 31.  It'll go up further after the Uconn game, but then likely drop off a bit.  Still, just playing in the Big East is good enough for a huge SOS boost.  The difference so far is that our in-conference SOS is 8th in the country, our non-conference is 222nd.  You can't expect to see LSU or USC with an RPI over 200 very often, and winning a couple SEC games could put LSU at least in that 101-200 category even in a bad year.  And with USC's schedule, even in a down year they're top 100...remember the article which lists some of USC's opponents for next year, a slew of high level teams which will boost their SOS and also help us since we are able to get on their schedule as well.  It's great that compared to this year, we will probably have stronger fields in our preseason tournaments, we're keeping and even adding an extra high major comparable to NC State who is guaranteed to be RPI better than 200 if not 100, and we play UWGB which usually has a good shot at being in the 101-200 range instead of a buy team likely >300.  We don't need to play perennial powerhouses in OOC play because we face so many in conference.  Simply tweaking the schedule like this with more respectable opponents that are still winnable, but not going to kill an NCAA bid with a loss is enough.  Just using smarter scheduling like this to get that 222nd non-conference SOS into the top 125 or 150 will go a long way.

[Jacks DC]

The LSU matchup is a great deal for us.  Allows Buzz to play a game in the south near his recruiting wheelhouse.  Yes, they are down this year but they did go 26-7 last year and have an excellent tradition.