Chris, I don't quite get the furor over the X posters on HOH, or Elvis' focus on Xavier. XUDash is a long term poster, here and there, and the farthest thing from unreasonable. His connections and comments are generally spot on. And it is, after all, a BE message board.
There are a bunch of Dayton posters on HOH. Posting constantly. And their postings are generally reasonable, but bound by the nature of these things to always generate push back. How much do you see of X posters here? Just one or two, every now and then.
Dayton has had a great run the last couple of years. Questions about sustaining it are relevant when you look at the success VCU and Mason have had following their tourney successes. They are fair game, reasonable questions that can only be answered with time.
It is tough to change coaches; just look at VCU. For Dayton's sake keeping Miller for a while would be great; but the better he does, the more chance you lose him. We know that well at X.
The two leagues are natural to compare; recent results, focus on basketball, etc. Recruits (and probably television) are focused on the very recent history. No 17 year old kids care about 25 years ago; nor do I suspect do the TV execs.
I favor Richmond for consideration if the BE expands. Academics, financial resources, location, facilities, institutional fit, etc. But, they are missing consistent success on the court. I'm hoping next year Mooney can build on our end of season improvement and challenge for the top spot.
For a comparison, just look at the last 15 years of both leagues.
The current 14 members of the A10 have 7 S16's. No team has 2 in those 15 years.
The current 10 members of the BE have 22 S16's, with 50% of the league having multiple S16's. Xavier alone has 6.
That's how you build consistency over time, and recently to impress recruits.
Dayton has the chance to do that I believe with your current coach. Next year might be a golden opportunity, with stability and other teams in the conference having some issues. Since I've put on both hats for this post, Spiders and Muskies, I'll post something I saw recently on the Dayton board that sums it up: