ram ram

A10 fans, there are interested parties in the Fordham Community curious about opinions away from the institution, so here is the question; given our history with the conference, current facilities and stated level of commitment, do you believe Fordham can compete in the A10?

Thank you for the feedback in advance.....

Muddy Waters

No.

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Title_BU

It'll be a much more tenable conference for Fordham in a couple years.

Siena as one of the replacements for Temple/Xavier/Butler/et al should make it logistically more suited too

Rich93

A-10 fans no one in the Fordham community cares about what some internet posters think whether they are on this board or the Fordham board for that matter.

Keep fishing Ramram.

ram ram

Good point and consistent with what I am hearing in discussions with people on campus. The most logical option for now, but things can change quickly - and still hearing the patriot League is in play. Good luck with your conference schedule.

ram ram

Siena is a good choice no doubt, regardless of our future participation in the A10, additional schools like IONA, Hofstra and Fairfield could really generate interest in the NY Metro area.

One thing that has always been lacking in the A10 (and this has been true on the PL side for us also) is a traditional basketball rivalry. You have to go back 30 years to find one, our MAAC days.

uz2b-len

You mean a traditional rival for Fordham. St John's would be a natural, if only you could elevate your program to something approximating their level.

ram ram

You are correct, but it would generate a lot of interest in this TV market.

As far as St. John's we have never competed with them, they have owned the City for 80 years - except the one year that Digger Phelps was the HC - but that is 40 years ago now.

Rich93

A-10 fans do you think Fordham will have a better basketball program if we dropped football and put that 6 million a year towards our basketball budget? Wouldn't that be a better choice for Fordham as opposed to moving all sports to the Patriot League given the fact that FCS football provides nothing in terms of national recognition for Fordham? Is putting money into an FCS football program worth it if it holds back an A-10 basketball program?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

ace93

Who in their right mind would answer yes to your question? Obviously something needs to change for us to compete consistently.

duq81

Of course! I've never really seen the point of these schools trying to play football. As for whether Fordham can compete without a better facility, not consistently. Could they get lucky, and hire a young coach who is destined to become a legend, sure. Could they recruit a 6' 5" kid, who shows up the next fall 6"10", like Navy did with David Robinson? It happens, but you can't count on that. Even if they struck gold, they would be hard pressed to build on it, as the coach would get snapped up, and all of the problems would be there for the next coach. If the money was there, is there enough room to build a decent facility (6,000 seats), on the site of Rose Hill? They would have to play at Barclay's for one season while Rose Hill is demolished, and rebuilt. Fordham spends enough that they should at least be mid level in the A10, with the occasional 20+ win season. It's got to be the facilities that are killing them. I'm really going to be curious as to whether the lack of facilities will kill certain teams in the C7. Georgetown in particular, has possibly the worst facilities of any high level team in D1. Can they continue to draw enough with a diminished schedule, to be able to afford the high rent they pay to play in a pro arena?

ace93

Fordham could build a new facility without demolishing the RHG. The reason we do not have a facility is not money or space, it is that it is not a priority for the administration.

duq81

While I would have no real problem with adding Siena should we lose all of our Midwestern teams, and need to add a few to get back to 12, under no circumstances should we consider adding Iona, Hofstra or Fairfield. There are better candidates out there, and I'd much rather end up with 12 teams, than to add low value teams to get to 14, or 16.

ktabz16

siena's commitment to basketball and fordham's commitment to basketball are ridiculously disproportionate. siena actually cares, fordham does not... in the least...

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ram ram

Ace you are correct, that is why competing in a conference that has superior venues is so difficult. Without a new facility it is hard to see us competing at a high level.

That is why the PL makes sense, as unpleasant as it may seem. I understand the disappointment that would cause initially., but in the long term it is more consistent with the overall development of the University.

I am confident that a move, which of course will be denied publically at this time, will get another look at The BOTs spring meeting. Not saying it is likely now, but it could be a season or two away.

Still believe that the view away from Rose Hill recorded that the state of the program is not helping Forfham at all - no one thinks we have a A10 level program, I am tired of the humiliation.