Posted on 03/01/2006 9:08:15 AM PST by presidio9
Today is Ash Wednesday, and if recent history is any guide, once again Roman Catholic colleges will be giving up the NCAA basketball championship for Lent.
It's been 21 years since a Catholic school last won the title, and since then only three Catholic colleges have even made the Final Four. But before then, Catholic schools enjoyed great success beyond their relatively small numbers and resources. Holy Cross, La Salle, San Francisco, Loyola of Chicago, Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova all won championships, and during the heyday of the National Invitational Tournament, when it was a valid rival to the NCAA, 11 times did Catholic schools take NIT titles.
However, this recent hoop drought continues a trend in the diminution of Catholic sports dominion. Only Notre Dame and Boston College even field Division I-A football teams anymore, while in the mid-20th century, Catholic schools regularly competed at the top gridiron level. Would you have any idea, for example, that the following schools once played in major bowls: Duquesne, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Catholic University, Santa Clara, Fordham, St. Mary's and Marquette?
Athletics, you see, were very important to the recognition and pride of Catholic colleges. Most of them had grown up to help educate the emerging immigrant population. Their endowments were small, resources limited and academics modest. No Catholic college was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa until 1938. Especially because so much of the Catholic population was urban, the colleges were invariably downtown -- crowded and spare. When Bill Russell's University of San Francisco teams won two NCAA titles in the 1950s, the Dons didn't even have their own gymnasium. Football became prohibitively expensive for most Catholic colleges.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Fordham (Manhattan and Bronx (Rose Hill)) still concentrates on old-fashioned academics, of course.
The fact that Fordham is not a powerhouse is an unending source of amazmement to me. What kid in his right mind would pick St. John's or Seton Hall over Fordham? Horribly run program.
It might have something to do with the fact that both Seton Hall and St. John's have been in the Final Four in the last 25 years.
Really? Then why does Providence suck so hard?
BTW, kids are also picking Manhattan over Fordham.
Yes, very misleading. Villanova is tied for first place in the Big East, which is the premeir conference in college basketball. 'Nova, Georgetown, Marquette, Gonzaga and Boston College are all locks for the NCAA tournament with Seton Hall on the bubble. Hardly a drought.
At many of those universities, Catholicism has fallen much farther than the athletic programs have.
Villanova has a legitimate shot at the final four this year and may well be a #1 seed. Marquette was there (or was it the elite eight) two years ago and is looking pretty good this year as well.
Incidently, the MAAC conference is going to be won by either Manhattan or Iona, and Holy Cross won't lose to Bucknell three times in one season, so they will win the Patriot League (Bucknell will then get an at-large bid).
I don't think that's the problem, as Seton Hall and St. John's have both had dominant national programs in the not-too-distant past. The problem is that NYers don't support losers.
The JETS and Knicks sell out all the time.
" What kid in his right mind would pick St. John's or Seton Hall over Fordham?"
If they picked St. John's or Seton Hall, Fordham didn't pick them.
The Jets sell out because they are an NFL team. The NFL plays 16 games a year, and features LONG waiting lists for season tickets. The Knicks were good more recently than either college program, and they STILL lie about their attendance. They claim sell-outs when the Garden is clearly at 80% of capacity.
Meanwhile, the Big East Tournament is currently the hardest ticket to obtain in NY sports. I go every year, and I didn't go to a Big East school. I know plenty of BC alums who have no intention of stopping either.
"... the Big East, which is the premier conference in college basketball."
I'm sure there are some ACC fans, myself included, who disagree. This is a down year for ACC hoops and, still, the conference has four teams in the top 25, including #1 Duke.
Yeah right.
ping
Agreed. The ACC is without question the premier conference in college hoops. The Big East is having a good run presently.
I think MU is doing better than expected this year with a large number of freshmen and a new, tougher conference.
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