Although that snub certainly was a blow to a school with such a proud basketball tradition, UD knows it has only itself to blame.
“Not only were we doing poorly in men’s basketball, we were doing poorly in every sport across the board except football, which is an island in itself,” UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said.
As part of UD’s exit agreement, several members of the Great Midwest — including Cincinnati — committed to playing the Flyers home and away for several more years. But once the contracts expired, those series were dropped.
The Flyers and Bearcats, who meet in the second round of the NIT on Monday, March 22, haven’t played in the regular season since 2005 — not that UD hasn’t made an effort.
“Cincinnati obviously fits the profile of teams we’d be very, very interested in playing home and away,” Wabler said. “They’ve put that (NIT) game on Monday at 9 p.m. on national TV, so obviously ESPN is looking at that game and saying it is of national interest. Given that, and given the storied history between the two schools, they would fit very nicely for us.”
But like Xavier, which has had no trouble drawing BCS conference teams to the Cintas Center, UD has to raise its profile through its performance in the NCAA tournament so a defeat to the Flyers wouldn’t be considered a bad loss to top programs.
“Nobody would feel they could come into UD Arena and win on a consistent basis,” Wabler said. “But once we get to the point where it’s OK to lose to Dayton, then it’s all about the opportunity to play on television. That will be the (only) framework we’ll have to work with.”
UC coach Mick Cronin told the Cincinnati Enquirer this week he would be open to having the Bearcats play at Dayton in a home-and-away series as long as it’s nationally televised.
UD coach Brian Gregory would relish a chance to play UC regularly. The teams have scheduled a onetime meeting in an exempt tournament sponsored by Global Sports at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati next season.
“I do think, if we got with ESPN, that would be a game every nonconference season that maybe we could get on one of the ESPN networks because of the tradition of it,” Gregory said. “That would be a key factor, too, because I know for teams in Cincinnati’s situation, a lot of their nonconference games are determined by trying to get on television, which is only smart. We do that as well.”
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