Will There Ever Be A Big 5...or more?

College - Mens
1

Fordam has jumped into the ‘Annual Legitimate National Championship Contender’ group, but the real question is will they be able to sustain this level of play over the next decade or so?

UoP was in the mix a few years back, but they seemed to have settled into the perennial 5-10 ranking.

I thought UCSB would rise to upper echelon of the sport when Wigo took over, but that never happened.

There was the one-off championship for Pepperdine in ‘98 and UCSB in ‘79, and UCSD’s lone title game appearance but again, none of them could dance with the big boys year in and year out.

UCI was there in the 80’s, but they were basically replaced by USC.

There were some comments about Dustin Litvak, being capable of taking over a Big 4 program if a position ever opened up, but could he take a Pepperdine, UCI, UCSB to perennial top 4 status?

There’s been lots of topics about growing the sport, getting games televised or more easily streamed, etc. I wonder if knowing in advance which 4 teams are going to have a legitimate chance to win the championship every year has something to do with the lack of interest/availability of the sport?

Would college basketball be very appealing to sports fans if everyone knew one of the same four teams would win a championship every year for the next 27 years? Or two of the same four teams would reach the final in 32 of the next 35 years? Over the past 35 years, 30 different men’s basketball teams have played for a national title. I can easily go online a stream any college basketball game I want…complete with play by play and accurate stats. Water polo can’t even get that with the #1 team in the nation on a regular basis.

There’s been some expansion and realignment of conferences, but aside from the Fordam/UoP ‘once in a blue moon’ jump…it’s still the same old story: Is it USC, UCLA, Cal or Standford’s year? Is it even possible for that to change…not just for a season, or once every 5-6 years, but regularly?

1 Like
2

Until the sport can get growth outside of southern CA and/or we see a major school like Texas and others decide to get a varsity program I don’t see it happening. If the SEC or Big Ten would expand the sport on the mens side we would have something

1 Like
3

The answer is no. The Big 4 all have one thing in common and that is they are elite universities that would probably be anyone’s dream school (and are basically a lottery to get into without sports). If the Ivies were able to run real D1 programs with scholarships and full time training, maybe they would have a chance….big maybe. As for Litvak, I do not think he would change the fortunes of any of those schools mentioned. UCSB seems to have an institutional problem. I’ve heard, but don’t know if its true, that they don’t utilize the full allowed scholarship amount. The pool situation is a disaster. Seems to be a terribly run athletic department. On paper, they should be a near elite program given the desirability of the school. I’m not sure a different coach would change much, although I’d like to see it. UCI already has a great coach and has improved significantly over the previous regime. I’d put Pepperdine in its own tier. It seems like a desirable school given the location, but its small and religious and kind of isolated in LA. I think Litvak would improve that program. Santa Clara seems like a dark horse, but again, i’ve heard they don’t really have much to give in the way of scholarships. So I think you are stuck with Big 4, and every few years a great UOP, UCI, Princeton, Long Beach, etc that can compete. Fordham is an interesting case. Trevor could probably explain it better, but my 3000 mile away viewpoint is that getting the St Francis head coach really changed their fortunes. Fordham is a much better school than St Francis and his foreign connections have allowed them to get a higher quality of foreign athlete than St Francis got. I’ll be interested to see if they can keep it up and/or hang onto that assistant coach for long. If I’m Bucknell or GW, I’m hiring that guy as a head coach just for the recruiting.

9 Likes
4

Ilija Duretic. He deserves great credit, and much is owed to Coach Bacharach for recruiting him as an assistant coach. Coach Duretic is a rising star by merit and far beyond his role at Fordham. Over the past three years, while serving as assistant coach, he also led age group teams at Greenwich Aquatics from 14U through 18U. Most recently, he guided the Greenwich 14U team to a second place finish at Junior Olympics, the highest placement achieved by a team outside of California in decades and certainly the best in the history of Greenwich Aquatics. In addition, he was recruited by USA Water Polo to coach the USA Youth National Team. A role that will definitely won’t hurt the attraction of the program to elite domestic talent. It is inspiring to see how two coaches, with the support of passionate alumni, have elevated the program to the national stage within just three years.

3 Likes
5

Sustained as long as they continue international recruiting….

1 Like
6

I would just concur on all of that. He is absolutely fantastic!

7

Bringing in International talent to compete with the Big 4 is essential, but not the end all. The Big 4 have their share of elite international players too. St. Francis had great international talent for years but couldn’t break through.

You gotta get those guys, but you gotta be able to coach them too.

That’s what Vavic did at SC to get them past UCI and on the same playing field at Cal and Stanford.

Maybe the Fordham assistant is the next Jovan, and Fordham will maintain this level of play. Or maybe he’ll get an HC position at one of those schools RB mentioned.

2 Likes