Shatel: A treat before the feast

There’s a lot to be thankful for Thursday, including a very good reason to stay out of the kitchen at 11 a.m.

Creighton vs. Michigan.

We’ve been waiting for a game like this. We hear that Creighton can’t play BCS-level programs, that the big boys won’t come to Qwest Center Omaha (unless sent by the NIT), that coach Dana Altman won’t go play them on their floor.

We see Creighton’s RPI max out in the Missouri Valley Conference, and CU tie for the Valley regular-season title and still fall short of the NCAA tournament. We wonder if there isn’t a better solution.

We see Gonzaga, from the West Coast Conference, on national TV every other week against the Goliaths in Dick Vitale’s world. We wonder why Creighton can’t do that.

So now comes the Old Spice Classic, and the Jays taking on Michigan today on ESPN2 for all of the college hoops world to see. Win or lose, CU gets two more games, against Marquette or Xavier, then against Florida State or Alabama or Baylor or perhaps Iona. We beg to see Creighton play one BCS-level program (other than perpetually rebuilding Nebraska), and now the Jays have the opportunity to play as many as three in what could be a feast or famine weekend.

Pass the P’Allen (Stinnett) — or pass to P’Allen — and hope for a heavy helping of (Wayne) Runnels.

But can we get seconds?

Can we get Creighton to do this every year? Can we get Altman to play a BCS-level school every season, even if it means going on the road without a guaranteed return game?

Wouldn’t that be good for the program? Wouldn’t it boost the RPI? Wouldn’t the NCAA selection gurus take notice and say, “Wow, they at least tried to play up?’’ Wouldn’t it reward the loyal CU fan base by giving them a game with some real buzz? Wouldn’t recruits say, “Who are you going to play this year, Dana?’’

Creighton plays at Disney World today. Meanwhile, I reside in Fantasyland.

I posed those questions to CU Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen earlier this week. As always, “Ras’’ was there to offer a dose of reality. But he wouldn’t rule out such a move in the future.

• Rasmussen says Creighton makes approximately $6 million a year on home-game revenue, or about $200,000 a game (he said it would be around $500,000 a game if CU had its own arena). Go to Kansas for a one-shot game (the big boys won’t come to Omaha) and it costs you $200,000. And they aren’t paying you to come to KU, by the way.

• Rasmussen said BCS-level schools win “about 79 percent of their home games. So what are your chances of going on the road and winning?’’ Maybe. But certainly Creighton would have a shot against Minnesota or Texas A&M or Arizona State. Even some of the big boys have down years. The trick is to schedule them on their down years.

• Rasmussen adds that the RPI bump for one game isn’t what you think: “Twenty-five percent of RPI is your opponents’ opponents’ record, 25 percent is your record and 50 percent is your opponents’ win-loss record. And that’s just one of 30 games you play.’’

• Why not play in an exempt tournament every year? Good idea. But Rasmussen cautions that there are only so many “quality’’ tourneys and there can’t be more than one team from any conference in one of the tournaments. If every Valley school wanted to play in an exempt tourney every year, it would be hard to do.

• Finally, we talked about Gonzaga. It’s an amazing thing. The Zags play in the West Coast Conference. They have a gym that seats about 6,000. They play a few games in the Spokane City Arena. Mostly they have a reputation for playing any team, anywhere. But this season, Oklahoma and Wake Forest are coming to Spokane (Arena). How does Gonzaga do this?

“Most of those games are on national TV,’’ Rasmussen said. “Schools play them because of their reputation. They’ve won in the NCAA tournament and won big. That’s what we have to do. We have to win in the NCAA tournament.’’

First, the Jays have to make the NCAAs. This weekend can jump-start that goal and bring other benefits. An emotional win over Michigan or Marquette not only puts CU on the national radar, it might give them the appetite to do this more often.

Rasmussen says they’re trying (they play Iowa State in Des Moines next year). He said there are home-and-home series in the works with schools from the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten. He said he had a home-and-home with a big name set last summer, but the dates wouldn’t work out. In that agreement, Creighton would have paid the big name more money than normal to come to Omaha. That’s an approach he said he might try again.

As for going on the road without a return game, Rasmussen said, “It’s something we may have to do.’’

There’s a saying that goes, “If you want to be big time, act big time.’’ Creighton goes big time today. I can’t wait to see it. And I can’t wait to see it again.

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

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