C-USA was crappy? I guess that's why the Big East raided the crappy teams like Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati.
My mistake...i only looked at Charlotte's schedule and they did not play louisville. They barely beat cincy at home, which was their only signature win (unless you want to count a win over 15-14 Indiana? and nit-bound Marquette).
All of these games were at home against regional opponents. Unfortunately Fordham is and will be in the league, so we'll have to look forward to our exciting yearly matchup.
Well your coach was certainly excited towards the end of the game. Too bad Lance Brown didn't pop him. Believe me, your team is nothing to brag about just getting by one of the worst teams in the land.
I classify Charlotte with SLU, no big deal and should actually win something before they write about how playing teams with a poor RPI is ruining their chances.
I have no idea whether the league would kick Fordham out or if the school would leave. If that were to happen, though, I would not want to add another team. Siena and Butler don't do anything for the A-10. Perhaps the only school that might is ODU, geographically and competitively, but are the Monarchs a creation of their very fine coach? Or would they still be very good once he retired?
Same here. If SLU feels the same way as their coach, hold the door open for them to leave. I like them in the A10, but they aren't essential. I don't like kicking teams out, either, but I'm all for playing Jedi mind tricks to get Fordham to leave on their own. It's the right move for all involved. Fordham drops to a league fitting their commitment and maybe even has some success in time, and the A10 improves as well.
If SLU decides to stay and really sticks with the A10, use the Jedi mind tricks on La Salle. With their facilities and place in the Philly landscape, they'll never really compete in the A10. It would be better for their program to find a new league where they actually have a chance to win a title and make the dance.
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Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.
I have no idea whether the league would kick Fordham out or if the school would leave. If that were to happen, though, I would not want to add another team. Siena and Butler don't do anything for the A-10. Perhaps the only school that might is ODU, geographically and competitively, but are the Monarchs a creation of their very fine coach? Or would they still be very good once he retired?
I'd much prefer a move back to 12 teams.
I think consolidation is better than eliminating and adding. Cut it to 12 and do 2 6 team divisions.
Did you rant after playing Winston-Salem? Their RPI is 290.
What about Gardner-Webb and their 285?
Elon and their 274? Yale and their 272?
What did Mercer's 240 do to you? NC-Ashville, 233? East Carolina 223?
If you don't dance you make sure you save some of your venom for the genius that scheduled 7 OOC teams with an average RPI of 259. You only played Fordham once.
Every A-10 team schedules cupcakes UMass included. However for the most part most of the league was able to beat the cupcakes. In no way can you defend a team that has losses to Hartford (283), Manhattan (245), James Madison (244), Kennesaw State (279), and Hampton (304).
I might also add that I am not on the bandwagon for Charlotte fans asking for anyone to be kicked out of the league. However, when a team schedules cupcakes and ends up being the cupcake I think it should at least be looked at.
It is true that the Niners scheduled more dogs than usual, though as some have pointed out, we had no control over the NIT games. Unless, of course, we had beaten Duke after the win over Elon in the opening round, then the next 2 would have been a little better than Yale and Hofstra!
And then I have take issue with some of my own fellow Niners. Neither Mercer (A-Sun) or UNC Asheville (Big South) were chosen to win their respective leagues. Yes, up near the top, but not picked to win (Jacksonville and Lipscomb co-favs in A-Sun; Radford in Big South). Now, more was expected of Mercer with James Florence in his senior year and the wins over Alabama and Auburn and the OT near-miss with Georgia Tech last season. And guess what - we play Mercer in Macon next year!
Bottom line is scheduling can be a crapshoot and this year Charlotte's OOC sked had more crap than usual. But at least we're winning those games!
12 teams all the way.
I don't know what the other a-10 teams have to do with this discussion. Its about Fordham. The school cares not about the basketball program. And I feel very sorry for thier fans.
Having said that It seems silly to me to push some conference policy that beats around the bush and takes years to get to the point.
The Rams program is hurting all of us.
Fordham is not going to voluntarily leave while the checks are still rolling in.
This shouldn't take five or ten years to get done.
Just because you're from NYC doesn't make it legal for you to continue to rob us.
Getting rid of Fordham should be this conference's number one priority.
This is a no-win topic, but, if anyone get's drawn into it voluntarily, I guess it's me.
Before I pitch my idea here, I'll note that I don't understand the idea of attacking some of the Charlotte posters here with an argument that centers around asking why they scheduled a few cupcakes in their OOC schedule. That has nothing to do with the expectations that conference mates have for their fellow members in terms of their ability to compete at a level that supports an aggregate effort to achieve a highly competitive (Conference RPI of 5 - 7) conference ranking. The basic focus of the thread is about conference composition and how one team, in this specific case, is affecting the conference as a whole. Every team in this conference played at least a few cupcakes in their OOC schedules. So what? Again, it's about what happens inside the league between league members.
In fact, all that argument suggests is the opposite of what the thread starter and others want to get at (i.e. a stronger league). By attacking Charlotte's OOC schedule, all you're suggesting is that the A10 is sufficiently weak enough to make it necessary to boost the OOC schedule, when the point is that we don't want the A10 to be abnormally weak for any reason.
So here is the idea, in bullets:
During the 2010 Annual A10 Conference Meeting, the attendees agree that, for purposes of effecting the balance of this list, they'll establish a 10 year period - the Contribution Period - that will run from the 1999/2000 season to the end of the current 2009/2010 season.
A Distribution Pool will be established that will be comprised of all existing NCAA Tournament Unit monies that have not yet been distributed as of the end of the current season. To that will be added Units that are earned over the next five seasons, all on a rolling basis.
Each member will be evaluated for its contribution of NCAA Tournament Units during the Contribution Period (Charlotte and St. Louis exempted - if everyone else has had all this time to contribute free of any ramifications, they get the same treatment).
Members that have contributed at least one Unit in that period of time will automatically be put into the Distribution Pool for the current season and the following five year period. Members who failed to contribute any NCAA Tournament Units during the Contribution Period will be excluded from the Distribution Pool.
Any member that had failed to contribute NCAA Tournament Units during the Contribution Period, but otherwise contributes NCAA Tournament Unit(s) during the current season or subsequent five year period will be immediately included in the Distribution Pool, following the year of the contributed NCAA T Unit(s).
Any member whose men's basketball team fails to achieve a national RPI rank of better than 200 (pick a fair number) will pay the league $100,000.
It will be agreed upon that, absent any effect brought about by outside conference realignment activities, every existing team in the A10 will remain members of the A10 for the next five years, with no exceptions - NO TEAMS GET KICKED OUT.
So:
No one gets kicked out - now - and under-performing programs are essentially given five years to address their specific deficiencies.
The teams that contribute to the league share in the spoils, and no one can complain that using a ten year period to determine who did and did not contribute is unfair; and
Teams that really stink it up - probably as a result of not caring and investing enough - will be financially motivated (punished).
The problem with this is that it will make the problem worse in the long run. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and it could almost create a caste system in the A10.
A team like Fordham would never be able to rebuild its program if X, Dayton, Richmond, Charlotte, URI, etc keep getting all of the money and they get none.
12 teams all the way.
I don't know what the other a-10 teams have to do with this discussion. Its about Fordham. The school cares not about the basketball program. And I feel very sorry for thier fans.
Having said that It seems silly to me to push some conference policy that beats arond the bush and takes years to get to the point.
The Rams program is hurting all of us.
Fordham is not going to voluntarily leave while the checks are still rolling in.
This shouldn't take five or ten years to get done.
Just because you're from NYC doesn't make it legal for you to continue to rob us.
Getting rid of Fordham should be this conference's number one priority.
It reads like you're taking pot shots at my idea, which is fine.
However, I've changed my tune about all this because it has become clear to me over the last few years that this league refuses, for whatever reason, to take decisive action. So, absent a willingness to take such action, reset distributions to those members who contribute, denying funding to those that don't; provide (yet another) period of five years to deficient schools that need time to address their program liabilities; and otherwise directly penalize any program that fails so badly that they actually hurt other members by playing them.
You can bark about kicking teams out all you want, but there is absolutely no reason, based on this league's history, to believe that any existing member will be shown the door on an involuntary basis.
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Forbes: The Most Valuable College Hoops Teams - Xavier #17. Only four are private (Xavier, Syracuse, Duke and Wake) and only two come from outside the BCS (Xavier and UNLV).
The problem with this is that it will make the problem worse in the long run. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and it could almost create a caste system in the A10.
A team like Fordham would never be able to rebuild its program if X, Dayton, Richmond, Charlotte, URI, etc keep getting all of the money and they get none.
I respect your opinion, but now I want you to consider something. Most of the programs in this basketball-centric league have made major investments in facilities and other program elements from their own funding sources. I figured the 'rich would get richer' thought process would break out somewhere along the way here.
I have another idea for you: you have to spend money to make money. In essence, if it is true most here would like for our respective programs to be a part of a conference that consistently achieves a conference RPI rank of top 5 to 7 (why not think big since we are mainly about basketball?) then most here would acknowledge that there is a price of admission to pull that off, again with that INVESTMENT coming from internal sources. School A isn't responsible for School B's success; each school is responsible for investing and prioritizing to a sufficient degree so that all boats rise.
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Forbes: The Most Valuable College Hoops Teams - Xavier #17. Only four are private (Xavier, Syracuse, Duke and Wake) and only two come from outside the BCS (Xavier and UNLV).
Fordham Should be kicked out of A10
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