The Future A10 Thread

[Maryland Bonnie]

Should we be thinking bigger? We really should be approaching Cincy, UConn and even Temple about joining the A-10. Let them have their little football conference but do these teams really want to be in conference with the likes of Tulane, SMU and Houston for basketball. I guarantee this is not what Fran D. signed up for!

[SBUfan]

Originally Posted by Maryland Bonnie

Should we be thinking bigger? We really should be approaching Cincy, UConn and even Temple about joining the A-10. Let them have their little football conference but do these teams really want to be in conference with the likes of Tulane, SMU and Houston for basketball. I guarantee this is not what Fran D. signed up for!

If we add those three, we should add Memphis.

[duq81]

Originally Posted by RF1

As a Rhody fan I don't like that lineup one bit. We would lose the closest member (UMass) and add three southern teams where we already have a pretty good representation. The southern division would be in a very compact geographic region where they could probably bus to very game while the north would cover a large area requiring increased travel.

This is incorrect. Rhode Island's longest rip would be to Pittsburgh, which is 530 mile according to Google. The longest trip in the south, would be DC to Charleston, which is 531 miles. People tend to have a poor idea of the distances in other regions. This is why Wichita keeps getting mentioned, despite being 700 miles west of Chicago. Charleston is not close to DC at all. URI's divisional trips in that setup would be:

530 (DU)
474 (Bona)
254 (SJ, and LSU)
162 (FU)

Charleston would have the following distances:
531 (GW, GMU)
228 (Dav)
424 (VCU, UR)

I don't see any advantage there. The distance between the two farthest schools is the same, and 530 miles is hardly a killer. SLU has 12 trips of over 600 miles.

[duq81]

Originally Posted by Maryland Bonnie

Should we be thinking bigger? We really should be approaching Cincy, UConn and even Temple about joining the A-10. Let them have their little football conference but do these teams really want to be in conference with the likes of Tulane, SMU and Houston for basketball. I guarantee this is not what Fran D. signed up for!

I already suggested bringing the football schools in under the A10 banner. Shift UMass over to the football side for 9 teams each. The football schools would play football under the A10 banner, and it would be a very strong hoops league.

[e-parade]

Originally Posted by duq81

I already suggested bringing the football schools in under the A10 banner. Shift UMass over to the football side for 9 teams each. The football schools would play football under the A10 banner, and it would be a very strong hoops league.

What a throwback that would be, to the days when UMass played in the A10 for football before it went away and we joined the CAA.

[jpschmack]

I think adding programs just to add programs is not a good idea.

I'm looking at some of the names in this thread and thinking "really? When was the last time any of these guys were competiting for an at-large bid?"

[BrownIndians85]

Originally Posted by jpschmack

I think adding programs just to add programs is not a good idea.

I'm looking at some of the names in this thread and thinking "really? When was the last time any of these guys were competiting for an at-large bid?"

Exactly.

The new look A-10 needs to be thought of in dollars and cents. Fewer teams = larger share. Why would we add mediocre schools, destined to be bottom-feeders, just to get to some "magic number" of teams? There should be some criteria for invitation to the A-10 - facilities and track record are two that come to mind immediately. Just because a school had their name out there in the past decade doesn't mean we should whore ourselves out to get them here so we have a 16 team conference. It's going to be tough in terms of TV, and getting at-large bids. Any school we even remotely consider should have the potential to carry their weight in both aspects. No need to add a team that simply takes a cut.

Who has dominated the MAAC in the last 20 years? And I mean, "dominated"? No one. OK, so why are we talking about MAAC level schools? Fairfield? Siena? And I'm sorry but the America East conference is a joke, and I couldn't see adding Boston U under any circumstance. GMU worries me, I feel they were a blip on the national radar, a flash in the pan. Schools like Detroit, Valpo, Davidson, and Charleston have shown themselves to be formidable over the course of a decent period of time. More formidable than my own Bonnies, I'm sorry to say.

Somebody suggested a couple days ago, maybe in jest, merge with the top half of the MVC. Location-wise, I don't like that. Although I like the Shockers and NIU. How about stalwarts of the Horizon? GB? Wright St? WSU has a nice facility. Along with Valpo and Detroit of course.

I just hate thinking small. The word Siena is making me puke.

[ktabz16]

sorry to say but gun to my head, i'd take siena's track record, facility and fanbase over bona. heck i'd take those same things over umass if you take out the calipari years.

[bprichard]

Siena has been consistently good aside from the last few seasons and has great fan support. I certainly wouldn't turn up my nose at being in a conference with them. Same deal with Detroit. Cleveland State or Valparaiso on the other hand . . .

[Bill Russell]

Originally Posted by ktabz16

sorry to say but gun to my head, i'd take siena's track record, facility and fanbase over bona. heck i'd take those same things over umass if you take out the calipari years.

That would make you an idiot.

[Stonewall D]

Originally Posted by RF1

If it were certain that Dauyton was staying, I would agree that it makes sense to add another team out in its region. I would suggest Detroit or Cleveland State.

I suggest adding Belmont to the A-10. They would fit the profile nicely.

[jpschmack]

I posted it a while back...

in terms of men's basketball wins and losses, Siena is basically La Salle, only with all the losses to Xavier, Temple and (other top 50 RPI teams in the A-10 in each given year) removed.

If you had swapped La Salle and Siena a decade ago, La Salle would have won the MAAC a few times, and Siena wouldn't have an at-large bid or an A-10 tourney bid.


It's pretty simple to me…

We're losing Xavier, Butler, Temple and Charlotte minimum. SLU looks gone too.

If we have UD and VCU for 11 teams (and "need" one more).



Those 11 teams have a combined W-L of .522 from 2002-03 to 2011-12 (Last 10 full seasons, through Selection Sunday - best quick data dump available)

That's counting the Bona Welding Fallout, and Fordham's sparkling .306.
Assuming Bona returns to their non-NCAA probation mark…

Anyone with a win percentage under .535 would HURT us more than HELP us. (Factor in the difficulty of the A-10 compared to their former leagues? What do you think helps us)

210-98, .682 Belmont (Nashville, TN; could say no based on geography)
194-93, .676 Davidson - (turned down the CAA)
206-105, .662 George Mason - (10 games worse since Jim Larranaga left)
176-133, .570 Siena -
149-142 .512 Quinnipiac - (93-62, .600 since opening their new facility in 2006-07)

To me, four of the five have serious question marks/issues. Siena doesn't thrill me, but anyone besides these five, or maybe Stony Brook, is a non-starter.

I would give SERIOUS consideration to not adding a single team if we can have a 16-game schedule with who we got.

[El Shaqtus]

If the Big East stops at 10 with Creighton/X/Butler, do you go west for SLU/Dayton?

[duq81]

Originally Posted by El Shaqtus

If the Big East stops at 10 with Creighton/X/Butler, do you go west for SLU/Dayton?

There are several teams you could add as a travel partner for Dayton, but not many for SLU. Bradley would be the best add from an SLU perspective. Wichita is the same distance from St. Louis, as Charlotte is from Pittsburgh. Would anyone suggest Davidson as a travel partner for Duquesne?

Dayton is 256 miles west of Pittsburgh, which is not horrible. Add in Detroit, and Bradley, and that would give UD 3 teams within 310 miles, which is not horrible. If UD and SLU leave, the only Midwestern team that could be added solo, without being a serious outlier is Cleveland St, which is 140 miles from Pittsburgh, 195 from Olean, and 372 from DC. Detroit adds 160 miles to those totals, which makes it too far to be added alone. If SLU, and Dayton remain, both Cleveland, and Detroit would be good travel partners for Dayton, but do nothing for SLU, as both schools are over 550 miles from St. Louis, which for comparisons sake, is farther than URI is from Duquesne, and both Richmond schools.

[duq81]

Originally Posted by jpschmack

I posted it a while back...

in terms of men's basketball wins and losses, Siena is basically La Salle, only with all the losses to Xavier, Temple and (other top 50 RPI teams in the A-10 in each given year) removed.

If you had swapped La Salle and Siena a decade ago, La Salle would have won the MAAC a few times, and Siena wouldn't have an at-large bid or an A-10 tourney bid.

I'm not buying that. You sound like the Big East fans who think that Seton Hall, or Providence would sweep through the A10 every year. Schools like Siena are at the disadvantage of never getting to play good teams at home. Siena won 27 games two consecutive years. If A 10 teams had to play them in Albany during those seasons, most would have gone home with a loss.