The Future A10 Thread

[ace93]

I think Barclays is locked for 3 years in addition to the current one. That is not going to change b/c of the loss of Butt and X. Lose more than that and the Barclays might bock, but not as of yet.

[College Hoops]

If the C7 starts with 9 or 10 with Notre Dame I would to see the presidents from the schools left out take a strong approach and try to put together their own conference sans A-10. Presuming the teams left out are: Creighton,Dayton,Richmond,St. Louis and VCU reach out to Bradley, Wichita State, Valpo,Duquesne,Murray State,St. Joes, GW and either LaSalle or St. Bonaventure.

[Always La Salle]

there are many mid-majors with 12 or fewer schools in their conference. why do w feel a need to expand if raided of three schools?

[Bill Russell]

Assuming UMass eventually leaves for a football conference, adding three southern schools makes the most sense to me. It would allow a North/South split with six teams in each division. That's why GMU, Davidson, and Charleston are my favorite options.

NORTH:

St. Bona
St. Joe's
Rhody
La Salle
Duquesne
Fordham

SOUTH:

VCU
GW
Richmond
GMU
Davidson
Charleston

[spdram]

That south division would be brutal.

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Bill Russell

Assuming UMass eventually leaves for a football conference, adding three southern schools makes the most sense to me. It would allow a North/South split with six teams in each division. That's why GMU, Davidson, and Charleston are my favorite options.

NORTH:

St. Bona
St. Joe's
Rhody
La Salle
Duquesne
Fordham

SOUTH:

VCU
GW
Richmond
GMU
Davidson
Charleston

I definitely think that taking Charleston and GMU is a great idea. I would take Davidson, but I just don't see that happening. I'd take Siena as my next choice. It looks like Charleston is about to build a new arena. We should grab them now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=2K9kYCT-CMU#!

[ramMan]

Originally Posted by Simms

It looks like Charleston is about to build a new arena. We should grab them now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...<br /> <br />!

Ummm, wrong Charleston. The University of Charleston (West Virginia) is building a new arena. The College of Charleston (South Carolina) plays in a 5,100-seat arena built in 2008 (see pic below).








TD Arena

[Simms]

Originally Posted by ramMan

Ummm, wrong Charleston. The University of Charleston (West Virginia) is building a new arena. The College of Charleston (South Carolina) plays in a 5,100-seat arena built in 2008 (see pic below).








TD Arena

You'd think I wouldn't screw that up after spending a beautiful summer in Charleston, SC last year. Apologies for being an idiot. Still, the arena would fit with our league. Not sure I would take them over some of the other options, but I still think TD arena looks pretty nice.

[RF1]

Originally Posted by Bill Russell

Assuming UMass eventually leaves for a football conference, adding three southern schools makes the most sense to me. It would allow a North/South split with six teams in each division. That's why GMU, Davidson, and Charleston are my favorite options.

NORTH:

St. Bona
St. Joe's
Rhody
La Salle
Duquesne
Fordham

SOUTH:

VCU
GW
Richmond
GMU
Davidson
Charleston

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.

[vcurams05]

As a recent CAA member I do not like the current direction of GMU's program. They don't seem to have the leadership in the athletic department to take them to the next level. They completely wasted any opportunity they had post Final Four. They finished 5th in a miserable CAA this year.

[BrownIndians85]

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.

Again, RF1, have you offered up one iota of constructive criticism, or do you just read everyone else's hypotheses and whine about them? Give us YOUR ideal post-apocalypse A-10. It's not difficult, it's just putting a suggestion out there.

I like Bill Russell's proposal, but I'd prefer to go midwest myself, with a Detroit, Valparaiso combination. South/DC metro work well. I think, RF1, you're going to find that there are no NE schools worth bringing into the A-10. URI travel is going to increase. Just because Boston U or Northeastern are up there doesn't mean they should be invited into the A-10.

And to others .. No No No to Siena. They're terrible. They offer nothing. They had about 4 good seasons in the MAAC and outside of that they've been also-rans within their own shoddy conference. Why not go for Iona at that point, if you're into pilfering MAAC schools?

[RF1]

Originally Posted by BrownIndians85

Again, RF1, have you offered up one iota of constructive criticism, or do you just read everyone else's hypotheses and whine about them? Give us YOUR ideal post-apocalypse A-10. It's not difficult, it's just putting a suggestion out there.

I like Bill Russell's proposal, but I'd prefer to go midwest myself, with a Detroit, Valparaiso combination. South/DC metro work well. I think, RF1, you're going to find that there are no NE schools worth bringing into the A-10. URI travel is going to increase. Just because Boston U or Northeastern are up there doesn't mean they should be invited into the A-10.

And to others .. No No No to Siena. They're terrible. They offer nothing. They had about 4 good seasons in the MAAC and outside of that they've been also-rans within their own shoddy conference. Why not go for Iona at that point, if you're into pilfering MAAC schools?

If UMass were to leave, Siena or a Boston school is a must.

As for Siena - Siena plays in a first class arena in a decent sized metro area not already covered by the A-10 and draws better (even with a bad team) than almost all the remaining A-10 schools. They are down now but have had several good runs under various coaches over the last 20 or so years appearing in six NCAA tourneys going 4-6 (NCAA wins over Stanford, Alcorn State, Vanderbilt, and Ohio State).

[bobo]

From 1976 to 1995 (I believe) GW was the southern most team in the A10. If the league expands south with GMU, Charleston and Davidson, GW could be the nothern most program in the South Division. I love it. It would give GW a natual rival in GMU. Richmond vs VCU and Charleston vs Davidson.

Possible road games in Jan/Feb: Albany NY vs Charleston SC. That's a tough one.

Davidson, Charleston and GMU would be good choices because they have been consistently successful over the last 10 years, play in front of good fan bases and have a commitment to basketball success (yes even GMU with the big contract they signed Hewitt to after losen Larenaga).

Maybe Siena (but they're so terrible now) or Northeastern but they just had 1900 people show up to their last conf game of the year...AND THEY'RE IN FIRST PLACE.

Take the best programs available that want to play in the A10. Whether that be Wichita, Detroit, GMU or Murray State. Taking bad programs and hopping that putting them in the A10 will improve them is how you end up with Fordham. Do not repeat that mistake.

[ramMan]

Originally Posted by bobo

Taking bad programs and hoping that putting them in the A10 will improve them is how you end up with Fordham. Do not repeat that mistake.

Agreed, and I'm a Fordham alum/fan.

Originally Posted by bobo

Take the best programs available that want to play in the A10. Whether that be Wichita, Detroit, GMU or Murray State.

I've seen Murray State mentioned on this board before, but I think people forget they have a football program, which the A-10 couldn't accommodate. If they're looking to upgrade conference affiliation, it'd make more sense for them to move from one Valley (Ohio) to another Valley (Missouri) to fill the void left by Creighton's departure. And besides, Murray, Kentucky is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest major city, Nashville, is over 120 miles away.

Speaking of Nashville, I think Belmont ought to be given consideration. They've made the NCAA tournament five out of the last seven years and are well on their way to making it again this year. In addition, Nashville is the 29th largest TV market (per Nielsen). If Dayton isn't invited to the new Big East, it'd make sense to shore up the western wing of the A-10 with the additions of Belmont and Detroit.

[Deleo]

Originally Posted by ramMan

Agreed, and I'm a Fordham alum/fan.




I've seen Murray State mentioned on this board before, but I think people forget they have a football program, which the A-10 couldn't accommodate. If they're looking to upgrade conference affiliation, it'd make more sense for them to move from one Valley (Ohio) to another Valley (Missouri) to fill the void left by Creighton's departure. And besides, Murray, Kentucky is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest major city, Nashville, is over 120 miles away.

Speaking of Nashville, I think Belmont ought to be given consideration. They've made the NCAA tournament five out of the last seven years and are well on their way to making it again this year. In addition, Nashville is the 29th largest TV market (per Nielsen). If Dayton isn't going to the new Big East, it'd make sense to shore up the western wing of the A-10 with the additions of Belmont and Detroit.

If the A10 does nothing this year, and waits until after the 2014 NCAA tournament to announce additions, it will essentially have 2 NCAA tournaments to see if a new rising program emerges. Think how much things changed for Butler, VCU, and GMU with their runs. If a Belmont or a Davidson can make a great Sweet 16 or better run over the next couple of years, they will become an obvious candidate for expansion. It feels like two or more of those teams might come out of the south. The only two I am noticing to the north right now are Bucknell and maybe Northeastern. I think the NCAA's can really make a difference in program status. The A10 will be watching closely.