Conference Realignment

[Jersey77]

How much more can they dilute this league before interest completely disappears?

I don't know, take a look at our conference schedule this year. Any interest in that?

That is our own doing, if the schedule is that weak then I guess you feel we will just breeze through it.

[Jersey77]

So C of C has had 2 NCAA appearances in their last 5 coaches. Pat Kelsey is great but he won't be there for long. But I'd still take C of C over Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, GW, or George Mason.

Why is McGlade consistently focused on added teams?

You lose rivalries. You lose interest. And if you don't have interest, it's harder to sell your product to get a good TV deal.

Nevermind the fact that unless we adopt a dynamic scheduling program, you'll just have a whole bunch of watered down teams with lower nets bringing everyone down.

I really hope that URI, UMass, Dayton, St Louis, VCU, Richmond, and even someone like a College of Charleston are having conversations to break off and do their own thing and form their own conference. Even if you take a St Bonnies/Davidson with you to get to 10.

But the A10 is going to hell.

Probably not happening Blue Man so I wouldn’t dwell on it.

[Blue Man]

How much more can they dilute this league before interest completely disappears?

I don't know, take a look at our conference schedule this year. Any interest in that?

Exactly.

There's like 3 teams in the A10 year to year that make people say "oooh, circle that game" or "make sure we have tickets to that game."

It's usually going to involve Dayton, St. Louis, or VCU.

For a brief period it involved URI. Sometimes Davidson. But mainly for "national relevance" it's those 3 teams. Even if you bump that number to 4 or 5 teams...that means that we're at a point where less than 1/3 of the teams are worth watching.

The Big East nailed it. 10 teams. All good enough on their own, and their "doormat" by association, DePaul, is a top 150 program. They play 15 Q1 games. They built a new arena. Fordham played 17 Q4 games and people are pretending they're "back."

I have no faith in the A10 or it's leadership. Let's just hope we're in the group with VCU, Dayton, and SLU and try to do something together. Otherwise when those programs leave the conference is officially done.

[Jersey77]

I don't know, take a look at our conference schedule this year. Any interest in that?

Exactly.

There's like 3 teams in the A10 year to year that make people say "oooh, circle that game" or "make sure we have tickets to that game."

It's usually going to involve Dayton, St. Louis, or VCU.

For a brief period it involved URI. Sometimes Davidson. But mainly for "national relevance" it's those 3 teams. Even if you bump that number to 4 or 5 teams...that means that we're at a point where less than 1/3 of the teams are worth watching.

The Big East nailed it. 10 teams. All good enough on their own, and their "doormat" by association, DePaul, is a top 150 program. They play 15 Q1 games. They built a new arena. Fordham played 17 Q4 games and people are pretending they're "back."

I have no faith in the A10 or it's leadership. Let's just hope we're in the group with VCU, Dayton, and SLU and try to do something together. Otherwise when those programs leave the conference is officially done.

Like I said before, probably not happening. VCU, Dayton, and SLU all have their sights on something bigger and UMass has football concerns. I have a feeling Fox Sports will continue to apply pressure for the BE to expand.

[Rhody74]

How much more can they dilute this league before interest completely disappears?

Bring back the Eastern Eight!

[rhodylaw]

Charleston is an ok add - a team that I don't mind seeing on the OOC schedule, so not the end of the world to get a yearly game with them. Also gives a geographical rival for Davidson. Most A10 teams have a natural geographic rival which can draw some interest if the teams improve.

[Rhodymob05]

They’re certainly a competitive program as of late. I just worry that adding will eventually force others out, maybe top programs. Too many teams does water down the league.

[rhodylaw]

They’re certainly a competitive program as of late. I just worry that adding will eventually force others out, maybe top programs. Too many teams does water down the league.

Yeah - i think it is inevitable that the best leagues will all be 20 teams or close to it. We probably lose someone in that shake-up, but almost more importantly the larger leagues will likely mean a few less OOC conference games, so adding teams that we would normally be ok playing with OOC isn't the worst idea. The best idea is attrition, find 10 good programs and just play each other twice. I don't think there are 10 programs that consistently good enough though at our level.

[Blue Man]

They’re certainly a competitive program as of late. I just worry that adding will eventually force others out, maybe top programs. Too many teams does water down the league.

Exactly this. I guess a better way to state my earlier point is that there are 3 programs worth anything in this conference in the "basketball only/national relevance" sense; VCU, Dayton, and St Louis.

The A10's first and only directive right now should be "how do we ensure they don't leave."

Increased payouts to NCAA appearances would seem to be the most obvious and logical.
Dynamic scheduling so they don't get stuck playing the Q4's of our conference multiple times.

I can't imagine any media outlets that were clamoring for the A10 to add more teams like C of C or Loyola. The last couple agreements I could find had our national TV conference games down to 25 during this ESPN/ESPN+ contract, down from 76 on CBS networks in 2020.

Every move Bernadette makes seems to be the wrong one. The conference is worse in media deals, competetiveness, NCAA seeds, NCAA bids, etc.

Social media engagement? Even website updates.

Can someone find one way the conference is better since McGlade since 2008?

1 Xavier (44)
2 Temple (12)
3 Dayton (3)
4 Saint Joseph's
5 Charlotte (2)
6 Massachusetts
7 Saint Louis
8 Richmond
9 Rhode Island
10 La Salle
11 George Washington
12 Duquesne
13 Fordham
14 St. Bonaventure

Since then we lost the two premier programs in the conference - Xavier and Temple. You replaced them with VCU (the literal only good thing, but still nowhere close to Xavier), and Davidson (3 appearances in 9 years).

We lost Charlotte and gained George Mason. Probably would've been better if you didn't add and took the benefit of losing Charlotte.

Then we added Loyola. Lol.

The TV contracts have got worse, less visible, and less lucrative. The online social engagement is non-existent. The NCAA money is drying up considerably.

There's too much dead weight in this conference that is still dead weight.

We struck a "deal" to give the ACC brooklyn as a site for their tournament - and I think we got a couple of games against bottom of the ACC competitors.

She's leading us to nothingness and just gobbling up all the unimportant programs in college basketball like hoarding them gives you an extra bid. She hasn't adjusted to the new world of NET-focused NCAA bids and it's killing every single program in the conference.

I can't believe she still has a job.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Maybe she thinks if we double the number of teams in the conference.. we'll get two bids? Triple it and get 3?

[reef]

I don't know, take a look at our conference schedule this year. Any interest in that?

Exactly.

There's like 3 teams in the A10 year to year that make people say "oooh, circle that game" or "make sure we have tickets to that game."

It's usually going to involve Dayton, St. Louis, or VCU.

For a brief period it involved URI. Sometimes Davidson. But mainly for "national relevance" it's those 3 teams. Even if you bump that number to 4 or 5 teams...that means that we're at a point where less than 1/3 of the teams are worth watching.

The Big East nailed it. 10 teams. All good enough on their own, and their "doormat" by association, DePaul, is a top 150 program. They play 15 Q1 games. They built a new arena. Fordham played 17 Q4 games and people are pretending they're "back."

I have no faith in the A10 or it's leadership. Let's just hope we're in the group with VCU, Dayton, and SLU and try to do something together. Otherwise when those programs leave the conference is officially done.

If Arch stays long term we will be in the mix of 4 teams that teams will circle like when DH was here

[Jdrums#3]

Good discussion.

If I knew realignment would be where it is today (with the dissolving PAC, bungling ACC, and expansion of the BIG) I would have been against adding Loyola for many of the reasons others have listed above.

Imho, for non-P5 schools focused on basketball, a smaller, selective, committed (all members committed equally or close to equal) conference is better.

I too hope we and the other basketball committed programs are strategizing proactively because I don’t have confidence in the A10 Commish.

If I was in Dayton’s shoes, VCU’s, SLU’s then I would be looking to leave the A10. My first choice would be the NBE however, outside of perhaps Dayton, what does any other A10 program provide a network exec to justify paying the NBE millions more per team ? The NBE gets approx $4 mil per team currently. Is a network going to pay each team 6-8 mil or more because Dayton is joining and/or VCU or SLU?

I am not so sure a network would. College basketball isn’t the money maker football is for networks.

However, the NBE TV contract negotiations will be starting soon (if they haven’t preliminarily already) so, we shall see how that negotiation goes and if the networks perceive any value any A10 programs may offer to provide a return on their investment.

ETA: the above figures are per year for the life of the agreement.

[theblueram]

The handwriting is on the wall. The free transfer means the best players leave. The NIL, means they leave even faster. Sad times for college hoops. Look what we had last year. At least we could dump them and get new players. But any player that excels, well, you either pay them or they are transferring. This has happened faster than I thought it would.

[section(105)]

Bring back the Yankee Conference?

[rjv]

The writing is clear. The PAC 12 has 8 teams out of 12 ranked and they are all leaving for the money.....The A10 does not have the money to keep the players and the teams. It is just a matter of time. I believe the A10 will still be in existence in the future but it will never be anything more then a 0ne bid league and if Archie has a good season he is gone. He is no fool. If anyone thinks he would stay is blind to the facts that all good coaches move on as do the players. Get use to it. The new NCAA
Check out Colorado. Primetime knows what he is doing..

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Check out Colorado. Primetime knows what he is doing..

Wait until he gets caught.

[jcru]

We've been chasing Providence and the Big East pipedream for 50 years. The new NCAA will make it so that there is no middle class. Power Conference or Ivy League type Conference. No in between.

[Jersey77]

They’re certainly a competitive program as of late. I just worry that adding will eventually force others out, maybe top programs. Too many teams does water down the league.

Exactly this. I guess a better way to state my earlier point is that there are 3 programs worth anything in this conference in the "basketball only/national relevance" sense; VCU, Dayton, and St Louis.

The A10's first and only directive right now should be "how do we ensure they don't leave."

Increased payouts to NCAA appearances would seem to be the most obvious and logical.
Dynamic scheduling so they don't get stuck playing the Q4's of our conference multiple times.

I can't imagine any media outlets that were clamoring for the A10 to add more teams like C of C or Loyola. The last couple agreements I could find had our national TV conference games down to 25 during this ESPN/ESPN+ contract, down from 76 on CBS networks in 2020.

Every move Bernadette makes seems to be the wrong one. The conference is worse in media deals, competetiveness, NCAA seeds, NCAA bids, etc.

Social media engagement? Even website updates.

Can someone find one way the conference is better since McGlade since 2008?

1 Xavier (44)
2 Temple (12)
3 Dayton (3)
4 Saint Joseph's
5 Charlotte (2)
6 Massachusetts
7 Saint Louis
8 Richmond
9 Rhode Island
10 La Salle
11 George Washington
12 Duquesne
13 Fordham
14 St. Bonaventure

Since then we lost the two premier programs in the conference - Xavier and Temple. You replaced them with VCU (the literal only good thing, but still nowhere close to Xavier), and Davidson (3 appearances in 9 years).

We lost Charlotte and gained George Mason. Probably would've been better if you didn't add and took the benefit of losing Charlotte.

Then we added Loyola. Lol.

The TV contracts have got worse, less visible, and less lucrative. The online social engagement is non-existent. The NCAA money is drying up considerably.

There's too much dead weight in this conference that is still dead weight.

We struck a "deal" to give the ACC brooklyn as a site for their tournament - and I think we got a couple of games against bottom of the ACC competitors.

She's leading us to nothingness and just gobbling up all the unimportant programs in college basketball like hoarding them gives you an extra bid. She hasn't adjusted to the new world of NET-focused NCAA bids and it's killing every single program in the conference.

I can't believe she still has a job.

Yeah, let's just blame all our woes on the A10 administration.
After going 10th, 11th, and 14th that should be the least of our concerns.

For our level, McGlade has done fine with media negotiations and the members seem satisfied and extended her.

In today's environment it is difficult for conferences like us to keep up considering P5 expansion, NIL, the portal and new transfer rules.

As for losing programs of course they will trade up if given the opportunity, also coaches.
It is a pipe dream if you think Dayton, VCU, and SLU wouldn't jump at the chance if the BE came calling.

As for the conference's recent lack of success in getting bids put the blame where it belongs on the member programs and their head coaches.
Under McGlade we also had 4 bids in 2012, 5 in 2013, and 6 in 2014.
Also added pretty good programs in VCU and Davidson.
Glossed over the fact that in 2020 Dayton would have been a #1 seed.

Yeah things are tougher now, get used to it
Let's first worry about URI getting out of the basement of the A10 and once again becoming conference contenders.

Look, I don't care one way or another about McGlade, I just want us to be successful.

[Jdrums#3]

Jersey, I am sympathetic to your point of view and there is plenty of blame to go around. However, the member programs can’t be fired (that appears to be the case based on A10 history) and the Commish is the symbolic captain of the ship so, when things trend in a negative direction, the captain eventually gets the boot…typically.

Maybe the A10 bounces back this season and obtains 3 NCAAT bids including the auto bid. That happens and I think the criticism may subside some but there are still storm clouds brewing on the horizon (like A10 NCAAT seeding trends, scheduling, A10 conf NET trends in the aggregate, A10 financial issues compared to higher rated conf’s, etc.).

Sometimes it takes a different mindset to captain a ship through rough waters versus calm seas. The A10 is in or entering in rough waters, imho and I do not want to see our basketball program sink or indefinitely stranded on the rocks. I would rather the Rhody brain trust do whatever it takes- within reason - to avoid sinking IF the A10 is heading in that direction.

I am not ready to give up the dream of watching us play in a Final Four - as fuzzy as that dream may look at this point in time. Heck, at this point, I would leave this realm happy with one more Elite 8 run.

[theblueram]

I believe we hired a coach for $2.5M a year to get us out of the basement. So I think we did our part. Archie needs to meet that expectation this year. He has a cupcake schedule.

[rjv]

Can not change the wind but you can adjust the sails!

[Rhody72]

URI's goal has never been to move to a stronger conference, yet this should have always been the goal. Unfortunately, we have always been a status quo school. Whether it has been engineering, oceanography, pharmacy or athletics we have failed to invest more when the program has been hot and siphoned the residual dollars that flow from success toward new or underfunded programs. How many times has the administration taken advantage of external funding raised by a program as an opportunity to reallocate money the program's base budget? Then, when the external dollars go away the program tanks. This is what happens when you donate to URI. It actually hurts programs in the long run.

[Jdrums#3]

72, that reads like the makings of a dang good campaign speech. You should run for Governor or RI House Speaker (the real power in RI), then you can increase funding to Rhody and solve all our problems in academics and athletics.

I like 72!

My sincere apologies to the memory of Ike and his descendants.

72, I josh. Carry on. Your posts are entertaining.

[Jersey77]

I believe we hired a coach for $2.5M a year to get us out of the basement. So I think we did our part. Archie needs to meet that expectation this year. He has a cupcake schedule.

Blueram I agree that our program did its part in regard to Archie, the staff, and the facilities.

As far as a cupcake schedule, except for a few teams, I wouldn't take any of the games lightly.

[Jersey77]

"Under terms of the proposed arrangement, the top 16 teams in the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament — as ranked by the NET — would be required to play in the Fox event even if they are invited to the NIT. Those three leagues have rights deals with Fox. The network also has a rights agreement with the Pac-12, but it is unclear whether that league would be added due to complications arising from the Pac-12’s impending realignment defections."

[SGreenwell]

"Under terms of the proposed arrangement, the top 16 teams in the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament — as ranked by the NET — would be required to play in the Fox event even if they are invited to the NIT. Those three leagues have rights deals with Fox. The network also has a rights agreement with the Pac-12, but it is unclear whether that league would be added due to complications arising from the Pac-12’s impending realignment defections."

This seems kind of nuts, as in - what is the audience for this? As is, its not like the NIT does gangbusters. Who wants to watch a second postseason basketball tournament for (roughly) teams 50 to 100 in overall quality.

[Jersey77]

"Under terms of the proposed arrangement, the top 16 teams in the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament — as ranked by the NET — would be required to play in the Fox event even if they are invited to the NIT. Those three leagues have rights deals with Fox. The network also has a rights agreement with the Pac-12, but it is unclear whether that league would be added due to complications arising from the Pac-12’s impending realignment defections."

This seems kind of nuts, as in - what is the audience for this? As is, its not like the NIT does gangbusters. Who wants to watch a second postseason basketball tournament for (roughly) teams 50 to 100 in overall quality.

Fox Sports would have the exclusive and cash in on those markets from the BE, B12, and B10 whose teams didn't make the "Dance". Some fans just can't watch enough of college basketball.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Check out Colorado. Primetime knows what he is doing..

Wait until he gets caught.

There's still stuff that's illegal..to get caught "at"?

[ramster]

Check out Colorado. Primetime knows what he is doing..

Wait until he gets caught.

There's still stuff that's illegal..to get caught "at"?

That was my thought too. Caught at what?

[Jdrums#3]

"Under terms of the proposed arrangement, the top 16 teams in the Big 12, Big East and Big Ten that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament — as ranked by the NET — would be required to play in the Fox event even if they are invited to the NIT. Those three leagues have rights deals with Fox. The network also has a rights agreement with the Pac-12, but it is unclear whether that league would be added due to complications arising from the Pac-12’s impending realignment defections."

Thanks for posting, Jersey.

Networks are a double edged sword to me personally. They bring me some Rhody games to watch the traditional way since I can’t attend yet their insatiable lust for every last penny directly and/or indirectly damages my alma mater’s basketball program.

I hope some young, intelligent sports networks industry disrupters rise up and cut off these parasites. And, I hope the networks like Fox, ESPN, etc. go the way of the horse and buggy. I will not miss them.

Rant over. Carry on.

[ramster]

Do they at this point? Because we're all watching the Atlantic 10 get flushed down the toilet. A one bid league

Okay, so the head coaches need to up their game.

Except for the MWC, AAC, and the WCC with Gonzaga and St. Mary's, we are ahead of the rest.

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are

Ranking based on NET:

[Jersey77]

Do they at this point? Because we're all watching the Atlantic 10 get flushed down the toilet. A one bid league

Okay, so the head coaches need to up their game.

Except for the MWC, AAC, and the WCC with Gonzaga and St. Mary's, we are ahead of the rest.

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are
CF0A480E-C6DA-4E8F-A870-D2C81B694B52.jpeg

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

[Jdrums#3]

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what we, here at KB, think regarding where the A10 ranked last season or ranks coming in to this season.

What does matter a lot to the NCAAT is what the NET says and until the A10 proves otherwise on the court this season, the A10 last NET ranking is #12 (one spot above that basketball powerhouse basketball conference, the Ivy League - a traditional one bid conf). That is the reality per the NET as of the end of last season. That is the NET rating the conf as a whole earned on the court against the competition that agreed to play against it.

For this season the teams in the conf need to do a better job at winning ooc games and at manipulating the metrics that make up the NET so the A10 gravitates back up to a top 7-10 rated conf. Very possible to do IF the A10 teams stay healthy, manipulate the NET metrics to its advantage, and keeps its collective head out of its butt more often when playing teams from lower and higher rated conferences - bury the weak teams and beat or at least hang close with the better teams when not beating them. In other words, play games with a NET purpose.

I dislike the NET but it is task master currently and, per the NET last season, the TM ruled the A10 was not good based on on-court results regardless of what my eye test perceived or my semi-educated expectations were.

I am very frustrated with the A10 after last season’s performance, in case anyone hasn’t seen it from me before - lol. It is difficult for me to hold it back. I simply don’t have the patience with the A10 that I have with Rhody, like many others here.

[ramster]

Okay, so the head coaches need to up their game.

Except for the MWC, AAC, and the WCC with Gonzaga and St. Mary's, we are ahead of the rest.

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are
CF0A480E-C6DA-4E8F-A870-D2C81B694B52.jpeg

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

This ranking is based on NET. The NCAA's own formula. No opinions, no bias. Strictly data on which the NCAA uses the NET for selection and for seeding in MBB and WBB. This was was the 2022-2023 season.

The A10 is trending down, not up. I'm concerned about more conferences passing the A10 as the #13 Ivy League, #14 Sunbelt and #15 Missouri Valley are just behind the declining A10.

In your comments about the AAC not getting more than 1 Bid to the NCAA Tournament then that shows the level the A10 had dropped to - the WAC is ahead of the A10 in NET. Depressing.

[ramster]

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what we, here at KB, think.

What does matter a lot to the NCAA is what the NET says and until the A10 proves otherwise on the court, the A10 NET ranking is #12 (one spot above that basketball powerhouse basketball conference, the Ivy League). That is the reality per the NET as of the end of last season. That is the NET rating the conf as a whole earned on the court against the competition willing to play.

This year starts anew. The teams in the conf need to do a better job this coming season at winning ooc games and at manipulating the metrics that make up the NET so the A10 gravitates back up to a top 7-10 rated conf. Very possible to do IF the A10 teams stay healthy, manipulate the NET metrics to its advantage, and keeps its collective head out of its butt more often when playing teams from lower and higher rated conferences - bury the weak teams and beat or at least hang close with the better teams. In other words, play games with a NET purpose.

I dislike the NET but it is task master currently and, per the NET last season, the TM ruled the A10 was not good based on on-court results regardless of what my eye test perceived or my semi-educated expectations were.

Correct.
If it makes you feel better, the A10 is still a distant 11th ranked in RPI.
WAC #12, Ivy League #13, Sunbelt #14 and Missouri Valley #15

Ranking based on RPI:

[steveystuds06]

Okay, so the head coaches need to up their game.

Except for the MWC, AAC, and the WCC with Gonzaga and St. Mary's, we are ahead of the rest.

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are
CF0A480E-C6DA-4E8F-A870-D2C81B694B52.jpeg

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

I don't think anyone actually thinks the WAC is better, but they had a better NET last year which is kinda embarrassing..

The A10's NET conference rank is usually in the top 10. Now if the A10 is ranked 11-12th for a few years in a row, then that's a bad sign. I do think the A10 is weak this year, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had a similar finish but hopefully not.

A10s NET
2019- 10th
2020- 8th
2021- 9th
2022- 9th
2023- 12th

Just for fun, let's look at the WACs
2019- 16th
2020 - 25th
2021 - 26th
2022 - 15th
2023- 11th

[ramster]

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are
CF0A480E-C6DA-4E8F-A870-D2C81B694B52.jpeg

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

I don't think anyone actually thinks the WAC is better, but they had a better NET last year which is kinda embarrassing..

The A10's NET conference rank is usually in the top 10. Now if the A10 is ranked 11-12th for a few years in a row, then that's a bad sign. I do think the A10 is weak this year, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had a similar finish but hopefully not.

A10s NET
2019- 10th
2020- 8th
2021- 9th
2022- 9th
2023- 12th

Just for fun, let's look at the WACs
2019- 16th
2020 - 25th
2021 - 26th
2022 - 15th
2023- 11th

As for trends look at the deterioration of the A10 in Number of A10 Seeds but most telling is the decline in the Seeding of the highest seeded A10 Team in the grid.

This is a very problematic trend if looking at the 15 NCAA Tournaments, the last 14 NCAA Tournaments of which have been under the current A10 Commissioner McGlade:
Year - Round Seeded of the Top A10 NCAA Team:
2023 - 12th - VCU
2022 - 10th - Davidson
2021 - 9th - St Bonaventure
2019 - 8th - VCU
2018 - 7th - URI
2017 - 7th - Dayton
2016 - 7th - Dayton
2015 - 7th - VCU
2014 - 5th - St Louis and VCU
2013 - 4th - Saint Louis
2012 - 5th - Temple
2011 - 6th - Xavier
2010 - 5th - Temple
2009 - 4th - Xavier - 1st Year for McGlade as Commissioner
2008 - 3rd - Xavier

Last 5 years is really trending poorly dropping from 7th, to 8th, to 10th and then a paltry 12th for the best team the A10 has got.

[ramster]

Ahead of the rest based on what criteria?
Based on NET which the NCAA converted to several years ago:

In addition to 5th Mountain West , 8th West Coast and 9th American Athletic, additional Mid Majors ahead of URI are
CF0A480E-C6DA-4E8F-A870-D2C81B694B52.jpeg

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

I don't think anyone actually thinks the WAC is better, but they had a better NET last year which is kinda embarrassing..

The A10's NET conference rank is usually in the top 10. Now if the A10 is ranked 11-12th for a few years in a row, then that's a bad sign. I do think the A10 is weak this year, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had a similar finish but hopefully not.

2019- 10th
2020- 8th
2021- 9th
A10s NET
2022- 9th
2023- 12th

Just for fun, let's look at the WACs
2019- 16th
2020 - 25th
2021 - 26th
2022 - 15th
2023- 11th

Just for fun, let's look at WAC vs A10 for the past season. What have you done for me lately which could include how a Conference has adjusted to managing NET, scheduling OOC Games and performance in OOC Games, lenient Player Transfer Rules, Free Covid Year, NIL, etc.

NET Rank A10 plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
54-VCU 0-2
77-Dayton 1-2
97-St Louis 1-4
132-Fordham 0-2
137-Duquesne 0-1
139-George Mason 0-2
145-Davidson 0-3
160-Richmond 0-2
200-St Bonaventure 1-0
201-St Joseph's 0-1
203-UMASS 0-2
211 George Washington 0-0
223-LaSalle 0-3
263-URI 0-1
269-Loyola Chicago 0-2



NET Rank WAC plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
58-Utah Valley 2-3
69-Sam Houston 1-4
106-Grand Canyon 1-3
113-Southern Utah 0-4
136-Steven F Austin 0-2
142-Seattle 1-2
158-Utah Tech 0-4
165-Tarleton State 0-4
171-California Baptist 0-2
191-New Mexico State 0-2
204-Abeline Christian 0-4
249-UT Arlington 0-4
259-Texas Rio Grand 0-3

vs Quad 1 Teams
WAC 5 wins 41 losses in 46 QUAD 1 Games with 13 Teams
A10 3 wins 27 losses in 30 QUAD 1 Games with 15 Teams

WAC played a tougher QUAD 1 Game Schedule

URI WOULD BE IN LAST PLACE IN THE WAC BASED ON NET LAST SEASON

[Jersey77]

Okay Ramster, we finished next to last in the A10 with 15 teams, the WAC has 13.
We all are well aware that both URI and the A10 were disappointments last season.

If you look at the portal the last several years, the losses heavily outweighed the gains in the A10 and the Mid-Majors as a whole. I don't really see that trend improving.

C-USA just lost its top 3 basketball teams to the AAC: FAU, North Texas, and UAB.

[Jersey77]

So several of the posters here are blaming the A10 team's poor performance last season on the conference administrators (maybe not directly but inferring) rather than the member schools themselves and their coaching staffs.
Sounds like a cop out to me.

I do however feel that at least some of the current situation unfortunately has to do with new landscape of college basketball.

[Blue Man]

They’re certainly a competitive program as of late. I just worry that adding will eventually force others out, maybe top programs. Too many teams does water down the league.

Exactly this. I guess a better way to state my earlier point is that there are 3 programs worth anything in this conference in the "basketball only/national relevance" sense; VCU, Dayton, and St Louis.

The A10's first and only directive right now should be "how do we ensure they don't leave."

Increased payouts to NCAA appearances would seem to be the most obvious and logical.
Dynamic scheduling so they don't get stuck playing the Q4's of our conference multiple times.

I can't imagine any media outlets that were clamoring for the A10 to add more teams like C of C or Loyola. The last couple agreements I could find had our national TV conference games down to 25 during this ESPN/ESPN+ contract, down from 76 on CBS networks in 2020.

Every move Bernadette makes seems to be the wrong one. The conference is worse in media deals, competetiveness, NCAA seeds, NCAA bids, etc.

Social media engagement? Even website updates.

Can someone find one way the conference is better since McGlade since 2008?

1 Xavier (44)
2 Temple (12)
3 Dayton (3)
4 Saint Joseph's
5 Charlotte (2)
6 Massachusetts
7 Saint Louis
8 Richmond
9 Rhode Island
10 La Salle
11 George Washington
12 Duquesne
13 Fordham
14 St. Bonaventure

Since then we lost the two premier programs in the conference - Xavier and Temple. You replaced them with VCU (the literal only good thing, but still nowhere close to Xavier), and Davidson (3 appearances in 9 years).

We lost Charlotte and gained George Mason. Probably would've been better if you didn't add and took the benefit of losing Charlotte.

Then we added Loyola. Lol.

The TV contracts have got worse, less visible, and less lucrative. The online social engagement is non-existent. The NCAA money is drying up considerably.

There's too much dead weight in this conference that is still dead weight.

We struck a "deal" to give the ACC brooklyn as a site for their tournament - and I think we got a couple of games against bottom of the ACC competitors.

She's leading us to nothingness and just gobbling up all the unimportant programs in college basketball like hoarding them gives you an extra bid. She hasn't adjusted to the new world of NET-focused NCAA bids and it's killing every single program in the conference.

I can't believe she still has a job.

Yeah, let's just blame all our woes on the A10 administration.
After going 10th, 11th, and 14th that should be the least of our concerns.

For our level, McGlade has done fine with media negotiations and the members seem satisfied and extended her.

In today's environment it is difficult for conferences like us to keep up considering P5 expansion, NIL, the portal and new transfer rules.

As for losing programs of course they will trade up if given the opportunity, also coaches.
It is a pipe dream if you think Dayton, VCU, and SLU wouldn't jump at the chance if the BE came calling.

As for the conference's recent lack of success in getting bids put the blame where it belongs on the member programs and their head coaches.
Under McGlade we also had 4 bids in 2012, 5 in 2013, and 6 in 2014.
Also added pretty good programs in VCU and Davidson.
Glossed over the fact that in 2020 Dayton would have been a #1 seed.

Yeah things are tougher now, get used to it
Let's first worry about URI getting out of the basement of the A10 and once again becoming conference contenders.

Look, I don't care one way or another about McGlade, I just want us to be successful.

We can only control the investments, infrastructure, and support around the program.

We have done that part since 2000 when the Ryan Center opened. Historically, it's very rare that we find ourselves as a team outside of the top 200 in RPI or net - even in down years.

Jim Baron's knock was that he couldn't get us over the hump - but make no mistake he constantly had us as a top 100 team. Only at the very end did we fall way short. Only Baron's last year, Hurley's first, and Archie's first have we ever been a drain on the conference NET or RPI wise, finishing outside of the top 200.

We got Dan Hurley, produced a 2x conference champ and 4 NCAA units. Even under the disaster of mediocrity of Dave Cox - we still were a Q2 game to our opponents. Only last year at the beginning of a rebuild after investing to get one of the best coaches in college basketball, did we slump to a Q3/Q4 team.

There are other teams who do not have that distinction. Facilities, coaches, success...whatever your metric - Fordham, Duquesne, George Mason, La Salle, on the whole bring this conference down. Terribly. They are a drag. Their existence on the top of the table team's schedules brings down the NET, costing those NCAA team seeding lines or berths.

The only school with a high school gym that I feel gets a pass is St Bonnies - under Schmidt they've danced 3x in 10 years, but even in down years they're not a drag on the other school's NET.

The A10 is a Dayton/VCU departure away from a real problem and a one-bid league.

McGlade better be proactive in keeping them happy rather than adding whatever lonely lower level program is out there.

Loyola should be a cautionary tale. They played at that level for a reason - when Pat Kelsey leaves, the A10 will be left holding the bag.

[Blue Man]

Check out Colorado. Primetime knows what he is doing..

Wait until he gets caught.

Hi, Buffs fan here (forever, mom went there for med school, URI isn't FBS football, give me this it's been a long time since we were relevant),

Gets caught doing what exactly? What's the implication?

That somehow his 2 sons - starting at QB and safety were illegally persuaded to follow their dad to another school?

That Travis Hunter - who idolized Deion, wanted to play for FSU because that's where Deion went, and then decided to follow him to Jackson state - somehow was illegally obtained?

Deion is legit one of the greatest DB's, if not the greatest DB of all time. If you're a DB - why wouldn't you go play for him?

He had a conversation with 20 kids and told them they should seek other opportunities outside of Colorado because they wouldn't see the field. The other 60 players quit because they didn't want to work like Deion expected.

Did you ever think they guy is just a ridiculous recruiter? Either the best or 2nd best 2 sport athlete of all time. Was a monster on NFL network ("if you ball you get the call") and on Barstool sports. And he knows football. Maybe, just maybe, the guy with 14 years in the NFL, 2 super bowls, NFL HOF, collegiate HOF, retired numbers, all-pro, another dozen years in NFL media, 10 years coaching, a couple of coach of the year and divisional titles, etc, etc...maybe that guy is just a good coach?

I'm not sure what you're implying about "getting caught" considering NIL rules allows you to pay players now. And I also don't know if you've listened to him or followed him and what his expectations are for his players (being on time, going to class, being a stand up man/father, respecting women, etc), but you're pretty damn far off base here.

Anyway, that was talking football, back to URI please.

[Jersey77]

Exactly this. I guess a better way to state my earlier point is that there are 3 programs worth anything in this conference in the "basketball only/national relevance" sense; VCU, Dayton, and St Louis.

The A10's first and only directive right now should be "how do we ensure they don't leave."

Increased payouts to NCAA appearances would seem to be the most obvious and logical.
Dynamic scheduling so they don't get stuck playing the Q4's of our conference multiple times.

I can't imagine any media outlets that were clamoring for the A10 to add more teams like C of C or Loyola. The last couple agreements I could find had our national TV conference games down to 25 during this ESPN/ESPN+ contract, down from 76 on CBS networks in 2020.

Every move Bernadette makes seems to be the wrong one. The conference is worse in media deals, competetiveness, NCAA seeds, NCAA bids, etc.

Social media engagement? Even website updates.

Can someone find one way the conference is better since McGlade since 2008?

1 Xavier (44)
2 Temple (12)
3 Dayton (3)
4 Saint Joseph's
5 Charlotte (2)
6 Massachusetts
7 Saint Louis
8 Richmond
9 Rhode Island
10 La Salle
11 George Washington
12 Duquesne
13 Fordham
14 St. Bonaventure

Since then we lost the two premier programs in the conference - Xavier and Temple. You replaced them with VCU (the literal only good thing, but still nowhere close to Xavier), and Davidson (3 appearances in 9 years).

We lost Charlotte and gained George Mason. Probably would've been better if you didn't add and took the benefit of losing Charlotte.

Then we added Loyola. Lol.

The TV contracts have got worse, less visible, and less lucrative. The online social engagement is non-existent. The NCAA money is drying up considerably.

There's too much dead weight in this conference that is still dead weight.

We struck a "deal" to give the ACC brooklyn as a site for their tournament - and I think we got a couple of games against bottom of the ACC competitors.

She's leading us to nothingness and just gobbling up all the unimportant programs in college basketball like hoarding them gives you an extra bid. She hasn't adjusted to the new world of NET-focused NCAA bids and it's killing every single program in the conference.

I can't believe she still has a job.

Yeah, let's just blame all our woes on the A10 administration.
After going 10th, 11th, and 14th that should be the least of our concerns.

For our level, McGlade has done fine with media negotiations and the members seem satisfied and extended her.

In today's environment it is difficult for conferences like us to keep up considering P5 expansion, NIL, the portal and new transfer rules.

As for losing programs of course they will trade up if given the opportunity, also coaches.
It is a pipe dream if you think Dayton, VCU, and SLU wouldn't jump at the chance if the BE came calling.

As for the conference's recent lack of success in getting bids put the blame where it belongs on the member programs and their head coaches.
Under McGlade we also had 4 bids in 2012, 5 in 2013, and 6 in 2014.
Also added pretty good programs in VCU and Davidson.
Glossed over the fact that in 2020 Dayton would have been a #1 seed.

Yeah things are tougher now, get used to it
Let's first worry about URI getting out of the basement of the A10 and once again becoming conference contenders.

Look, I don't care one way or another about McGlade, I just want us to be successful.

We can only control the investments, infrastructure, and support around the program.

We have done that part since 2000 when the Ryan Center opened. Historically, it's very rare that we find ourselves as a team outside of the top 200 in RPI or net - even in down years.

Jim Baron's knock was that he couldn't get us over the hump - but make no mistake he constantly had us as a top 100 team. Only at the very end did we fall way short. Only Baron's last year, Hurley's first, and Archie's first have we ever been a drain on the conference NET or RPI wise, finishing outside of the top 200.

We got Dan Hurley, produced a 2x conference champ and 4 NCAA units. Even under the disaster of mediocrity of Dave Cox - we still were a Q2 game to our opponents. Only last year at the beginning of a rebuild after investing to get one of the best coaches in college basketball, did we slump to a Q3/Q4 team.

There are other teams who do not have that distinction. Facilities, coaches, success...whatever your metric - Fordham, Duquesne, George Mason, La Salle, on the whole bring this conference down. Terribly. They are a drag. Their existence on the top of the table team's schedules brings down the NET, costing those NCAA team seeding lines or berths.

The only school with a high school gym that I feel gets a pass is St Bonnies - under Schmidt they've danced 3x in 10 years, but even in down years they're not a drag on the other school's NET.

The A10 is a Dayton/VCU departure away from a real problem and a one-bid league.

McGlade better be proactive in keeping them happy rather than adding whatever lonely lower level program is out there.

Loyola should be a cautionary tale. They played at that level for a reason - when Pat Kelsey leaves, the A10 will be left holding the bag.

Blue Man, I understand our history very well.

But as I keep saying if the BE comes calling nothing anyone can do to prevent them from leaving.
Teams and coaches trade up if given the opportunity, that is what happens.
Just look at what is going on all around us.
C-USA just lost their flagship programs to the AAC and they aren't alone.

The conference administrators just can't kick programs out and doubt the member schools would even allow that to happen.

The A10 being a non-football conference also puts us a little behind and limits the quality teams we can add.

Not an easy task for us to navigate through this current sports environment.

[steveystuds06]

C-USA is a mess after being poached by the AAC.
No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10, just compare their history since 2012 (the oldest programs since joining the WAC which has gone through so many changes).
In all that time the WAC has never had more than 1 NCAAT bid.

I don't think anyone actually thinks the WAC is better, but they had a better NET last year which is kinda embarrassing..

The A10's NET conference rank is usually in the top 10. Now if the A10 is ranked 11-12th for a few years in a row, then that's a bad sign. I do think the A10 is weak this year, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had a similar finish but hopefully not.

2019- 10th
2020- 8th
2021- 9th
A10s NET
2022- 9th
2023- 12th

Just for fun, let's look at the WACs
2019- 16th
2020 - 25th
2021 - 26th
2022 - 15th
2023- 11th

Just for fun, let's look at WAC vs A10 for the past season. What have you done for me lately which could include how a Conference has adjusted to managing NET, scheduling OOC Games and performance in OOC Games, lenient Player Transfer Rules, Free Covid Year, NIL, etc.

NET Rank A10 plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
54-VCU 0-2
77-Dayton 1-2
97-St Louis 1-4
132-Fordham 0-2
137-Duquesne 0-1
139-George Mason 0-2
145-Davidson 0-3
160-Richmond 0-2
200-St Bonaventure 1-0
201-St Joseph's 0-1
203-UMASS 0-2
211 George Washington 0-0
223-LaSalle 0-3
263-URI 0-1
269-Loyola Chicago 0-2



NET Rank WAC plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
58-Utah Valley 2-3
69-Sam Houston 1-4
106-Grand Canyon 1-3
113-Southern Utah 0-4
136-Steven F Austin 0-2
142-Seattle 1-2
158-Utah Tech 0-4
165-Tarleton State 0-4
171-California Baptist 0-2
191-New Mexico State 0-2
204-Abeline Christian 0-4
249-UT Arlington 0-4
259-Texas Rio Grand 0-3

vs Quad 1 Teams
WAC 5 wins 41 losses in 46 QUAD 1 Games with 13 Teams
A10 3 wins 27 losses in 30 QUAD 1 Games with 15 Teams

WAC played a tougher QUAD 1 Game Schedule

URI WOULD BE IN LAST PLACE IN THE WAC BASED ON NET LAST SEASON

Ya, URI was horrible last year. One of the worst teams in the history of our program, so that makes sense. Are you saying you think the WAC is better than the A10?

[ramster]

I don't think anyone actually thinks the WAC is better, but they had a better NET last year which is kinda embarrassing..

The A10's NET conference rank is usually in the top 10. Now if the A10 is ranked 11-12th for a few years in a row, then that's a bad sign. I do think the A10 is weak this year, so it wouldn't surprise me if we had a similar finish but hopefully not.

2019- 10th
2020- 8th
2021- 9th
A10s NET
2022- 9th
2023- 12th

Just for fun, let's look at the WACs
2019- 16th
2020 - 25th
2021 - 26th
2022 - 15th
2023- 11th

Just for fun, let's look at WAC vs A10 for the past season. What have you done for me lately which could include how a Conference has adjusted to managing NET, scheduling OOC Games and performance in OOC Games, lenient Player Transfer Rules, Free Covid Year, NIL, etc.

NET Rank A10 plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
54-VCU 0-2
77-Dayton 1-2
97-St Louis 1-4
132-Fordham 0-2
137-Duquesne 0-1
139-George Mason 0-2
145-Davidson 0-3
160-Richmond 0-2
200-St Bonaventure 1-0
201-St Joseph's 0-1
203-UMASS 0-2
211 George Washington 0-0
223-LaSalle 0-3
263-URI 0-1
269-Loyola Chicago 0-2



NET Rank WAC plus Performance vs Q1 Teams/Games
58-Utah Valley 2-3
69-Sam Houston 1-4
106-Grand Canyon 1-3
113-Southern Utah 0-4
136-Steven F Austin 0-2
142-Seattle 1-2
158-Utah Tech 0-4
165-Tarleton State 0-4
171-California Baptist 0-2
191-New Mexico State 0-2
204-Abeline Christian 0-4
249-UT Arlington 0-4
259-Texas Rio Grand 0-3

vs Quad 1 Teams
WAC 5 wins 41 losses in 46 QUAD 1 Games with 13 Teams
A10 3 wins 27 losses in 30 QUAD 1 Games with 15 Teams

WAC played a tougher QUAD 1 Game Schedule

URI WOULD BE IN LAST PLACE IN THE WAC BASED ON NET LAST SEASON

Ya, URI was horrible last year. One of the worst teams in the history of our program, so that makes sense. Are you saying you think the WAC is better than the A10?

I'm responding to Jersey77's comment "No way would I ever take the WAC as a stronger basketball conference than the A10"

2023 NET Ranks A10 #12 and WAC #11

I therefore compared every team's performance in NET and calculated A10 and WAC performance vs QUAD 1

A10 has 7 teams 200+ while WAC has only 3. Noted A10 has 15 teams compared to WAC 13 teams. Much more deadweight in A10 with almost half the A10 200+ NET

[steveystuds06]

Ya, last year, the Wac was definitely better than the A10. The scary thing is that the A10 is probably worse than last year. I think we will pick things back up in the next few seasons because I believe in good coaches like Archie and Frank Martin. If teams like Rhody and Umass get better and VCU,Dayton, and St. Louis keep doing their thing, we should get back into the top 10 consistently.

[Jersey77]

I actually feel the A10 will be ranked #10 come the end of 23-24.
Several polls I have seen show Liberty #1 in C-USA and GCU #1 in the WAC, neither team so far rated higher than our leaders.
Both conferences expected to be down a little, no surprise with C-USA losing their top 3 programs and the WAC losing Sam Houston to C-USA.

As to the previous discussion in comparing us to the WAC, I would never base my overall opinion or perspective on the results of just 1-season with 22-23 being our worst and their NET was better by a very narrow margin. Aside from that, there is really no comparison because it isn't even close.

[ramster]

I actually feel the A10 will be ranked #10 come the end of 23-24.
Several polls I have seen show Liberty #1 in C-USA and GCU #1 in the WAC, neither team so far rated higher than our leaders.
Both conferences expected to be down a little, no surprise with C-USA losing their top 3 programs and the WAC losing Sam Houston to C-USA.

As to the previous discussion in comparing us to the WAC, I would never base my overall opinion or perspective on the results of just 1-season with 22-23 being our worst and their NET was better by a very narrow margin. Aside from that, there is really no comparison because it isn't even close.

You previously made a statement that the A10 was currently a Top 10 Team heading into next season. That is what I disagreed with as soon as I read it. The A10 was #12 last year NET and #11 last year in RPI. The A10 lost a lot of talent to transfers since the end of lat season plus two of the Conference's better HC's to Penn State and PC.
The trend of this Conference has been down with no visible signs yet of the decline bottoming out or leveling and pertaining not moving up.

We have a Commissioner who was not at the A10 Championship Game to award the Trophy to VCU. The most important sport for her Conference and she can't be present. Then Dayton could have gotten a NIT bid but refused to play in the NIT. Our Commissioner could have been on hand to try to console and encourage Dayton Players and Coaches to accept the NIT. But she was nowhere to be found. Leadership is lacking at a crucial time for College Sports.
Time for a change is here and has been for several years.

[Jersey77]

I actually feel the A10 will be ranked #10 come the end of 23-24.
Several polls I have seen show Liberty #1 in C-USA and GCU #1 in the WAC, neither team so far rated higher than our leaders.
Both conferences expected to be down a little, no surprise with C-USA losing their top 3 programs and the WAC losing Sam Houston to C-USA.

As to the previous discussion in comparing us to the WAC, I would never base my overall opinion or perspective on the results of just 1-season with 22-23 being our worst and their NET was better by a very narrow margin. Aside from that, there is really no comparison because it isn't even close.

You previously made a statement that the A10 was currently a Top 10 Team heading into next season. That is what I disagreed with as soon as I read it. The A10 was #12 last year NET and #11 last year in RPI. The A10 lost a lot of talent to transfers since the end of lat season plus two of the Conference's better HC's to Penn State and PC.
The trend of this Conference has been down with no visible signs yet of the decline bottoming out or leveling and pertaining not moving up.

We have a Commissioner who was not at the A10 Championship Game to award the Trophy to VCU. The most important sport for her Conference and she can't be present. Then Dayton could have gotten a NIT bid but refused to play in the NIT. Our Commissioner could have been on hand to try to console and encourage Dayton Players and Coaches to accept the NIT. But she was nowhere to be found. Leadership is lacking at a crucial time for College Sports.
Time for a change is here and has been for several years.

Ramster yes right now looking at the conferences going into 23-24, I think we are top 10, that is my opinion, period.

Did you happen to ask McGlade why she wasn't there? I have no idea.

My concern is with us right now and being relevant again.
Not with the A10 administrators, let the member schools deal with that.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I actually feel the A10 will be ranked #10 come the end of 23-24.
Several polls I have seen show Liberty #1 in C-USA and GCU #1 in the WAC, neither team so far rated higher than our leaders.
Both conferences expected to be down a little, no surprise with C-USA losing their top 3 programs and the WAC losing Sam Houston to C-USA.

As to the previous discussion in comparing us to the WAC, I would never base my overall opinion or perspective on the results of just 1-season with 22-23 being our worst and their NET was better by a very narrow margin. Aside from that, there is really no comparison because it isn't even close.

You previously made a statement that the A10 was currently a Top 10 Team heading into next season. That is what I disagreed with as soon as I read it. The A10 was #12 last year NET and #11 last year in RPI. The A10 lost a lot of talent to transfers since the end of lat season plus two of the Conference's better HC's to Penn State and PC.
The trend of this Conference has been down with no visible signs yet of the decline bottoming out or leveling and pertaining not moving up.

We have a Commissioner who was not at the A10 Championship Game to award the Trophy to VCU. The most important sport for her Conference and she can't be present. Then Dayton could have gotten a NIT bid but refused to play in the NIT. Our Commissioner could have been on hand to try to console and encourage Dayton Players and Coaches to accept the NIT. But she was nowhere to be found. Leadership is lacking at a crucial time for College Sports.
Time for a change is here and has been for several years.

Right, but at the program level, it all starts with winning. Win and things will shake out fine. Arch needs to just worry about this singular battleship and ramming it right through all of the flotsam (and the jetsam too, if there is any) to the top of the conference with awesome coaching and decent talent and everything else will take care of itself. I can't handle the idea that URI isn't favored to be in the upper crust of a conference that Fordham finished second in last year. I would give this team at least as much chance this year to pull a last year Fordham as I would have given Fordham to Fordham last year. That's our measuring stick now..."be Fordham"...aye yi yi...