What A10 Seed Will Rhody Have Come March 12th

[Blue Man]

Through 4 games URI stands 3-1 and very much in the mix for the A10 standings.

The last few years Rhody has found themselves playing in the pig rounds - 14th last year, 11th in 2022, 10th in 2021 - a far cry from the double bye teams of the end of the Hurley era and that one time under Dave Cox.

Last night's (hopefully) one off showing in Olean not withstanding, the Rams have looked like a different team with David Green eligible and David Fuchs back from injury.

There's 3 options here - will Rhody be playing their first game on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday?

[Blue Man]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

[section(105)]

I went 5-9. I would be satisfied with that, considering where we have been.

[Jersey77]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

[RhowdyRam02]

I'm saying we end up 5-9. Even with a loss Saturday at Dayton we end the toughest part of our conference schedule at 3-2. I don't see how we end up in the PIG from that point outside of bad injury luck

[Blue Man]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

You understand that could just mean an 8-7 vote right? And this still comprises AD's who fired guys like Phil Martelli and have been ineffective at getting their program's out of high school gymnasiums right?

Plus a majority of the teams in this conference are bad. Lower seeds. They're also selfish and have zero hopes of really ever being an at-large team - so OF COURSE they want an easier road to an A-10 title even though it's not good for the overall success of the conference. They've been bilking the conference coffers for years from NCAA credits without contributing anything. THEY DONT CARE.

And whether or not it was "agreed" upon - how does that make it better for the conference? Considering no one else - literally no other tournament behaves that way - is it the right kind of "innovation" we needed? Why are you so obsessed with what this conference, where most people agree is not an elite conference nor is it trending in the right direction, decides? A bad decision is a bad decision. Period.

Because as far as I can surmise - you're taking away the most critical day for a weekend tournament, Friday, and essentially giving the fan base an opportunity to chop the audience and ticket sales by 2/3.

It used to be, for a majority of fans, if you're a top 4 team you can travel friday and plan to just stay for a weekend. Most people don't have the flexibility to get a Thursday and Friday off, nor would they want to spend the extra hotel money if there's no guarantee their team is playing for 2 more days.

So now the weekend travelers can just wait to see if their team is even going to play and make travel plans accordingly, instead of planning to come in for the weekend and worst case if their team loses, they spent the money and they're already there.

Considering that URI, UMass, St Bonaventure, Fordham, St Joes, La Salle, George Mason, and GW are all driving distance - along with all the fans of other teams that live in the tri-state area, the swing in those attendees could be great.

If your team is playing earlier, now maybe you say...eh - let's see if we even make it to the weekend before we travel down, and we don't even need to take a day out of work...the conference loses out.

Nevermind the competitive disadvantage it gives the top teams in the tournament as the lower seeds now get a day of rest before any potential semi-final game, again hurting our conference's chance for bids. Because the teams that this benefits (every seed outside of the top 5) are not teams that have an at-large chance, so all you're doing is risking a bad loss at a critical time for the 1-2 bubble teams we do have.

[RhowdyRam02]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

[PeterRamTime]

Just wanna say

If there's one positive to not competing for an at-large bid, it's that it's way less stressful.

If that just happened in an at-large year it would've sucked waaaay worse.

Kinda nice that all we gotta worry about is trying to finish top 4.

Past night worries me a little, I just need a solid showing against Dayton and a win over Fordham to feel good about top 4.

[reef]

I am in the 5-9 range

[Jersey77]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

Actually not true at all, I was pretty much the opposite and was usually the outspoken one at the corporate meetings.
I even created my own position.

But regarding all this A10 administrative stuff, it is very difficult to form an opinion when we as fans aren't presented with all the facts pro or con.

Like I said this isn't all that consuming for me concerning the tournament set-up.
I just want us to win.

[bigappleram]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

[Jersey77]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

Thanks BAR, not sure where or why 02 came up with all of that.

[Blue Man]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

Thanks BAR, not sure where or why 02 came up with all of that.

Off days post losses are hard on all of us. Everyone handles it differently

This place is far more support group than it is basketball site lol.

[Jersey77]

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

Thanks BAR, not sure where or why 02 came up with all of that.

Off days post losses are hard on all of us. Everyone handles it differently

This place is far more support group than it is basketball site lol.

Pretty good Blue Man, guess so.

Maybe it would be nice to be a fly on the wall during those A10 meetings.
What those discussions were like, and the actual vote, opposed and against.
I don't remember any schools or AD's coming out vehemently against the change.
Maybe some felt that the day-off would also help to limit injuries.

All in all, the team that ends up winning the A10T will probably be the most deserving at the time.

[TruePoint]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

I don’t really have a strong opinion on this stuff, either, but I’d push back a little on the idea of the rest day hurting attendance. I think it’s actually probably the opposite - with a travel day built in, plenty of people that weren’t going to take off work to go watch their team play an early conf tournament game will now have an opportunity to make a late decision if their team advances to shouting distance from the Big Dance. Speaking only anecdotally for myself here, I definitely won’t be traveling to the tournament for an opening round game, but if Rhody makes it to the weekend and I have a full day to travel there for it, I almost certainly will be there for the semifinal.

[Blue Man]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

I don’t really have a strong opinion on this stuff, either, but I’d push back a little on the idea of the rest day hurting attendance. I think it’s actually probably the opposite - with a travel day built in, plenty of people that weren’t going to take off work to go watch their team play an early conf tournament game will now have an opportunity to make a late decision if their team advances to shouting distance from the Big Dance. Speaking only anecdotally for myself here, I definitely won’t be traveling to the tournament for an opening round game, but if Rhody makes it to the weekend and I have a full day to travel there for it, I almost certainly will be there for the semifinal.

Kinda my point. You’d make the trip for the semifinal, everyone would. Everyone does that now, so you’re not getting any additional fans.

The majority of the conference can drive to NYC so a travel day isn’t necessary. You can take a train or drive Saturday morning.

The 4 semifinal teams will get their fans there, that always happens.

What you lose is the 8 teams who have Friday games - all 8 of their fans may say - let’s go down Friday and stay the weekend.

What you also may lose is the people who might plan on the thursday games and make a long weekend. Teams 5-9. The non pigs.

It’s substantially harder to commit to a Tuesday or Wednesday to Sunday trip when you can’t guarantee your team is playing. The extra day adds a ton of expense and an additional PTO day.

As for the pros or cons and why the conference did this - I’m yet to hear a reason why. We’re the only conference that does this.

I can’t think of a pro beyond “extra rest for the lower seeds that didn’t earn anything.” Also, I don’t the Tuesday showcase of the A10’s worst teams will bring in the viewers.

Unless you wanted to do conference sites for the earlier rounds and only do the semi-finals in Brooklyn, that’s something. But this Tuesday to Sunday with an off day is really dumb.

[Jdrums#3]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

You understand that could just mean an 8-7 vote right? And this still comprises AD's who fired guys like Phil Martelli and have been ineffective at getting their program's out of high school gymnasiums right?

Plus a majority of the teams in this conference are bad. Lower seeds. They're also selfish and have zero hopes of really ever being an at-large team - so OF COURSE they want an easier road to an A-10 title even though it's not good for the overall success of the conference. They've been bilking the conference coffers for years from NCAA credits without contributing anything. THEY DONT CARE.

And whether or not it was "agreed" upon - how does that make it better for the conference? Considering no one else - literally no other tournament behaves that way - is it the right kind of "innovation" we needed? Why are you so obsessed with what this conference, where most people agree is not an elite conference nor is it trending in the right direction, decides? A bad decision is a bad decision. Period.

Because as far as I can surmise - you're taking away the most critical day for a weekend tournament, Friday, and essentially giving the fan base an opportunity to chop the audience and ticket sales by 2/3.

It used to be, for a majority of fans, if you're a top 4 team you can travel friday and plan to just stay for a weekend. Most people don't have the flexibility to get a Thursday and Friday off, nor would they want to spend the extra hotel money if there's no guarantee their team is playing for 2 more days.

So now the weekend travelers can just wait to see if their team is even going to play and make travel plans accordingly, instead of planning to come in for the weekend and worst case if their team loses, they spent the money and they're already there.

Considering that URI, UMass, St Bonaventure, Fordham, St Joes, La Salle, George Mason, and GW are all driving distance - along with all the fans of other teams that live in the tri-state area, the swing in those attendees could be great.

If your team is playing earlier, now maybe you say...eh - let's see if we even make it to the weekend before we travel down, and we don't even need to take a day out of work...the conference loses out.

Nevermind the competitive disadvantage it gives the top teams in the tournament as the lower seeds now get a day of rest before any potential semi-final game, again hurting our conference's chance for bids. Because the teams that this benefits (every seed outside of the top 5) are not teams that have an at-large chance, so all you're doing is risking a bad loss at a critical time for the 1-2 bubble teams we do have.

Imho, it’s another bad (having to schedule a day off during the conf tourney) consequence of having too many teams in the conference.

[theblueram]

If they play like last night, they are in PIG. If they play like they did against UMass, 4,5 or 6.

[Rhody15]

If they play like last night, they are in PIG. If they play like they did against UMass, 4,5 or 6.

And that’s why I think we’ll be right in the middle.

We’re not as good as we looked against UMass, and not as bad as we looked last night.

[Jdrums#3]

I went with 5-9.

I thought we could finish inside the top 10, 7-9 ish, during the preseason. I will stick with that despite the up’s and down’s.

[bigappleram]

9-9, 10-8 would be a success IMO no matter where that lands us. Then next year we go in as a double bye contender.

[bigappleram]

I agree with 15. Ironically last two games you saw our ceiling and floor. We hung 90 on Umass and struggled to get to 60 on Bonnies. Our real level is somewhere between that which with good coaching should net us in that 9-9, 10-8 range.

[theblueram]

9-9, 10-8 would be a success IMO no matter where that lands us. Then next year we go in as a double bye contender.

When do we get to At Large contender? Cause to me, that is what I'm looking for.

[section(105)]

9-9, 10-8 would be a success IMO no matter where that lands us. Then next year we go in as a double bye contender.

When do we get to At Large contender? Cause to me, that is what I'm looking for.

I am thinking when we schedule and beat some teams in theOOC schedule. No more New Hampshire, CCSU, Wagners, Bryant types. Of course beat PC, sounds easy right? I guess along with be runner up in A-10 tourney. Piece of cake.

[Rhody15]

9-9, 10-8 would be a success IMO no matter where that lands us. Then next year we go in as a double bye contender.

When do we get to At Large contender? Cause to me, that is what I'm looking for.

I am thinking when we schedule and beat some teams in theOOC schedule. No more New Hampshire, CCSU, Wagners, Bryant types. Of course beat PC, sounds easy right? I guess along with be runner up in A-10 tourney. Piece of cake.

URI will always play UNH, CCSU, Wagner, Bryant types.

We did under Hurley and we will continue to schedule teams like that.

In Dan’s first tourney season, we played Dartmouth, Marist, Brown, ODU, Holy Cross, William and Mary.

In Dan’s second tourney season, we played UNC Asheville, Holy Cross, Brown, Iona, FGCU.


All those teams are the Wagner/Bryant/CCSU types.

It’s inevitable we have multiple games like that every season.

It’s especially hard to get H&H with P5 teams going forward with how everything to set up now (RIP Pac 12).

The key is getting top tier MTEs, neutral site games with P5s, and H&H with top mid majors.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I'm bullish.

I think last night was a one-off, even with Dayton as a loss - the schedule gets easier for URI. Fans will be back, and the home schedule looks very gettable for us -

Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, and SLU are games we should win at this point in time.

Loyola and George Mason are games we could win, and borderline should win at home.

Richmond is the only tall task that remains on the home schedule.

On the road it gets a little trickier, GW and VCU look like the toughest tasks, but I don't think we're far off from the 12-6 prediction I'm sticking with. 6-1 at home, 4-3 on the road is doable.

I think we finish top 4 and get a double bye, but I've been wrong before.

And we can also discuss how incredibly dumb the battleaxe and this conference are for having an off-day on Friday during the tournament which will all but assure lower attendance at the games and gives an unfair rest day advantage to lower seeded teams. Once again, the A-10 is the only conference that does anything remotely like this. Innovation where it doesn't need to be. Love it. What a great conference.

Be Different. Think Dumber.
Hard to even think about the last game, it's still too fresh.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Jersey77 was probably a fantastic middle manager for their bosses before they retired. All of their arguments just boil down to appeal to authority. No matter how dumb a decision is from someone in authority, Jersey77 thinks it's the right decision. No questioning, no thinking, no vision, just accept what the boss says and just keep drilling in that it must be right, otherwise their boss wouldn't have made that decision. If you're in authority, you're infallible and your word might as well have been the third tablet Moses brought down from the mountain

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

Thanks BAR, not sure where or why 02 came up with all of that.

Question...if something literally makes you laugh out loud, whether you agree or not, aren't you obligated to like it?

[Jersey77]

You are incredible at drawing sweeping personal character conclusions about people based on something they say on a mid major college basketball message board.
Fantastic stuff. You must be a PhD if I were to guess.

Thanks BAR, not sure where or why 02 came up with all of that.

Question...if something literally makes you laugh out loud, whether you agree or not, aren't you obligated to like it?

You got a point there, but it caught me off guard, didn't quite expect it.
All is good though.

[SmartyBarrett]

Yeah I'm in the "single bye but not a double bye" camp with most other folks. If you assume Dayton and Richmond get two of the four double-byes, the other two are wide open. But I just don't think Rhody's quite there. Yet.

[Jersey77]

Yeah I'm in the "single bye but not a double bye" camp with most other folks. If you assume Dayton and Richmond get two of the four double-byes, the other two are wide open. But I just don't think Rhody's quite there. Yet.

I am also thinking single bye, guessing right now top 4: Dayton, Bonnies, Richmond, and GW.
All speculation at this point, but that is what this thread is all about.

[ramster]

"A-10 tweaks format of men’s basketball tournament
Four semifinalists will have an off day after quarterfinals"

"The tweaks to the format were approved by the A-10′s 15 athletic director’s at the league’s fall meetings, which concluded Monday."

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=90d07bf4 ... RNLw&ntb=1

Friday will be a practice/press conference day.

To me, I am okay either way.
I don't think it is that big of a deal, and the best teams will probably rise to the top regardless.
There must be some reason why the AD's wanted to approve it.

I also feel that a 5-9 finish would be a positive step forward and show much improvement, which is what I was initially hoping for this season.

I don’t really have a strong opinion on this stuff, either, but I’d push back a little on the idea of the rest day hurting attendance. I think it’s actually probably the opposite - with a travel day built in, plenty of people that weren’t going to take off work to go watch their team play an early conf tournament game will now have an opportunity to make a late decision if their team advances to shouting distance from the Big Dance. Speaking only anecdotally for myself here, I definitely won’t be traveling to the tournament for an opening round game, but if Rhody makes it to the weekend and I have a full day to travel there for it, I almost certainly will be there for the semifinal.

Kinda my point. You’d make the trip for the semifinal, everyone would. Everyone does that now, so you’re not getting any additional fans.

The majority of the conference can drive to NYC so a travel day isn’t necessary. You can take a train or drive Saturday morning.

The 4 semifinal teams will get their fans there, that always happens.

What you lose is the 8 teams who have Friday games - all 8 of their fans may say - let’s go down Friday and stay the weekend.

What you also may lose is the people who might plan on the thursday games and make a long weekend. Teams 5-9. The non pigs.

It’s substantially harder to commit to a Tuesday or Wednesday to Sunday trip when you can’t guarantee your team is playing. The extra day adds a ton of expense and an additional PTO day.

As for the pros or cons and why the conference did this - I’m yet to hear a reason why. We’re the only conference that does this.

I can’t think of a pro beyond “extra rest for the lower seeds that didn’t earn anything.” Also, I don’t the Tuesday showcase of the A10’s worst teams will bring in the viewers.

Unless you wanted to do conference sites for the earlier rounds and only do the semi-finals in Brooklyn, that’s something. But this Tuesday to Sunday with an off day is really dumb.

You do realize that this already happened last year? Last years tournament played Tues, Wed and Thu.
Friday was media day. Only 4 teams remained after Thursday night. Most all another fans of the other 11 teams went home except for the A10 diehards. My guess is there were 4-6 people with URI attire on Saturday and/or Sunday.

There was NOT a very big turnout of URI fans on Tuesday when we got beat by LaSalle and sent home.
Would URI fans have turned out in bigger numbers if played 1st game We’d instead of Tuesday? I doubt it.

If fans gave the time and money, or they can visit friends/family in NY area then whether they start Tuesday or Wednesday probably doesn’t matter much. Some could do other things on the Friday off day like sight see or go to MSG to take in some BE games.

I did not hear any complaints about the format at the Tournament last year.

The games on Tues, Wed and Thurs were very lightly attended except for the Fordham game Thursday. Plus Fordham fans showed big for Saturday’s Sdmi-Final game.

[Jersey77]

If I was to make a guess right now, I also think they finish 7-7 and end up 10-8.
I will be fine with that, and it would show a significant improvement, anything better is gravy.
Let's keep this core group together and then watch out for 24-25.

[Blue Man]

I don’t really have a strong opinion on this stuff, either, but I’d push back a little on the idea of the rest day hurting attendance. I think it’s actually probably the opposite - with a travel day built in, plenty of people that weren’t going to take off work to go watch their team play an early conf tournament game will now have an opportunity to make a late decision if their team advances to shouting distance from the Big Dance. Speaking only anecdotally for myself here, I definitely won’t be traveling to the tournament for an opening round game, but if Rhody makes it to the weekend and I have a full day to travel there for it, I almost certainly will be there for the semifinal.

Kinda my point. You’d make the trip for the semifinal, everyone would. Everyone does that now, so you’re not getting any additional fans.

The majority of the conference can drive to NYC so a travel day isn’t necessary. You can take a train or drive Saturday morning.

The 4 semifinal teams will get their fans there, that always happens.

What you lose is the 8 teams who have Friday games - all 8 of their fans may say - let’s go down Friday and stay the weekend.

What you also may lose is the people who might plan on the thursday games and make a long weekend. Teams 5-9. The non pigs.

It’s substantially harder to commit to a Tuesday or Wednesday to Sunday trip when you can’t guarantee your team is playing. The extra day adds a ton of expense and an additional PTO day.

As for the pros or cons and why the conference did this - I’m yet to hear a reason why. We’re the only conference that does this.

I can’t think of a pro beyond “extra rest for the lower seeds that didn’t earn anything.” Also, I don’t the Tuesday showcase of the A10’s worst teams will bring in the viewers.

Unless you wanted to do conference sites for the earlier rounds and only do the semi-finals in Brooklyn, that’s something. But this Tuesday to Sunday with an off day is really dumb.

You do realize that this already happened last year? Last years tournament played Tues, Wed and Thu.
Friday was media day. Only 4 teams remained after Thursday night. Most all another fans of the other 11 teams went home except for the A10 diehards. My guess is there were 4-6 people with URI attire on Saturday and/or Sunday.

There was NOT a very big turnout of URI fans on Tuesday when we got beat by LaSalle and sent home.
Would URI fans have turned out in bigger numbers if played 1st game We’d instead of Tuesday? I doubt it.

If fans gave the time and money, or they can visit friends/family in NY area then whether they start Tuesday or Wednesday probably doesn’t matter much. Some could do other things on the Friday off day like sight see or go to MSG to take in some BE games.

I did not hear any complaints about the format at the Tournament last year.

The games on Tues, Wed and Thurs were very lightly attended except for the Fordham game Thursday. Plus Fordham fans showed big for Saturday’s Sdmi-Final game.

1000%. I complained incessantly about it last year as well. It mattered less because we were pig games, but I still thought it was dumb.

And I don't think it mattered for URI specifically last year - because those first round games are and have always been irrelevant. Even in Atlantic City those games were played in an empty boardwalk hall.

I think it affects the Thursday and Friday games though.

If I think about it from a personal or Rhody perspective, there's zero shot I can ever do a Weds game now. College of course, but it just means if we're a pig, just not going and waiting to see if we make a later game. Thursdays are usually good, and top 4/Friday game is a definite that I'm going.

Now - I'll wait it out until Friday to see if I'm going at all.

I don't think my experience is unique. I think there are a ton of fans who have jobs and kids and can't commit to almost a full week of basketball where you're unsure if your team is even playing.

I just think it's dumb, and if it was such a great idea, we wouldn't be the only conference that runs a tournament like this. Considering our track record as a conference overall, I don't think this is a visionary move, just something short-sighted and pointless that makes things worse.

[ramster]

Kinda my point. You’d make the trip for the semifinal, everyone would. Everyone does that now, so you’re not getting any additional fans.

The majority of the conference can drive to NYC so a travel day isn’t necessary. You can take a train or drive Saturday morning.

The 4 semifinal teams will get their fans there, that always happens.

What you lose is the 8 teams who have Friday games - all 8 of their fans may say - let’s go down Friday and stay the weekend.

What you also may lose is the people who might plan on the thursday games and make a long weekend. Teams 5-9. The non pigs.

It’s substantially harder to commit to a Tuesday or Wednesday to Sunday trip when you can’t guarantee your team is playing. The extra day adds a ton of expense and an additional PTO day.

As for the pros or cons and why the conference did this - I’m yet to hear a reason why. We’re the only conference that does this.

I can’t think of a pro beyond “extra rest for the lower seeds that didn’t earn anything.” Also, I don’t the Tuesday showcase of the A10’s worst teams will bring in the viewers.

Unless you wanted to do conference sites for the earlier rounds and only do the semi-finals in Brooklyn, that’s something. But this Tuesday to Sunday with an off day is really dumb.

You do realize that this already happened last year? Last years tournament played Tues, Wed and Thu.
Friday was media day. Only 4 teams remained after Thursday night. Most all another fans of the other 11 teams went home except for the A10 diehards. My guess is there were 4-6 people with URI attire on Saturday and/or Sunday.

There was NOT a very big turnout of URI fans on Tuesday when we got beat by LaSalle and sent home.
Would URI fans have turned out in bigger numbers if played 1st game We’d instead of Tuesday? I doubt it.

If fans gave the time and money, or they can visit friends/family in NY area then whether they start Tuesday or Wednesday probably doesn’t matter much. Some could do other things on the Friday off day like sight see or go to MSG to take in some BE games.

I did not hear any complaints about the format at the Tournament last year.

The games on Tues, Wed and Thurs were very lightly attended except for the Fordham game Thursday. Plus Fordham fans showed big for Saturday’s Sdmi-Final game.

1000%. I complained incessantly about it last year as well. It mattered less because we were pig games, but I still thought it was dumb.

And I don't think it mattered for URI specifically last year - because those first round games are and have always been irrelevant. Even in Atlantic City those games were played in an empty boardwalk hall.

I think it affects the Thursday and Friday games though.

If I think about it from a personal or Rhody perspective, there's zero shot I can ever do a Weds game now. College of course, but it just means if we're a pig, just not going and waiting to see if we make a later game. Thursdays are usually good, and top 4/Friday game is a definite that I'm going.

Now - I'll wait it out until Friday to see if I'm going at all.

I don't think my experience is unique. I think there are a ton of fans who have jobs and kids and can't commit to almost a full week of basketball where you're unsure if your team is even playing.

I just think it's dumb, and if it was such a great idea, we wouldn't be the only conference that runs a tournament like this. Considering our track record as a conference overall, I don't think this is a visionary move, just something short-sighted and pointless that makes things worse.

Just going from the sound of the comments from others I was getting the impression some thought this was the first year of this.

One of the good things that McGlade has maintained is the A10 Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. That’s a good plus for the A10.
What the driving force was to get Friday as a media day and off day for the players I don’t know.
We do know Dayton refused the NIT saying their players were banged up.

Don’t know the extent media impacts the schedule resulting in the Friday off day.

[Blue Man]

You do realize that this already happened last year? Last years tournament played Tues, Wed and Thu.
Friday was media day. Only 4 teams remained after Thursday night. Most all another fans of the other 11 teams went home except for the A10 diehards. My guess is there were 4-6 people with URI attire on Saturday and/or Sunday.

There was NOT a very big turnout of URI fans on Tuesday when we got beat by LaSalle and sent home.
Would URI fans have turned out in bigger numbers if played 1st game We’d instead of Tuesday? I doubt it.

If fans gave the time and money, or they can visit friends/family in NY area then whether they start Tuesday or Wednesday probably doesn’t matter much. Some could do other things on the Friday off day like sight see or go to MSG to take in some BE games.

I did not hear any complaints about the format at the Tournament last year.

The games on Tues, Wed and Thurs were very lightly attended except for the Fordham game Thursday. Plus Fordham fans showed big for Saturday’s Sdmi-Final game.

1000%. I complained incessantly about it last year as well. It mattered less because we were pig games, but I still thought it was dumb.

And I don't think it mattered for URI specifically last year - because those first round games are and have always been irrelevant. Even in Atlantic City those games were played in an empty boardwalk hall.

I think it affects the Thursday and Friday games though.

If I think about it from a personal or Rhody perspective, there's zero shot I can ever do a Weds game now. College of course, but it just means if we're a pig, just not going and waiting to see if we make a later game. Thursdays are usually good, and top 4/Friday game is a definite that I'm going.

Now - I'll wait it out until Friday to see if I'm going at all.

I don't think my experience is unique. I think there are a ton of fans who have jobs and kids and can't commit to almost a full week of basketball where you're unsure if your team is even playing.

I just think it's dumb, and if it was such a great idea, we wouldn't be the only conference that runs a tournament like this. Considering our track record as a conference overall, I don't think this is a visionary move, just something short-sighted and pointless that makes things worse.

Just going from the sound of the comments from others I was getting the impression some thought this was the first year of this.

One of the good things that McGlade has maintained is the A10 Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. That’s a good plus for the A10.
What the driving force was to get Friday as a media day and off day for the players I don’t know.
We do know Dayton refused the NIT saying their players were banged up.

Don’t know the extent media impacts the schedule resulting in the Friday off day.

Agreed with the last tourney game, I think it's great.

I'm struggling to rationalize anything about this Friday off day though.

If your team is that banged up - 1 rest day before 1 or 2 more games isn't going to make an impact. And not to go all "this generation is soft" but Archie took a team with 6 scholarship players and won 3 games in the A10T, the play in game, the first round game, and lost a close one in the "second" round on the following Sunday. 5 games in 7 days, 6 games in 9.

But they also bailed on the NIT with the rest day built in there last year. So it had no affect.

The "rest" day can also impact the rhythm your team could be playing with if they're rolling.

IDK, I don't think any of us can give an actual positive to why they do it this way. The "rest" day just seems like a stupid cop-out because teams play 3-4 days in a row in these tournaments every year. It's part of the magic. You can catch fire and ride a hot streak so anyone can win. This off day changes that dynamic.

Does anyone have anything positive that the Battleaxe has done? Because the list of bad is getting longer by the day.

[bigappleram]

I think Ramster just listed the 1 notable home run she has hit. Having our title game on CBS few hours before selection Sunday. That is a major coup.

In terms of the off day I’m in the same camp as Blue that it doesn’t make much sense. I don’t think it has anything to do with rest for players. It’s either an issue with the building on that day or an attempt to drive higher attendance to your semi finals and finals by giving those fan bases basically a travel day to come to town. But I don’t really see how that would make a significant difference.

[ramster]

1000%. I complained incessantly about it last year as well. It mattered less because we were pig games, but I still thought it was dumb.

And I don't think it mattered for URI specifically last year - because those first round games are and have always been irrelevant. Even in Atlantic City those games were played in an empty boardwalk hall.

I think it affects the Thursday and Friday games though.

If I think about it from a personal or Rhody perspective, there's zero shot I can ever do a Weds game now. College of course, but it just means if we're a pig, just not going and waiting to see if we make a later game. Thursdays are usually good, and top 4/Friday game is a definite that I'm going.

Now - I'll wait it out until Friday to see if I'm going at all.

I don't think my experience is unique. I think there are a ton of fans who have jobs and kids and can't commit to almost a full week of basketball where you're unsure if your team is even playing.

I just think it's dumb, and if it was such a great idea, we wouldn't be the only conference that runs a tournament like this. Considering our track record as a conference overall, I don't think this is a visionary move, just something short-sighted and pointless that makes things worse.

Just going from the sound of the comments from others I was getting the impression some thought this was the first year of this.

One of the good things that McGlade has maintained is the A10 Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. That’s a good plus for the A10.
What the driving force was to get Friday as a media day and off day for the players I don’t know.
We do know Dayton refused the NIT saying their players were banged up.

Don’t know the extent media impacts the schedule resulting in the Friday off day.

Agreed with the last tourney game, I think it's great.

I'm struggling to rationalize anything about this Friday off day though.

If your team is that banged up - 1 rest day before 1 or 2 more games isn't going to make an impact. And not to go all "this generation is soft" but Archie took a team with 6 scholarship players and won 3 games in the A10T, the play in game, the first round game, and lost a close one in the "second" round on the following Sunday. 5 games in 7 days, 6 games in 9.

But they also bailed on the NIT with the rest day built in there last year. So it had no affect.

The "rest" day can also impact the rhythm your team could be playing with if they're rolling.

IDK, I don't think any of us can give an actual positive to why they do it this way. The "rest" day just seems like a stupid cop-out because teams play 3-4 days in a row in these tournaments every year. It's part of the magic. You can catch fire and ride a hot streak so anyone can win. This off day changes that dynamic.

Does anyone have anything positive that the Battleaxe has done? Because the list of bad is getting longer by the day.

For the heck of it, I looked up A10 WBB Bracket. This will be year 2 of Friday off day for MBB Tournament but A10 WBB still is 5 Days with no day off.

A10 Upper Management must still be studying the concept………as usual a McGlade head scratcher decision.

[Jersey77]

1000%. I complained incessantly about it last year as well. It mattered less because we were pig games, but I still thought it was dumb.

And I don't think it mattered for URI specifically last year - because those first round games are and have always been irrelevant. Even in Atlantic City those games were played in an empty boardwalk hall.

I think it affects the Thursday and Friday games though.

If I think about it from a personal or Rhody perspective, there's zero shot I can ever do a Weds game now. College of course, but it just means if we're a pig, just not going and waiting to see if we make a later game. Thursdays are usually good, and top 4/Friday game is a definite that I'm going.

Now - I'll wait it out until Friday to see if I'm going at all.

I don't think my experience is unique. I think there are a ton of fans who have jobs and kids and can't commit to almost a full week of basketball where you're unsure if your team is even playing.

I just think it's dumb, and if it was such a great idea, we wouldn't be the only conference that runs a tournament like this. Considering our track record as a conference overall, I don't think this is a visionary move, just something short-sighted and pointless that makes things worse.

Just going from the sound of the comments from others I was getting the impression some thought this was the first year of this.

One of the good things that McGlade has maintained is the A10 Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. That’s a good plus for the A10.
What the driving force was to get Friday as a media day and off day for the players I don’t know.
We do know Dayton refused the NIT saying their players were banged up.

Don’t know the extent media impacts the schedule resulting in the Friday off day.

Agreed with the last tourney game, I think it's great.

I'm struggling to rationalize anything about this Friday off day though.

If your team is that banged up - 1 rest day before 1 or 2 more games isn't going to make an impact. And not to go all "this generation is soft" but Archie took a team with 6 scholarship players and won 3 games in the A10T, the play in game, the first round game, and lost a close one in the "second" round on the following Sunday. 5 games in 7 days, 6 games in 9.

But they also bailed on the NIT with the rest day built in there last year. So it had no affect.

The "rest" day can also impact the rhythm your team could be playing with if they're rolling.

IDK, I don't think any of us can give an actual positive to why they do it this way. The "rest" day just seems like a stupid cop-out because teams play 3-4 days in a row in these tournaments every year. It's part of the magic. You can catch fire and ride a hot streak so anyone can win. This off day changes that dynamic.

Does anyone have anything positive that the Battlaxe has done? Because the list of bad is getting longer by the day.

How about VCU and Davidson since you asked about anything positive?

I really didn't want to continue to go back and forth on this but since you posed the question.
And I really don't care either way what the membership ever decides what to do with her,

Jury still out on Loyola but unlike you, I am good with them.

The members seemed to be pretty happy with how the media negotiations went because it got overwhelming passed very quickly.
Dr. Spina (Dayton) Chair of the Presidents Council called it "a strong and exiting outcome for the A10".

As far as the A10T format, it doesn't really matter to me one way or another and I don't think it is that big of a deal.
Besides, I would usually stay over at the kids.

[Blue Man]

Just going from the sound of the comments from others I was getting the impression some thought this was the first year of this.

One of the good things that McGlade has maintained is the A10 Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. That’s a good plus for the A10.
What the driving force was to get Friday as a media day and off day for the players I don’t know.
We do know Dayton refused the NIT saying their players were banged up.

Don’t know the extent media impacts the schedule resulting in the Friday off day.

Agreed with the last tourney game, I think it's great.

I'm struggling to rationalize anything about this Friday off day though.

If your team is that banged up - 1 rest day before 1 or 2 more games isn't going to make an impact. And not to go all "this generation is soft" but Archie took a team with 6 scholarship players and won 3 games in the A10T, the play in game, the first round game, and lost a close one in the "second" round on the following Sunday. 5 games in 7 days, 6 games in 9.

But they also bailed on the NIT with the rest day built in there last year. So it had no affect.

The "rest" day can also impact the rhythm your team could be playing with if they're rolling.

IDK, I don't think any of us can give an actual positive to why they do it this way. The "rest" day just seems like a stupid cop-out because teams play 3-4 days in a row in these tournaments every year. It's part of the magic. You can catch fire and ride a hot streak so anyone can win. This off day changes that dynamic.

Does anyone have anything positive that the Battlaxe has done? Because the list of bad is getting longer by the day.

How about VCU and Davidson since you asked about anything positive?

I really didn't want to continue to go back and forth on this but since you posed the question.
And I really don't care either way what the membership ever decides what to do with her,

Jury still out on Loyola but unlike you, I am good with them.

The members seemed to be pretty happy with how the media negotiations went because it got overwhelming passed very quickly.
Dr. Spina (Dayton) Chair of the Presidents Council called it "a strong and exiting outcome for the A10".

As far as the A10T format, it doesn't really matter to me one way or another and I don't think it is that big of a deal.
Besides, I would usually stay over at the kids.

VCU is a positive in a vacuum.

Juxtaposed against losing Xavier it's a negative.

I'd argue Davidson is a negative. They've danced 3 times since joining the A10 with one win. Their gym is a multi-purpose. Outside of Steph Curry their program is irrelevant.

Davidson fits the A10 mold for new member targets though - has-been teams that had one good NCAA run but have done really nothing else. The definition of buying high and selling low. Fits with George Mason and Loyola (to this point).

So she's added and kept VCU, Davidson, George Mason, and Loyola.

She's lost Xavier, Butler, Temple, and Charlotte.

So 1 good and 3 bad additions, 3 bad and 1 good loss. Not a track record I'd throw a parade for.

[Rhody15]

Way, way too soon to say Loyola is a bad addition.

It hasn't even been two years. No way you can judge that addition yet.

Besides, they currently sit alone in 3rd place.

[Blue Man]

Way, way too soon to say Loyola is a bad addition.

It hasn't even been two years. No way you can judge that addition yet.

Besides, they currently sit alone in 3rd place.

I judged it as a bad addition from the moment we got them. It's a bad add.

For them to be a "good" addition, they would have to break away from what they historically have been - 4 tournament appearances in 50 years of having an expanded field, the best of which (and subsequent appearance) happened under their high rising coach who left them.

When you combine those facts with the reality that this conference has struggled with bids because you have too many bad teams in the conference, you added a team that historically would fall somewhere in the bottom third of the conference.

Like yeah, Loyola is a better basketball member/program than Fordham, Duquesne, George Mason, or La Salle - by every metric. And, had the move been "we got rid of Fordham, Duquesne, George Mason, and La Salle, while adding Loyola" I would probably say "great job."

But we just added another mouth to feed amongst the too many we have, and one that hasn't proven over the long haul that they can actually go out and be a good team for the conference.

[Jersey77]

Agreed with the last tourney game, I think it's great.

I'm struggling to rationalize anything about this Friday off day though.

If your team is that banged up - 1 rest day before 1 or 2 more games isn't going to make an impact. And not to go all "this generation is soft" but Archie took a team with 6 scholarship players and won 3 games in the A10T, the play in game, the first round game, and lost a close one in the "second" round on the following Sunday. 5 games in 7 days, 6 games in 9.

But they also bailed on the NIT with the rest day built in there last year. So it had no affect.

The "rest" day can also impact the rhythm your team could be playing with if they're rolling.

IDK, I don't think any of us can give an actual positive to why they do it this way. The "rest" day just seems like a stupid cop-out because teams play 3-4 days in a row in these tournaments every year. It's part of the magic. You can catch fire and ride a hot streak so anyone can win. This off day changes that dynamic.

Does anyone have anything positive that the Battlaxe has done? Because the list of bad is getting longer by the day.

How about VCU and Davidson since you asked about anything positive?

I really didn't want to continue to go back and forth on this but since you posed the question.
And I really don't care either way what the membership ever decides what to do with her,

Jury still out on Loyola but unlike you, I am good with them.

The members seemed to be pretty happy with how the media negotiations went because it got overwhelming passed very quickly.
Dr. Spina (Dayton) Chair of the Presidents Council called it "a strong and exiting outcome for the A10".

As far as the A10T format, it doesn't really matter to me one way or another and I don't think it is that big of a deal.
Besides, I would usually stay over at the kids.

VCU is a positive in a vacuum.

Juxtaposed against losing Xavier it's a negative.

I'd argue Davidson is a negative. They've danced 3 times since joining the A10 with one win. Their gym is a multi-purpose. Outside of Steph Curry their program is irrelevant.

Davidson fits the A10 mold for new member targets though - has-been teams that had one good NCAA run but have done really nothing else. The definition of buying high and selling low. Fits with George Mason and Loyola (to this point).

So she's added and kept VCU, Davidson, George Mason, and Loyola.

She's lost Xavier, Butler, Temple, and Charlotte.

So 1 good and 3 bad additions, 3 bad and 1 good loss. Not a track record I'd throw a parade for.

Davidson is 100-59 (conference) since joining the A10 and 6 post-season tournaments (3 NCAAT, 3 NIT).
For the A10 and a mid-major I would say that was a good addition.

Schools trading up that is a fact of life and that isn't about to change, same with coaches, and now players.
Almost every conference is getting poached, the B12 is losing their 2 flag ship programs Texas and Oklahoma.
And the trickle-down affect goes on and on.

Are you blaming Thorr for losing Hurley?
Probably not and shouldn't.

If you got rid of every commissioner because their better programs decided to trade-up when given the opportunity, then no-one would be left.

You have to accept that shit sometimes happens and move-on and try to make the best possible adjustments at that time.

[Jdrums#3]

Plus the Davidson addition added to the southern geography movement of the conferences geographic footprint or emphasizing the geographic outlier status of Rhody and UMass.

So, in hindsight with UMass potentially leaving, I don’t believe the addition of Davidson benefited us or the conference overall because we have too many teams consolidated south.

However, I think VCU was an excellent move based on their branding and track record in the conference. Home run addition despite the geography.

I would rather have had the conference remain smaller than continually add teams to get to its current size.

[adam914]

I could not care less about McGlade personally one way or the other, but it seems like its easy to sit back and say we should be adding better programs, but who exactly would that be? Especially if they can't be from the south or midwest? Like I said, this isn't meant as a defense of McGlade, but I don't see how any other Commissioner of the A10 would have been able to single handedly stop conference realignment from happening either.

[rambone 78]

I voted 5-9 also.

Like some here I would be ok with a 10-8 conference record and 16-15 total record.

Top 4 contention next season is my expectation for next season. We have to keep our better players and add a couple impact transfers along with the 2 incoming freshmen.

At large contention might be asking too much..
However Archie has to get us there before too long.

[Jersey77]

Plus the Davidson addition added to the southern geography movement of the conferences geographic footprint or emphasizing the geographic outlier status of Rhody and UMass.

So, in hindsight with UMass potentially leaving, I don’t believe the addition of Davidson benefited us or the conference overall because we have too many teams consolidated south.

However, I think VCU was an excellent move based on their branding and track record in the conference. Home run addition despite the geography.

I would rather have had the conference remain smaller than continually add teams to get to its current size.

No question that Davidson has been a good addition, and the right decision was made at that time.

[rambone 78]

As for McGlade and the A10, not going to matter one way or the other.

Only upgrade could be forming a new conference.

If a split happens...who knows?

[Blue Man]

I could not care less about McGlade personally one way or the other, but it seems like its easy to sit back and say we should be adding better programs, but who exactly would that be? Especially if they can't be from the south or midwest? Like I said, this isn't meant as a defense of McGlade, but I don't see how any other Commissioner of the A10 would have been able to single handedly stop conference realignment from happening either.

We shouldn’t be adding any. We should be shedding the dead weight, not watering the conference down.

We should be incentivizing the NCAA capable teams by allowing them to keep more of the credits instead of splitting the pot 50/50 when there’s teams at the bottom of this conference who don’t care enough to compete for bids and kill everyone’s chances.

We should have a better social media presence, etc, etc.

Sometimes you don’t have to do something just to do it (like the rest day), sometimes doing nothing is the right move.

[adam914]

Has a conference ever dropped teams before? I can't think of any but maybe its happened and I'm not remembering. How would that even work?

I guess you could put in some kind of minimum requirements to be a member of the conference and give current members a certain timeframe (5 years or something) to meet them or find a new home. Still seems like something much easier said then done.

You could try to break off and form a new conference, but that could also be very risky in the current college athletics landscape. Teams like Dayton, VCU, St. Louis and even UMass could see that and decide they might as well just move to another more established conference rather than bother with a new conference trying to form.

Bottom line in my opinion is that this is all way easier to just speculate about on a message board then it is to actually execute in real life. College athletics is a very unique environment and a lot more goes on behind the scenes then most people are ever privy to.

[theblueram]

You don't drop teams. You take the best of the conference and breakoff and form a new conference.