New A10 - URI Basketball's Conference Future

Rhody72 · Unread post by **Rhody72** » 11 years ago

Posters tend to forget that joining the A10 is for all sports for which the A10 provides competition and not just men's basketball at a competitive level.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote:IMHO: A10 should get out of the Charlotte and Ohio markets

I would like a more compact league for travel. I won't be upset if St. Louis moves to either the Catholic Big East or MVC. They are just too much an outlier for the present A-10. I would be ok with Dayton staying in the league as they really aren't all that far from Duquense in Pittsburgh. They still make some sense. I would rather not add South Carolina (C of Charlestown) or NC teams (Davidson, UNC-W, etc..) as they are too far for my tastes. The only way I would add a school outside the main A-10 footprint is f they are an absolute homerun candidate (like a Xavier). I however don't see any schools like that in the mix being mentioned.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

Duquense would be a perfect fit for the Horizon and Fordham would be a perfect fit for the Caa. The A10 should only add no more than 3 more teams. Davidson, Siena, and a team between New Haven and GW.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

I am hoping we keep St Louis but I think its a longshot

rhodylaw · Unread post by **rhodylaw** » 11 years ago

Wakefield - too bad they won't ever go to those leagues. What a mistake letting both those teams in. Fordham is a better fit in the patriot.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

I'd keep Duquesne, and let St Bonaventure and Fordham go.

Bonnies belong in the MAAC with Canisius. Fordham in the Patriot for all sports. Perfect fit for both of them.

Replace them with Siena and a team to be named later.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 11 years ago

RF1 wrote:
Iggy1979 wrote:IMHO: A10 should get out of the Charlotte and Ohio markets
I would like a more compact league for travel. I won't be upset if St. Louis moves to either the Catholic Big East or MVC. They are just too much an outlier for the present A-10. I would be ok with Dayton staying in the league as they really aren't all that far from Duquense in Pittsburgh. They still make some sense. I would rather not add South Carolina (C of Charlestown) or NC teams (Davidson, UNC-W, etc..) as they are too far for my tastes. The only way I would add a school outside the main A-10 footprint is f they are an absolute homerun candidate (like a Xavier). I however don't see any schools like that in the mix being mentioned.

Agree 100 percent

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

No farther south than Virginia, and no farther west than Ohio.

That should be the A10's footprint. I too, think St Louis is gonzo soon. I also think Dayton is staying, whether they like it or not.

St Louis and Richmond will be the 2 A10 schools to go, when the BE expands again imo. If we don't add Siena, the BE might take them, and leave Richmond in the A10.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

STC wrote:Give me George Mason, Davidson, Belmont, Siena, and if they are interested how about Murray St.

Siena College is 159 miles from the A-10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 3hr 19 minute drive time.

George Mason is 298 miles from the A-10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 5hr 37 minute drive time.

Davidson is 617 miles from the A-10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 11hr 50 minute drive time.

College of Charleston is 821 miles from the A-10 tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 13hr 41 minute drive time.

Belmont is 890 miles from the A-10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 14hr 20 minute drive time.

Murray State is 974 miles from the A-10 tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Estimated 15hr 39 minute drive time.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Siena and GMU make sense. None of the others do.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

RF1....how far away are Butler, X, Dayton and St. Louis?

Not knocking the logic......I just wonder if you have those stats, too...

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

Ramulous wrote:RF1....how far away are Butler, X, Dayton and St. Louis?

Not knocking the logic......I just wonder if you have those stats, too...

I see no reason to look them up since two of them are already gone and the other two may soon be gone. Furthermore, I stated that I would only consider schools outside the general A-10 footprint if they were homerun candidates. Schools such as Butler, X, Dayton, and St Louis were on a high level with large hoops budgets, great/large facilities, high attendance, and big fan followings. Most of the current A-10 candidates don't compare.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 11 years ago

Why don't we just bring in Mich. State and Duke and be done with it?

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 11 years ago

Conferences named Atlantic This is or Eastern That are outmoded in title. Everyone is scrambling now. Saint Louis will go next year, Dayton if it is invited.

sbrand · Unread post by **sbrand** » 11 years ago

What about shooting for Wichita State?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Zero chance. The A10 isn't expanding into Kansas.

Why would a MVC member like them want to go to the A10? Unless the TV money was a lot better, and it's not.

With St Louis a likely departure for the big $ of the BE, there won't be an A10 member within 1000 miles of them.

sbrand · Unread post by **sbrand** » 11 years ago

Just to play Devils Advocate, how did the A10 get Xavier, St. Louis, Richmond, Dayton, Butler, and VCU with virtually the same television contract? And now that Creighton is leaving the conference has been watered down considerably. Also having the tournament at Barclays has to be an upgrade over Mountain West Conference.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 11 years ago

Um, Creighton doesn't play in the A-10.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

We're talking about the MVC, not the MWC.

The TV contracts in place when those teams joined the A10 were tiny compared the current ones. That also included the MVC.

The only thing that's relevant is what's happening now, not then anyway.

URI_05 · Unread post by **URI_05** » 11 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Um, Creighton doesn't play in the A-10.

Pretty sure he was talking about Creighton leaving the MVC. I'm all for adding Wichita State, and maybe a few more Westernish teams if it'll increase TV money in the long run.

If you want an East Coast Regional conference join the NEC.

sbrand · Unread post by **sbrand** » 11 years ago

Sorry I meant MVC. And I meant Creighton leaving the MVC.
Maybe it is a longshot but if they could pull it off the conference would regain some of the stature it had. The conference is underachieving with Sienna as a plan A. They should be a Plan B. The selling points are the conference tournament location, having VCU, URI's commitment to spending more money on the program, and perhaps the ability for Wichita State to recruit in the Northeast. Take a look at the MVC standings and it was a two team conference that has become a one team conference. If you have a conference with three final four teams the money should start increasing.

More and more games will be viewed on tablets in the coming years. The A10 has to get aggressive and find untraditional revenue steams.

There is no guarantee Creighton is going to maintain its stature.

Also if the A10 keeps shedding trophy
Teams then they are going to suffer the same fate as Wagner last season.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

The new contract for the A10 gives them digital rights to games which are not picked up by their national network partners. They are working on a digital network and will have inventory for it. I wonder if the revenue per each game will go to those two teams or will it be divided up for everyone. Anyway, this a change from the current contract with regards to digital rights.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

Our league needs to be better than the MVC year in and yr out

sbrand · Unread post by **sbrand** » 11 years ago

How about naming rights to the conference
itself. Or providing the marque teams money to stay and money to join. Requiring existing teams to pony up $100,000 to pay a top team to join and stay. A requirement that school's not investing in their program could not remain.

We are in guerrilla warfare right now and can't sit back and watch other conferences poaching are remaining teams.

No one thought the big east would be where
they are today when they originated. St. John's was playing its games at Alumni Hall. Georgetown at McDonough. All we need is to bring in one powerhouse like WS to turn this whole thing around.

Others would follow. Then we can be selective with the remaining slots and consider
Sienna, Geogia State, Cleveland State, Detroit, FGCU, Davidson. But the Belmonts, Maines, Iona's, BU's should not even be considered.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

FGCU? That's a bridge too far.

Anyway, they're a one trick pony. They just had their 15 minutes of fame [one week actually]. I know they are upgrading their program, but no way.

As for their coach, getting a $2 mil a year offer, for 2 wins in the tourney ain't bad. He should take it, but he really doesn't need the money.

The way things are going, this doesn't bode well for Dan staying here too long, unless he's as loyal as Smart, Stevens, etc.

If URI makes the Dance next season, and wins a couple games, and with Dan's name recognition, he's going to get a huge offer from somebody. No doubt about it. If not next season, then the next.

URI will have to pony up to try and keep him here, and soon.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

tweets
Mark Singelais ‏@MarkSingelais 1h
D'Argenio said the A-10 rumors did come up with coaching candidates: "Since there's really nothing there, it was hard to talk about it."

Mark Singelais ‏@MarkSingelais 1h
Siena athletic director John D'Argenio said today his school still hasn't been contacted by the Atlantic 10 Conference.

How long before Siena and the A10 have a news conference? 2 weeks?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

If they haven't talked by now, they won't.

The A10 is going to stay at 13 for next season, expecting St Louis to go BE at some point.

When they find out when St Louis is leaving, then they may or may not add a couple more teams. If more than St Louis leaves, the A10 will definitely expand again, imo. Then Siena might be considered, if they don't go BE themselves.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

Changing conferences takes a while due to a lot of legal work, I think they are talking but can not say so for legal reasons.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:If they haven't talked by now, they won't.

The A10 is going to stay at 13 for next season, expecting St Louis to go BE at some point.

When they find out when St Louis is leaving, then they may or may not add a couple more teams. If more than St Louis leaves, the A10 will definitely expand again, imo. Then Siena might be considered, if they don't go BE themselves.

Just checked ajerseyguy website and it seems that the Big East will not be expanding for a couple of years, if they choose to.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 11 years ago

Whew! It's been a rocky month after the close of the season. First, we were up in the air over the details of the BE raid on the A-10. Now we are concerned with the Dan Hurley tenure at URI and its impact on the composition of next year's team.

The first concern seems to be stabilizing and it now appears that the A-10 will be a 13 team conference for the upcoming season. We will miss the rivalry with Temple, not so much the one with Xavier, and Butler never showed in Kingston. So all in all, the A-10 games at Ryan next year will not be that much different than this year. And contrast that with our friends up at PC, who in their euphoria over the new BE ignore the reality that they now trade PC-Syracuse, PC-Notre Dame, PC-Louisville for matches with Creighton, Xavier, and Butler. That'll fill the Dunk!

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 11 years ago

Jon Rothstein‏@JonRothstein1h
Any potential expansion in the Atlantic 10 will likely include Siena or Davidson, per a source. Either school would be a strong addition

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 11 years ago

BTW last night, new A-10 member, George Mason, lost in the CBI finals to Santa Clara, 80-77. The game was held at GMU and drew 2,440 fans. I guess lots of fans everywhere are not excited about these third tier tourneys.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

Better to be blown out in the first round of the NCAA's than to win the NIT, CBI, CIT, etc........

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 11 years ago

Ramulous, I agree with your sentiment, although I thought when URI made the NIT Finals that was pretty exciting. Maybe it was the attractiveness of UNC and the proximity of the URI campus to NYC, but that game drew a good crowd of some 12,000. The Iowa-Baylor NIT final this year drew some 5,000+ in contrast.

I had a great seat at that game and sat just behind Steve Lavin who had just been named the St. John's coach. I remember the steady stream of people coming up to congratulate him on his appointment. Yea, Lamonte was fouled!

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 11 years ago

It is like every football bowl game, but one.......the only people interested in it are the fans of the schools playing....and once they are bounced the interest is gone....

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

It seems the MVC will not waste their time trying to raid the A10. They have visited the following schools:
UMKC
Valparaiso
Loyola (Chicago) - rumor visit went well
UIC - Rumor they will be added

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/03/31/41 ... rence.html
Frank the Tank https://frankthetank.wordpress.com/2013 ... expansion/
PantherU twitter

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 11 years ago

They can have all of those schools.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 11 years ago

I guess both conferences are content to stay regional. Thought they might go after StL and/or dayton, though. Maybe they expect them to go Not So Big East soon.

wakefield · Unread post by **wakefield** » 11 years ago

It is about location and not quality. Dayton would not join a lesser conference which has one of the worst foot prints of all conferences.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 11 years ago

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... g-davidson

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 11 years ago

adam914 wrote:http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... g-davidson

Nice! Love the additions of George Mason and now Davidson.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Looks like Davidson after all, for 2014-15.

Siena possible too.

No surprises there.

Either McGlade thinks StLouis and either Dayton or Richmond is gone in the next year or two, or she is trying to build the conference back to 16 teams.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

I would rather have Siena over Davidson. The A-10 is becoming too southern dominated for my tastes. If the A-10 does add Davidson, its three newest members would be all from VA and NC. Furthermore, the A-10 also moved its hq from Philadelphia to the Hampton Roads area of Va. These moves are not necessarily a good thing for URI, one of the league's northern most schools.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 11 years ago

I guess I am happy with this

Big step up for Davidson in conf affiliation

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 11 years ago

Davidson College Wildcats
School: Private (loose affiliation with the Presbyterian Church)
Campus: Davidson, NC
Distance to Barclays Arena-Brooklyn 620 miles
Enrollment: 1,756 Undergraduates
Market: Davidson, NC pop-10,944 - 20 miles north of Charlotte (Charlotte MSA: 1,758,038 - 33rd nationally)
Home: 5,223 seat Belk Arena (on campus)
2012-13 Attendance: averaged 3,941 for 13 games (for 26-8 team)
NCAA Appearances: 12 - 1966, 1968 1969, 1970, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2013
NCAA Record: 8-13
Notable NCAA Wins: Rhode Island-1966, St. John’s-1968 & 1969, Villanova-1969, Gonzaga-2008, Georgetown-2008, Wisconsin-2008
NIT Appearances: 5 – 1972, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2009
NIT Record: 3-5
Notable NIT Wins: VCU-2005
Notable Coaches: Bob McKillop, Lefty Driesell, Terry Holland

NJRhodyFan · Unread post by **NJRhodyFan** » 11 years ago

I give the A-10 credit for being proactive here. Yes, we're losing two of our flagship programs in Temple and Xavier (not counting Butler because they just got here), but we're replacing them with competitive programs in George Mason and Davidson. Situation could be much worse.

One name I haven't really heard mentioned, but think would a good addition is Murray State. They're a bit further west, but so what...with the perpetual realignment, it appears that a lot of conferences are looking outside their immediate geographical area. Witchita State is another team I would love to have.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Murray State would be a good addition.

Wichita State is too far west, even several hundred miles west of St. Louis.

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 11 years ago

I would like Murray State as well. It's about the same distance at St Louis.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 11 years ago

Murray St. would be a good fit, if the A10 could keep St Louis and Dayton.

Without them, no.

RIFan · Unread post by **RIFan** » 11 years ago

Agreed. Maybe that's why we are not hearing about them; she might think those 2 are all but gone. I hope not.