From his “Hoops on Hoops” blog…
October 30, 2007Hard Times in the A-10
Column contributor Pat Plunkett was Web surfing and picked up this interesting nugget from Brendan Quinn, our buddy down in Philly, who crunched some numbers for the Big East and the Atlantic 10.
During the A-10’s glory days from 1996-98, the league put 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament, while the Big East had 13 teams reach the field of 64. However, in the past three years, from 2005-2007, the Big East has earned 22 NCAA bids. The A-10 has had just five.
What’s even more disturbing, according to Pat, is the fact the Colonial Athletic Association has had the same amount of bids in that period and the Missouri Valley, which has no major media markets to speak of, had earned nine bids in the past three years.
Time for the A-10 ADs to take a long look at what’s happening to the once high-profile Eastern league. The A-10, which is more fluid this season, has one potential Top 25 team in Xavier and several good teams. But if this becomes a two-bid NCAA league, it may be time for some serious reassessment at the main office in Philly, beginning with the CSTV contract, which limits exposure during league season for anyone without DirecTV.
Link: NYDailyNews.com