In his blog at the Daily Hampshire Gazette, UMass beat writer Matt Vautour reports that the âAtlantic 10 is exploring a challenge series with the Mountain West. The Missouri Valley was also a possibility with each team.â
Air Force
BYU
Colorado State
UNLV
New Mexico
San Diego
TCU
Utah
Wyoming
The 10-school Missouri Valley is:
Bradley
Creighton
Drake
Evansville
Illinois State
Indiana State
Missouri State
Northern Iowa
Southern Illinois
Wichita State
With 14 schools in the A-10, there would be 4-5 teams not getting invited to the âpartyâ if either of those scenarios becomes reality. The Niners already have an 07-08 OOC game lined up with SIU of the Valley and Wichita State is in the Paradise Jam field.
The A-10 stole that idea from me ! jk I wrote an observation on that earlier this season. Nice to know they read. I wonder if they read any of the observations about the refs
The A10 will want its âbestâ 9 or 10 teams, and the other conferences will want underperformers or down year teams with name recognition. Guess which side we need to root for if we wanna be in it?
The A10 will want its "best" 9 or 10 teams, and the other conferences will want underperformers or down year teams with name recognition. Guess which side we need to root for if we wanna be in it?
why would it not be the top 9 against the top 9, like big10/acc ( I am not on any level of play comparing confernces)
Its then about bragging rights, and the ACC works them. I think that then helps with tourney selection. If I am the MVC, i donât want my worst 9 up against the a10âs best nine, when the a10 hopefully wins, it hurts RPI across the board for MVC, helps a10 rpi, thus more a10 teams get in (possibly).
I can kinda see where you are going, but i wouldnât understand why a conference agree to playing another conferences worst teams. We can do that now.
[QUOTE=ninerID;226238]I can kinda see where you are going, but i wouldnât understand why a conference agree to playing another conferences worst teams. We can do that now.[/QUOTE]
I donât think its about what we (A10) can do. Itâs about these other two conferences. But I agree with you that it should be the top 9 or 10 of each.
I prefer the MWC matchup cause itâs an east meets west thing, and I personally donât want our warts showing if we lose H2H with the MVC. Would hurt recruiting, whereas thereâs less overlap with the MWC.
I don't think its about what we (A10) can do. It's about these other two conferences. But I agree with you that it should be the top 9 or 10 of each.
I prefer the MWC matchup cause itâs an east meets west thing, and I personally donât want our warts showing if we lose H2H with the MVC. Would hurt recruiting, whereas thereâs less overlap with the MWC.
I prefer MWC as well, but the bad thing would be television.
If it were to start next year (i know we wouldnât), we would play old CUSA foe, TCU, grea games with them in the last few years.
Iâd love an MVC matchup. The MWC is great too - but too far away for my tastes. The goal of the A-10 should be to challenge the MVC as the heir to the old C-USA, so why not throw out the gauntlet?
Looking into my crystal ball, I could see the A-10âs top teams struggling:
Xavier, Dayton, St. Joeâs, GW, Charlotte versus
Southern Illinois, Creighton, Wichita St, Missouri St, Bradley
But the A-10 should take the lower teams:
Saint Louis, Temple, Rhode Island, UMass, Fordham versus
Northern Iowa, Drake, Evansville, Illinois St, Indiana St.
And if the A-10 upsets the top teams in the MVC, it can only benefit. The exposure would be terrific and it would be a great move all around.
I'd love an MVC matchup. The MWC is great too - but too far away for my tastes. The goal of the A-10 should be to challenge the MVC as the heir to the old C-USA, so why not throw out the gauntlet?
Looking into my crystal ball, I could see the A-10âs top teams struggling:
Xavier, Dayton, St. Joeâs, GW, Charlotte versus
Southern Illinois, Creighton, Wichita St, Missouri St, Bradley
But the A-10 should take the lower teams:
Saint Louis, Temple, Rhode Island, UMass, Fordham versus
Northern Iowa, Drake, Evansville, Illinois St, Indiana St.
And if the A-10 upsets the top teams in the MVC, it can only benefit. The exposure would be terrific and it would be a great move all around.
Thatâs why it wonât happen.
What puts us in the âtop teamsâ and Rhode Island & UMass in the âlower teamsâ? Just wondering how you came up with the matchups.
[QUOTE=survivor45;226276]Looking into my crystal ball, I could see the A-10âs top teams struggling:
Xavier, Dayton, St. Joeâs, GW, Charlotte versus
Southern Illinois, Creighton, Wichita St, Missouri St, Bradley
But the A-10 should take the lower teams:
Saint Louis, Temple, Rhode Island, UMass, Fordham versus
Northern Iowa, Drake, Evansville, Illinois St, Indiana St.[/QUOTE]
Survivor, Iâm looking into my âcrystal ballâ and the top teams in the A-10 next season will probably include Dayton, Fordham, GW, UMass, URI, St. Joeâs, and Xavier. Iâm hesitant to put Duquesne and Temple in there right now, though I believe both will finish .500 or better next season. La Salle and Richmond will be better, but probably not enough to crack to top half of the conference. Saint Louis is a mystery with the departure of Vouyoukas and the current lack of a bench for the Billikens. Wow, that leaves us and Bona! HmmmâŚ
What puts us in the "top teams" and Rhode Island & UMass in the "lower teams"? Just wondering how you came up with the matchups.
I closed my eyes and pulled them out of a hat.
UMass will take a hit next year with their departing players and it may take some time for them to bounce back. You have a good point with Rhode Island. Iâm assuming Charlotte will get better someday and end up in the âTop 5â in the A10 - but I donât have anything to support that view.
Duquesne was another big omission, considering what the have to build on. Like I said, I just pulled out names to put out there.
The point I was trying to make is that the A-10 is pretty deep with talent and itâs not top-heavy like many conferences out there. Therefore, we might have some trouble facing the Big Dogs at the top of a conference in the MVC, but we should matchup favorably with teams in the middle-of-the-pack. An MVC-A10 competition could be really cool - especially if we upset, say, a Southern Illinois and win the majority of the other games. Since most people think that the MVC is better right now, a competition like that could pay dividends if the A10 is seen as the victor.
Survivor, I'm looking into my "crystal ball" and the top teams in the A-10 next season will probably include Dayton, Fordham, GW, UMass, URI, St. Joe's, and Xavier. I'm hesitant to put Duquesne and Temple in there right now, though I believe both will finish .500 or better next season. La Salle and Richmond will be better, but probably not enough to crack to top half of the conference. Saint Louis is a mystery with the departure of Vouyoukas and the current lack of a bench for the Billikens. Wow, that leaves us and Bona! Hmmm...
Next year, Iâm thinking Fordham or Saint Joeâs will be fighting it out with Xavier at the top. Maybe Dayton if the kid they picked up is as good as advertized. Duquesne, Temple, and URI have really high ceilings, too. GW and UMass will drop down a bit.
I wasnât trying to make a statement about only next year. I was looking ahead 2-3 years, too for the hypothetical competition.
The point I was trying to make is that the A-10 is pretty deep with talent and it's not top-heavy like many conferences out there. Therefore, we might have some trouble facing the Big Dogs at the top of a conference in the MVC, but we should matchup favorably with teams in the middle-of-the-pack. An MVC-A10 competition could be really cool - especially if we upset, say, a Southern Illinois and win the majority of the other games. Since most people think that the MVC is better right now, a competition like that could pay dividends if the A10 is seen as the victor.
I think a matchup with the MVC would be a good matchup for the A10 also. I think it would provide some really good games. Definitely ESPN quality competition between the two leagues.
[QUOTE=ApexNiner;226420]doesnt the MWC have a contract with CSTV? so I assume thats why it would be with them since A10 has an arragement with CSTV as well.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Jim Utter;226229]The A-10 stole that idea from me ! jk I wrote an observation on that earlier this season. Nice to know they read. I wonder if they read any of the observations about the refs :-)[/QUOTE]
