I was sitting here wondering how many NCAA and NIT bids the respective A10 schools have, and so I figured I’d put them all in a simple post. Because, you know, reasons.
The list is alphabetical and in no way means anything else. No rankings here, friends. Similarly, for those who might ask why I included the NIT, it’s because the A10 has a lot of programs that were around when the NIT really, REALLY meant something, and because it still means a little something these days, too. Similarly, some of these numbers are either really impressive or really terrible when the added context of 1) when the NCAA tournament began (1939), 2) when the NIT tournament began (1938), and 3) when the respective programs began playing are all taken into account.
The NIT really began to lose its luster in the 60s, declining in importance since then. One should also keep in mind that some schools, like Dayton and Saint Joseph’s, have been playing basketball since the early 1900s (1904 and 1910, respectively). Others, like VCU in 1968 and George mason in 1978, haven’t been playing anywhere near as long.
And so the list (through 2014-15):
Davidson has 13 NCAA bids and 6 NIT bids.
Dayton has 16 NCAA bids and 24 NIT bids.
Duquense has 5 NCAA bids and 17 NIT bids.
Fordham has 4 NCAA bids and 16 NIT bids.
George Mason has 6 NCAA bids and 4 NIT bids.
George Washington has 11 NCAA bids and 5 NIT bids.
La Salle has 12 NCAA bids and 12 NIT bids.
UMass has 8 NCAA bids and 13 NIT bids.
Rhode Island has 8 NCAA bids and 15 NIT bids.
Richmond has 9 NCAA bids and 8 NIT bids.
St. Bonaventure has 6 NCAA bids and 15 NIT bids.
Saint Joseph’s has 19 NCAA bids and 16 NIT bids.
SLU has 9 NCAA bids and 18 NIT bids.
VCU has 14 NCAA bids and 5 NIT bids.
Any of these jump out at you? Why? For me, I didn’t realize SJU led the NCAA-bid pack, and that VCU has the third-most bids in a much, much shorter period of time than the schools ahead of them in SJU and Dayton. Dayton’s NIT numbers are gaudy, and, so too are those out of Duquesne (17!!), Fordham, and SLU.
