(Photo courtesy of the Atlantic 10 Conference)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – “I feel like we are in a good place.”
That is how Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade began her response to a broad question about the A-10’s status in the new age of college sports.
McGlade is in her 17th season as A-10 commissioner, and may have her toughest task ahead of her.
This is a pivotal time for the A-10. In an era of football-focused conference realignment, multi-million dollar name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, fewer transfer regulations and scheduling difficulties, traditional mid-major conferences like the A-10 are at significant risk of losing their ability to stay competitive in men’s and women’s basketball. The splintering of conferences like the Mountain West and the AAC show that the A-10 is vulnerable. However, McGlade is confident that her conference is still in a position to succeed.
When asked to define what success would look to her, McGlade was very clear.
“Three or more teams in the NCAA Tournament and winning some of those games,” McGlade said. “Not just getting in, but winning. Both men and women.”
Is that type of result possible on a consistent year-to-year basis? While high-major conferences like the SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and ACC have additional revenue sources, like what FBS football brings in, McGlade believes that schools in the A-10 are going to be able to take advantage of being “basketball centric” with their ability to provide a basketball-first experience to their student-athletes.
“We have this opportunity being basketball centric, that if we can build up our collectives and try to help put some more financial resources into our student athletes and our basketball programs, then we have a chance to continue to compete,” McGlade said. “Recruits come in, they want to see a great arena, they want to see great locker rooms and know that their schools are committed to the sport.”
Like McGlade mentioned, without football, collectives will be even more crucial in ensuring that the A-10’s basketball programs have enough funding to stay competitive with the rest of the NCAA. However, McGlade did admit that there is not much that the league offices can actually do to specifically help grow the collectives.
Building up the A-10’s non-conference schedule
Something that the league does have some control over, however, is the schedule. That includes helping schools build out their non-conference schedules, optimizing the league’s national TV opportunities and selecting the conference matchups that would maximize the league’s NET ranking.
“What we can do, and we try to do, wholeheartedly, is help them with trying to schedule some of the best Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents out there,” McGlade said. “Do we want to start our own MTE? Do we want to try to put some of our games in Capital One Arena? That would be attractive for non conference teams to come and play.”
McGlade also provided some details on her attempts to create a scheduling alliance with another conference that would guarantee higher-quality non-conference matchups.
“I feel like we’ve had two times where we were right there with a conference for scheduling alliances, then they sort of fell apart,” McGlade said. “So we’re back at the drawing table with that.
Earlier during McGlade’s press conference at A-10 Media Say, Rocco Miller of Bracketeer.org asked a question about potential scheduling alliances and McGlade revealed that one of the conferences that the A-10 was close to finalizing an agreement with was the AAC.
Current examples of scheduling alliances in D-I college basketball include the SEC and ACC, Sun Belt and the MAC and the ASUN and the SoCon. Not including the AAC, conferences that could make sense for a potential partnership with the A-10 would be new-look Mountain West or the Pac-12, the WCC or the Missouri Valley.
Multiple-Team Events (MTEs), neutral site games in NBA arenas or other special locations and scheduling alliances are all imperfect solutions to the struggles that schools are having scheduling quality non-conference opponents. McGlade is very aware of the issues that A-10 programs are having, especially ones that are projected to be at the top of the standings this season.
“They won’t come to Dayton. They’re not going to come to Saint Louis. They’re not going to come to VCU,” McGlade said. “So now we’re in a situation where we’ve got to agree to play them, either away or on the neutral court. We’ll do it, but it’s challenging.”
This season, Saint Louis is facing Wichita State in a neutral site game in Kansas City, MO as a part of the Hall of Fame Classic and is traveling to play Grand Canyon on the road. VCU has neutral site games against Boston College in Annapolis, MD and Colorado State in Las Vegas and play New Mexico on the road. Dayton has had some success in scheduling home-and-homes with high-major schools in order to guarantee better non-conference matchups. Last season, they played at Northwestern and will be hosting the Wildcats in November. They are also hosting Marquette this season in the first leg of another home-and-home and will be playing them on the road next year.
Potential A-10 expansion
With UMass set to leave the A-10 for the MAC ahead of the 2024-25 season, there are continued conversations about potential league expansion. However, following the addition of Loyola Chicago ahead of the 2022-23 season, the A-10 will still have 14 members after UMass’ departure. That gives the A-10 the ability to be very selective about any schools they would potentially choose to bring in.
McGlade laid out what the A-10 would be looking for in a potential expansion candidate.
“You can’t go down the road in the A-10 anymore of getting an institution that has FBS football because being independent is too hard. And then they’re distracted,” McGlade said. I think UMass would have loved to continue to stay in the A-10, but it just wasn’t possible with the sport of football and not having a football schedule.”
“I would want a basketball-centric school that has a great athletic and academic profile,” McGlade continued. “We love our footprint. We go as far down as Charlotte, up to New York, and then Chicago and St Louis. So that’s a nice triangle. We’re in 32% of the media markets in America. I think we would look for those types of institutions, but it would also have to be an institution that’s really committed and in this new wave of potentially providing additional financial support to student-athletes, there are schools that will do that, and there are some schools that are saying we’re not going to do it. It would have to be schools that are in the game.”
Based on the criteria that McGlade laid out, there are not very many schools that would realistically be in consideration for potential expansion. The school that immediately comes to mind that has no football, is close to the New York-Charlotte-Chicago “triangle” and meets the A-10’s academic and athletic standards is the College of Charleston. Charleston has long been rumored to be in the mix for A-10 expansion. Especially after the announcement of their new NIL collective, “The Charleston Edge,” they are an even more appealing option.
Outside of Charleston, there are a number of other programs that would be a strong fit. Vermont has dominated the America East, winning eight-straight regular season titles and appearing in five NCAA tournaments since 2017. The Catamounts would also help re-establish a presence in northern New England following UMass’ departure. Wichita State, a non-football member of the AAC, could look to leave for a basketball-centric conference. Belmont could give the A-10 a presence in Nashville. Led by alumni and NBA veteran Speedy Claxton, Hofstra could provide Fordham with a natural rival.
McGlade’s insistence on potential expansion candidates not having FBS football eliminates one former A-10 school that some fans have been clamoring for a reunion with–Temple. Unless they drop football, it appears that Temple will be remaining in the AAC, or at least will not be joining the A-10.
Other news and notes
McGlade confirmed that the league works in conjunction with ESPN to plan out the Friday showcases.
The reason that George Washington and George Mason are not playing on MLK Day this season is because they did not want to conflict with the presidential inauguration, which is also on MLK Day this year.
The A-10 has already begun working on various initiatives to celebrate the conference’s 50th anniversary next season. The preliminary plans include games against former A-10 members, with matchups against Rutgers and Virginia Tech close to being confirmed on the women’s side, a 50th anniversary team, games at the Palestra and other “unique” locations and the return of “Hoopster Rooster.”
Posted In: General Discussion