A10's 16th School

16th A10 School

  • Belmont

    Votes: 5 45.5%
  • Charleston

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Murray State

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Wichita State

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Iona

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Siena

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Temple

    Votes: 3 27.3%

  • Total voters
    11
Iona and Siena are non-starters. They do nothing to advance the brand of the league, and they definitely don’t increase our odds of adding an additional at-large team each year.

The only programs worth considering are Belmont, Vermont, and Charleston… but each has its own drawback(s).

It’s hard to imagine Temple abandoning the future money under AAC football’s TV deal.

Murray State is good, but we’d add Belmont and the Nashville market before them. Same general region.

Wichita is really, really far away. I think they’re a much better institutional fit for the Mountain West.

Long story short: don’t add anyone. 14 should have been our max. GMU, in hindsight, was a pretty redundant addition. Just another mouth to feed in a market we already had covered by GW.
 
The only team I think that would be a very solid add is Belmont. Their on the court success, budget and facilities are all better than LUC.

I get LUC had two good runs, but they were a nothing program for about 30 years.

Belmont has won 20+ games 12 years ago and they spend more on MBB than NINE A10 schools right now. They seem like a more affluent version of Davidson. I'd be shocked if they weren't a valuable contributor to the conference.

I think we all want schools that can create on their own. Belmont has the dough to put together a quality OOC, they win a TON of games every year and they have the facilities to maintain that success.

Siena, Iona and Vermont all have nice programs, but would need the A10 to be successful. They don't spend nearly enough to put together an OOC slate that would benefit the A10.
 
I voted Wichita because they are the best basketball school of the bunch. Bill's point is valid on them and they dont make a ton of geographic sense for the olympic sports but if we could pick one school from that list hypothetically, to me it has to be Wichita. I bet they are really regretting joining the AAC right now.
 
Belmont is a great pick. Wichita State has a major baseball program and is not coming to the A-10. Temple will not leave AAC. I think Charleston is a nice option. I also like the idea of Valparaiso.
 
Belmont is a great pick. Wichita State has a major baseball program and is not coming to the A-10. Temple will not leave AAC. I think Charleston is a nice option. I also like the idea of Valparaiso.
When Valparaiso was consistently kicking ass in the Horizon, they looked like a good fall back option. Now? Mehhhhhh. They have really struggled to gain footing since joining the MVC.

Belmont seems like the clear favorite among A10 fans, but I wonder about moving too far west/south. What if UD and/or SLU is poached by the Big East at some point? The league would almost need to replace them with some reasonable travel partners for Loyola Chicago and the hypothetical Belmont. With the pool of programs remaining, would that be a bridge the A10 wants to cross?

Maybe we’ll get leaner as a conference. La Salle has a year, per a large donor’s stipulation, to make a move (or not) on a new facility. Additionally, their BoT is already examining the feasibility of remaining in the A10. It’s very possible that LUC was a preemptive addition in anticipation of La Salle’s eventual move to the MAAC. It’s no guarantee that the Explorers choose that route, but it’s definitely an option. If that move happens, just stay at 14.
 
I feel like UMass has one foot out the door too.
 
When Valparaiso was consistently kicking ass in the Horizon, they looked like a good fall back option. Now? Mehhhhhh. They have really struggled to gain footing since joining the MVC.

Belmont seems like the clear favorite among A10 fans, but I wonder about moving too far west/south. What if UD and/or SLU is poached by the Big East at some point? The league would almost need to replace them with some reasonable travel partners for Loyola Chicago and the hypothetical Belmont. With the pool of programs remaining, would that be a bridge the A10 wants to cross?

Maybe we’ll get leaner as a conference. La Salle has a year, per a large donor’s stipulation, to make a move (or not) on a new facility. Additionally, their BoT is already examining the feasibility of remaining in the A10. It’s very possible that LUC was a preemptive addition in anticipation of La Salle’s eventual move to the MAAC. It’s no guarantee that the Explorers choose that route, but it’s definitely an option. If that move happens, just stay at 14.
How much money would they even save by moving from the A10 to MAAC? Can't imagine it would be all that much... 500K - 1M? If that amount of $$ is significant for La Salle, that would be very concerning.

I'd hate to lose another Philly school, especially one in one of the best hoops cities in the country. We weren't on great footing 15-20 years ago, so hopefully they are able to turn it around. They did recently hire a new president ( from Loyola Chicago, I believe), so hopefully that'll help them out.

The mockup of their new/renovated arena looked pretty nice, so hopefully they are able to secure enough funding to get things going on that front.

I think when it comes to conferences, the big boys are all going to be looking to go to 16-20 team leagues one day, so we might as well scoop up the best mid-major programs we can. I can't see how Belmont wouldn't be a great add. There's not too many other programs out there that would help the A10. Belmont is one of them.
 
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