A10 opening

[walter_williams]

Assumptions:
Within two years UNCC and UMass will leave the A10.
Within five years JMU, ODU and GSU will leave the CAA for a FBS conference.
Mason will never field a scholarship football program.
Stony Brook will join a ten team CAA.

Given these assumptions and IF the A10 invites us, VCU and Butler then it would be tough to turn down the A10. But we would need assurances from Xavier and Dayton that they are not going anywhere (except BE if invited). However, I would be against only us moving to the A10.

[gmujim92]

Hell, if I were the A-10 I would invite VCU over us.

No offense, but that's why you're not a conference commissioner.

While Mason technically overlaps markets with an existing A-10 school, at least it's an enormous market and one of the top-5 TV markets in the country.

The A-10 already has a presence in Richmond, which is not a growing city by any stretch of the imagination. What possible financial incentive would the A-10 have for adding a second team in the same broke-ass city?

[Hugh]

You and Butler in the A10 would be awesome.

VCU stays IMO. Why leave a conference when its office and league tournament are literally in your backyard?

[Lord Botetourt]

The A-10 already has a presence in Richmond, which is not a growing city by any stretch of the imagination. What possible financial incentive would the A-10 have for adding a second team in the same broke-ass city?

No offense either, but you don't know jack about Richmond's growth. We grew by double digit percentage points from 2000 to 2010 Census. We are expected to add another 300-400,000 residents by 2030 which would take the population up to 1.6 million or more.

Are we huge? No. But your comment is completely incorrect about Richmond not being a growing city.

[Mason Maniak]

We grew by double digit percentage points from 2000 to 2010 Census. We are expected to add another 300-400,000 residents by 2030 which would take the population up to 1.6 million or more.

The A-10 is not interested in ghetto growth.

Are we huge? No.

Yes - most residents of Richmond are huge. I was just there.

[DeepValue]

Let's wait until chaz williams graduates before we go to the a10. That kid was torching miss st. Last night. So glad he left hofstra.

[GMUGemini]

Let's wait until chaz williams graduates before we go to the a10. That kid was torching miss st. Last night. So glad he left hofstra.

Well, if Charlotte makes the jump and we wind up taking their place, I believe the earliest that would happen would be 2015.

[BradRamFan]

If Butler goes A10 then I don't think Xavier/Dayton/etc will leave the A10. The A10 is already a consistently 7-9 ranked bball conference. Personally, I think it would be a mistake if GMU and/or VCU...or even ODU were asked to join and they said no (assuming there was strong indication xavier/dayton would stay).

But it can be iffy moving to a stronger league...VCU moved to the metro and hung in the lower middle. But I don't think the A10 is really a super jump in competition except for 2-3 school that are highly competitive. Plus, GMU, VCU, ODU (vomit) have all been at/near the top of the CAA for awhile now.

How great would it be to move from a single bid league with a couple of year with mostly 2 total bids to a league that has consistent multiple bids each and every year. If Umass and UNCC leave, I say jump on it if they ask. Schools can always field a football team later IMO.

And hey, the ACC had football....but for years and years and years only basketball mattered in the ACC. Heck it is still top dog!

But for UNCC to move up their football to the sunbelt is a real smack in the face to their basketball program. You are moving from a 7th ranked bball conference into the upper teens!

[gmujim92]

No offense either, but you don't know jack about Richmond's growth. We grew by double digit percentage points from 2000 to 2010 Census. We are expected to add another 300-400,000 residents by 2030 which would take the population up to 1.6 million or more.

Are we huge? No. But your comment is completely incorrect about Richmond not being a growing city.

Hey dingleberry, I know plenty about Richmond, seeing as how I live there.

And my reference to the city not "growing" had nothing to do with population -- I was talking economically, and please don't even try to pretend that Richmond is booming economically because it isn't.

It's a minor league town and a mediocre TV market ... remind me again why the A-10 would want a second team there?

[gmujim92]

Not much of an update, but from what I'm hearing, there is some serious "smoke" regarding Mason's move to the A-10 along with Butler and VCU.

There was a blog item in the Richmond paper yesterday quoting UR coach Chris Mooney as being extremely supportive of adding both CAA schools to create natural A-10 rivalries with GW and UR. Knowing how tightly PR is controlled these days, I highly doubt Mooney would've addressed the question if there wasn't some substance to it.

IMHO, this is an absolute no-brainer if offered. Adding Butler, Mason and VCU to the existing A-10 (sans Temple) would cement that league as the best of the non-Power-6 basketball leagues. You'd be looking at 4-5 NCAA bids on an annual basis. It's also a perfect fit for our northeast recruiting pipeline.

I think this move is the perfect next step to further expand the brand of Mason basketball and capitalize on the credibility of our FF run before that window closes for good.

The CAA has made its bed with I-AA football. Now they can go lay in it with Bill and Mary.