ST. LOUIS - It was a monumental occasion for the Atlantic 10 Conference when they saw four of their teams make the NCAA Tournament in March. Believe it or not, things got even better after the season ended.
Making a bold step that showed just how serious they are about becoming one of the top basketball conferences in the nation, the Atlantic 10 opened its doors for two programs with more recent history than any of their current members.
First came the addition of Butler, which played in the NCAA Championship Game in both 2009 and 2010 and became the darlings of the college basketball world. They will join the Atlantic 10 in all sports beginning in the fall of 2013.
Then came last week’s announcement that Virginia Commenwealth was joining the league, effective immediately. VCU knocked off heavy favorite Kansas to reach the Final Four in 2010 and coach Shaka Smart appears to be making the Rams NCAA Tournament regulars.
In a span of less than two weeks, the Atlantic 10 added more Final Fours in the past four years than in the history of their league. Not a bad way to get people’s attention.
“It continues to position the Atlantic 10 as clearly the best basketball-driven conference in the country,” said Saint Louis University athletic director Chris May. “There’s plenty of barometers to gauge that on, but … this is another clear message that the Atlantic 10 is the premier basketball-driven conference.”
While the ever-changing conference realignment scene has been driven by football, the Atlantic 10 has been the first to focus on basketball. The conference will lose Temple and Charlotte in the next year and replace them with the pair of nationally known schools.
Sounds like a trade most would take any day of the week.
While St. Bonaventure’s stunning run through the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament gave the league a surprising four teams in the NCAA Tournament field in March, the league will add a pair of schools who have done much more than just reach the tournament.
And the league figures to get even stronger because of it.
“The A-10 is a premier basketball league,” said VCU coach Shaka Smart. “The league is very good. There’s just so many basketball programs in the A-10 and you add in Butler and VCU, who have a chance to do great things year in and year out, when you look at it, its very good because depending on which perspective you come from, you realize that somebody is going to have to finish a little bit further down in the standings. Only one team can win it and only four teams can be in the top four.”
In years past the top four teams in the regular season conference standings have received a bye in the first round of the postseason tournament. With an extra team participating in the league this year, the format has not been decided.
VCU will enter the league immediately, in part because of a bylaw that would have prevented them from competing in the CAA Conference Tournament had they decided to leave the conference but remain in it another year.
The Rams felt strong enough about the Atlantic 10 being a top basketball conference that they are forfeiting nearly $5 million in NCAA tournament money that would have been paid to them over the next six years. They also must pay $250,000 to leave the CAA and $700,00 to join the A-10.
Temple and Charlotte will leave in the summer of 2013, the same time Butler will leave the horizon league and join the A-10. Coach Brad Stevens had a down year in 2011-2012 but the Bulldogs will no doubt help the credibility of the league.
The Atlantic 10 was already a conference seemingly on the rise. Saint Louis University won a game in the NCAA Tournament and hung with No. 1 seed Michigan State under coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens return a good majority of their talent and should be in the conversation for top 25 status next fall.
St. Joseph’s and UMass bring back nearly their entire rosters next season after talented 2011-2012 campaigns and should compete for the league title with SLU and VCU. And while traditional power Xavier might be in for a down year, a solid recruiting class should have them back near the top the following year.
Dayton and Richmond are also programs on the rise. They’ve done a good job of recruiting players that fit their systems and should continue to make strides this year.
After already having enough ammo to make the argument that they were the best non-BCS conference for basketball, the Atlantic 10 can now argue they might be one of the top five leagues in the country.
“There’s no question,” Smart said. “It’s a league that has done terrific things in the past and with these changes, has an opportunity to continue to do great things and maybe get even more teams into the NCAA Tournament.
“There’s years where certain leagues are stronger than other years, but I do think there’s a high number of high quality basketball teams in the A-10 and those teams are going to continue the momentum they have and its going to be a very, very competitive conference.”
Said A-10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade, “One of the driving forces and priorities of the A-10 is to further enhance our national prominence in men’s basketball, build our brand and strengthen our current footprint.”
It looks like they are well on their way.
