3 Candidates for 2 A-10 Expansion Slots...

[davidnark]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...+to+Atlantic+10

[SluSignGuy]

Hopefully the other Presidents have some sense and don't submit to Emperor Trachteberg....

Steve

[Jimmy Chitwood]

I, for one, am getting a little nervous over this!! Trachtenberg seems to have a huge {begin edit} wanting (or desire, longing,etc) {end edit} for BU.

[DeSmetBilliken]

OK Steve, you're our friend in D.C., so you're in charge of setting Trachtenberg straight. By the way, did that letter to the editor you wrote ever get published?

[slu72]

If they want to upgrade their quality of hoops, this is a no brainer, SLU's in. I can't possibly see XU and Dayton wanting to play the BU terriers twice a year vs games against us. BU is a good school with an excellent academic reputation, but athletics are considered a necessary evil, unless it's hockey. They have also had some decent bb teams. I'll be their avg attendance for hoops is under 3,000. Would one of you guys who knows how to locate this stuff, look it up?

[billiken_roy]

maybe charlotte will be the odd team out. did you read the prez's comments about academics? it is obvious boston's inclusion is not because of athletics. so proximity and academics has them in the mix. i thought this whole thing was a done deal, but needing 9 votes might make this tough for either the billikens or the 49ers.

[Schasz]

Seems to me like a lot of things in this country, this is going to come down to politics and who has the real influence and power in this league. I don't feel qualified to answer or even speculate on who does, so like everyone else here, it's a wait and see proposition. If I was laying odds...I'd say 60-40 we get in with someone holding a gun to my head.

[SLU8592]

While I think the A-10 offers SLU the best opportunity, I do question the leadership of this conference. It has been obvious from his reported statements that the GW pres, has his own agenda. It became first evident when he questioned SLU's academic qualifications and has now heightened as he apparently lobbies for his BU brethern (note he says he will not adhere to any specific timetable). This timetable may become SLU's undoing (possibly what the GW pres. is counting on?). If we are forced to make a decision but the A-10 isn't ready on its own part, we may be forced into a Plan B mode. Interesting that the other members of the A-10 would sit by and let this guy be the league's PR man. He's already shown he hasn't done his homework.

[SluSignGuy]

It did, I posted the link on here a while ago, here it is again:

http://www.gwhatchet.com/global_user_eleme...?storyid=532644

Steve

[BillikenButch]

This is really spooky. BU certainly seems like a natural addition due to geography and the market size.

I hope Dayton and Xavier lobby for us over Charlotte. It seems that of the two schools closest to Charlotte, GW may lean towards BU. Let's hope Richmond isn't dying to get into Charlotte (though my guess is that they want exposure in the Carolinas)

[Lobo]

I can't remember where SLU stood on the XU and UD inclusion in CUSA. Could memories be a factor?

[kwyjibo]

I appreciate Stu's setting out a new and important perspective on A-10 expansion (up until now I thought that if BU was in the mix it was as a part of a three team expansion).

If SLU or Charlotte do not get a bid it has nothing to do with athletics (and little to do with academics) but sadly politics. BU Chancellor (and acting president) is old, old friends (BU awarded Trachtenberg an honorary doctorate in 1999) with BU's Chancellor and President for life, John Silber. I would hope Silber's and the BU board's current scandals would play in our favor. I would hate to be in any relation with BU as an outsider (a good school that takes care of its own a little too imperiously).

[jjray]

Let's not get too spooked by the comments from the GW president just yet. Unless the A10 aspires to be the Patriot League, which I do not think is the case, the chances of BU getting an invitation are slim. I say this for three reasons: (a) BU's basketball team would be yet another bottom feeder in the A10 which would drag down the conference RPI, ( Univ. of Mass is 86 miles away in Amherst and they consider Boston their home market which means U of M is NOT going to want Boston University in the A10, and © in this expansion the A10 needs to be conscious of protecting itself from having the better programs, especially Xavier and Dayton, poached by another or new league and adding SLU (partner in prior leagues with much in common) more closely binds Xavier and Dayton to the A10 while adding BU does nothing to strengthen the league.

I did not know it takes 9 votes for a new member, quite a supermajority. While I am certain there are more than four votes against BU, I can envision a senario where the president of GW who is championing BU rounds up three other partisans and blocks any addition at all to the A10 (simply because he did not get his way with BU). You would think that Fordham, another Jesuit school, would vote for SLU on that basis despite the fact that they are also (like GW) in a large eastern metropolis and may not be fond of the proposed western shift of the A10 with the addition of SLU. Personally, I think the A10 has to expand to protect itself in an era of conference realignment and the chicken-littles of the league (i.e., the GW pres) will be drowned out by the presidents of at least 9 other schools.

[billiken_roy]

fordham though is rumored to be on double secret probation to make room for more competitive teams. unless they WANT to go elsewhere, i cant imagine them being real expansion friendly to any team(s).

[Jimmy Chitwood]

sorry bout that Steve. The naughty words won't happen again. Thanks for substituting a more politcally correct noun.

[Tonka]

It's exactly about politics, like everything else. The NCAA itself is all about politics. College Basketball is riddled with politics. Our own program has its share of politics. Unfortunately, that is everything today. Personally, I think it sucks that we are even having to deal with this. I hate that CUSA is falling apart and no matter what now we're going to end up in a worse conference. The question now is, how bad will the conference be that we end up in.

[SluSignGuy]

nm

[xu95]

BU is not getting into the A-10. I'm sure they have exactly one vote.

Charlotte and St. Louis will have the votes. Tomorrow it will all be done. Expect an announcement on Thursday.

xu95

[kwyjibo]

BU is promising to improve their basketball program (their basketball team plays in the attic space above their hockey rink until thier new center is done).

I think UMass fans would find your description of Boston as UMass territory comical. While there are more grads of UMass than any other school in the Boston area their are just too many schools for anyone to be an exclusive draw. The Boston media focuses on BC in a way that would make B-Roy happy for SLU in St. Louis--they practically ignore the state university much too Minutefans anger across the state.

UMass did get a lot of attention in the 90's when they were a top 25 power but I would think Holy Cross or Harvard or Northeastern or BU would get equal or more attention if they were in the top 25 for a year or 2. BC appears to be the only school that gets a free pass and even then they do not get much attention. The notion that Boston is a big market is wishful thinking; it is a lot of people ignoring BU.

[billiken_roy]

if you go to the link, you need to scroll down a bit for this short bit. very encouraging!

The Atlantic 10 Conference soon could add two of the following schools: St. Louis (which already has the votes), Charlotte or Boston University. The addition of two of those would give the A-10 14 members.

Presidents of A-10 schools have yet to determine if they want the league to expand.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satel...s=1045855934926

[basketball doc]

I'll be shocked if either Charlotte or St. Louis isn't included in expansion come Thursday. I haven't heard many negative posts at all on our boards here in Dayton, other than about B.U. even being mentioned as a candidate. I'm sure they're a fine school, but the Billikens and 49ers bring much more to the table such as basketball sucsess, name recognition, nice arenas and fan attendance, not to mention programs where basketball is number one, not hockey, like at Boston U. The ACC has proved anything is possible concerning realignment and expansion, but I think you're in as do most of the fans here.

[jjray]

I think you misunderstood what I said kwyjibo. The point is that U of M considers Boston their market in the sense that this is where they recruit both students and players from, not in the sense that they are the exclusive owner of the market. Econ 101--very few markets are exclusively owned by one competitor, a market often has more than one competitor in it.

My point is the same as the reason why Villinova will never vote for allowing St. Joseph's in to the Big East: i.e., they share the same market (Philly). U of M and BU share the same market. There is really no doubt about it.

[billiken_roy]

http://basketballboards.net/forum/showthre...9108&forumid=79

this is a comforting string david nark started for feedback on an a-10 board. NO ONE there is supporting bu.

[RS]

The mentioning of BU in the Tractenberg article should not really be a surprise, as they have been generally considered one of the 3 candidates for several weeks (even if most people posting on this and the A-10 board would prefer SLU and Charlotte and din't want to think about BU). Tractenberg really didn't say anything differently now than he said before. However, being a GW grad but impartial in terms of the "politics", I truly believe SLU will get invited. The reason will be that the league will invite the one Catholic school and one non-secterian school to keep everyone happy on that level. The latter contingent (GW, Temple, UMASS, Richmond and URI) are in the voting minority. It will come down to BU or Charlotte (I'd prefer Charlotte). However, if a school as large as BU were to make a serious commitment to upgrade their baskeball program, and their new arena is a step in that direction, they could be a significant player on the national level. It is a VERY large private school.

[kwyjibo]

I understand your point but I do not think that UMass fans sees BU that way. The thread on A-10 expansion on the UMass board is generally favorable to BU admission (great we get another home/neutral site game!) precisely because they are NOT perceived as a threat. Also, as they are very different academic institutions with very different missions they are not academic rivals.

Using your Philly analogy I would say it is akin to how Temple feels about LaSalle rather than how 'Nova feels about St. Joe's.

That said with all the crap going at at the top of BU now a lot of university presidents may think the timing is wrong (maybe not, I do not know). Strong words were in today's front page story from the Boston Globe:

"BU is a radioactive institution," National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities president David L. Warren told the Associated Press.