Should the A-10 Add Wichita and UNI?

[NJRedman]

Would it be best for the A-10 to try and snatch up the two bets remaining teams from the MVC Wichita St and UNI? It would make it a 16 team conference so thats not unheard of. Is it worth it? They can claim to be the best mid-major league and in theory increase both bids and tourny credits and if that happens it can help offset the smaller TV contract.

It would help us because all of our potential additions that we could be looking at near the end of our contract will all be under one roof and can compare them against each other.

Not a bad league with Dayton, VCU, Davidson, Rhode Island, UNI, Wichita, SLU, LaSalle and St. Joe's.

[TheBall]

They would be nice additions for the A10. I would applaud the move.

Not sure why these two schools would jump though. They seem to be in pretty good spots as is.

[Doge McDermott]

No. At best it's a lateral move for both teams when they should both be looking to move up. If UNI won the A-10, would they still get higher than a 5-seed? Probably not.

No major conference will take them though. After Creighton left, the MVC is now a dumpster fire. Neither have a fanbase willing to travel. A quick look at the 5 guys who attended Arch Madness in STL confirms that belief. Besides, the autobid is essentially WCC or UNI's every year. Why risk a sure thing for very little gain?

[GreatDaneAttorney]

If the A-10 expands to 16, how long would they be at 16? Both the AAC and Big East are acting as destabilizing forces against the A-10 and other leagues like the MVC, at least while the Big East is rumored to have a TV deal that scales up to 12 members and while the AAC has an odd # of basketball schools.

An A-10 expansion would simply tell me that they felt Big East or AAC expansion was imminent and that proactive measures were necessary to keep the league on the same level.

[stever20]

I think the thing that VCU showed was that it's not a lateral move. VCU lost 6 conference games, including bad one to St Bonaventure- and wound up as a 7 seed- only 8 rating spots behind Northern Iowa, who lost all of 3 games all year long, only 2 in conference play. You have to ask yourself, if VCU and NI had won the same number of games, who is the higher seed? It'd be VCU, and it wouldn't be close.

[handdownmandown]

UNI won't go, they can't afford the additional travel.

Northern Iowa is broke. Just how broke, you ask? Well back when CU and Wichita started going dancing each year, netting a few more shares than normal for the conference, there was a thread on their board for suggestions as to how to best spend the money.

One suggestion was to open a second (!) concessions stand at home games in Dec-Jan when the students are out. The guy then mentioned that with the little bit of added revenue from selling a few more things, it would offset some of the costs. The dude was dead serious.

You guys don't realize how broke most of the Valley is. Indiana State's fans had to crowdsource $3500 to buy new home jerseys for the basketball team, and I was told one of the biggest reasons former CU star Kevin McKenna quit as ISU's head coach was because the AD told him if he can't drive to see a recruit, don't bother recruiting him.

That's how life is in the Valley: one team with Koch Brothers bucks, and nine teams operating on a shoestring.

[NJRedman]

UNI won't go, they can't afford the additional travel.

Northern Iowa is broke. Just how broke, you ask? Well back when CU and Wichita started going dancing each year, netting a few more shares than normal for the conference, there was a thread on their board for suggestions as to how to best spend the money.

One suggestion was to open a second (!) concessions stand at home games in Dec-Jan when the students are out. The guy then mentioned that with the little bit of added revenue from selling a few more things, it would offset some of the costs. The dude was dead serious.

You guys don't realize how broke most of the Valley is. Indiana State's fans had to crowdsource $3500 to buy new home jerseys for the basketball team, and I was told one of the biggest reasons former CU star Kevin McKenna quit as ISU's head coach was because the AD told him if he can't drive to see a recruit, don't bother recruiting him.

That's how life is in the Valley: one team with Koch Brothers bucks, and nine teams operating on a shoestring.

Then the move would make all the sense in the world. I know the A-10 isn't making a ton of money but it makes more than the Valley and would bring in a lot more NCAA units as well.

The A-10 would basically be the proving grounds for the little guy. If you can make it there you have a potential spot in the big boy league who is always keeping an eye out for new members.

[handdownmandown]

Which big boy league would that be though? There isn't one.

And I am skeptical that a 16 team A10 would be enough of a revenue boost to offset hundreds of thousands extra in travel for all sports, though I haven't studied the numbers.

One last thing I forgot: UNI has FCS football (see Kurt Warner and Bryce Paup et. al) and is jonesing for a MAC invite.

[NJRedman]

Which big boy league would that be though? There isn't one.

And I am skeptical that a 16 team A10 would be enough of a revenue boost to offset hundreds of thousands extra in travel for all sports, though I haven't studied the numbers.

One last thing I forgot: UNI has FCS football (see Kurt Warner and Bryce Paup et. al) and is jonesing for a MAC invite.

Yeah, us. The A-10 is our feeder league.

[handdownmandown]

We aren't buying UNI under any circumstances. Add up their merit and compare it to the BE checklist and they flunk every category that I can think of.