Analysis: Atlantic 10 shake-up favors VCU
The Atlantic 10 made a major splash in the college basketball scene a year ago, sending five teams to the NCAA tournament.
Sean Labar
Contributing Writer
The Atlantic 10 made a major splash in the college basketball scene a year ago, sending five teams to the NCAA tournament.
It looked like the conference was going to jump out of the national reputation as mid-major and emerge as a consistent powerhouse. But the hype was short-lived, and the A-10 looks very different heading into the 2013-14 season.
Butler University, Xavier University, Temple University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte all jumped ship for new conferences. Two of those four squads were representing the A-10 in the big dance last March.
Conference realignments have been particularly prevalent over the last few years. More than 50 schools were affected in the 2013-14 round of realignment, breaking up some of the most storied rivalries in college basketball history. But new clashes will emerge, and fans will eventually embrace the revamped landscape of NCAA hoops, though it may seem unfamiliar right now.
For the A-10, it is impossible to predict the future of the conference. But on paper, it doesn’t seem nearly as promising as a year ago.
Butler will be the toughest to replace. They helped give the conference credibility with Final Four appearances in 2010 and 2011 and became a team, much like VCU, that the casual college basketball fan wanted to watch.
The A-10 did make a move to fill the void left by the four schools, welcoming George Mason University to the conference in June. The Patriots are coming from the Colonial Athletic Conference, formerly VCU’s league. Mason should adjust quickly to the elevated level of competition in the A-10. They know what it takes to win, after defying all odds in 2006 to make it to the national semifinals.
The conference realignment benefits VCU immediately. The Rams have been projected to finish third in the conference the last three seasons under Shaka Smart in both the CAA and the A-10. But now that a few of their fiercest opponents are gone, the tables have turned. VCU enters the 2013-14 season as the favorite to win the conference. They earned 19 of the 24 first-place votes in the official A-10 preseason coaches poll.
Most of this comes from the Rams’ coaching, depth, athleticism and return of key players like Juvonte Reddic and Treveon Graham. Smart has done a masterful job with the program and the early recognition is more than warranted. But both Butler and Temple went 11-5 in the A-10 a season ago, just one game behind the 12-4 Rams. It is fair to say if they were still competing in the conference, they would be in the conversation.
The Rams will also have matchups with the University of Virginia and Florida State University early in their schedule. If VCU can come away with wins against the pair of ACC opponents, it will further solidify its position as a legitimate national championship contender.