Around the A-10: 2024–25 Edition
- Thread starter SFspidur
- Start date
I saw the date, but had to look up the time…
Not quite sure where to post this but MTEs giving non-P6 teams the chance to compete I fear are headed to life support ..
Diamond Head has struggled a bit to get big-name teams in and were going to move it from Christmas week to Thanksgiving week this year. Supposedly BYU had just signed on a few weeks ago, so that was a really good get. Not sure who else might have been getting lined up for it.
Miami is garbage this year, but supposedly getting up and coming assistant from Duke, and will likely have NIL. Though I know that one guys stock tanked, but bet will have some $ to spend.
We will probably get the North Little Rock Invitational hosted by Arkansas Little Rock, featuring Mississippi Valley State, Incarnate Wood and Richmond. 3 days in Little Rock Arkansas baby, no better place to spend your Thanksgiving Spider fans.
I’m hoping the women’s team will be invited to an elite OOC tournament so I can go to that.
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
No, we are actually on the cutting edge for once. We are organizing the very first Spider Classic where we will be hosting 7 D2 schools for a huge tournament!
So from an NCAA tourney perspective - looks like A10 shaping up to be 1 bid league at this point - with VCU in control. While their OOC SOS is terrible (over 200) - they are 29 in the NET. They have 3 games left - Davidson, @Duquesne, and Dayton. They really need to win all 3 - and the Dayton game might move them up another spot or two. But even if they go 2-1 in that stretch, they should still feel good as long as they win a game or two in A10 tourney, which I think is reasonable to expect.
Mason - Net too high right now at 65. And there last 3 games - Duquesne, Spiders, and LaSalle - will not help them. They really are outside looking in.
I guess the hope right now is VCU makes the A10 finals, but loses and then A10 gets 2 teams in the tourney.
Mason - Net too high right now at 65. And there last 3 games - Duquesne, Spiders, and LaSalle - will not help them. They really are outside looking in.
I guess the hope right now is VCU makes the A10 finals, but loses and then A10 gets 2 teams in the tourney.
That has been the gameplan lately though this year VCU seems to win most by double digits. Still they may get the memo.
It’s really not far fetched. Our mte this season had Florida Tech as the sponsor. And we paid them!
and that's for the 7th ranked conference!
think I heard last weekend that there's currently only 3 projected at-large bids projected for non-power conference teams.
It’s weak. But Winning big games ooc is the key. Dayton was right there & would have been fine but they shit the bed.
That’s why I actually agree with Moon on expanding tourney. Hopefully coming. Need more representation. To me the primary argument against is 64 is the perfect print out the bracket number. But I don’t get that because we r well past a clean 64 anyway at 68 and have play in rounds. Just add more of those games who cares. We don’t print these brackets out anymore.
if it were me...honestly I'd just rip off the band aid and go to 96 and get rid of NIT.
There is your cleaner bracket. 32 byes and now we can debate the seeds and byes to replace the last few in, although there would still be the latter too.
I can live with smaller, and it sounds like 76 is next # but idk. Go to 96 be done with it. But I don't think it has a chance, even tho to me it makes most sense.
As much as expansion would help UR make the tourney more, I am really against it. The thing that makes the tourney great is the current size and difficulty in making it. Is it swayed more towards the P5 - of course it is, but so is everything else - but as teams have shown, VCU is one of them - you can play the computer game and still get a good NET. And if VCU has a NET in the 30's and doesn't make it - then I will back some arguments, not for expansion, but how are these teams being picked?
Right now - top 60 NET teams as of today, here are those outside major conferences.
8 - Gonzaga - WCC, they are a major team in a non-major conference. But their league I would argue - is somewhat similar to A10. They have 4 our of 11 teams 240 or worse in NET. So they have some drags on their schedule.
16 - Saint Mary's - WCC - see above.
29 - VCU - A10 - even with terrible OOC schedule, they have managed a good number.
34 - Utah State - Mountain West - no quad 3 or 4 losses. 10-5 vs. Quad 1 and 2. Win the games your supposed to win. Then win a good amount of the rest.
37 - UC San Diego - Big West - 22-4, with 19 wins coming vs. Quad 3 and 4. I am assuming they had some blowouts to help them.
43 - Boise State - Mountain West
44 - New Mexico - Mountain West
48 - Memphis - American
49 - San Diego St. - Mountain West
53 - Santa Clara - WCC
58 - North Texas - American
59 - Drake - MVC
60 - San Francisco - WCC
Of course not all of these teams are making the tourney, and in reality - if your outside the Power conferences, you will probably need to be 40 or above to have a legit shot. So its possible to get up there in the rankings.
And my main argument against expansion - comes from Jay Bilas. Who I generally do not like, but I agree with him on this. The tournament is expanded to pretty much every team out there. It starts with your conference tourney. Those are the play-in games. So really - everyone makes the NCAA tourney, its just you have a play-in tourney from your conference first to try and get there. I never though of it that way before, but when I heard him say it - I agree with it. Every team in the A10 makes the tourney, they just have to "play-in" games against their own conference first. Which in reality - increases your chances of making it. Otherwise - UR this year would be facing a top ranked team because our record and NET is so bad. But now - we just have to beat teams in our league to advance, a much more formidable task.
Right now - top 60 NET teams as of today, here are those outside major conferences.
8 - Gonzaga - WCC, they are a major team in a non-major conference. But their league I would argue - is somewhat similar to A10. They have 4 our of 11 teams 240 or worse in NET. So they have some drags on their schedule.
16 - Saint Mary's - WCC - see above.
29 - VCU - A10 - even with terrible OOC schedule, they have managed a good number.
34 - Utah State - Mountain West - no quad 3 or 4 losses. 10-5 vs. Quad 1 and 2. Win the games your supposed to win. Then win a good amount of the rest.
37 - UC San Diego - Big West - 22-4, with 19 wins coming vs. Quad 3 and 4. I am assuming they had some blowouts to help them.
43 - Boise State - Mountain West
44 - New Mexico - Mountain West
48 - Memphis - American
49 - San Diego St. - Mountain West
53 - Santa Clara - WCC
58 - North Texas - American
59 - Drake - MVC
60 - San Francisco - WCC
Of course not all of these teams are making the tourney, and in reality - if your outside the Power conferences, you will probably need to be 40 or above to have a legit shot. So its possible to get up there in the rankings.
And my main argument against expansion - comes from Jay Bilas. Who I generally do not like, but I agree with him on this. The tournament is expanded to pretty much every team out there. It starts with your conference tourney. Those are the play-in games. So really - everyone makes the NCAA tourney, its just you have a play-in tourney from your conference first to try and get there. I never though of it that way before, but when I heard him say it - I agree with it. Every team in the A10 makes the tourney, they just have to "play-in" games against their own conference first. Which in reality - increases your chances of making it. Otherwise - UR this year would be facing a top ranked team because our record and NET is so bad. But now - we just have to beat teams in our league to advance, a much more formidable task.
He's a highly ranked bracketologist. U of R employee Lunardi is poorly ranked, always is. we hired that one. and they r graded on a 5 year cycle. One of Lunardi's better years is falling off, he'll drop further.
8legs1dream
Graduate Assistant
If we win out (including a10 tournament) we are a lock
It’s worded strangely so I’m not entirely sure. I think it might be saying for the next 3 years, they are willing to commit $7-9 million each year for the entire athletic department, which men’s basketball gets $3 million per year. So the other sports get $4-6 million divided among them each year. Or, it’s saying that MBB gets $3 million each year and in addition to that, the other sports will get $7-9 million divided among them over a span of 3 years.
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You think? $4-6M per year for non-rev sports seems crazy. They don't even have D1 football.
I read it as ramping up over three years to $7–9 million annually for all sports, with $3 million of that going to men's hoops.
Certainly does seem like a lot for non-revenue. They've got around 500 athletes, so averaging in the neighborhood of $10k apiece?
Certainly does seem like a lot for non-revenue. They've got around 500 athletes, so averaging in the neighborhood of $10k apiece?
I hope everyone realizes that all this means is schools are going to be jacking tuition rates on non-student athletes.
GMU students already pay $883 toward athletics in their mandatory student fee. Not as bad as JMU's $2,388, but still significant.
