Once they actually have a logo to use, it will be updated. What you are looking at now is just their press release of the logo they will be using.

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Twitter: @ncaasports
Facebook: facebook/collegesportsinfo


Like the new CSI Userbar? Feel free to use it here and any other forums.
You can save and host it yourself or link from here.

I'm not a fan. What was wrong with the old one?

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1897-1898 | 1900-06 | 1926-27 | 1929-30 | 1939 | 1942

Former VCU Coach, Shaka Smart has left VCU for the same job at Texas.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/04/02/shaka-smart-texas-head-coach-virginia-commonwealth/70857538/

George Mason's coach was a little older, but when he left Mason for Miami-FL a few seasons after Mason's Final Four, George Mason went back to being George Mason. I don't see why the same thing won't happen to VCU. They succeeded because they basically had a Top 10 Coach in the Sport all this time. Imagine if Bill Self went back to Tulsa, went on a run, then went back to Kansas. Kansas would remain Kansas either way and Tulsa would go back to being Tulsa after Self left.

Anyway, in a way, good for the A-10 that the Big East will now cross VCU off its candidate list. And Dayton would already be there if they were going.

Richmond just climbed over VCU though. I have it at Saint Louis and Richmond now if the Big East decides to expand with two schools.

Still, there is something deep down that the A-10 holds over the Big East...

(a scenario yes, but bear with me)

- Navy walks out on AAC. SEC declares them a power conference team and all is well again for Navy and their 100+ year old streak of Independence.
- Temple and UConn both eventually walk out on the AAC.
- The Big East made it loud and clear they wouldn't take UConn.
- Hurt by this, both Temple and UConn join the A-10.

New A-10...

Featuring.... UConn, Temple, Dayton (if not in Big East), UMass, Saint Joe's....

And many others who have shown up on the March Madness radar over the years... La Salle (recent S16), GW (a few second rounds), St. Bona (same), Saint Louis (if not in Big East, has made nice tourney runs).

A few things to remeber re: UConn football (and why they might drop it from FBS)...

UConn football's greatest year was a Big East Title and meeting with Oklahoma in the BCS Fiesta Bowl.

And the football team lost money that season. Playing West Virginia, Cincy, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina ect. in a great football season (their best) and still couldn't turn a profit of one dollar (in football). In all likelihood, UConn football will never be that good or lucrative again. They were riding a wave and even thinking Big Ten or ACC shortly after. Now?

Look around at UConn's conference mates. Their football stadium is an hour from campus. Are UConn fans driving an hour to watch the Huskies get blown out by Tulsa?

All of this and the very real possibility that Navy will at some point* just walk away from the AAC. Is Connecticut going to sell more or less tickets after Navy of all schools deems the AAC unworthy?


*Army tried C-USA (which is basically what the AAC is) for four years (1998-2002) and then politely left. If Navy actually joins the AAC, don't expect it to last long. Navy "joined" when San Diego State, Boise State and TCU were also scheduled to join. Likewise, Army joined a C-USA with Louisville, TCU and when annually Top 25-ranked Southern Miss was the best football school in the State of Mississippi. (14-0) Tulane also finished #8 Nationally the first year Army was C-USA. Army gave it the old college try, looked around their senior year and said, "it isn't you, it's me". Navy isn't permanently giving up 100+ years of tradition to play Tulane and SMU. Their original intent was to play in front of Navy alums and also have an outside shot at the BCS. Cue wildly successful CF Playoffs replacing BCS, and okay their are a lot of Navy alums in Texas but San Diego State is the main hub.

Long story short, Navy will eventually humiliate/devalue the AAC by leaving it. (Heck, right now the Big East makes more money without playing football than the AAC makes with football)

Temple is always going to be a fringe member of anything (other than A-10 hoops) because it's Temple and even Temple doesn't like Temple. Connecticut will be steaming mad, deflate all the footballs on campus and continue to complete for National Championships basketball (Men's and Women's), but now proudly playing more East Coast Schools steeped in hoops tradition including rival UMass. Ironically, even their mighty Women's Team's biggest challenge this year has been from Dayton of the guess where, the A-10!

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Fan of the Big 12 Conference, the Mountain West Conference and...

I'm not so sure Navy will walk away as quickly as Army - Navy still gets games in Florida and Texas even in the AAC, and thought enough of their program to sign up for what was then a BCS AQ conference. If Navy stays past the defection of Cincinnati and Memphis to the Big 12, it opens the door for something like the coast-to-coast Big East; at the very worst Navy could dictate who is invited next in a way that best suits its needs.

I am of the opinion that Navy isn't permanently wedded to the Amercan. The conference they are joining this year is not the one they thought they were joining. There are no west coast trips and there is no AQ bid. I feel like Navy is just doing the respectable thing and following through with their commitment but I think that the instant there is trouble they pull out. Navy did not sign up for annual games against Tulsa, Tulane, Memphis, Houston, and SMU.

I certainly think that it wouldn't hurt the A-10 to keep tabs on the Amercian situation. Provided that they could figure out something for their football, if the A-10 could land UConn, Temple, and perhaps even Cincinnati it would be a tremendous coup.

I think you're more likely to see UMass join the American than any American teams join the A-10.

Hybrid days are dead. Basketball is an afterthought to the football TV dollars. UConn, Temple, Cincinnati... they made their choice.

If Navy leaves the AAC for football, the AAC would likely just invite UMass or a C-USA school and call it a day.

I can't see Temple or UConn pulling out of the AAC in all sports and needing a home for football.

If you're the American, you're not letting a school that's won three national championships in men's & women's basketball in the two years the conference has existed use you for just football. You're saying "all in or all out."

What would their options be? Scheduling as an independent is ridiculously tough, ESPN wouldn't help them like they did BYU because BYU is a national draw to all LDS fans; and the MAC very well may give UConn/Temple the "all in" ultimatum as well.

Plus, the AAC deal is 7-years, $126 million.
The MAC deal is 13 years at about $1 million per year TOTAL with the MAC covering production costs.

Why would Temple/UConn trade a little money for no money?

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1897-1898 | 1900-06 | 1926-27 | 1929-30 | 1939 | 1942

If the chips all fell just right I could maybe see a hybrid working out. Cincinnati, UConn, UMass, and Temple would need to form the core. Maybe they convince USF, UCF, and ECU to come along too. Grab Army and Navy as football affiliates--they are pretty much a must. If they still need a few more to get to 8-9 football members then you reach out to the best MAC schools to lure them away. Fill the rest of the conference with the best programs and markets in the A-10 so Dayton, St Louis, VCU/Richmond, George Washington, Duquesne, and maybe Davidson (especially if you need a travel partner for ECU.

But what would those chips be, exactly?

I can't see a scenario where those three want to leave SMU, Houston and Tulsa:
Houston and Dallas are top 5 TV markets, leaving them doesn't lead to more money.
SMU just made the dance and should have made it the year before.
Tulsa made the dance last year and should have made it this year.

Now if you wanted to pitch the idea that the AAC would invite Dayton to be the 12th basketball member in all sports but football, with Navy being the football 12th... THAT might be plausible.

If UD was in the AAC last season, they might have gotten FIVE BIDS instead of two, as their OOC win pct (And therefore conference game SOS, and therefore RPI) goes up. There's more top 50 games amongst Temple, Tulsa, Dayton.

The "normal" AAC season would have 6 or 7 teams in play for the NCAAs (Cincy, Dayton, SMU, Tulsa, Temple, UConn, Memphis) and five teams at the bottom (UCF, USF, HOU, Tulane, ECU).

Makes decent Travel partners: UCF/USF, HOU/TULN, SMU/TULS, UD/CIN, MEM/ECU, TEM/UConn

Totally plausible. Although, I'm not totally sure UD would pull the trigger since it leaves them in a world of hurt if they have a 1990s situation, where the team was terrible and Cincy/Memphis/Houston wanted nothing to do with Dayton.

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1897-1898 | 1900-06 | 1926-27 | 1929-30 | 1939 | 1942

It's a shame Charlotte and Old Dominion chased after football. Charlotte's basketball noticeably dropped off the map as they figured out this football thing, and Old Dominion...who knows what their ceiling is now. Both, had they kept to the basketball business, would probably be members of the A10 now/still. It would have made life in the Big East very interesting (because they might actually have to face their issues with public institutions).

If Temple comes back around, it will be due to the AAC collapsing or Temple crumbling under the weight of a football program that just can't produce. This has been a tough year for Temple...no bowl despite a .500 season and cheated of a NCAA bid. Both would have brought in some attention and added revenue to an already hurting athletic department. There is just no way the school can see that happen. In the AAC, though...it might be the norm.

It probably a pretty unlikely scenario but if for some reason the schools I mentioned became dissatisfied with the the travel situation or if schools like SMU and Houston left the Amercian for the Big 12 or MWC then those members might try to change the direction of the American or start over.

The TV money is eastern based, so I wouldn't expect a SMU/Houston departure. You want to be tied to UConn (in ESPN's backyard) or ... (who even "headlines" the MWC nowadays?)

The AAC contract isn't big, but the exposure actually is. They're on ESPN family all the time. Mainly because of UConn.

As for the Big XII, I doubt SMU and Houston rate very high on the expansion list. They B12 needs TV sets outside of Texas. If they took any AAC teams it would be: UCF & USF as a tandem or Cincy to pair with WVU.

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1897-1898 | 1900-06 | 1926-27 | 1929-30 | 1939 | 1942

I’m moving this from the MVC thread to the A-10 thread, since it's all about the A-10.



Sorry, I missed this earlier.

I think everyone IS “one big happy family” in a general sense:

Yes, all the Privates would prefer a Big East invitation. But
- George Washington, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle, Fordham know it’s NEVER COMING.
- St. Bonaventure and Duquesne know it’s not coming unless they make MAJOR PROGRESS.
- Dayton knows if they keep it up, they’re next on the Big East invitation list (and it’s hard to be unhappy with FIVE NCAA wins in two years, and a 30-11 record vs Power 5 conferences in the last nine seasons)
- Saint Louis knows with their market, success equals a look from the Big East.
- Richmond knows that with Dayton & Saint Louis both western, they’re in the mix for the Big East’s “Sixth Eastern Team” slot
- Davidson is new, freaking stoked to be out of the SoCon and have at-large access in MAJOR CONFERENCE like the A-10. They keep this up a few more years and the “We’re better than Richmond! We should be the Big East’s Sixth Eastern Team" can start.

As for the public’s:
- UMass wants an all-sport invite from the American (or better)
- VCU has been very successful.
- Rhode Island knows they need to make progress, like an NCAA Tourney for the first time since 1999.
- George Mason is happy to be out of the CAA, and know they have work to do to get out of the bottom third.

It’s a very acceptable status quo. Of course, we all want everyone else to win more OOC games, and we all want to be one of the teams that dance.


But remember three years ago when Xavier, Butler, Temple, and Charlotte left… people were saying LOTS OF THINGS about the death of the A-10. And how the CAA/MVC would usurp us. And we responded by setting our conference record with SIX BIDS and rolling in the loot of those six bids and everything X & Temple left on the table. Dayton keeps wrecking fools in March, we’re hands down a Top 8 conference. Each year we can argue we’re better than a one or both of the two old Big East halves; AND one of the “Power 5.” (Pac-12 some years, SEC - UK others).

Once the Big East stopped (or paused) at 10, the A-10 was safe. Not because losing two more would have been a death blow… but it prevented OVERREACTION and potential unwise decisions. If the A-10 lost seven, including SLU, UD, & Richmond to a (12-team) Big East (without Creighton), the A-10 could have panicked, added three more members that proved to be Fordham quality just to have numbers, and that would have been bad.

Now if we lose UD & someone to the Big East, we KNOW we’ll be fine. We’ll take the best candidate from the leagues below us and SOMEONE’s gonna finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, et al; And because we’re better than at least 22 other leagues, our 3rd and 4th place teams are gonna go 9-3 OOC, 13-5 or 12-6 A-10 and be in the top 60 of the RPI and have a shot at 3-4 bids every year.


But I digress.



SLU isn’t clamoring for MW expansion for the sake of expansion. If someone left (like UMass), then Saint Louis would probably be in favor of someone like Wichita State or Northern Iowa, over say, Siena or Northeastern. Yeah. Sure.

Then again, so would I. Because WSU has a Final Four, UNI is the only team in basketball undefeated all-time against AP #1 with more than one try. Siena is just LaSalle in a weaker conference and Northeastern… participates in NCAA Division I basketball.

UNI has FCS football and the MVFC is the No. 1 FCS conference. Wichita State doesn’t. So, I think that’s plausible: WSU to the A-10.

If UMass leaves and Wichita State calls about their spot, I think the entire league is gonna side with SLU on Midwestern expansion.



Yeah, they started their FBS program. Every school has to chase their best chance for success. Temple aspired to be a Big East member for all sports since Day One. No one held it against them. Out of the three schools (Temple, Charlotte, UMass) that have chose that path since the early 90s… Temple & UMass were unbelievable for our league in the 90s, Temple in the 2000s. UMass has fallen off but are still a decent program. They never embarrass us.

Charlotte is held in far more contempt. Because we were there for them when C-USA 2.0 kicked them out. They went from consistent NCAA team in C-USA to terrible A-10 team… then started FBS football and bailed. Like, really dudes? You couldn’t have just started football in 2003? We coulda added SLU & Butler back then and had the Bulldogs' Final Fours on our ledger!



We have ALWAYS BEEN and always will be “The Best the Big East Didn’t Want.” That’s really what binds us. If you don’t have FBS football, but are good at hoops in the East… we are where it’s at. That ain’t gonna change.



I’ve been saying it all along: Siena is LaSalle in a weaker conference. Go RPI breakdown over decades. Siena is 4 wins better per season, with 4 more wins over terrible teams. La Salle is 4 wins worse per season, and 4 more losses vs Top 50 opponents each year. Then La Salle has to beat THREE top 50 teams in a row to get an auto bid. Just because you win one-bid autos doesn't mean you can be a program that can earn at-larges in the A-10. (Fordham, Duquesne & Mason are still trying!). Not everyone is Davidson, with a consistent coach/system for 3 decades. They've been tremendous for us).

I really don't have high hopes for anyone with a decent number of NCAA bids in a one-bid league joining us and making us better.
I'd probably favor a school who are spending on infrastructure (Stony Brook) over the schools that have 8 autobids in 25 years. If you want an invite, you gotta DOMINATE your league Gonzaga/Memphis/Butler style for a DECADE, like Davidson did in the SoCon. Or you gotta make a Final Four like Butler, VCU and Mason. (And Wichita State has, so they're #1 on our "if UMass goes..." list.

There’s two other reasons the A-10 isn’t in a rush to grab the latest & hottest mid-majors:
#1 - We already did.
#2 - Mid-Majors are dead now.

A “mid-major” is a conference that’s a one-bid league if their regular season champ wins the auto, but can steal an at-large if they lose in their tourney.”

In 2011, you had six of those conferences:
WCC - Gonzaga (Auto)
C-USA - Memphis (Auto)
Horizon - Butler (Auto)
CAA - Old Dominion (Auto), VCU (At Large) & George Mason (At Large)
MVC - Indiana State (Auto)
WAC - Utah State (Auto)
And Butler and VCU went to the Final Four that year.

Since:
That was the only time in the last 10 years the WCC had one bid. The WCC outgrew the label and added BYU (and Pacific, who had two autos and an at-large in the Big West from 2004-07).
The MVC lost Creighton, but Wichita State and UNI stepped up and they’re a multi-bid league now.
Conference USA lost Memphis et al, basically became the Sun Belt, bloated to the point no one can stand out, and faded
Horizon lost Butler (to the A-10, then Big East) and faded
Colonial lost VCU & George Mason (to the A-10) and faded

Since then, we’ve had TWO mid-major at-larges total:
2012 - Southern Miss (C-USA)
2013 - Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt) and MTSU replaced Memphis in C-USA.

Mid-Majors are dead. The schools that made their leagues mid-majors graduated to the Big East, WCC, A-10 and MVC now.
NO ONE dominates their one-bid league so much they're in the at-large discussion if they lose it anymore. Except maybe Wichita State or Northern Iowa. But both are strong, making them a multi-bid league.

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1897-1898 | 1900-06 | 1926-27 | 1929-30 | 1939 | 1942

JP-- lately, it seems like the high mid majors really struggle to pick up autobids. The A-10 can do it but I really don't count them as a mid major because they are the bottom of the top tier of men's basketball. The WCC can do it but only thanks to the trio of Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU but they are about the only ones. A 14 member C-USA can't even get two bids. With that said, do you think that mid majors who have enjoyed basketball success are better off staying in their regional leagues and dominating them rather than trying to piece together a league together or chasing the A-10 where they can expect to be middling programs?

I'll never understand the fascination with football and how schools invest millions, probably in the hundreds for FBS ones over the span of a decade, to make it work operationally. It doesn't really make money, whereas basketball does. It's more like a library than anyone will ever care to admit, something a former boss of mine once said: "a financial black hole: money goes in and doesn't come out." Development offices (the folks who figure out how to shake you down for money) can't like it, either...you have them working for so many different aspects of the institution, while this resource killer requires so much attention yearly. And let's not forget how the darn sport gobbles up presidents' time.

I wish athletics go back to being regional, and that schools would stop chasing football, or at least, deemphasize it. I mean, as an A10 fan, the conference should be fine, but JP's really right on with much of his stuff. Basketball has suffered as a whole because of the pursuit many programs have made for football. And CUSA is a prime example. When it lost all of those members about a decade ago, it still had great basketball programs, and there was no reason it should have been a "Memphis and the gang" sort of scene, but because so many others couldn't balance the costs (and travel costs, despite whatever is said otherwise, has a major toll on that) across their departments, and they all suffered. Even now, CUSA has the likes of UTEP, WKU, Old Dominion, UAB, Charlotte, and MTSU...there's still a lot of prestige on paper there...this season, though, that conference has its share of some of the most laughable and humiliating losses in the non-conference. No doubt it is a one-bid league. Still. And it was no different when Memphis was there...Houston, Tulsa, UCF, Tulane, ECU...they didn't make CUSA better. Other than Memphis and this short run by SMU, I doubt the CUSA emigrants make the AAC any better. Again, they're all chasing football.

Meanwhile, in A10 land, we watch NEC, MAAC, CAA, OVC, Horizon, and the MVC closely should the A10 lose one of its top performers. Quite honestly, I wish Fordham would go fully over to the Patriot so the conference could look at another NYC-metro school. Iona wouldn't be too bad, imo.