Conference Talk: CAA, A10, Horizon

With the Georgia State heading back to the Sunbelt, the Colonial is down to just 11 schools. Of those, Towson and UNC Wilmington are expected to become ineligible for the 2013 postseason because of a decrease in Academic Progress Rates. That leaves the minimum of nine teams in the conference.

If VCU and Old Dominion remain with the CAA.

The Monarchs, who are looking to move to the FBS with their football program, seem like a logical fit in Conference USA. They could join a league with a local rival in East Carolina, and would have a clear opportunity to compete fairly quickly while continuing to grow into their program.

Meanwhile, the basketball team could have a better shot at an auto-bid, while still playing in a competitive conference with more shots in the NCAA tournament than the Colonial. Gone are the likes of SMU, Central Florida, Houston, and Memphis. UAB, UTEP, Marshall, Southern Mississippi and newcomers Charlotte, North Texas, Florida International and UTSA bring some competitive basketball to the table with a even better chance at a conference championship.

For VCU, the target is the new powerhouse Atlantic 10 conference.

Butler will replace Temple in a stacked conference that includes Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure, Richmond, an up and coming Rhode Island, UMass, Dayton, Xavier, Saint Joseph’s, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington and La Salle. The Rams would fit pretty well into the conference competition wise, and they don’t field a football team. A natural rivalry with Richmond, and not much of an expansion travel wise for the school. The A10 hasn’t seen a spike in bids the last few seasons, but you have to like the chances a bit more in the future of two to three teams securing at large bids.VCU seems to have the firepower to automatically battles with the likes of Rhode Island, Dayton, Xavier for a conference championship in 2013.

Plus, this is almost a peak at where the program could end up. Unless Shaka Smart never leaves and builds some type of video game like dynasty that has the Big East begging for it’s services.

In a world where conference realignment is solely based on football programs, it’s strange to see these basketball schools making moves before the 2013 season. But that’s now the name of the game. Even small conferences are being drained by the likes of the Big East.  One day, SMU is nowhere on the map. The next, Larry Brown is hired to take over the program and two teams from Texas are heading to the Big EAST. Meanwhile, teams like Louisville, Rutgers and UCONN are looking for some way out.

All we can hope is that the integrity of the game is protected by the mid-major basketball conferences like the CAA, Atlantic 10, and Missouri Valley Conference.

Alignment Notes:

• There’s no doubt that Butler moving from the Horizon really stings the conference. The team that helped put the likes of Cleveland State, Detroit and Valpo back on the map is now gone. Remaining are a handful of teams on the cusp of being competitive and an empty slot means that just nine teams remain. The Oakland Grizzlies are a solid fit, but could be blocked out by metro rival Detroit. At this point though, both programs are on the rise, and could really use the rivalry to keep the interest burning for both programs. Oakland plays in scattered Summit League and would benefit from a schedule that is based in the Midwest. Fellow Summit League program IUPUI is considered a team that could fill Butler’s void. So is Northeast Conference member Robert Morris. The Cleveland Plain Dealer mentions some interesting names, including current Division II power Wayne State. It would be a great move football wise, as the Warriors reached the Division II national championship game and would gladly take the jump to the tough Pioneer League in football. Not sure how well they fit basketball wise. Another interesting name from the same conference could be Findlay or Grand Valley State University. Highly unlikely, but something to think about in either the Horizon or Summit league (especially Wayne State) if Oakland makes the jump.
• I have no proof or fact behind this opinion, but it would seem like one of the top OVC teams would be interested in moving up to the Horizon to get a chance to be the next Butler and keep their basketball program growing. Especially the big basketball programs that aren’t major players on the gridiron.  Both conferences have teams in the Pioneer League, so there wouldn’t be much change when it comes to traveling and competition. Two teams really stick out — Murray State and Morehead State.  The Racers are part of the OVC football conference, but could make the transition to the Pioneer league quite easily it would seem. This is where Morehead State fits nicely, because they are already part of an independent football conference, that includes Horizon league member Valparaiso and former member Butler.