…for now.\u00a0 With the news last Friday that George Mason has decided to stay in the CAA for now, the gloom-and-doom clouds\u00a0we felt with the news that ODU has a Conference USA invite on the table the week before began to clear a bit.\u00a0 With VCU still weighing the A-10 and ODU a couple weeks from a decision, it’s entirely possible this is just the eye of the storm and we’re not actually in the clear, but gotta admit Mason acted downright rational and responsible in this case.<\/p>\n
I’m certainly guilty of immediately thinking GMU and VCU would almost have to go A-10 when presented with an opportunity.\u00a0 As anyone who follows CAA hoops can tell you, it’s absolute bullshit that in the CAA, a conference with TWO Final Four appearances in the last six years, a team can win the regular season, go 16-2 in conference, lose a virtual road game in the conference tourney, and still be jilted come selection Sunday (see Drexel two months ago).\u00a0 Whereas the A-10 almost always pulls down three to four bids.\u00a0 But here’s the question we may have been missing: even at the FCS level, is it possible a conference with football in its portfolio is better than one w\/out it?\u00a0 At least from a non-football members’ point of view?\u00a0 Most of us assumed the A-10 was in better position because of their standard multi-bid status, but the news we’ve been hearing lately is that financially they’re just not setup as well as the football conferences, possibly even including conferences like the CAA with their freshly inked NBCSports deal.\u00a0 And when that means abandoning a conference you founded and all the regional and traditional rivalries that go with it to absorb higher travel costs for everything (not just men’s hoops, but also women’s tennis), GMU seemed to make one of the first sensible decisions we’ve seen in that regard these past few months.<\/p>\n
What does it mean?\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 VCU’s position is different and of course they’ve got an old rival in the University of Richmond in the A-10 already.\u00a0 And ODU is dealing with an entirely different decision altogether.\u00a0\u00a0 Their stated goal is to move up to FBS, but they never knew an opportunity would come so quickly and is this really the right opportunity?\u00a0 Will they regret a few years from now if, as we’ve been discussing here, FCS falls apart entirely, with a few of the stronger teams\/conferences, of which many CAA brethren might be grouped,\u00a0becoming the bottom of FBS, and the rest fading back to something like D2 status?<\/p>\n
And then there’s JMU.\u00a0 Still left holding the bag and seemingly at the mercy of the CAA’s fortunes.\u00a0\u00a0Largely due to the unfortunate fact of geography, but\u00a0also hard to let our\u00a0current administration off the hook entirely.\u00a0But at least for the moment, Dukes should be thanking Patriots!\u00a0 Now that’s something you don’t hear everyday.\u00a0 Might even have to revise our position on Doc Nix.<\/p>\n