Butler wants into the A-10

[zooropa]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

Not Oakland.

I'd be more inclined to expect one or more additional private schools of some repute. Very few A-10 schools are public (only UMass, URI and UNC-Charlotte).

They may be able to poach from the CAA (think George Mason and/or Drexel).

I doubt that they have interest in any Horizon League schools apart from Butler. The rest of the Horizon League schools are just too run-of-the-mill.

[FargoBison]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

Maybe they'd go after Creighton and Bradley(solidify their Midwestern presence) or George Mason and VCU? I don't think Oakland is a target for the A10 though, as zooropa says they don't have the right profile. The only other Horizon school with a shot would be Detroit and that seems pretty unlikely.

Shaka Smart did stay at VCU so maybe they are expecting a big upgrade.

[zooropa]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

Maybe they'd go after Creighton and Bradley(solidify their Midwestern presence) or George Mason and VCU? I don't think Oakland is a target for the A10 though, as zooropa says they don't have the right profile.

Bradley, maybe. But their BB program isn't all that special. Creighton seems unlikely given how far west it is.

It would be crazy if they could pull Marquette and/or DePaul into the A10. Those schools can't be happy with the current state of the Big East, but I don't think they'd go A10.

[FargoBison]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

Crieghton is pretty far west but they would be a great program to add. That said I bet it is VCU and GMU joining Butler, which might affect a few FCS conference depending on what the CAA does.

[filbert]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

Leagues are looking at adding television markets as much as they're looking at adding competitive men's basketball athletic programs.

If the A-10 takes Butler to add the Indianapolis TV market (and the program name), it may be that they're going to look at adding Chicago, Detroit and/or Cleveland to balance the midwestern teams with the East-coast megalopolis teams. Bradley doesn't do very much, TV market-wise. Creighton is possible, I guess but would be an outlier. George Mason and/or VCU don't do anything to add TV markets, although they do have the name factor going for them.

I don't think that whether a particular school is public or private will be a huge factor in the considerations when compared to potential TV market delivered and name recognition factor.

[zooropa]

Re: Butler wants into the A-10

I don't know if I buy that the "TV market" argument.

I mean, how many Loyola or UIC games are you gonna get on a local network affiliate, and how much are those games going to be worth? And it's not like the A-10 is running its own network a la the B1G.