2022-2023 Conference Schedule

jessej

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GIVING DAY 2023
Now that the 2021/22 season is over - we can look forward to November of 2022 and the start of the 2022/23 season.

A-10 will expend to 15 teams when Loyola-Chicago joins the conference. A common thread may be the upgrade in coaching, bringing an upgrade in talent which hopefully leads to an upgrade in the overall qhality of the conference and potentially a solid 2 bid-3 bid conference plus another 2 teams to the NIT. 5 teams/ 1/3rd of the leguue in the first 2 post season conferences.

I suspect that the A-10 will keep the 18 game unbalanced schedule, leaving each team about 12-14 games to fill in non conference. the 15 team league brings some new and novel scheduling options that i hope the league will consider.

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split the league into 3 divisions by geography
A10 South - GMU, GWU, vcu, Richmond, Davidson
A10 West - Loyola-Chicago, St. Louis, Dayton, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure
A10 North - UMass, Rhode Island, Fordham, LaSalle, St, Joes

Scheduling -
within each division play a home and away - 8 games
Play one division all at home - 5 games
Play the other division all away - 5 games
Then alternate each year/season
9 home games, 9 away games
Optimize/MInimize travel distances and times by scheduling road games in pairs by proximity, with the understanding that everyone in the A10 West will be a long haul

Helps to create/strengthen/increase Regional Rivalries
Bigger footprint for the league - geography, population, tv markets, recruiting

Cons -
A10 West may have the better teams while A10 North may have the weakest - but that may change over time
Some players may spend significant time on the road and away from classrooms - make sure each player has a laptop and a way to attend virtual classes while traveling

Standings still tracked as one 15 team league - but conference SoS will vary

Comments? Criticisms?
 

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Patriotsince81

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I like the idea, sound thinking on your part. You are right about the North being very weak right now in comparison. But, as you stated that is subject to change. A little math for this past year shows:

South Teams were 99-64 overall and 54-33 in conference.
West Teams were 101-65 overall and 52-36 in conference. I did count Loyola even though they were in a different league.
North Teams were 68-87 overall and 30-59 in conference.

It is certainly worth considering as an option. If anyone leaves then we go back to our current format. If a 16th team joins the league it opens up additional possibilities.
 

gmujim92

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GIVING DAY 2023
I like the idea, sound thinking on your part. You are right about the North being very weak right now in comparison. But, as you stated that is subject to change. A little math for this past year shows:

South Teams were 99-64 overall and 54-33 in conference.
West Teams were 101-65 overall and 52-36 in conference. I did count Loyola even though they were in a different league.
North Teams were 68-87 overall and 30-59 in conference.

It is certainly worth considering as an option. If anyone leaves then we go back to our current format. If a 16th team joins the league it opens up additional possibilities.
I’d rather be in a pod with better teams anyhow. If you are good enough to challenge for an at-large playing tougher competition helps you, and if you’re not it really doesn’t matter who you lose to.
 

Five Two

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Pre-covid there was a thread about flexible scheduling. It started because I wanted the MWC-A10 Challenge to use the old BracketBusters set up- we know we'll have a game the third weekend in Feb but against who and where would be determined based on the best matchups. This year, that could've meant that Davidson and Wyoming played, SD St and Dayton played, etc, you get the idea.
I then suggested the A10 do the same thing and match up teams that only played once to have a return game based on whats best for getting at-large bids. Example, Dayton played GW and URI twice this season and Davidson only once. What if they had played and beaten Davidson instead of playing a second game against GW or URI. Given they were the last team out, that might have been the difference.
Point being, with no clean way to schedule, why not try a "flex game" to better enhance our chances at multiple bids?
In that old thread, I thought I remember someone mentioning CUSA was doing this or had done it.
 
OP
jessej

jessej

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Pre-covid there was a thread about flexible scheduling. It started because I wanted the MWC-A10 Challenge to use the old BracketBusters set up- we know we'll have a game the third weekend in Feb but against who and where would be determined based on the best matchups. This year, that could've meant that Davidson and Wyoming played, SD St and Dayton played, etc, you get the idea.
I then suggested the A10 do the same thing and match up teams that only played once to have a return game based on whats best for getting at-large bids. Example, Dayton played GW and URI twice this season and Davidson only once. What if they had played and beaten Davidson instead of playing a second game against GW or URI. Given they were the last team out, that might have been the difference.
Point being, with no clean way to schedule, why not try a "flex game" to better enhance our chances at multiple bids?
In that old thread, I thought I remember someone mentioning CUSA was doing this or had done it.

1) Drop 1-3 games from the home and away series
and implement this for the last week of regular season
example
1 vs 2, 1 vs 3 2 vs 3,
4 vs 5, 4 vs 6, 5 vs 6
etc etc

2) another concept
n league games were lost to covid
bring 8 teams to town 3 days prior to the start of the a-10 tourney
On day 2 of these 3 days
schedule the 4 most important missed games at a local univerity gym/arena
12 pm, 2:30 pm, 5 pm, 7:30 pm
we could have used one of our 2 missed games towards a higher/better ranking
 

Pablo

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Speaking of the A10 tourney, I assume that it will continue as a 14-team tourney pending any further expansion.
 

ephoops

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Speaking of the A10 tourney, I assume that it will continue as a 14-team tourney pending any further expansion.
With 15 teams, you can structure the A-10 tournament as follows:

Day 1: 3 Games -- 10 v 15, 11 v 14, 12 v 13 (Teams 10 - 15 are in the PIG round)
Day 2: 4 Games -- Teams 5 - 9 get a single bye. 8 v 9, 5 -7 play the PIG winners
Day 3 : 4 Games -- Top four teams get double bye and play winners of Day 2 games
 

gmubrian

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With 15 teams, you can structure the A-10 tournament as follows:

Day 1: 3 Games -- 10 v 15, 11 v 14, 12 v 13 (Teams 10 - 15 are in the PIG round)
Day 2: 4 Games -- Teams 5 - 9 get a single bye. 8 v 9, 5 -7 play the PIG winners
Day 3 : 4 Games -- Top four teams get double bye and play winners of Day 2 games
I had a similar idea, the question in my mind is how you handle the first day of games at the arena specifically. They have always done two games per session (except for the final, obviously). Can they do 3 in one session? Is there some restriction that prevents that, or just a habit? If not, does a one game session for a pillow fight make sense?
 

Pablo

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I had a similar idea, the question in my mind is how you handle the first day of games at the arena specifically. They have always done two games per session (except for the final, obviously). Can they do 3 in one session? Is there some restriction that prevents that, or just a habit? If not, does a one game session for a pillow fight make sense?

This is how the ACC scheduled its sessions for a 15-team tourney - https://theacc.com/feature/2022-new-york-life-acc-mens-basketball-tournament
 

MasonFanatic

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I had a similar idea, the question in my mind is how you handle the first day of games at the arena specifically. They have always done two games per session (except for the final, obviously). Can they do 3 in one session? Is there some restriction that prevents that, or just a habit? If not, does a one game session for a pillow fight make sense?
The SoCon does each whole day for a single ticket, even 4 games
 

Walter

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vcu is dropping ODU from its schedule. Says it hurts them to play a Sun Belt team. Stay classy vcu. What a loss for the fans of both schools.
 

mkaufman1

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ODU/Richmond is apparently off too and ODU/Mason probably won't happen much longer. Sounds like an A10 thing than just a vcu thing.

But if it involves vcu bashing, we can blame them. :)
 

sleeperpick

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ODU/Richmond is apparently off too and ODU/Mason probably won't happen much longer. Sounds like an A10 thing than just a vcu thing.

But if it involves vcu bashing, we can blame them. :)
I am of the opinion that ODU-Mason should still happen but home and homes with this situation should NEVER happen again. ODU made their bed by going to a shit conference now they can go ahead and play their rivals consistently on the road
 

mkaufman1

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I am of the opinion that ODU-Mason should still happen but home and homes with this situation should NEVER happen again. ODU made their bed by going to a shit conference now they can go ahead and play their rivals consistently on the road
I'd love that but I don't think ODU would go for that. We'll see.

I know its impractical but I'm a sucker for natural, local and traditional rivalries. ODU/vcu was a very good one and it sucks it won't continue. Mason/ODU is a good one too.
 

sleeperpick

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I'd love that but I don't think ODU would go for that. We'll see.

I know its impractical but I'm a sucker for natural, local and traditional rivalries. ODU/vcu was a very good one and it sucks it won't continue. Mason/ODU is a good one too.
ODU has no power or choice anymore with this move so it's not really up to them
 

GMUgemini

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I'd love that but I don't think ODU would go for that. We'll see.

I know its impractical but I'm a sucker for natural, local and traditional rivalries. ODU/vcu was a very good one and it sucks it won't continue. Mason/ODU is a good one too.

We’ve got GW, vcu, and Richmond. That’s plenty. Oh and a fun thing going with St. Joes which isn’t a “rivalry” per se, but always a great game.

I wonder how much longer we will keep playing JMU?
 

tblack33

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We still play JMU, Longwood, and other crappy state teams. All things considered ODU was never the biggest problem with our scheduling. Agree with the sentiment that they’ve moved down and we’ve moved on, I wouldn’t mind signing a 2 for 1 deal with them. Hampton Roads still solid recruiting ground that we haven’t tapped in almost a decade.
 
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