A10 Conference Rank

[tblack33]

I had an interesting conversation with some roommates not too long ago about where the A10 falls in terms of rank against other conferences, looking only at Mens BBall? Top 5? Just outside of the power 5? Solidly in the mid major? Also how do you judge a conference when comparing it to other conferences? Is it the number of bids they get? How far they go in the tourney? Quality of recruits?

Basically, rack and stack the A10, and tell me why you place us where you do, looking at the A10 over the past few years rather than just any single year.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Here are some RPI numbers to help the discussion. A10 ranked #7.

Rank Conference - Conf RPI - OOC W-L (pctg.) - OOC SOS Rk - OOC SOS
1 Big 12 Conference 0.6046 103-23 (0.8175) 3 0.5283
2 Pac 12 Conference 0.591 111-33 (0.7708) 2 0.5384
3 Atlantic Coast Conference 0.5853 145-42 (0.7754) 4 0.5188
4 Big East Conference 0.573 94-30 (0.7581) 10 0.5113
5 Southeastern Conference 0.5658 117-59 (0.6648) 1 0.5448
6 Big Ten Conference 0.5639 128-49 (0.7232) 8 0.512
7 Atlantic 10 Conference 0.5442 109-57 (0.6566) 7 0.5134
8 American Athletic Conference 0.5373 88-47 (0.6519) 18 0.4976
9 Colonial Athletic Association 0.5265 63-43 (0.5943) 19 0.4925
10 Mid American Conference 0.5171 79-54 (0.5940) 29 0.4799
11 Summit League 0.5148 60-49 (0.5505) 27 0.483
12 Mountain West Conference 0.5123 65-53 (0.5508) 13 0.5078
13 Missouri Valley Conference 0.5006 57-58 (0.4957) 9 0.5118
14 West Coast Conference 0.4967 53-49 (0.5196) 26 0.4835
15 Big West Conference 0.4937 49-60 (0.4495) 12 0.5082
16 Ivy League 0.4863 52-55 (0.4860) 30 0.4799
17 Sun Belt Conference 0.4823 41-54 (0.4316) 25 0.485
18 Horizon League 0.4801 45-61 (0.4245) 14 0.5071
19 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 0.4781 46-64 (0.4182) 17 0.4987
20 Southern Conference 0.4777 44-60 (0.4231) 21 0.4918
21 Ohio Valley Conference 0.4693 56-88 (0.3889) 20 0.492
22 Conference USA 0.4686 65-93 (0.4114) 16 0.4988
23 America East Conference 0.4629 47-70 (0.4017) 32 0.4656
24 Patriot League 0.4571 39-70 (0.3578) 23 0.4894
25 Big South Conference 0.4552 32-64 (0.3333) 24 0.4856
26 Atlantic Sun Conference 0.4541 34-74 (0.3148) 11 0.5088
27 Western Athletic Conference 0.4526 39-63 (0.3824) 28 0.4827
28 Big Sky Conference 0.4449 35-79 (0.3070) 22 0.4901
29 Southland Conference 0.4303 24-89 (0.2124) 5 0.515
30 Northeast Conference 0.4256 30-83 (0.2655) 31 0.4714
31 Southwestern Athletic Conference 0.4211 17-92 (0.1560) 6 0.5146
32 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 0.4108 27-129 (0.1731) 15 0.507

 

[phoenix-arizona]

I hope this is the PAC 12's year.

 

[ephoops]

As of today, Kenpom ranks the A10 as the 8th best conference:

 

[gmutom]

Damn, check out the CAA coming in at #9 right behind the A10. Pretty impressive.

 

[GSII]

Damn, check out the CAA coming in at #9 right behind the A10. Pretty impressive.

They aren't always that high. Last year they were 20 something. A10 is always in top 8. This year is a down year imo.

 

[gmutom]

They aren't always that high. Last year they were 20 something. A10 is always in top 8. This year is a down year imo.

I wasn't disputing which conference is better, merely pointing out that the CAA is having a good year.

 

[GMU92]

If Wikipedia data is accurate, the A-10 has averaged a little over 3.5 NCAA Tournament bids per year over the 40 year history. That's pretty darn good for a conference that doesn't have the structural advantages of the Power conferences (big money, home courts, SOS built into the conference schedule, etc.) A rank of 7 or 8 is probably about right.

 

[GMUgemini]

They aren't always that high. Last year they were 20 something. A10 is always in top 8. This year is a down year imo.

Not sure how down the A-10 is, there are three teams in the top 50 (including Dayton in the top 25) and an additional 4 teams in the top 100 (with URI sitting right outside at 102). If that were the CAA, that would be almost the entire conference.

And usually, the dregs of the conference are worse than they are this year (La Salle at 230, UMass at 191, St. Louis at 188, Mason at 182).

Last year it was (St. Louis 272, Fordham 238, Duquesne at 223, Mason at 222).

Granted, two years ago was fantastic for the A-10 with six teams getting an NCAA bid, but that was probably more of an outlier year than this year has been.

 

[Bricker]

Not sure how down the A-10 is, there are three teams in the top 50 (including Dayton in the top 25) and an additional 4 teams in the top 100 (with URI sitting right outside at 102). If that were the CAA, that would be almost the entire conference.

And usually, the dregs of the conference are worse than they are this year (La Salle at 230, UMass at 191, St. Louis at 188, Mason at 182).

Last year it was (St. Louis 272, Fordham 238, Duquesne at 223, Mason at 222).

Granted, two years ago was fantastic for the A-10 with six teams getting an NCAA bid, but that was probably more of an outlier year than this year has been.

I agree with this. Dayton is money. Favorable 1st round matchups for Dayton, Joes, GW, vcu could lead to some postseason wins for the A-10 once again, assuming these teams grab a bid.