Interesting story in today's New York Post (yeah, I know) about the possibility of a new East Coast league centered on football.
Would this create an opportunity for YSU? Is it really schools moving up to FBS? I just can't see New Hampshire making the move.
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Butler isn’t Syracuse or Pittsburgh or Missouri, but the Bulldogs have proven they can play with the big boys in college basketball. Now they will get a chance to prove it on a more regular basis.
As reported in The Post two weeks ago, the Atlantic 10 announced Wednesday it is adding Butler in 2013. The Bulldogs replace Temple, which is leaving for the Big East.
But what comes next could drastically change the look and direction of college athletics on the Eastern seaboard. The creation of a new conference, featuring programs poised to upgrade from FCS to FBS status, is being seriously explored by many institutions.
Most of those programs are in the Colonial Athletic Association but there are others in the America East Conference that could be in play. The timetable could be decided somewhat by the decisions made by George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth, two NCAA Tournament-proven programs.
Both CAA schools could join the A-10 as soon as this month.
“At this point and time, we’re excited, we’re celebrating Butler joining the league,” A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said yesterday. “As far as future membership decisions, right now, all of that is really fluid right now. It would be premature to be able to say definitively today that there will be no more membership decisions.”
One source said it was a done deal George Mason and VCU were headed to the A-10. The only obstacle preventing those programs from leaving now is the CAA’s policy forbidding a school that is leaving the league from playing in its conference tournament, thus making an NCAA berth extremely difficult to achieve.
Another source said the CAA office has been working furiously to convince those programs to stay. At the end of the day, of course, money probably will be the deciding factor.
If those two schools leave for the A-10, the major restructuring could be expedited. Schools such as Delaware, New Hampshire and Richmond along with other CAA members, could look for additional partners to form the new league.
One source said the amount of conversation between those schools and other perspective partners has been intense.
“People have been burning up the lines,’’ the source said. “Or cell minutes these days.’’
Read more:
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/new_league_possible_rELtbZJR1YSqVmU0GKHgTI#ixzz1toZlTwxJ