If a team has a designated rival that they play every year like VCU-
Richmond, Dayton-STl,
UMass-
URI, etc I'm fine with that
I also understand there's an interest between the Virginia schools, GW and Davidson playing each other because it's a bus ride.
This year if St. Bonaventure doesn't beat Rhode Island at home, they don't make the tourney. Luckily the league had URI &
SBU play twice. If they had they had the top 2 teams in the league play once like they did with Dayton & VCU Scoochie's junior year that's potentially a tourney bid gone and millions of dollars lost for the league
The Bonnies which were by every account I read last preseason the #2 team in the league in the preseason playing
Duquesne twice this year. URI played
La Salle twice this year. Look I get preseason rankings don't always hold but no one who follows the A10 believed either of those teams would be anything but RPI hits last season.
It is not that hard for the league to look at the H/H pairings and say
Fordham, La Salle, Duquesne, maybe this year with a new coach GW are going to bring up the rear of the league. We need to protect the top of the conference and have the bottom teams play the other projected bottom feeders
Bona was in the last 4 in this year (probably unjustly), Dayton was in the last 4 in (unjustly) several years ago. This league doesn't have a big margin of error. One poorly scheduled H/H matchup in league play is potentially a multi-million dollar mistake
Dayton can't make Fordham build a practice facility, show up at games or invest in the basketball program. The easiest most rational thing the A10 can do ensure the success of everyone 1-14 in this league, scheduling, it can't even get right
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St Bonaventure
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SAINT BONAVENTURE
Founded in 1858, St. Bonaventure University is a liberal arts college located on 500 acres in southwestern New York state. SBU offers 43 undergraduate majors, the most popular of which are elementary education, journalism, psychology, accounting, marketing, finance, and management. Total undergraduate enrollment is 2,000. Virtually all freshmen and most undergraduates live on campus. A founding member of the A10 Conference. Famous athletes include Bob Lanier. Historical nickname was the Brown Indians, but later changed to the Bonnies. Their mascot is a wolf. |
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