George Mason Makes A10 Move Official

       George Mason University officially announced they will join the Atlantic 10 Conference via teleconference earlier today.  The Patriots will leave the Colonial Athletic Association and become members in all sports as of July 1, 2013.  What does this mean for the Atlantic 10?

       George Mason rose to notoriety in 2006 after their stunning run to the Final 4 as an 11 seed.  Since then they've made it to the tournament twice and went 1-2.  As far as available options go, GMU was probably the best move the A-10 could have made.  GMU isn't a huge addition, but everybody definitely wins from this.  The A-10, as it stands now, gets stronger and GMU can escape the CAA, which is quickly becoming a wasteland of college basketball teams.

       With the A-10 losing Temple (old Big East), Charlotte (C-USA), Butler and Xavier (new Big East) next year, and possibly Saint Louis and Dayton in future years, it is pivotal to rebuild.  For the time being this will place the A-10 at 13 teams, so expect to see one more team added shortly.  Murmurs have mentioned the top two candidates being Siena and Davidson.  Both fit geographically and have notable basketball programs, especially Davidson, almost beating Marquette in the tournament this past weekend.  I would welcome either team in, but especially Davidson.  With the conference losing members left and right, they need to snatch up teams that will help them stay at least a 2 or 3 bid conference.

       Hypothetically, let's say Dayton and SLU leave in 2014. (Rumors also say Richmond or VCU could be on their way out, but those carry less weight so I'll leave them in play for now)  This gives the A-10 a 12-team landscape that looks like this.

       -Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, UMass, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joe's, VCU and Davidson (or Siena)

       This is still an attractive conference, sans maybe Duquesne and Fordham, but at this point it isn't wise for the A-10 to cannibalize teams, and being from SJU I'm also in no position to talk.  There really aren't many teams left at this point that could reasonably fill the void the departing teams are leaving.  Hopefully the Atlantic 10 can ride out this storm and remain a strong mid-major basketball conference.  It's a shame that football-related decisions are now hurting college basketball like this.  Either way, there's nothing to do now but wish the departing teams good luck and start building for the future.