Most Atlantic 10 teams will play far fewer conference games this season than the original schedule called for at the outset of the season.
A-10 officials decided last week to start the conference tournament a week earlier (March 3) to provide some cushion before the NCAA Tournament if there are any covid-related delays. The A-10 didn’t want to risk the possibility of canceling part of its tournament.
Also, the title game will move to Dayton’s UD Arena on March 14 (Selection Sunday), and the semifinals at VCU’s Siegel Center on March 6 “due to facility scheduling,” according to the league.
Last month, the league said semifinals and the championship game would be played at Richmond’s Robins Center.
With the NCAA Tournament being played exclusively in Indiana, the Dayton venue makes it logistically convenient for the A-10 Tournament winner to move to its next destination.
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, whose team will play 14 of its 18 A-10 games (if all goes well), understands the thinking behind the changes.
“The whole thing’s driven by money, let’s be real,” he said. “The only reason we’re having a season (in the midst of a pandemic) is because of money. Every decision made is because of money.”
Dambrot would have preferred playing more games before the tournament, but he said he has no problem with the A-10’s decisions.
“There are schools in this conference (that) got smacked around financially,” he said. “No attendance.
“There are schools that are used to putting 13,000 people in every game. That’s a lot of money to flush down the toilet. Those NCAA shares, that’s a lot of help to the schools.”
Richmond coach Chris Mooney, who won’t get to play crosstown rival VCU in a March 6 home game, wasn’t happy.
Richmond will end up with only 11 conference games, meaning fewer opportunities to impress the NCAA Tournament committee.
“I don’t understand how it benefits the conference,” Mooney told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We need games. We need opportunities to play. We need opportunities to play against the best teams we can possibly play, and so does VCU, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Louis and Davidson.”
The eight-day break between the semifinals and final doesn’t bother A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade.
“All of the teams will be going into the seven-day-consecutive testing protocol,” she told the Times-Dispatch. “The teams will be controlling their environments. They’ll be able to practice in their own facilities.”
