In an almost inevitable move, Saint Louis University announced
Tuesday they will be moving to the Atlantic 10 Conference starting
in the 2005 season; thus, marking the beginning of a new era in SLU
athletics. Riding upon the heels of other top programs’ Conference
USA exodus, SLU, along with Charlotte, became the sixth and seventh
teams to join the recent realignment trend by leaving C-USA for the
A-10.
“We tried to identify a conference that offered students an
opportunity to compete at the highest level and reach postseason
play,” said Director of Athletics, Doug Woolard, identifying the
primary athletic motives behind the switch.
The A-10 came knocking last week, making the offer to SLU and
Charlotte on Wednesday. According to A-10 commissioner Linda Bruno,
“We were not looking to add anyone unless it makes us a stronger
conference.” The decision did not take long for either school.
Charlotte accepted their bid on Monday with SLU following suit the
following day, increasing the conference to 14 member
universities.
In terms of public exposure, this was clearly a basketball
induced move. The depleted C-USA will only be left with two men’s
basketball teams who, last season, rank within the top 100 of RPI
rankings. RPI is a computer generated ranking system that takes
into account many similar objective effects of the BCS such as
strength of schedule, winning percentage and opponents win
percentage.
Not only considering basketball, the A-10 decisively holds the
RPI advantage over C-USA in the vast majority of sports associated
with SLU. Olympic sports such as men’s and women’s soccer as well
as volleyball will all see a competitive upgrade.
baseball. Also factoring in the verdict, SLU and Charlotte would
have been the only remaining C-USA institutions not sporting
football programs.
“When I first heard of conference realignment it was my initial
hope that C-USA would stay in tact. With Marquette’s final four run
last year, we we’re getting a lot more exposure. After Cincinnati,
Louisville, Marquette all left I was kind of afraid that we we’re
going to be the last to move in the shuffle with us not having a
football program. When the A-10 came I was very excited to make the
move, out of all of the other options this is the one that best
fits us” said men’s basketball coach Brad Soderberg, commenting on
the Bills move.
In the past ten years, the A-10 has sent 32 teams to the NCAA
tournament and have consistently featured seven to ten teams in the
RPI top 100. Stats like these keep Soderberg ambitiously optimistic
at the prospect of success in their new conference.
“It’s my goal, it may sound far fetched, and it is–to win a
national championship. But it’s something I think we can get done
in a quality conference. A-10 offers us that opportunity to get to
the NCAA tournament and when we get there, we can compete at that
national level,” Soderberg said.
With many programs certainly sharing in similarly lofty goals,
the move to the A-10 suits the Billikens in a multitude of facets
throughout the University community.
