VCU will reportedly waste no time moving to the Atlantic 10, as they will immediately make the move according to CAAHoops.com.
With Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com reporting on Monday that the Richmond-based school would move to the Atlantic 10, it was expected that the Rams wouldn’t go until 2013.
Apparent concerns over being a “lame duck” in the CAA have sped up the transition for VCU, and a look at the CAA’s history in realignment provides a good clue as to why.
American, East Carolina and Richmond all moved from the CAA to new leagues in 2001, only to find themselves banned from the conference tournament that season.
Richmond won the regular season title that year with a 12-4 record within the CAA and 22-7 overall yet did not reach the NCAA tournament.
There’s also the more recent example of Georgia State, whose pending move to the Sun Belt (2013-14) moved the CAA to ban them from competing for the conference’s automatic bid in 2012-13.
Not sure if these facts came up when VCU AD Norwood Teague discussed a possible move with his coaches but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did.
The Atlantic 10 will have 15 members in 2012-13 as a result of VCU’s move, with Butler joining in 2013-14 while Temple (Big East) and Charlotte (Conference USA) exit.
That gets the conference back to 14 members, and while Temple is a big loss the Owls and 49ers are being replaced by schools who have made recent trips to the Final Four.
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.