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George Mason will remain in the CAA

George Mason Basketball: George Mason will remain in the CAA

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Friday, May 11, 2012

George Mason will remain in the CAA

Well George Mason did it's due diligence on a possible move to the Atlantic 10 and AD Tom O'Connor has stated that the school is remaining in the CAA. Washington Post writer Steven Goff has the quotes:

Also, here is the official statement from the university on the CAA's website and the full article from the Post.

Questions still remain on whether the CAA will stay intact. Is VCU still considering the move? Is ODU still considering the C-USA? 

If VCU and ODU remain the CAA the non-move doesn't bother me as much. But you can't help but wonder what it would have done for the program to be in A10 with VCU and Butler added to the mix. Maybe it was media hype and never really much of a reality, who knows. 

What are your thoughts on George Mason remaining the CAA?

posted by Ryan at 12:31 PM

17 Comments:

Anonymous Christopher Hirsch said...

We were never even invited to the A-10. This whole thing is hilarious. Who knows how much the A10 even wanted Mason, if they had, they would have invited us, just having talks doesn't mean all that much.

12:46 PM  
Anonymous Rick Jank said...

"O’Connor said the moves being weighed by VCU and ODU had no bearing on George Mason’s decision to remain in the CAA." 
Why must he make nutjob comments like this???!!  He might as well say, "Money had nothing to do with the decision."
I sure hope he is LYING, that VCU and ODU's status had a LOT to do with the decision, and that it looks good for them to stay in the CAA as well.  And that we will get a quality replacement for GA State.
If not, maybe a quality replacement for O'Connor is in order.

1:08 PM  
Anonymous George said...

Just keep winning and invites will come.  If you believe the fight in yourself, then the stage of the fight becomes irrelevant.  I still prefer to be the Gonzaga of the East then the top dog in the A10 (yes I mean Xavier).
 
Too many uncertainties in other conferences, the risks outweighs the benefits at this point if we decide to make the move.  I support Mason's decision.

2:24 PM  
Anonymous Mark Schumaker said...

If VCU leaves this stinks, but I agree I don't think we were ever really invited. I like the CAA and hope they can get a good replacement for Georgia State. 

2:47 PM  
Anonymous Christopher Hirsch said...

 Quality and Georgia State in the same sentence? That's funny.

3:00 PM  
Anonymous airgold10 said...

I guess it's OK.

I am guessing they are collaborating with VCU behind the scenes, so the Rams will stay as well. I still want to play A-10 member GW every year in our non-conference game, "Battle of the Orange Line" is fun.  

3:08 PM  
Anonymous airgold10 said...

 Davidson would be a great pick up. Great academic school and high caliber "cinderella" basketball.

3:10 PM  
Anonymous BP99 said...

this would have been an excellent move for us, an excellent chance for us to play some quality programs and to get great new exposure for our program and our university as a whole. it really is quite a shame (though not an unexpected one) that our school cares so little about athletics. The minds involved and in charge of these possible changes simply did not find merit in making a conference switch. It would have been quite a show to see Mason competing in the a-10 with new rivalries that could liven things up. A wasted opportunity, if VCU and ODU leave we'll have no big rivals left, and the CAA will plummet into obscurity.

5:38 PM  
Anonymous StopWearingPurple said...

I agree.  This seems like a wasted opportunity.  This move and and Coach L leaving are not good signs.

8:33 PM  
Anonymous rosswill said...

The administration likes the baskeball program as long as it gives more than it takes. That being said they will never invest in the program by moving to a conference where they have to spend $1 million more to be competitive. In otherwords they will never spend money to make money with athletics.

I also get the feeling that his due diligence means that it would be just fine with TOC if VCU And ODU left the conference because that would mean that, without any real competition, Mason would be in the Tourney almost every year. More baskeball exposure without the investment. If this is the case then Hewitt better be a real recruiting genius.

8:54 PM  
Anonymous MasonFan2006 said...

Are you kidding me???? It is VERY obvious by this move (or lack thereof) that George Mason has ZERO interest in having a successful athletics program. A move to the A-10 would have priovided opportunities for quality opponents to play at Patriot Center. I hardly think that playing Northeatern and Delaware every year would have the same clout as playing Richmond and Xavier. Plus, there's a good chance that they will lose out on opportunities to play VCU and ODU in the future. This decision to stay in the CAA is not wise, and will expose George Mason to the possibility of having a great season destroyed by one upset loss in the CAA tournament (See Drexel, 2012).

9:42 PM  
Anonymous taylormade703 said...

Delaware and Towson are stepping up on facilities.  So is Drexel, I believe.  Even if ODU and VCU leave, we'll still have to go through Drexel, which will be no easy task.  Shoot, Towson played with us for 39 minutes at the Patriot Center this year.  Outside of point guard we are still loaded.  But point guard is the most important position in basketball.

11:06 AM  
Anonymous 93Patriot said...

I agree

7:21 PM  
Anonymous 93Patriot said...

I agree. I am also fuming mad over this. It was exciting to think about the prospects of joining a quality league. The CAA is a dead end. I am so sick of this Richmond-centric conference. I have to admit I had always dismissed the critics who said Mason will not invest in its basketball program. Now I am really starting to believe that. Paul Hewitt has got to be beside himself...chance to move to the A10 and have it turn into the best basketball league outside of the power six wasted?!?! Geeez!! Get your act together, Mason. A10 would bring national recognition. CAA will only collapse. Last team added to the CAA was Towson....the was a quality move. VCU will not stick around. They seem to know how to capitalize on opportunity. Look how far they have taken their Final Four run. Mason squandered it. I am apoplectic about this and my Patriot Club dollars are getting restless!

7:22 PM  
Anonymous StopWearingPurple said...

After having a few days to comtemplate this I would like to change my official response from, "not a good sign" to "this really blows".

9:55 AM  
Anonymous Christopher Hirsch said...

For people that are mad at the administration, we had to be invited for to the A-10 to join. We couldn't just say we want to join let us in. Having talks doesn't mean we were ever invited and now it appears that VCU was chosen over Mason to be invited. Our administration doesn't want to say it so they spin it as oh we looked at it and decided we didn't want to join. I am positive had Mason been invited the answer would have been yes.

11:18 AM  
Anonymous MasonFan2006 said...

If this is the case, then George Mason should do more to move from the CAA. In light of the VCU move, maybe there is a bigger picture move that we don't see yet (like maybe moving to the A-10 in 2013???), but this is playing out pretty much the way I thought. ODU will eventually move, and Mason will be in a conference that will look a lot more like the America East or Northeast Conferences rather than a rising power that can be compared to the A-10 or Missouri Valley. Mason can win 25-28 games a season, but if they lose at any point in the conference tourney, they can kiss a shot at the NCAAs bye-bye.

9:23 PM  

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