A-10 scheduling changes ahead?

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
September 20, 2006

Men’s basketball head coach John Giannini’s method of “soft scheduling” could soon be a thing of the past.

A new policy proposed by the Atlantic 10 would force its top men’s basketball teams to play all non-conference games against teams within the previous season’s top 200 of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). There were 334 Division I teams in the NCAA last season.

The new policy, which could take effect as soon as next year, would likely have a direct effect on La Salle. Last year, the Explorers played six games against teams outside the top 200, which was certainly a factor in the squad winning nine of its first 10 games (the only loss coming against #2 Villanova).

However, the soft schedule was likely the main reason La Salle (18-10) failed to make the NIT. Despite the team’s third place finish in the A-10, its best ever, an RPI of 104 was not good enough to earn the team a postseason berth.

This type of situation is exactly what the conference is trying to remedy. According to the proposed policy, all Atlantic 10 head coaches would convene for a meeting following this year’s A-10 Tournament, which will be held in Atlantic City.

During the meeting, the coaches would vote on an estimated order of finish for the upcoming season. The teams would then be divided into three tiers, with the top tier forced to play teams with final RPIs of 200 or higher. Middle-tier teams would also have RPI restrictions.

The league is hoping to raise the profile of its lower teams, too, by not allowing them to play so-called “pay off” games. “Pay off” games occur when a very successful program pays a lower-tier basketball school a significant amount of money to come play them, usually at home, in order to basically guarantee a win. The practice, in which hundreds of thousands of dollars often exchange hands, is common in Division I basketball and football.

A-10 commissioner Linda Bruno told Sporting News early last week that a committee of league officials, athletic directors, and coaches assembled to formulate the policy. The new protocol has not officially been approved, but the league’s athletic directors have reportedly already approved it in principle.

La Salle plays even more games this season against teams outside the top 200 (nine if they face Texas-Pan American in the Iowa Hawkeye Challenge), which amounts to 64 percent of the team’s non-conference schedule.

The non-conference teams outside the top 200 that the Explorers will face this year include Texas-Pan American (330), Howard (325), St. Francis-Pa. (323), University of Maryland-Baltimore County (297), Delaware (236), Mount St. Mary’s (230), Coppin State (215), Niagara (201) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (first year of Division I).

Five Duquesne players shot

The other story creating buzz around the A-10 is the shocking incident that took place at Duquesne early Sunday morning. A gunman on the school’s Pittsburgh campus shot five Duquesne players after they reportedly tried to calm him down outside a Black Student Association dance.

Sam Ashaolu, a transfer student who is the cousin of former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon, is still in critical condition today with a bullet reportedly lodged in his head.

Teammate Stuard Baldonado also has a bullet lodged near his spine, but has been upgraded to fair condition. The other three Dukes are expected to recover, with two already having been released from the hospital.

La Salle beat Duquesne (3-24), in both their meetings last year, but only two players from that team are on this year’s roster. Aaron Jackson, a guard who was treated and eventually released from the hospital, scored 31 points against the Explorers in two games last year. Local police are still in search of the suspect, who is not believed to be a student.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu