The postseason success of last season for Colonial Athletic Association schools is both fresh in our minds and a distant memory at the same time. George Mason won a game in the NCAA Tournament, Old Dominion nearly knocked off national runner-up Butler in the first round, and no one will forget VCU’s magical run to the Final Four. Getting three teams in the NCAA Tournament made it a historical year for the conference; having the added postseason success, especially with a second team making it to the Final Four in six years, was more than just the icing on the proverbial cake.
While it’s tempting to see it all in the context of a lot coming together at one time, that’s not exactly what happened. The CAA has been on a rise for several years, with a little step back here or there, ever since George Mason became the conference’s first team to get an NCAA Tournament at-large bid in 20 years.
Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor, whose team has been no small part of the conference’s steady rise, noted that this didn’t just happen over night. He noted that the push forward begin in 2004-05, when he led his team to 28 wins and a CAA championship, followed by George Mason’s Final Four run a year later. Then VCU beat Duke and almost beat Pittsburgh in 2007, and the CAA later had success in other postseason tournaments.
“All of a sudden, we had not just one school, not just one achievement, and in multiple tournaments.,” said Taylor, whose team won the last two conference tournaments. “We went to the semifinals in the NIT, VCU wins the CBI, we win the CIT, the conference gets three bids in the NCAA. It’s not just one school, it’s a push by a lot of schools.”
The number of teams in the NCAA Tournament is a flawed metric for measuring a conference. It gives a sense of how strong the top teams are, and does give some indication to conference depth. But it says nothing about the bottom teams, the teams that any prospective postseason teams dare not lose to if they’re on the bubble. This was noticeable with the Missouri Valley Conference in 2007, when the middle and bottom of the pack was all better than a year earlier while the top teams weren’t as good as the top teams a year earlier. The Valley wound up with just two bids a year after getting four teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Lost amidst the success of the postseason teams in the CAA last season was what some of the teams that didn’t make a postseason tournament did, including being good enough that they helped the top teams in RPI ratings. Drexel didn’t play in a postseason tournament, but had a better RPI (77) than Hofstra (88) and James Madison (90), both of whom played in the CBI.
“I think what’s lost sometimes in our league is how good the bottom tier has gotten,” said William & Mary head coach Tony Shaver. “If you look at what is considered a bottom tier team, they’re all a lot better. What’s happened is that the top tier teams are really good, they’ve had great success on a national scale, but I think everybody’s moving up as well.”
That’s a point not lost on VCU head coach Shaka Smart.
“Let’s face it, we probably wouldn’t have even made the NCAA Tournament if it wasn’t for the non-conference success of all 12 teams in the CAA, not just our own schedule,” Smart said. If Drexel doesn’t go and beat Louisville, and I can think of other games, if those things don’t happen we don’t make the NCAA Tournament.”
Added Taylor, who also spoke of the role member schools’ moves to retain coaches and hire established head coaches in recent years played: “People around the country ask me about having two teams in the Final Four. If you want to speak to how strong our league is, in both cases, neither of those [Final Four] teams won our regular season title, and neither of those teams won our tournament. This league is not driven by just one team beating up on everybody else.”
The CAA has regularly been a two-bid conference since 2006. Smart noted that a CAA player has been selected in the NBA Draft in each of the past three years, culminating with Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins a few months ago. Commissioner Tom Yeager brought up the notion of the conference having “arrived” after last season’s success, but dismissed the notion. He instead pointed to the future, noting what the goal will always be.
“We got a little better, we made our mark, but we’ve got to do it again,” Yeager said at the conference’s media day. “We want to put multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament, and we want to advance.”
While Yeager’s perspective is sensible, the impact of last season’s success in the postseason by CAA teams is hard to dismiss.
“It’s a household name now. Previously, when you would mention the CAA, they would ask who is in the conference,” said Delaware head coach Monte Ross. “Now, when you say Delaware is in the CAA, they know the teams that are in the conference, not only because of VCU, but George Mason had a great run, Old Dominion had a great game against Butler. We do a lot of recruiting in Richmond and North Carolina, and the CAA is the biggest league going down there behind the ACC.”
“What last postseason did was stamp us as a legitimate year-in, year-out league,” said James Madison head coach Matt Brady. “The George Mason Final Four can’t now be considered a fluke. I think the fact that VCU went through the NCAA Tournament and the manner in which they did that, imposing their will on their opponents – basically the fifth-place team in our league (note: VCU actually finished fourth) and they did it. I think everybody in college basketball recognizes the strength of the league now.”
The Missouri Valley surely had the same goal Yeager spoke of after its success in 2006 and even 2007, when Southern Illinois made the Sweet 16 after getting an at-large bid (the last one a Missouri Valley team received), but hasn’t quite been able to do it. The conference has been a one-bid league each of the past four seasons after putting multiple teams in for nine straight seasons. The Valley has not been as visible since that time, and the CAA, which sent just one team in each of the three seasons prior to last season, is surely hoping to not repeat that.
