BradRamFan
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You can say the same thing about when we were in the CAA for the final decade starting with the Capel era. By your standards we should still be in the Sunbelt conference. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. Had the Metro not imploded, I think we would have risen to the top in that conference also.Be careful what you wish for. Since late 1900's, VCU has been in the enviable position of being at or near the top of its conference in terms of financial commitment, attendance and overall resources - that combination spells enduring success.. A bad season for the Rams would be a banner season for others in same conference. I'm not sure VCU's fan base could withstand mediocrity - like a Wake Forest, Boston College, etc., in ACC, or some middle of the packer in Big East/AAC. Current Rams have right formula - go about 10-2 in preseason with one tough tournament and lots of buy games, dominate the conference for a couple months .... and look to wear the Silver Slipper in March.
I think the real trick is to move to a better conference when you are at the top of your current conference/upper half. Perhaps Butler contradicts that theory but it made basically two conference jumps up the ladder to two better conferences in just two years and then lost their world class coach. GMU is a better representation of what happens when you move to a better conference when you had sunk to the level of mediocrity in your previous conference. We moved to the A10 while at the top of the CAA for multiple years and/or in and upward trajectory for multiple years under Capel, Grant and then Shaka.
However, I think our only/best option is the BE. If we were to move to something like the non-P5 AAC I would worry about P5's scarfing up strong football and/or basketball programs and thus hurting the conference in the long run. The same can be said of the A10 with the loss of Xavier and even Temple. But not sure you would see the same thing in the BE. They are not a P5 conference only because they don't have football. But in reality, basketball consists of the P6, which includes the BE, and then everyone else. I think attrition would be less likely to happen or harm the BE