There are other options for UMass. Massachusetts might also rent from the Patriots or build an entirely new stadium. UMass is currently awaiting the results of a task force on the feasibility of a Division I-A football program.
UMass, Temple, and UNC-Charlotte are the conference’s best and brightest. The Atlantic 10 can’t afford to lose these schools to the MAC or Sun Belt because they aspire to play football at the highest level. An Atlantic 10 football league is attainable despite the A-10’s large size.
The A-10 can start taking baby steps towards bringing Division I football to the conference simply by adding a football school now. But for the Atlantic 10 to really get the ball rolling on sponsoring FBS football, it has to wait for the Big East to split and expand.
If and when the Big East splits, the remaining Big East members (DePaul, Marquette, Georgetown, Saint John’s, Seton Hall, Providence, Villanova) will need a new member (or three) to fill up the vacant spots in their new conference.
The most likely scenario is for the Big East Catholic schools to cherry-pick the Atlantic 10 for Saint Louis, Xavier, and Dayton. We’ll assume the A-10 has lost three schools to the Big East, and that the "Public" Big East has poached UCF and Memphis from C-USA.
While losing Xavier, Dayton, and Saint Louis hurts the A-10 in the short term, long term it allows for the growth of a football league.
The A-10 would do well to follow one of the oldest plans in the book: the Gavitt Plan. The Gavitt Plan started out as a future plan of operation for the Big East by founder Dan Gavitt. It calls for the conference to expand to 16 and run an "umbrella league," or to house two conferences under one roof.
Our Umbrella League will contain 16 schools: eight of which play FBS football, and eight who don’t.
If the A-10 follows the Gavitt Plan, they would have five spots to fill. Five is also the number of teams the Atlantic 10 needs to support Division I football.
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