I still like some of the programs in the Atlantic Ten. It still has it's drawbacks, mainly that it is more of a cluster than an actual conference. But, although it won't be a major conference, it is still viable enough to get the top teams into the dance, and not create a lot of deadweight if there is a breakout program. We were in the rankings and earning solid seeds to the NCAA Tournament in the old version of the Atlantic Ten, and I still think the league is viable enough to continue to enable a team like VCU to do that as well.

VCU, Richmond, La Salle (who continues to trend up), Saint Joe's, UMass (another team that looks to be trending up), SLU and Davidson (who just joined the league) are a decent nucleus of teams. (There is another certain team that I won't mention).

I'm not too big on George Mason. I think that had a lot to do with Larranaga and not the overall strength of the program. They may be very mediocre for a very long time. And they still have a bunch of dead weight crap in Fordham, Duquesne, GW (at least lately) and Fordham. Oh yeah, and Fordham. So, it isn't entirely strong from the top down, but for people who are general basketball fans, I still think it will be a fun league to follow.

To be fair, I should disclose that I enjoy following the leagues like the Summit League, so of course I'm still going to like watching the Atlantic Ten, but in all seriousness, it's about as good as it was before. I can see VCU being the new flagship, and that it will maintain the status of a viable non-BCS league.