Colleges

The Atlantic 10 has discussed the possibility of a 21-team basketball league in the event that the changing conference landscape makes the Big East’s seven non-football members available, several media outlets reported Tuesday night. The A-10 has been strengthening its brand as a high-profile basketball conference with the additions of Butler and Virginia Commonwealth, two programs that were in the 2011 Final Four. The A-10 is a 16-team conference for the 2012-13 season, but Temple and Charlotte are set to leave for the Big East and Conference USA, respectively. The 21-team model would occur if the A-10 were to add the seven Big East basketball-only Catholic schools (Marquette, DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Villanova), which met Sunday in New York with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco to go over their options. The seven schools are debating whether to split from the Big East.