Last season, the A-10 agreed to allow its members to reduce the number of conference schools that they are required to play. By next year, they will be a 12-member split conference. This year, a couple of the conference's institutions have made an early upgrade in schedule strength and with the addition of a 12th game (coupled with the increased quality of ball in traditional foe from the Patriot League) ... the increase in non-conference quality games is quite noticeable. The A-10 has moved from a conference that traditionally plays "questionable" non-conference foe ... to a conference that will  the likes of Navy, Marshall, Cincinnati , Western Michigan and even Virginia Tech. In addition, some I-AA non-conference matches include such names as Harvard, Fordham, Furman and Montana. All these on top of obvious quality within the conference members themselves. Here is Pete's 2003 breakdown for the A-10 (the lower the number, the more difficult the schedule):

1. Richmond: The Spiders have a very challenging challenging slate for 2003. To begin with, they play 11 games ... 6 on-the-road. In addition, the conference opponent that they do not have on their schedule is Hofstra. They have a very challenging home game against a solid VMI club and find themselves on-the-road to face the powerful Paladins of Furman. The degree of difficulty in the Spider's schedule comes with their away games ... Delaware, Furman, Maine, UMass, Northeastern and an improved James Madison all being faced in "hostile territory".
   
2. Rhode Island: The Rams find themselves with a schedule potentially more difficult than UR's. They play 12 games that are evenly split with home vs. away contests. The A-10 opponent that they will not face this season, thankfully, will be Maine. However, don't think that this gives the Rams any type of rest in 2003. Their non-conference matches total 3, with a home contest against last season's "sleeper"  and #9 Fordham ... followed up with away contests at perennial Ivy contender Brown and CUSA champs Cincinnati. In conference play, they do get Northeastern, Villanova, William & Mary and Hofstra at home.
   
3. Villanova: The Wildcats also have an 11-game slate, with 6 of those being "away" contests. The A-10 opponent they will not face in 2003, will be the Tribe of William & Mary. The first two games for the 'Cats may well determine their season's outcome. They open, at home, with a very interesting contest against the Pirates of Hampton (MEAC). Then, they follow-up this contest with a "road-trip" to face Temple. Although both of these games are difficult ... a victory is more than a possibility for Andy Tally's team. He hopes to make it 2-in-a-row against Big East foe, as we all remember their terrific win over Rutgers last season. Also, I think you will find that it may take the Pirates a few weeks to bring themselves to a form that can challenge Villanova. However, let us not forget that anything can happen in week-1and Villanova closes out their season against teams more difficult than Hampton or Temple. They close out 2003 facing Hofstra, Maine and Delaware, which should certainly prepare them for another post-season run.
   
4. Maine: The Black Bears have a 12-game schedule, with an even home/away split. They are already guaranteed a spot as one of Pete's "games of the week", as they open up their 2003 campaign hosting the Grizzlies of Montana. The Bears have a very difficult first 5 games, as a match with Florida Int. is "sandwiched" by Montana, Hofstra, UMass and the Tribe. The conference club that the Bears will not face ... will be Rhode Island. The Black Bears could find themselves in trouble if they overlook Morgan St.. The Bears (Morgan St.) should once again find themselves in the upper-half of Pete's Power Poll and a home-date with with Maine could be their key to to breaking into the top-25. If you do not remember, Morgan turned things around last season, winning 6 of their last 7... win included victories over S. Carolina St., N. Carolina A&T and Hampton. They expect to challenge for the MEAC crown in 2003.
   
5. William & Mary: The Tribe faces an 11-game slate, in which they have 6 games on-the-road. They will open up with 2 non-conference match-ups and then run 9 straight conference games. They open up at IA Western Michigan, a team which has had their troubles over the last few years ... but traditionally is considered a MAC "power". A young team last year at 4-8 and the fans of William & Mary hope the Broncos will not mature for the 2003 campaign. As with other A-10 teams, they will play a solid VMI club out of the SoCon. The conference team that the Tribe will not face this season is Villanova ... something that could hurt both clubs.
   
6. Hofstra: The Pride has a 12-game schedule that is evenly split between home and away games. The conference opponent that they will not play this year is Richmond. As with most of the other conference members ... the Pride face a very interesting non-conference portion of their schedule. They open at IA Marshall, then face the Phoenix of Elon and close out their season at Liberty. They should easily be 2-1 (hopefully more) out-of-conference. In addition, the home portion of their A-10 slate looks good. The Pride are able to be home for conference powers Maine, Delaware, Northeastern and Villanova.
   
7. James Madison: Well, the winner of the "most difficult game of the year" award goes to JMU. After opening with a "winnable" home match with Liberty ... the Dukes travel to Blacksburg and face the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Not to sound too negative, but at least the Dukes do not have to travel too far to collect their check. We will save discussion on "money games" for another day. For now, let's just say that "this ain't no Temple or Rutgers". The Dukes also have quite a difficult conference road schedule ... facing the Minutemen, Wildcats, Tribe and Black Bears. The Dukes will not face, A-10 conference rival, Blue Hens in 2003. There were 3 major clubs last season, that made "the overlookers" pay-the-price ... they were Montana St.(BSC), Illinois St. (GFC) and James Madison. I would hope the opponents do learn from their mistakes.
   
8. Massachusetts:  The Minutemen of UMass have an exciting 12-game 2003 schedule, giving fans a chance to see 7 home games. In what is certainly a rarity in 2003 (and probably from now on), the Minutemen will face all 10 conference members. In addition to that, they have a date with IA top-10 Kansas St., so they certain will see nice pay-check as well. However, we also see our first DII team (in the rankings), thus the #8 ranking. But remember, this a VERY well-timed DII warm-up against DII Central Connecticut State. However, they do have to face 4 of the 6 top A-10 teams on the road (Maine, William & Mary, Villanova and Delaware).
9. New Hampshire: The Wildcats face a great non-conference slate this year. With an opening DII game against Central Connecticut, then they host IA Central Michigan and a match with Dartmouth. New Hampshire should be 3-0 outside the A-10. This should line them up for a play-off run, with a solid conference record. However, I do not think the team is quite there as of yet. Central Michigan will be almost (slightly less) the same level as Kent St. was last year ... a game the Wildcats lost 34-7.
10. Delaware: The Hens have their work ahead of them in 2003 ... but they have a schedule that is certainly in their favor. Opening with a solid SoCon opponent in the Citadel, the Hens then face DII Westchester and a "winnable" IA game against Navy. The Hens will not face JMU this year ... but have 7 home games to help ease the conference slate. William & Mary, Maine, Northeastern and UMass all are at home in 2003.
11. Northeastern: If there is a team to watch, in the A-10, the Huskies are it. Certainly, all eyes are on their new quarterback,  Cecil "the Diesel" Howard. The Syracuse transfer came to NU by way of Youngstown St. and Duquesne. In fact, he attended a portion of YSU's summer camp last season prior to ending up sitting out with the Huskies. Clearly a rushing, option-based QB, Howard has a chance to take a team to the title game next year ... and a schedule that shows much favor.  However, I am certain that starting QB Shawn Brady will have much to say about the 2003 season for NU. The Huskies are the defending Atlantic 10 champions and will play six games at home this season, including their season opener against Stonehill. NU's Atlantic 10 home schedule consists of William & Mary, Maine, Delaware and Richmond. NU will not face New Hampshire this season.