Conference USA wasn't really a local conference either. Other than ECU, there was a lot of travel. Conference USA was hot on making themselves into a football conference so schools like Charlotte and St. Louis were forced out.
In the scramble, if you were the AD, you would look for the best fit for your money sports. In the case of Charlotte, that is basketball, BUT it did have a couple of effects.
Atlantic-10 baseball wasn't too strong. Last year, the conference was ranked 29th out of 31 D1 conferences. Charlotte and St. Louis will upgrade the conference. Charlotte has a solid chance to win the conference outright now (it was hard when you were in the same conference as Houston and/or Rice). Winning the conference will give them a bid to the NCAA Regionals.
The conference tournament has been offered to Charlotte for a few years in baseball as a by-product of joining the conference. The advantage is the income it will generate, allowing Charlotte to upgrade it's facilities.
The out of conference schedule will always remain strong in NC. You have USC, Carolina, NC State, Wake, Duke, Clemson in the neighborhood along with some other great competition in the Southern, Big South and Atlantic Sun conferences.
The conference isn't as good, the situation is better for the players and the outlook is better for the team.
