The Atlantic 10 Conference and the Mountain West Conference will formally announce later Thursday that the two leagues have agreed to start a Mountain West/Atlantic 10 Challenge in the 2020-21 season, a source told CBS Sports. It's a two-year agreement with an option to extend another two years through the 2023-24 season.

The Mountain West/Atlantic 10 Challenge will, according to a source, feature 10 games each season in late November/early December with each league hosting five games a piece. The source said matchups will be determined by the league offices based on a number of factors -- among them the anticipated strength of teams for the upcoming season. The goal is to alleviate the growing challenges of non-league scheduling while providing possible at-large candidates for the NCAA Tournament an extra opportunity to secure a victory that might help their at-large resumes.

The A-10 has placed an average of 3.0 schools in the NCAA Tournament over the past three seasons while the Mountain West has placed an average of 1.3. But the MWC does have a legitimate Final Four candidate this season in Nevada. Eric Musselman's team is 11-0 and ranked No. 4 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1. That means that if the Mountain West/Atlantic 10 Challenge were in place for this season, theoretically, the Wolf Pack would've likely been paired with A-10 favorite Saint Louis.