If you’ve enjoyed any content I’ve put out over the years, you should read this
If you love college basketball but haven’t read my words, this is the time to give me a chance
College basketball is broken, let’s acknowledge it & get to work on fixing it
The virus got VCU for the first time all year, Bonaventure played their worst game of the year in the tournament and 2 NIT games were lost
I’m declaring this the worst day in A-10 basketball history
Regular season scores:
URI 71, VCU 65
VCU 76, URI 42
Mason 68, Bona 53
Bona 79, Mason 56
St. Joe's 61, Davidson 60
Davidson 80, St. Joe's 72
Saint Louis 73, Dayton 60
Dayton 70, Saint Louis 62
Every game today settles a regular season split. This is ******* March.
2023-24 Preseason Kenpom rankings:
69. Dayton
70. St. Bonaventure
75. Loyola Chicago
86. VCU
89. Duquesne
104. Saint Joseph’s
115. Saint Louis
126. Richmond
152. Davidson
163. Fordham
164. George Mason
193. Rhode Island
200. La Salle
210. UMass
217. George Washington
That was VCU’s most impressive game of the year without question. Everyone stepped up, Vince Williams was fantastic and Ace Baldwin took the increased role stride
Superstar performance
Saint Louis just won the A10 Tournament.
The A-10 is a two-bid league. In fact, the committee should take notice next year when most teams in the conference improve. League is ... not bad.
Pittsburgh just beat Saint Louis.
The A-10 will almost certainly be a one-bid league. In fact, the committee should take away the league’s auto-bid this year. League is ... not good.
The dominant,
#1
team in the Big East just made the Final 4 in a blowout. Unacceptable that Seton Hall, St Johns and Providence all missed the Tournament
This was the best A-10 regular season in a while and thankfully most of guys will be back
A big thank you to Obi, Mikesell, Landers, Langevine, Dowtin, Weaver, Ikpeze, Steele, JAG, Baptiste, Evans, Vann, Jenkins and Simms
Wish you all could have had a better career ending
VCU is lucky that there is nothing flashy to Mike Rhoades because he has put together 2 of the best months of in-game coaching I've ever seen and he deserves high-major interviews
Can I get an explanation of how Syracuse dodged the First 4, despite the fact that the bracketologists were too high on almost every ACC team and a better ACC team (Louisville) missed entirely?
Boeheim is definitely tied deep into the NCAA web of corruption
Bonaventure non-con is atrocious. I’m all for keeping the NY rivalries but you gotta find a few other tough games elsewhere
Wish Dayton found a true road game but other than that, it’s an A+++ mid-major non-con. 7 major games and even 1 pretty tough buy game
Tonight is all the proof needed that Mike Rhoades is a great coach. VCU can’t hit a jumper or get to the rim but they are up 9 at a P5 team because they keep the ball moving and this entire team has been drilled in the art of help D
Hypothetical A-10/MW Challenge:
VCU at New Mexico
Boise St at SLU
Loyola at SDSU
Colorado St at St Joes
Dayton at Nevada
Utah St at Duquesne
UMass at UNLV
Wyoming at Mason
Preseason Kenpom ratings are here!
24. Dayton
39. Saint Louis
59. Loyola Chicago
94. VCU
95. Richmond
104. George Mason
105. Davidson
119. St. Bonaventure
133. Duquesne
141. Rhode Island
154. UMass
169. Saint Joe’s
185. La Salle
224. George Washington
231. Fordham
We're excited to announce the 2022-23 Atlantic Ten Men's Basketball media awards, voted on by a panel of media contributors and podcasters. Thank you to all who participated in this year's voting:
Why’d the NCAA bury the RPI? It still liked mid-majors. Looking at that old formula, one would find:
-4 Mountain West teams in the Top 16
-Dayton
#4
-Drake, Princeton, Indiana St, GCU and Samford Top 30
-3 Ivy teams ahead of Kentucky
@mid_madness
Mid-major programs really can’t succeed without a good coach and now that Miller is back and Frank Martin has arrived, the A-10 is pretty deep with them
If Neptune and English can continue to grow and improve in Year 2, the list is flat out loaded
Is this the most completely absurd 2 week stretch in college basketball history? This is only November and Dayton’s resume already needs its keys taken
2012-2014 Saint Louis is probably the best three year stretch we've seen by an A10 team this decade. Received a 9, 4, and 5 seed those years, and went 38-10 in conference games.
The last 2 A-10 teams to make the Sweet 16 both needed legendary floaters to get through the 1st weekend
One lives on by name: “The Southwest Philly Floater”
The other lives on by photo:
Penny Hardaway's answer to if he can get the job done at Memphis.
"Stop asking me stupid f***ing questions about if I feel like I can do something. If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I can do whatever I want to do."
It’s also one of the biggest days of the A10 season:
Dayton-Cincinnati
VCU-Temple
St. Bonaventure-FAU
La Salle-Miami
UMass-West Virginia
Fordham-St. John’s
Not to mention a few solid mid majors on the schedule that day.
December 16th is shaping up to be one of the best days of regular season college basketball in a long, long time.
Purdue-Arizona
Kentucky-North Carolina
Baylor-Michigan State
Texas A&M-Houston
Alabama at Creighton
Kansas at Indiana
Biggest takeaway: as long as Dayton and VCU are in the A10, they need to continue playing twice a year. Best homecourts in the conference, and almost always a great game.
Kobe Elvis asked for the ball before he hit that final second 3 and was being guarded by Lynn Greer III. Elvis also got the taunting T vs Greer and the two were barking at each other all game
Gotta wonder if there is lingering tension and it’s worth keeping in mind in Brooklyn
Rhode Island is going to be a force in Brooklyn. Really experienced and talented team that has now won at two of the toughest home courts in the A10 during their 6-game winning streak.
NET Rankings:
10. Dayton
20. Duquesne
22. Richmond
52. VCU
66. Saint Louis
67. George Mason
72. Rhode Island
101. Davidson
130. La Salle
158. UMass
189. St. Bonaventure
228. Saint Joe's
235. GW
258. Fordham
Traditions unlike any other:
-The A10 1 seed losing early
-Fordham’s best player transferring
-The A10 getting multiple NCAA bids, somehow
-Announcers comparing a Davidson player to Steph anytime a deep three goes in
-The St. Joe’s Hawk
-The Masters
What else?
Media poll cont.:
1st Team All-Conference:
Jordan King - Richmond
Max Shulga - VCU
DaRon Holmes II - Dayton (unanimous)
Keyshawn Hall - Mason
Matt Cross - UMass
Richmond is just one game away from getting back the NCAA Tournament bid that was ripped from these guys in 2020. Davidson is the favorite on paper but Richmond will be oozing with motivation and confidence
Did the Tournament peak Day 1 when we had Dayton’s insane comeback, Oakland beating Kentucky and Kansas-Samford all in a row?
That day also had the drama of Duquesne-BYU and Wazzu-Drake
Lamar Odom has pushed for the Rhody job. Just one problem, he has no head coaching experience. Maybe they bring him an as assistant/recruiter
Bold move, go get Pitino, have him hire Odom. Together they could host the most over the top recruiting visits in the sport
Years 3/4 after a run are when the talents recruited by a mid-major post-run become key guys & a program can build lasting success like Butler & VCU achieved. It’s Year 3 for Loyola, Moser has build a real program & its time for them to join the A-10
Matt’s Preseason Predictions:
1. VCU
2. Dayton
3. Saint Louis
4. Davidson
5. George Mason
6. Loyola Chicago
7. UMass
8. Rhode Island
9. Richmond
10. Duquesne
11. La Salle
12. St. Bonaventure
13. Saint Joseph’s
14. Fordham
15. George Washington
2 NCAA bids, 4 NIT, 0 CBI
George Mason’s current Kenpom ranking of 92nd is its highest since the 2013-14 preseason, right before the Patriots played their first game as a member of the Atlantic 10.
Remember: the league makes money for each tourney game it appears in and that money is spread between teams. Alas, any A10 fan should be rooting for Richmond.
Rumors of locker room issues at St Bonaventure had been floating around for a while. If true (and I have no idea if it is), that would explain turning down an NIT spot
Tyler’s preseason picks:
1 St Bonaventure
2 SLU
3 Duquesne
4 Richmond
5 Dayton
6 Umass
7 Rhode Island
8 GW
9 Davidson
10 George Mason
11 VCU
12 St Joe’s
13 La Salle
14 Fordham
The Top 5 are razor tight, and will beat up on each other. 14-4 might be enough to win it this year
Dayton’s offense looked terrible and they let Umass hang around, until 5 straight offensive possessions:
-Jalen Crutcher 3
-Crutcher fouled on layup (1 of 2)
-Crutcher floater
-Crutcher 3
-Crutcher 3
His A-10 POY resume is really looking great
Since we’re doing it for everything else, maybe the A10 needs to start cancelling the championship and naming co-tournament champions to get back to multiple bids.
Memphis would likely be one of the best teams in the A10, and VCU just cruised to a win. There will probably be some inconsistent nights with such a young team, but the Rams are so much fun to watch and I truly believe they can hang with anyone in the league.
The 8 Big 5 games have featured:
1 3OT
1 OT buzzer beater
2 one possession games
3 games between 4-8 margin
1 ass kicking of Villanova in their own gym
This felt like an NCAA Tournament game on both sides, then Dayton absolutely set it on fire
This is a Top 5 offense in the country
Cherish this team, because it is special