Flyer75

Or UMass.

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DukesDan

That is about as big of a compliment I will ever get from you! Thanks!

Happy Holidays!

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Duquesne Dukes: 2012 A10 tournament qualifier!!

2012-2013 Locks of the Day TBA
2011-2012 Locks of the Day NIT participant 29-26-0...... .527
2010-2011 Locks of the Day Regular Season Champion 31-20-4 ..... .600

#15 Cooper #11 Green #10 Nixon #12 Ricketts #24 Somerset

Simms

Thanks. I can't believe you root against us Non Conference. I will certainly root for you guys to lose during A10 play, but I absolutely love our league and would never root against any team during the non conference sched.

Flyer75

I still gotta put VCU as the team to beat for now. After that about 6 teams in any given order on any given night

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bprichard

Agreed. I'm getting a little worried about our postseason chances overall, though. Other than Charlotte, VCU, and Temple (that mauling at the hands of Duke seems sort of acceptable), everyone has blemishes on their records, and with a league this deep, you know everyone is going to get the crap kicked out of them some during the conference slate.

JHG722

Happy holidays from Halil Kanacevic!

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Temple Owls football and basketball

BU Terriers hockey

owlfan2272

I am pretty surprised at how SJU has looked. I thought they were going to be the team to beat this year. VCU looks the best right now, Butler looks solid but even they have a couple of losses even though they were to good teams. Charlotte is still a wild card, if they beat Miami I will be pretty impressed.

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Temple Owls have won a lot.

JF1702

Anyone know how Khalif is celebrating Christmas this season?

Hopefully he buys himself something nice.

JHG722

Did his community service and paid his $1,000 fine. Victimless crime that is legal pretty much everywhere around the world (including parts of Nevada). He didn't flip anyone off on the court though. Halil could've built a house with those free throw bricks.

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Temple Owls football and basketball

BU Terriers hockey

mm4cc

I would argue that Butler and Richmond don't have any blemishes on their record either. Richmond hasn't beaten anybody and I am still a bit skeptical about Charlotte (but they do have a win over Davidson), but I expect VCU, Butler, Temple and 2 or three others (probably St. Joes and St. Louis) to go to the tournament this year.

JF1702

Wouldn't call them bricks. I would have preferred bricks instead of two toilet-bowlers that rolled around before falling out. Karma is a bitc* and Halil paid for his stupidity.

The most intriguing aspect of tonight's game is that it has seemingly reinvigorated the Cats' dormant fan base. And here I always thought they considered this a meaningless game...

bprichard

And I'd back track and agree with you. Butler has only good losses. The worst one is Xavier, and I still have no idea what kind of team X is. And they have a marquee thrashing of North Carolina. Richmond's undressing against Ohio has me unconvinced about them.

As for St. Joe's, this loss today puts them behind the eight ball a bit. They have four cupcakes left in the non-conference schedule, and what we've seen so far just does not look a team that's going to be in contention for the league title. Of course, I'm not going to count Martelli out just yet. I think he schemes very well against familiar teams.

And St. Louis, still a chance. They're also in the soft part of their schedule. Their shellacking of Texas A&M might turn out pretty good, although it could end up looking like nothing at all. I have no faith in Jim Crews' ability to guide his team through the A10 slate, though.

Both St. Joe's and St. Louis just have a lot of work to do. A 10-6 league record would put them squarely on the bubble.

DistrictBaller

I think UR is extremely dangerous. They have a ton of firepower in the back court and a solid post presence with Derrick Williams. They have also looked pretty beatable on the road between Minnesota, Ohio, and JMU. They have probably the toughest road schedule in conference play this year, so that will be a factor if they can't improve their play away from home.

I think Butler is really good, but inconsistent. I think with Chrishawn Hopkins, they probably would have been the best team in the A-10. North Carolina is a great name win, but they aren't the UNC we are used to seeing either. I have no doubt that will be a good win for Selection Sunday though. Marquette and Northwestern on the road are also good wins. They look like a NCAA team to me. If they can knock off Indiana, that would be huge and I'd put them as the favorite if that happens.

Charlotte has been a paper tiger for me for a long time, but beating Davidson at Davidson is pretty impressive. I have to think the 49'ers offense will keep them in games, especially at home. I'm not relishing the trip to Halton this season. That will be a tough game. If Charlotte can knock off Miami (which isn't beyond the realm of possibility, they lost to Florida Gulf Coast earlier this season), I would start to consider them a team that can compete for the league title. Still pretty cautious, but the Davidson game is significant.

It's tough to say anything without Kwamain Mitchell playing for Saint Louis. He's such a dynamic and calming influence and makes plays where there is seemingly nothing there. I'm sure it will take him some time to get back into game shape and perhaps that will play a factor in Saint Louis' early conference schedule. They are pretty talented so I wouldn't discount them, but they have been disappointing. At the same time, I can't say that I didn't expect there to be a drop-off without their best player by far.

X is young and/or inexperienced for the most part. That lends to some maddeningly inconsistent performances. I think they have the talent to play with and beat anyone in this league. They'll get better as the year goes on, but they may have a clunker here and there.

St. Joe's lack of depth hurts them. Ron Roberts thigh bruise didn't help last night. Over a conference schedule I wouldn't be surprised if they got worn down a bit. Their key guys are all excellent, but they don't get much help from their bench outside of Chris Wilson.

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SpiderDave19

Aside from the moron, everyone had Umass in the 5-7 range......which is probably where they'll end up. So I don't see them as preseason-overrated.

Bona84

Very nice W for the Mighty Dukes!

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Bona84