# 4 Seed (East) – Butler

# 7 Seed (West) – Temple

# 8 Seed (Midwest) – VCU

# 10 Seed (South) – Dayton

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports.com posted his first NCAA tournament bracket of the season and has Dayton as one of four Atlantic 10 teams in the field as a 10 seed.

The Flyers, who are 9-3, are joined by Butler (a projected 4 seed), VCU (7), and Temple (8).

Palm was the founder of CollegeRPI.com and ran that site for years before joining CBSSports.com as a "bracketology expert."

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi hasn’t posted a bracket since Dec. 11, but he currently has the Flyers ranked 55th on his "S curve," which is how the NCAA committee seeds its teams. That means they’d be on the bubble. They’d have to be 49th or better to make the bracket.

Lunardi agrees with Palm that UD currently has the fourth-strongest résumé among A-10 teams.

Conference favorite: In a wide-open league featuring a handful of teams capable of finishing atop the standings, VCU deserves the title of favorite. Thanks to their frenetic defense and the scoring of Treveon Graham and Juvonte Reddic, the Rams (9-3) have reeled off six straight wins since narrow losses to top 10 Duke and Missouri. Furthermore, they'll have an advantage in their debut Atlantic 10 season because most league foes will be seeing their trademark pressure for the first time.

Who else could win it: Between Butler's victories over North Carolina, Marquette and Indiana and Temple's upset of Syracuse, it's obvious VCU will have plenty of competition in the Atlantic 10. Rotnei Clarke and Kellen Dunham have delivered the outside shooting Butler lacked a year ago, while Khalif Wyatt and Anthony Lee have formed a formidable inside-outside tandem for Temple. Also, don't sleep on Saint Louis, which gets senior point guard Kwamain Mitchell back from foot surgery this week.


Fearless Predictions:

• VCU will win an NCAA tournament game for the third straight season and advance to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years. What's more, the Rams won't need to pull any major upsets to do it. Expect VCU to receive a No. 4 or 5 seed if it can win the Atlantic 10 outright.

• Four or five Atlantic 10 teams will land NCAA bids, with VCU and Butler standing on the most solid ground entering league play and Temple in pretty good shape since its win over Syracuse should carry a lot of clout in March.

Of the rest of the league, gun-to-head, I'd give Saint Louis and Dayton the best shot. The Billikens have a bland resume right now but they'll get a much-needed boost from the return of Kwamain Mitchell, while Dayton already boasts quality wins over Murray State and Alabama.

# 3 Seed (South) – Butler

# 6 Seed (East) – Temple

# 6 Seed (West) – VCU

# 8 Seed (Midwest) – Massachusetts

# 9 Seed (West) – Dayton

# 10 Seed (Midwest) – La Salle


Out Today: Tennessee

First Four Out: Saint Louis, Nebraska, Tennessee, North Carolina

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muddy Waters on January 22, 2012 Re: 2011-12 Dayton Flyers - Post # 280 What We Learned on Wild Saturday Afternoon (Eamonn Brennan, ESPN - January 21, 2012) Dayton 87, Xavier 72 What we learned: The Flyers have come a long way since Nov. 30. That's when this team lost 84-55 to Buffalo at home, three days after winning the Old Spice Classic title game over Minnesota. Four days later, Dayton was blown out at Murray State. At that point, first-year coach Archie Miller appeared to have a sincere rebuilding project on his hands. Nearly two months later, the Flyers are, well, flying. This 15-point home win over putative Atlantic 10 favorite Xavier puts them at 4-1 in A-10 play, another excellent addition to a résumé that includes victories over Alabama, Saint Louis and, most recently, a strong 10-point win at Temple. Dayton isn't a rebuild. It isn't a neat little story. It's a legitimate A-10 contender with an easy case to make for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament. Who saw that one coming? In the meantime, Xavier's off-and-on struggles -- which appeared to abate with a four-game winning streak in A-10 play -- reared their ugly head again. The Musketeers were mediocre on offense and downright bad on defense, allowing 87 points in 65 possessions, or 1.33 points per trip. Sometimes it's ugly offense, sometimes it's lenient defense, but in either case, it's clear Chris Mack's team hasn't put its midseason slide entirely in the rearview.

An MRI examination revealed that University of Dayton junior forward Josh Benson suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during last night’s 62-50 win over Ole Miss. The surgery and rehab to repair the injury will put Benson out for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. The 6-9 junior had started every game this year at forward for the Flyers.

"Everyone in our program feels for Josh right now," Flyer head coach Archie Miller said. "He was really playing at both ends of the floor with a confidence that comes from being dedicated to getting better every day. But he will still have a big role for our team as he comes back from this. We will need his leadership and enthusiasm with us as we head into conference."

Benson is UD’s second-leading scorer (10.9) and rebounder (5.2), up from averages of 5.6 and 3.5 a year ago. He leads UD and is fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference in FG% (.610, 64-105). He scored seven points and had four rebounds in 11 minutes against Ole Miss before suffering the injury.

Benson had scored in double figures in five of the last six games going into Friday’s contest.

Dayton, who finished non-conference play 10-4, will play Saint Louis at home on Wednesday, Jan. 4 in the A-10 opener for both teams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulxu Our record so far is pretty good given the players Mack has to work with this year.

2007-08 – Sean Miller – 30 wins / RPI Rank # 9

2008-09 – Sean Miller – 27 wins / RPI Rank # 15

2009-10 – Chris Mack – 26 wins / RPI Rank # 17

2010-11 – Chris Mack – 24 wins / RPI Rank # 26

2011-12 – Chris Mack – 21 wins / RPI Rank # 37

2012-13 – Chris Mack – 7 wins / RPI Rank # 84*

* as of Saturday December 29, 2012.