agoo101284

La Salle and URI.

I always like when this thread gets posted every year since the Bonnies seem to be just about everyone's second or third favorite team.

jpschmack

I respect Xavier, for the way they rise to the occasion. And the genius of building an arena designed to be loud.

I respect Temple, for decades of success, John Chaney's class, and some clever fans chucking cookies at me in 2000.

I respect Saint Joe's for Phil's bravado about the conference. When they were undefeated and #1 in the country in 2004, he answered questions about the "weaker" A-10 by stopping just short of saying F-You. He brazenly said "the A-10 would get FOUR bids" and was right. He used the spotlight to promote everyone else in the league every chance he got.

I respect La Salle, because being a La Salle fan can't be easy. And because they get it: If you ain't got a new banner, make your old banners ridiculously sweet looking and ridiculously big.

I respect Duquesne, because I think they're basically us in a bigger city with different challenges. And I respect them hiring a Xavier guy to be their AD. Savvy move.

I respect Richmond, because I hate Syracuse and the Spiders have always been near in dear after a 15-2 upset over the Orange.

I respect VCU & Butler, because I love Shaka Smart and I love rooting for non-BCS schools over BCS schools and these two have done more for me saying "screw you, you don't need football to be good at basketball" than anyone else.

I respect UMass, because their fans and our fans always had a playful banter back and forth. In 1998, our cheering sections at the A-10 tourney were next to each other and just started chanting back and forth at each other's expense. For no reason other than it was fun. A Philly paper wrote about it. It was great.

I respect Dayton, because at the 2000 NCAA Tournament, there were about 8000 fans in Cleveland who jumped on our bandwagon during the Kentucky game: They were chanting "Let's Go Bonnies" late in the game, but as I was sprinting to the men's room during a timeout, I passed a pair of Dayton students standing up and yelling "Let's Go BONAS."

I respect URI, for their how good of a program they had in the 90s with facilities that weren't like XU/UD/Temple; for recognizing the job Baron did and hiring him.

I respect GW, because they always seem to have a guy who's been making our life hell for years. That guy who makes you say "How's he still got eligibility left? Hasn't he been on GW for 7 years?"

I respect Fordham because being a Fordham fan can't be easy.

I respect Charlotte because of their ability to win in the C-USA tournament to the point where the rest of the league was calling it The Bobby Lutz Invitational.

I respect SLU for the same reason: as well as hiring Majerus and, like Charlotte, saying "The A-10 is the place for us" in 2005.

JHG722

Right now, Richmond, because I went to HS with Richmond senior G/F Greg Robbins. He's also from my town. Overall, it would probably be Butler because I love Stevens, Hinkle is awesome, and their players are easy to root for. They also are similar to us in that they dont get the love that Indiana and Notre Dame sports do.

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Temple Owls football and basketball

BU Terriers hockey

vaNtR

Xavier is my second favorite team followed by Saint Joes.

FlyingElvis

It's cool how Dayton fans and residents who go to the NCAA First Four strictly for the love of watching the tournament often adopt some of the teams to cheer for. It's usually when an underdog is playing inspired ball and taking it to a higher seed. It gives those teams a huge lift because they are never expecting a crowd of that size consisting largely of 3rd party fans to get behind them with a roar. It has produced some magical moments.

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"US Bank Arena can't be that bad"

LaSalle08

+1

I respect Temple the most. 2nd fave team is St. Joe's

El Shaqtus

Charlotte, and it's a pretty wide gap to the next team.

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Mom, thanks for everything.

RIP Coach Rick Majerus 12/1/12. You were the one that said it was OK to think big at SLU. You were right.

KVBL Lexington Kings

TheCobra

Ooh good thread. I'm sure there will be lots of votes for Dayton. .

I think Temple is my favorite, too. They just don't do anything to piss you off. Good team, seemingly nice, no-nonsense players, and always a quality win if you can get it. Plus Owlfan2272 balls out on the game threads every day. What's not to like? They will be sorely missed next year.

Honorable mention goes to SBU, VCU, and LaSalle.

I like SBU because all their fans are diehard, foxhole types, which I respect the hell out of. I was at the A10 tourney last year and their fans were beaming - well deserved.

VCU has Shaka Smart, former Dayton assistant, as their coach, and they haven't beaten us in an important game yet to make me hate them. Wait 2 days for this one.

LaSalle I've always been intrigued by because they are never good but they always have talent. Its just interesting, no other way to explain it. They have a decent number of NBA players, and even more great individual players over the last 15 years, but are never good. That might change this year.

jpschmack

Absolutely. I also like how they will switch allegiances to the team that's trailing, and root for a tight game.


That 2000 game I was referencing was in Cleveland. I just thought it was awesome how all these fans who just wanted to see an upset joined our chant with what they THOUGHT we were saying, and the Dayton fans KNEW what we were saying. I remembered that when I went to the 2004 NCAA Tourney in Buffalo; so I wore red for UD and also sang "The Hawk Will Never Die" during the Saint Joe's game.

That's the kind of stuff I love about this conference. (I just wish A-10 was easier to chant, like S-E-C)

UMass87

SBU - because I've yet to meet a SBU alumnus I didn't like plus how can you not like "Brown Indian"?
VCU - because I get to see them more than any other team and Shaka Smart plain knows how to coach.

Bona84

Here you go, res!

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Bona84

Bizziken

I have degrees from 3 A-10 schools so I have 3 different rooting interests (SLU primarily) + I like Butler...

a10nick

It's really too early to include VCU and Butler into such a conversation for me.

I have tremendous respect for what Temple has been able to do for decades.

I always get a smile on my face when I see that the Bonnies have won (except when they beat my Muskies), so they have to rank way up there also.

I also admire Duquesne because they seem to me to be the "Avis" of the A-10 --- always trying a little harder than the other guy.

When I was a young kid in Cincinnati I used to like watching the Tom Blackburn coach's show on WHIO-TV on Sunday. His demeanor on the show (which I am sure was a "sedative version" of the Dayton coach) always impressed me. He usually featured a player or two from the team and was always rather complimentary of the players. I've had a somewhat soft spot in my heart for UD ever since (but it's limited).

I've always wanted SLU to do well because it is so much like XU (Jesuit run) and its city is so much like Cincy (Germanic, beer, midwest, river city, etc.).

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I just want the team I support to be in a stronger conference. I'd prefer it to be a stronger A-10! To me that would mean every member would have at least 2 trips to the NCAA Tourney and 5 winning seasons during each 10-year cycle. It would also be great for every program to seriously challenge for a league title (either regular season or Tourney) at least once during that same period of time.

bprichard

It's an easy choice: St. Bonaventure for all the reasons listed by the other posters. They're the little engine that sometimes can. And they have super intense fans.

I'm also an unabashed Phil Martelli fan.

I dislike URI because they beat Dayton regardless of talent disparity.

As for other teams, it kind of goes on a year-by-year basis depending on who is coaching and playing. I liked VCU until I listened to their TV broadcast. Despite my general dislike of SLU (no offense, it's Dayton's second best conference rivalry), it's hard not to cheer for them this year.

Eight Legger

Duquesne, because both my parents went to grad school there, and GW, because my dad teaches there. Without those two, no way in hell I'd have been able to attend UR!