MardyCollins

after several years in darkness it appears that the Atlantic 10 conference is finally back on the rise.

#17 Xavier (7-1) in my opinion has played like one of the top teams in the country ever since their lone unlucky 2 point setback at Miami-Ohio, defeating Kent State on the road, thrashing Indiana on a neutral court and blowing out two solid low majors in Oakland and Belmont. They will have ample opportunity to prove themselves with upcoming games against Arizona State, Kansas State, Tennessee, and Auburn.

Rhode Island (10-1) has the most wins in the country, and although their SOS has been average, they have notched some good wins against UAB, South Florida, Providence, and Syracuse.

Dayton (7-1) who has struggled in recent years to win on the road, already has three impressive road wins over Miami-Ohio, Holy Cross, and last weekend over #14 Louisville.

UMass defeated Syracuse on the road as well and mark my words, they will upset Boston College this Wednesday. Charlotte is playing great defense and has good wins against Wake Forest, Davidson, and Southern Illinois.

St. Joseph's could very well be 8-0. Their star Ahmad Nivins has struggled and the team has had great difficulty in close games. They have lost by 3 at Syracuse (buzzer beater), 5 against Holy Cross and in overtime to Creighton and Gonzaga, who both rallied back at the end of regulation.


Just thought I would share, since I feel the conference does not get the respect it deserves from the media or average basketball fan. DON'T SLEEP ON THE A-10! Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated predicts that the A-10 will finish with 4 and possibly even 5 NCAA tournament bids.

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RON PAUL 2008

coolpohle

A-10 certainly won't get 5 bids, and even 4 is a bit of a stretch.

Xavier will make it in. Rhode Island and Dayton both have a good chance since they've got some good wins. But if these teams put up some shaky losses during conference play it may turn out that only one of those two gets in. And St. Joe's blew their chance at an at-large losing to Syracuse in a game they were dominating early on, and then losing to the Zags at home.

PM Thor

For years (since the X/SJU Elite Eight year) we have been waiting for the A10 to make some noise. Finally this conference has done so, and deservedly should garner national attention.

Finally. This is a good league, heck look at it compared to the SEC. SOS? A10 9, SEC 17. Who woulda thunk that?

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Xavier. The ONE AND ONLY private school to make the Elite TWICE in the last five years.

DeeItUp32

If Dayton beats Pitt and wins 22 or more games this year, they're in.