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.