Inside the numbers on A-10 so far

[slu72]

So far A-10 has posted a 21-12 non con record. What we're lacking is a signature win. Wouldn't consider X beating Mizzery a signature win. Teams that have played top 40 squads are 0-6. Some have been close, RI L to Duke 3pts, Temple L to Clemson, 4pts, Rich L to Syr, 5 pts. LaSalle to Fl St, 4 pts. So some teams have been holding their own. But others have been blowouts, UMass l to Memphis 22pts and Fordham L to Nova 41pts. The other losses have come at the hands of mid majors, us to K state (arguably an NCAA caliber team), but other conf teams have lost to some unnotables, Charlotte to ODU and App State, Fordham to Columbia, St. J to Holy Cross. Point being the A-10's not really doing much to convince the powers to be we're more than a 2 bid conference at this point. And with the exception of X, once conf play starts we'll likely be beating each other's heads in and have a lot of teams with 9-7 and 8-8 marks. Be nice to get a few notable wins by our conference brothers. Of course we get a chance this Saturday against BC, although am not sure the Eagles are that highly regarded even though they're an ACC team. One other thing, ST. B's is 2-0 granted no big time wins but at least they ain't losing.

[kwyjibo]

So far A-10 has posted a 21-12 non con record. What we're lacking is a signature win. Wouldn't consider X beating Mizzery a signature win. Teams that have played top 40 squads are 0-6. Some have been close, RI L to Duke 3pts, Temple L to Clemson, 4pts, Rich L to Syr, 5 pts. LaSalle to Fl St, 4 pts. So some teams have been holding their own. But others have been blowouts, UMass l to Memphis 22pts and Fordham L to Nova 41pts. The other losses have come at the hands of mid majors, us to K state (arguably an NCAA caliber team), but other conf teams have lost to some unnotables, Charlotte to ODU and App State, Fordham to Columbia, St. J to Holy Cross. Point being the A-10's not really doing much to convince the powers to be we're more than a 2 bid conference at this point. And with the exception of X, once conf play starts we'll likely be beating each other's heads in and have a lot of teams with 9-7 and 8-8 marks. Be nice to get a few notable wins by our conference brothers. Of course we get a chance this Saturday against BC, although am not sure the Eagles are that highly regarded even though they're an ACC team. One other thing, ST. B's is 2-0 granted no big time wins but at least they ain't losing.

So far the A-10 has walked into the barbershop, sat down, and asked for "the usual" (#8 or #9). It's early but so far nothing surprising overall.

[slu72]

So far the A-10 has walked into the barbershop, sat down, and asked for "the usual" (#8 or #9). It's early but so far nothing surprising overall.

Good way to put it, Kwijibo. Kind of wish they'd walked in and said, "Give me that Valley cut that was so popular 3years ago." Like if Rhody had knocked off the Dukies and Temple beat Clemson that would have raised some eyebrows around the country.

[Quality Is Job 1]

So far A-10 has posted a 21-12 non con record. What we're lacking is a signature win. Wouldn't consider X beating Mizzery a signature win. Teams that have played top 40 squads are 0-6. Some have been close, RI L to Duke 3pts, Temple L to Clemson, 4pts, Rich L to Syr, 5 pts. LaSalle to Fl St, 4 pts. So some teams have been holding their own. But others have been blowouts, UMass l to Memphis 22pts and Fordham L to Nova 41pts. The other losses have come at the hands of mid majors, us to K state (arguably an NCAA caliber team), but other conf teams have lost to some unnotables, Charlotte to ODU and App State, Fordham to Columbia, St. J to Holy Cross. Point being the A-10's not really doing much to convince the powers to be we're more than a 2 bid conference at this point. And with the exception of X, once conf play starts we'll likely be beating each other's heads in and have a lot of teams with 9-7 and 8-8 marks. Be nice to get a few notable wins by our conference brothers. Of course we get a chance this Saturday against BC, although am not sure the Eagles are that highly regarded even though they're an ACC team. One other thing, ST. B's is 2-0 granted no big time wins but at least they ain't losing.

Now Xavier has a win over Virginia Tech.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Now Xavier has a win over Virginia Tech.

St Bona just had a nice win in OT over Rutgers in New Brunswick.

Watched it on TV and I believe St Bona will be tough to beat this year and I expect them to be going to Atlantic City this year.

[kshoe]

Great win tonight for Xavier over Memphis. IMO this is the first real signature win for the conference. Very strong tourney for the X-men beating a Big 12, ACC team and Memphis.

Saturday was a rough one for the A-10, unfortunately. Including the SLU win, the A-10 was 2-4 but had chances to beat Clemson and GW had a 15 point halftime lead at Auburn only to lose. Thankfully a 4-0 Sunday made it a good weekend.

[Taj79]

I think that no matter how you slice the A10 this year, you have to discount anything Xavier does. Xavier is expected to do this. I don't believe they were ranked in the Top 25 at the start and why they will be now, they were the only A10 team garnering any votes of any number. So this is expected of them for the most part. The real conference building stat will come from that cast of others. And I would offer that it has to be somone in addtion to Temple. Temple has a historical lifeline that, while not too dominant recently, does maintain some notoreity from days gone past. For the A10 to surge, it needs the second tier teams to break fast and sustain --- teams like Charlotte (2 losses already), us, Dayton, Umass, Duquesne, Rhode Island and, to a lesser degree, St. Joe's.

If X and Temple and St. Joe's are doing the usual, the A10 will be usual. It takes the second tier to pump things up. And with La Salle, the Bonnies, Fordham, GeeDub and even Richmond being so far down, they're first few big vicotries will be seen as oddities, not sustained resurrection. The Valley was peaking when it had Creighton, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, Wichita State and even Northern Iowa going into places and winning. I think the same goes for them -- if only Creighton and SIU are winning, the pundits will say "business as usual" and ignore the conference as a whole. If Drake and/or an Evansivlle break in, then along with the others already mentioned, the overall grade goes up.

Conferences as a whole have to win, not one or two teams. Its what makes the Big East and ACC so tough to beat or even argue against come "we deserve ten teams in" time.

[Cowboy]

The real conference building stat will come from that cast of others.

For the A10 to surge, it needs the second tier teams to break fast and sustain --- teams like Charlotte (2 losses already), us, Dayton, Umass, Duquesne, Rhode Island and, to a lesser degree, St. Joe's.

Conferences as a whole have to win, not one or two teams. Its what makes the Big East and ACC so tough to beat or even argue against come "we deserve ten teams in" time.

imo this is very correct