A-10 preview

[The Wiz]

Here is my pre-season A-10 report card...

A+......VCU

B+......The Bills

........Butler

........St. Joe

........Day

........Temp

........LaS

B.......Rich

B-......Char

........X

........St. B

C+......GW

........UMass

C-......Rh Is

D+......Duq

D-......Ford

Some observations....

These are pre-season and will change as we move into the season. The deeper we are into the season the more difficult it will be to move.

I have tried to arrange teams within the same category in order of strength. But generally if you are in the same category the diference between teams is insignificant.

The Sav St hurt our numbers just enough to knock us back to B+

The A-10 is a good quality top heavy league If you want to consider B- honor roll then we have only 5 teams that didn't make it. With a "little study" 2 more teams could make the grade. Fordham has improved some but they are still a major drag on the conference.

Assuming SLU holds their grade ...Feb 19 & 22 will be a chance to make big inroads with back to back games against VCU(home) and Butler(away)

Our toughest game in the next few weeks will be Temple

Overall, we are about where we were last season at this time. Last season we got better as conference play proceeded. It was late in Jan that I saw us become an elite team. Hopefully we gel and the same thing happens this year.

Go Bills

[pretty_ricky]

Just curious as to how butler did not recieve an a rating. Especially if vcu is an A+

[slu72]

I would certainly like to see us womp Temple in Philly... time for payback since my first and only trip to the Fetz was to watch them kick our ass last season. To win we have to stop their guards from hitting those 3's. Dunphy may be the best coach in the A-10 right now, though, and they'll be tough at the Owls Perch/Nest.

[GOSLU68]

I'm guessing because of the Tornado defense of VCU if we had trouble with Savanna State we are going to be killed again by VCU.

Also if it was pre-season everyone was saying Butler was going to rebuild this year and not be in the finals for the NCAA until they knocked off Cincy

[dlarry]

Who else is excited about the Fordham game!!!!

CANT WAIT!!!!

[The Wiz]

Just curious as to how butler did not recieve an a rating. Especially if vcu is an A+

X loss was damaging...enough to knock them down to B+. A win over St. Joe in their first conf game would put them back at A-.

[Pistol]

Just curious as to how butler did not recieve an a rating. Especially if vcu is an A+

X loss was damaging...enough to knock them down to B+. A win over St. Joe in their first conf game would put them back at A-.

Timing is everything. Butler would beat XU by 20 today.

[The Wiz]

Just curious as to how butler did not recieve an a rating. Especially if vcu is an A+

X loss was damaging...enough to knock them down to B+. A win over St. Joe in their first conf game would put them back at A-.

Timing is everything. Butler would beat XU by 20 today.

They played the game at X...if they had a rematch today at X ...it would be Butler by 1...The problem was Butler lost by 15...a damaging loss even for an away game.

[Pistol]

They played the game at X...if they had a rematch today at X ...it would be Butler by 1...The problem was Butler lost by 15...a damaging loss even for an away game.

Yeah, I'm just commenting on the way each has played since that game. Butler followed that loss by beating Marquette on a desperation heave and upsetting #9 UNC, then losing to Illinois in the tournament finals before winning 8 straight, with an upset of #1 Indiana in there. XU has looked terrible lately, losing 4 in a row, including at home to Wofford and on the road to just-decent Wake Forest and Tennessee teams. Xavier also has lost to Pacific and Vandy since that Butler game.

[David King]

VCU is an A+? How many A+ teams are there?

I think they're overrated.

[The Wiz]

VCU is an A+? How many A+ teams are there?

I think they're overrated.

A+ = 16

I think VCU is under rated in that they are an elite team not rated in either poll...Over rated or under rated??? I guess we will see.

[jbizzle09]

VCU is an A+? How many A+ teams are there?

I think they're overrated.

I know I am scared to death of them. I feel we will be very fortunate to come out of that game at the 'Fetz with a victory.

[Cowboy]

-Wiz, is that a big separation between VCU and the B+'s? for instance what is your spread on VCU vs SLU home, away, neutral?

[The Wiz]

-Wiz, is that a big separation between VCU and the B+'s? for instance what is your spread on VCU vs SLU home, away, neutral?

It is a big difference between VCU and the B+'s. Fortunately, we only play them at the Fetz which will eat into their advantage. If the Feb 19 game were played today...VCU by 4. We have 6 weeks to get better and close the gap, a small one at that. If we play like we did against New Mex...we win.

As for away, let's look at the Butler game. They are very close to the Bills numbers wise. On Mar 2 they have a game @ VCU. If that game were held today VCU by 13. As for a neutral site, VCU would be an average of 8-10 pts better than the B+ teams....and that is a lot. So the answer is yes... VCU is that good.

[slu72]

I watched them in the first half of the Lehigh game yesterday. They looked pretty lackluster to me. Couldn't hit a 3 to save their lives and Lehigh was getting a lot of open look 3s.

[The Wiz]

I watched them in the first half of the Lehigh game yesterday. They looked pretty lackluster to me. Couldn't hit a 3 to save their lives and Lehigh was getting a lot of open look 3s.

VCU did play lackluster. I had VCU by 13 over Leigh so a win by 4 hurt their numbers...but they are still at A+. And Leigh is a good team at B+. If you look at the post above yours in this thread I mention Butler losing to VCU by 13 if played today. Leigh is similar to Butler and they played at VCU...so it is not an accident that 13 shows up again.

[Cowboy]

-Wiz, is that a big separation between VCU and the B+'s? for instance what is your spread on VCU vs SLU home, away, neutral?

It is a big difference between VCU and the B+'s. Fortunately, we only play them at the Fetz which will eat into their advantage. If the Feb 19 game were played today...VCU by 4. We have 6 weeks to get better and close the gap, a small one at that. If we play like we did against New Mex...we win.

As for away, let's look at the Butler game. They are very close to the Bills numbers wise. On Mar 2 they have a game @ VCU. If that game were held today VCU by 13. As for a neutral site, VCU would be an average of 8-10 pts better than the B+ teams....and that is a lot. So the answer is yes... VCU is that good.

-thanks, will be a good win to get then!!!

[moytoy12]

Another preview: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8827657/atlantic-10-season-primer-college-basketball

[The Wiz]

Another preview: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8827657/atlantic-10-season-primer-college-basketball

i like it.

[dlarry]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="moytoy12" data-cid="335281" data-time="1357773347"><p>

Another preview: <a href='http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8827657/atlantic-10-season-primer-college-basketball'>http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8827657/atlantic-10-season-primer-college-basketball</a></p></ blockquote>

I got a kick out of reading the comments on that article. About 65 posts and around 60 of them are Butler fans complaining about a lack of respect and how they get zero national coverage.

Bunch of cry babies.

I hope they finish in the bottom half.

Butler has had a great run the last few years but now they all talk like they are Duke or Kansas.

Ive found myseld really pulling for them in the last few years but ill be rooting against them every conference game they play.

[irishdawg]

How would you expect their fans to react dlarry? I'm not going to pretend like Butler is going to go undefeated or even win the league, but when your team beats Marquette, UNC and Indiana on neutral courts, @ Northwestern and Vandy (these are hardly great wins, but not easy to win on the road against BCS opponents), you expect a little better rating than 4th in the conference and a place on the bubble (since most ESPN experts are saying that likely only 4 teams from the conference are getting in). Butler may very well finish 4th, since according to the preseason rankings, they have the 2nd hardest road schedule in the conference, while VCU (14th most difficult), SLU (16th most difficult) and Temple (9th most difficult) have easier road schedules and get most of the top preseason rated teams at home, but most fans don't look at that, and it wasn't brought up in the article either.

I also find it funny that you're going to root against Butler because of comments from people on ESPN.com. Definitely within your rights, and feel free to do so, but most of the people that comment on those articles are idiots, doesn't matter who they are fans of.

Wiz, I would also caution your use of the Pomeroy predictor (since that's who it appears that you're using), especially when examining a fast paced team that blows out weaker competition (such as VCU or UNC, IU and others). His ratings, (and therefore his predictor) gives a lot of credit to teams that blow out bad teams vs. teams that just go out and win games. It's a better way to rate teams than RPI, for sure, but it's not a silver bullet by any means.

Good luck in your guys' game tomorrow against UMass. Now that Mitchell is back, it's not going to be easy to beat the Billikens.

[The Wiz]

How would you expect their fans to react dlarry? I'm not going to pretend like Butler is going to go undefeated or even win the league, but when your team beats Marquette, UNC and Indiana on neutral courts, @ Northwestern and Vandy (these are hardly great wins, but not easy to win on the road against BCS opponents), you expect a little better rating than 4th in the conference and a place on the bubble (since most ESPN experts are saying that likely only 4 teams from the conference are getting in). Butler may very well finish 4th, since according to the preseason rankings, they have the 2nd hardest road schedule in the conference, while VCU (14th most difficult), SLU (16th most difficult) and Temple (9th most difficult) have easier road schedules and get most of the top preseason rated teams at home, but most fans don't look at that, and it wasn't brought up in the article either.

I also find it funny that you're going to root against Butler because of comments from people on ESPN.com. Definitely within your rights, and feel free to do so, but most of the people that comment on those articles are idiots, doesn't matter who they are fans of.

Wiz, I would also caution your use of the Pomeroy predictor (since that's who it appears that you're using), especially when examining a fast paced team that blows out weaker competition (such as VCU or UNC, IU and others). His ratings, (and therefore his predictor) gives a lot of credit to teams that blow out bad teams vs. teams that just go out and win games. It's a better way to rate teams than RPI, for sure, but it's not a silver bullet by any means.

Good luck in your guys' game tomorrow against UMass. Now that Mitchell is back, it's not going to be easy to beat the Billikens.

I could just tell him I am Pomeroy but he probably won't be back anyway.

[gmoser1210]

A lot of the comments on that article say nothing negative about the other A10 programs, and the vast majority of the comments seem okay with being behind VCU, but they have a point that 4th is too low for Butler. When you look at the numbers thus far, it's hard to make a good case for putting SLU and Temple ahead of Butler. Give it some time and the Bulldogs might slip to fourth, but they should be top two right now. For the record, I'm expecting SLU to be right up there with Butler and VCU now that Mitchell is back. I just can't justify putting SLU above Butler until I see SLU compete more with him playing.

BTW, Irishdawg probably will be back.

[irishdawg]

This is true, I, like most message board trolls are like a case of private part cold sores. I may not flare up very often, but at some point I'll probably be back for a visit.

[SShoe]

Butler is being picked 4th partially because of their difficult A-10 road schedule. It includes games at St. Joe, Dayton, VCU, SLU, LaSalle, and UMass, which are all teams that are projected to finish in the top half of the league.