Both teams shot poorly from the field in the first half but the game heated up down the stretch. Staten Island-raised Halil Kanacevic led a Hawk surge before fouling out. He ended the game with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. His back-court mate Ron Roberts finished with only 8 points and missed three key free throws near the end that nearly cost St. Joe’s the game.

In what was almost his last game in college, senior Tay Jones continued his slump with a 1 for 10 night from the field scoring 11 points, mostly on free throws. Despite his struggles, Jones surpassed Ahmad Nivins for third place on Saint Joseph’s all-time scorers list.

The Hawks will now face VCU at the Barclays Center on Friday.

Ron Roberts led Saint Joseph’s with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Halil Kanacevic continued his own personal hot streak with 12 points and 9 rebounds. The two forwards combined with CJ Aiken and his 16 points to give the Hawks a dominant presence in the paint. Only 21% of St. Joe’s attempts against Temple were three-pointers, compared with 41% on the season, and it paid off. Saint Joseph’s scored 40 points in the paint compared to only 16 by Temple.

The game was remarkably well-disciplined as there were only 16 total turnovers including only 5 by Temple. The Hawks only recorded 9 fouls on the night.

The Hawks eliminated a 9-point deficit late in the second half to go up by 4 on the Owls who were led by an outstanding performance by Khalif Wyatt who ended up with 34 points. Wyatt made a long three to cut the deficit to one point with under 10 seconds to go and Tay Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one but Temple was unable to score with 7 seconds remaining.

Team captain Langston Galloway continued his puzzling regression with 8 points and no three-pointers. The only major contributor from the Hawk backcourt with Jones who scored 16 points to go along with 4 assists and 5 rebounds.

Saint Joseph’s now travels to Dayton for a Wednesday night tilt.

This weekend the La Salle Explorers took that attention and used it to their benefit.

The Explorers pulled off wins against the two ranked A-10 newbies, first in a home win — although not an official upset, La Salle was favored to win the game — against Butler as Ramon Galloway drove the distance of the court for the game winner with just three seconds to play, followed by a road upset of double-digit favorite VCU, a game Galloway dominated from start to finish, posting a career high 31 points in the 69-61 victory.

But don’t call it an upset, at least not to the players and coaches in the blue and gold.

“We don’t want to be known as the new people on the block”, La Salle guard Tyreek Duran told media after the VCU win. “This isn’t an upset, this is a win for us.”

“We had a lot of succes last year”, Explores head coach Dr. John Giannini added after the VCU win.

The Explorers went 9-7 in conference last season before taking their 21 wins to the first round of the NIT where they fell to Minnesota in the first round.

La Salle lost starter Earl Pettis, but returned the bulk of an experienced team this season, yet were picked to finish seventh in the A-10, one spot behind Butler and four behind the VCU team they just upset in Richmond.

“Listen, we won 21 games last year…in the Atlantic 10″, Giannini said.

“Rankings are perception…VCU is a great team, Butler’s a great team, but so is St. Louis, so is Temple, so is St. Joe’s…so is Dayton, so is Richmond…If you’re new to this league, they’re all good, just so you know”.

And just so YOU know, La Salle is darn good as well.

Of their remaining ten conference games, six are against teams who are either sub .500 on the season, or one game above — the Explorers play George Washington (10-9) twice.

Two of the remaining four are either home or neutral games, the first coming this Wednseday against UMass in Philly, the second a  neutral site battle against St. Joseph’s at the storied Pelestra.

The Explorers have a long road ahead, but clearly possess the talent to discover some new territory come March: an Atlantic 10 title.

What set the Spiders apart from the Rams was their ability to get open quickly when needed and drain a three. It seemed whenever the momentum was in VCU’s favor, Richmond would sink a well-timed shot from behind the arc.

This game boasted two of the most threatening three-point shooters in the country and the two best three-point shooting teams in the A-10, and while VCU’s Troy Daniels was only able to come up with one basket, Richmond’s Darien Brothers, who ranks 12^th nationally, knocked down four. Not his strongest performance from behind the arc, but notable when compared to Daniels. Richmond ended up shooting 44 percent compared to VCU’s surprisingly low 17%.

And while we’re on the topic of 3-point shots…Spider fans will be watching YouTube videos of Brothers’ 28-foot three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left for days to come. Despite VCU’s well-timed comeback giving them a seven-point lead in the final minute, they made a major mistake leaving Brothers’ open from behind the arc. The memorable shot was set up by sophomore guard Kendall Anthony who had an incredible game in his own right, scoring 21 of his 26 points after halftime.

Also worth noting was the impressive performance by Richmond’s bench. Much is noted about VCU’s deep bench and seemingly endless rotation of substitutions, but it was the Spiders who capitalized and scored 35 of their points from off the bench players compared to VCU’s 15.

But let’s not discredit VCU. While most media was anticipating a stronger showing from the nationally-ranked (but probably not for much longer) squad, they didn’t give up. True to their second-half form, they snagged turnover after turnover and crawled back to a lead after trailing for much of the first half.

Junior forward Juvonte Reddic would’ve had a monster game till some ticky-tacky fouls got him in trouble in the first half. Despite the fouls, the junior led the team in points (20), and posted his fifth double-double of the year. He had six all of last year.

It was also refreshing to see freshman Melvin Johnson keeping the Rams close with nine points in the final five minutes of the half. It was certainly a promising showing from the Bronx, NY native.

What I didn’t like: VCU’s sloppy play early on. Senior guard Darius Theus, who just had his career-best performance in the Rams’ overtime win against St Joseph’s, had little impact as the Rams’ floor general. Theus, who normally has a knack for controlling the pace and calming his team down, made some questionable passes and couldn’t seem to find his rhythm at the start. With many tough conference games ahead, VCU needs their leader to lock it up.

I can’t pinpoint if VCU was overconfident riding a 13-game winning streak or just genuinely surprised at the way Richmond started so hot, but the Rams definitely did not perform at their usual level. While I had every expectation of a close game, I anticipated Richmond rising to VCU’s fast-paced offense, not VCU forcing shots and allowing 13 turnovers.

On a side note…I REALLY didn’t like the student halftime karaoke display. Your inner-city rival comes to your house and you can’t put on a little pomp and circumstance for a sold out crowd at halftime? Come on, Richmond. I would’ve gone to a dive bar if I wanted to hear Aerosmith sung in the wrong key.

Moment of the game: When VCU’s head coach Shaka Smart elected not to foul in the last 12 seconds of the game which led to Richmond sinking the shot to send the game into overtime.

“Obviously, in retrospect, we should have fouled,” he said in an article from the Associated Press.

While there’s no guarantee this could’ve sealed the game for VCU, the odds were ever in their favor. (Pardon the super lame Hunger Games reference…couldn’t resist.)

Fan moment of the game: When CBS panned to Smart firing up his squad on the sidelines after they took a late second-half lead. The 35-year-old head coach is notorious for moving up and down the sidelines with his team showing just as much energy as his players do, but this time it looked like he was about to jump on the floor himself.

Player of the Game:  Kendall Anthony. His impact in the second half helped keep the Spiders in the game when it looked like Havoc might get the best of them. While Brothers’ will be remembered as the hero for sinking the shot to send the game into overtime, Anthony was the glue.

What this means: The giants of the A-10 have all fallen and no team is undefeated in the conference any longer. This is shaping up to be one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. No.9 Butler lost a shocker to La Salle on Wednesday and Xavier fell to Charlotte on the same night. Charlotte, VCU and Xavier all sit atop the A-10 in a tie with four wins and one loss a piece with Butler right on their heels at 3-1, 16-3 overall.

What’s next: VCU will host La Salle this Saturday (Ram Nation should be nervous about this one. They took down Butler, arguably the best team in the A-10.), and Richmond travels to play Massachusetts.

Closing thought: Richmond has officially turned into a real-life West Side Story. If both teams stay in the Atlantic 10 for the long haul, this could end up being a classic basketball rivalry. The highly anticipated rematch will take place on March 6^th at the Siegel Center.

This was one ridiculous week of hoops, and one in which we learned a number of things:

1) You can’t take a night off in the A-10.

Saturday was a brutal night for home teams in A-10 conference games. Four of six home teams lost, one being an obvious mismatch (VCU v Duquesne), the other three relative stunners.

Getting the mismatch out of the way, VCU (16-3, 4-) rolled Duquesne (7-10, 0-4), outscoring the Dukes 44-18 in the first half before dumping their bench in the 90-63 win, the Rams’ 13th straight. The Rams got dominating performances from usual suspect Treveon Graham and Juvonte Reddic, and a huge night (22 points in 25 minutes) from a dangerous Rob Brandenberg. VCU used 19 forced turnovers and a 15 rebound advantage to attempt 20 more shots than the Dukes in the win.

Now on to the shockers…

I think the result that sticks out the most is what Dan Hurley’s squad was able to pull off at St. Louis.

Rhode Island (6-10, 1-2) picked up just their sixth win of the season, upsetting the St. Louis Billikens (12-5, 1-2) 82-80, scoring 17 points in overtime to send SLU to 1-2 in A-10 play.

SLU’s Kwamain Mitchell had his first big game since returning from injury, posting 29 points, seven assists and six steals in his 43 minutes on the floor.

What’s absolutely stunning is the Billikens hit 53.8% of their 26 threes (43.8% from the field), turned Rhodie over 18 times…and lost.

That’s because St. Louis was red hot, shooting 55% on the game and making 10-of-19 threes on the night. Huge road win for a Rhode Island team looking for some momentum.

Next there’s the curious case of the Temple Owls.

Temple has been one of the more hot and cold teams in the A-10, and this Saturday that came back to bite them against an experienced St. Bonaventure squad looking to get off the A-10 schneid.

Temple got their usual big game from star Khalif Wyatt (31 points in 30 minutes), but when the Senior guard fouled out late, St. Bonaventure took the big play advantage, getting consecutive threes from Demitrius Conger and Chris Johnson to essentially ice the game.

Like Rhode Island, the Bonnies couldn’t miss from deep, hitting 61% of their threes and shooting 49% as a team from the field.

Lastly, George Washington (8-9, 2-2) dropped UMass (12-5, 2-2) in another tightly contested contest.

The Colonials got 35 points off their bench in the 79-76 win.

2) Charlotte exposed?

Charlotte has been one of the nice surprises of this season, heading into this game 15-2 with a 3-0 start to A-10 play. But many have questioned if up to this point the Niners were paper tigers, having played the weakest schedule of any Atlantic 10 team, the 210th ranked SOS heading into this weekend.

The Spiders had no problems with Charlotte, defeating the Niners by 20 without leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Derrick Williams.

The loss moves Charlotte to 1-3 against Kenpom top-100 teams, their lone win a 9-point home W against La Salle.

Seven of the 49ers next nine games come against top-100 teams. Needless to say, we’ll know soon enough whether Charlotte’s hot start was due to masterful scheduling or a team who actually is vastly improved.

3) Is Butler guided by a higher, possibly evil, power?

One of our favorite Atlantic 10 fan sites is Dayton Flyer blog BlackburnReview.com.

The folks over at the BR have proposed this idea, and after the Bulldogs miraculous win over No.8 Gonzaga, we think they may just be on to something.

Butler has been one of the hottest programs this past decade, dancing all the way to two national title games while providing  some of the most amazing and exciting endings in years.

The one time I’ve seen a Butler buzzer-beater not go there way? The 2010 national title game against the Duke Blue Devils. Coincidence?

Either way, for our purposes it’s nice to have whatever power is guarding them on the side of the A-10.

No doubt you’ve seen it by now, but incase you haven’t…behold:

Amazing isn’t it?

John Stockon’s son throws one of the worst passes we’ve ever seen and Roosevelt Jones makes him pay.

Easily the best ending in years and a huge bump to Butler and the A-10′s RPIs.

The Bulldogs will no doubt rise into the top 10 and are a legitimately fighting for a 1-2 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.

Scary news for the rest of the A-10? Bulldog leading scorer, Rotnei Clarke, was forced to sit this one out.

Clarke returns for a tough three-game stretch that includes road games at La Salle and St. Louis with a home tilt against Temple in between.

Last Week’s results

Wednesday – 1/16
Richmond 47 @ No.14 Butler 62
Temple 55 @ George Washington 53
Dayton 70 @ La Salle 72
Fordham 68 @ Charlotte 74
Xavier 66 @ St. Bonaventure 64

Thursday – 1/17
Duquesne 66 @ UMass 79
St. Joseph’s 86 @ No.22 VCU 92 (OT)

Saturday – 1/19
St. Bonaventure 81 @ Temple 78
La Salle 63 @ Xavier 70
George Washington 79 @ UMass 76
Penn 59 @ St. Joseph’s 79
Charlotte 61 @ Richmond 81
No.22 VCU 90 @ Duquesne 63
Rhode Island 82 @ St. Louis 80
No. 8 Gonzaga 63 @ No.13 Butler 64

Top Players

Roosevelt Jones (Butler) – Averaged 15 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4 assists and made the play of the year, stealing (catching?) an inbound against Gonzaga and releasing  the game-winning shot with .1 left on the clock.

Treveon Graham (VCU) – Averaged 22.5 points and 5.5 rebounds and hit a clutch 4-point play in OT as VCU came back from certain death to defeat St. Joseph’s in Richmond.

Semaj Christon (Xavier) – Averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 assists and hit the game-winning jumper with 5.1 to play to lift Xavier over St. Bonaventure in Olean.

Khalif Wyatt (Temple) – Averaged 24.5 points including 31 in 30 minutes in a losing effort against St. Bonaventure.

Butler forward Roosevelt Jones (21) shoots over Richmond forward Greg Robbins in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Bulldogs were without their top scorer, but that didn’t seem to matter as they handled Richmond 62-47. No. 13 Butler (15-2, 3-0) retained their status as one of the league’s unbeatens as they climbed to 12 consecutive victories with their win over the Spiders (11-7, 1-2). This was Butler’s first Atlantic 10 home game.

Led by Senior Andrew Smith with 15 points and Freshman Kellen Dunham with 11, the game was close in the first few minutes until the Bulldogs pulled away with thirteen minutes left in the first half. The Spiders pulled within four at the 8:24 mark in the first half, but the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run to lead 23-11. Butler built a 20 point lead in the second half before the Spiders made their final run, but the score was never closer than nine points.

Richmond was led by Senior Darien Brothers with twelve points, but the rest of the team was balanced with five players making at least one three-point goal and all nine players seeing at least twelve minutes. However, Brothers was the only Spider to reach double figures. Ultimately, the Spiders’ inability to pull down rebounds is the most telling statistic, as they pulled down only 20 rebounds (6 offensive) to Butler’s 53 (20 offensive).

Richmond’s 47 point performance was its lowest output this season. They came into the game averaging 71.2 points.

Richmond faces another unbeaten A10 team at home on Saturday when they take on Charlotte (15-2, 3-0).  Butler will become the first A10 program to host ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday as they take on No. 8 Gonzaga (16-1) in the Bulldogs’ last nonconference game of the regular season. The Bulldogs will be without Rotnei Clarke, who may return Jan. 23 when they travel to La Salle.

Wednesday, January 16
Richmond at #13 Butler
Temple at George Washington
Dayton at La Salle
Fordham at Charlotte
Xavier at St. Bonaventure

Thursday, January 17
Duquesne at Massachusetts
Saint Joseph’s at #22 VCU

Saturday, January 19
Rhode Island at Saint Louis
St. Bonaventure at Temple
La Salle at Xavier
George Washington at Massachusetts
Charlotte at Richmond
#22 VCU at Duquesne

I had some trouble figuring out which game would be my game of the week. I’ll be honest, none of the matchups seem all that exciting this week, except for Gonzaga at Butler, but I want to limit this to conference games. I thought about the Richmond game at Butler, since it’ll be interesting to see how Butler adjusts without Rotnei Clarke, who was injured by a flagrant foul by Dayton’s Derenbecker. Ultimately, I decided I don’t want to feature a Butler game two weeks in a row. Thus, this week’s game of the week is Fordham at Charlotte. Fordham (1-1) has been more competitive in its first two conference games than I anticipated, and Charlotte (2-0) has been more competitive all season than I anticipated. I think it’ll be a close game.

The Rundown: Fordham

Fordham (5-12, 1-1) is a curious case, having struggled throughout the season until beating Duquesne by seven and narrowly losing to Massachusetts by four. The Rams are led by Brenden Frazier (no, not Encino Man), who is averaging 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. That’s an increase from almost 12 points per game last season, when Fordham lost to Charlotte at home by seven. However, the Rams only have one other player with a scoring average in double digits.

The Rundown: Charlotte

Charlotte (14-2, 2-0) looks to keep its perfect conference record. Led by Chris Braswell with 11.9 points per game, the 49ers only have one other player averaging double digits (DeMario Mayfield – 10.9 ppg). The key to Charlotte’s season has been balance, with eight players averaging more than 15 minutes and only one player, Pierra Henry, averaging more than 30 minutes.

The Smack:

If history is any indication, the 49ers should be 3-0 in conference on Thursday morning, as Fordham only has one win against Charlotte in the history of the series, and Charlotte is 4-0 at home. However, although Charlotte has the better record, the Rams have faced tougher tests than the 49ers. Fordham’s SOS is #150, compared to Charlotte’s SOS of #294. Pretty easy to rack up the wins when you play bad teams. The Rams also have Branden Frazier, who is 1st in the A-10 in points and 36th nationally in assists. On the other hand, Charlotte has a significantly better RPI than Fordham (#85 vs. #244), has a better scoring average (45.9% vs. 41.1%), and has a better scoring defense (61.5 vs. 73.7 allowed per game).

In a recent article on Philahoops, Aaron Bracy frames this year’s St. Joe’s team as being a victim of expectations. “The problem, though, is many Hawks fans and college basketball observers expect Phil Martelli’s unit to be 14-0”, Bracy writes. This is simply false. I’d argue that most Hawk fans expected SJU to be anywhere from 10-4 to 12-2 at this point, which is perfectly reasonable considering the talent this team possesses. When national writers said the Hawks had their best team on paper since 2004, they didn’t mean they expected Saint Joseph’s to go undefeated throughout the regular season.

Hawk fans probably expected a loss to a very good Creighton team on the road. A home loss to ranked Butler was not expected but was understandable and forgivable. Consecutive losses to Fairfield (at home) and Villanova however, were unacceptable to a fanbase that hasn’t seen a tourney appearance since 2008 and is getting more and more restless.

Bracy himself had the Hawks ranked as the best team in Philadelphia at the beginning of the season. Now he ranks them fourth. Were his expectations too high?

Statistically, the Hawks have regressed in many categories. Points per game, assists per game, field-goal percentage, and three-point percentage are all down. The team’s offensive efficiency has marginally improved but the defensive efficiency has plummeted. How does one explain that for a team that has returned every player and now includes six upper-classmen compared to last year’s one? Was it really too much for the fanbase to expect an improvement from last year’s 20-win team?

Numerous media outlets have pointed out that starters have been absent for a good part of the season. This would be a valid point if Saint Joseph’s hadn’t been playing at full strength in three of its four losses. The lone loss coming without a starter was the game against Fairfield in which Saint Joseph’s shot just 33%. Spinning the narrative to say the Hawks have not had a chance to “mesh” would be silly as the core of this team has been playing together for three years now.

There were good reasons there were lofty expectations surrounding this team and, thus far, they simply haven’t lived up to those expectations. The blame should not fall on the fans. It falls on the players but mostly the coaching staff for their inability to take advantage of the obvious talent they possess and improving only marginally since last season. Much of the lack of player development falls on the coaches.

Do the Hawks have an opportunity to make up for their slow start? Absolutely. The majority of their conference slate remains and potential quality wins against VCU, Temple, Saint Louis, and others await. Was it really too much for the fanbase to expect enough of an improvement from last year’s 20-win team for an NCAA birth and a top-four A10 finish? Not in the slightest.

Butler’s Rotnei Clarke gives the thumbs up after injuring neck against Dayton.

We’re just two games into conference play and all signs point to even more of a league battle than we may have even expected.

For starters, things have gotten REAL physical, REAL early.

On Saturday, Dayton’s Matt Derenbecker welcomed Butler’s Rotnei Clarke to the A-10 with a hard foul on a fastbreak that sent Clarke head first into the basket stanchion, resulting an a stretcher-assisted trip to a local hospital where Clarke was scanned and eventually diagnosed with a sprained neck.

Clarke was back in the gym shooting a day later, but head coach Brad Stevens added that he would not play until “he’s 100 percent ready and cleared”.

The Bulldogs host Richmond Wednesday before taking on Gonzaga this Saturday in a nationally televised contest. ESPN’s College GameDay will be at Hinkle that day, but the Bulldogs may be without their leading scorer in that one.

Unfortunately for Dayton fans, the Flyers were unable to take advantage of Clarke’s absence with 8:13 left in the first half.

Dayton trailed 18-16 prior to the injury but saw a Clarke-less Bulldogs team extend the lead to as many as 14 points before eventually winning it 79-73.

The Bulldogs (14-2, 2-0) are just two of four teams that remain unbeaten in conference play, joining fellow newcomer VCU (14-3, 2-0), perennial A-10 power Xavier (9-6, 2-0), and the surprising Charlotte 49ers (14-2, 2-0).

The Flyers (10-6) dropped to 0-2 in conference but are one of nine Atlantic 10 teams with at least 10 wins.

Last Week’s Results

Wednesday – 1/9
No.14 Butler 72 @ St. Joseph’s 68
St. Bonaventure 59 @ George Washington 78
Rhode Island 61 @ Richmond 64
Duquesne 75 @ Fordham 82
Dayton 62 @ VCU 74
La Salle 65 @ Charlotte 74

Thursday – 1/10
Temple 52 @ Xavier 57
UMass 62 @ St. Louis 70

Saturday – 1/12
No.14 Butler 79 @ Dayton 73
Charlotte 58 @ Rhode Island 50
Richmond 59 @ La Salle 71
VCU 72 @ St. Bonaventure 65
George Washington 56 @ Xavier 71
St. Louis 54 @ Temple 64
St. Joseph’s 74 @ Duquesne 66

Sunday – 1/12
UMass 77 @ Fordham 73

Top Players

Andrew Smith (Butler) – Averaged 18.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in Butler’s 2 wins.

Treveon Graham (VCU) – Averaged 20.5 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 59% from the field for VCU in their first weekend of A-10 play.

Semaj Christon (Xavier) – Averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 57% from the field for Xavier in their undefeated start to A-10 play that included tough home win against Temple.

Chris Gaston (Fordham) – Averaged a double-double of 19 points and 11.5 rebounds with 3.5 blocks in Fordham’s 1-1 start that included a tough 4-point loss to UMass.

Branden Frazier (Fordham) – Fordham gets two for giving fans hope…and Frazier averaged a fan-friendly 18.5 points and 8 assists for the Rams this past week.

A quick thought on attendance/fans…

One of my favorite stats is home attendance average. It’s a nice way to put a finger on the pulse of your program. Winning is great. Winning at a place where people care…even better.

Below are the official home attendance averages according to Atlantic10.com, team record and percentage of capacity.

1. Dayton (10-6) 12,364 – 92% capacity
2. Xavier (9-6) 9,738 – 95%
3. VCU (14-3) 7,693 – 100%
4. Butler (14-2) 6,906 – 69%
5. St. Louis (12-4) 6,380 – 60%
6. Charlotte (14-2) 5,603 – 62%
7. Temple (11-4) 4,809 – 47%
8. UMass (11-4) 4,776 – 53%
9. Richmond (11-6) 4,770 – 52%
10. St. Joseph’s (9-5) 4,064 – 97%
11. Rhode Island (5-10) 4,013 – 52%
12. St. Bonaventure (7-8) 3,834 – 70%
13. Duquesne (7-9) 3,032 – 68%
14. La Salle (11-4) 2,463 – 72%
15. Fordham (5-12) 2,061 – 59%
16. George Washington (7-8) 2,021 – 46%

What can we take from that?

Dayton, Ohio is one of the best college basketball towns in America.

Well, for starters Dayton, Ohio is one of the best basketball towns of all the cities of all the worlds. The Flyers have been solid on the court, but have just three NCAA tournament appearances over the past decade (haven’t made it to a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 since 1984), yet rank in the top-30 in the country in home attendance and that’s without bringing the likes of Syracuse, UNC or Kentucky to their home arena. On top of that, Flyer fans pack UD Arena during the recently expanded NCAA tournament’s “First 4″ for games against bubble teams. That’s a serious love of college hoops. It’s perhaps not surprising that just 50 some miles away lives an almost equally enthusiastic fan base at Xavier University.

Somewhat on the other end of that spectrum you have to be a bit disappointed with the turnout from Butler and Temple fans (let the hate mail commence).

Starting with Temple, the Owls average under 5,000 fans despite appearing in the last FIVE NCAA tournaments. For a team that was set to enter the Big East before it’s implosion, Owl fans appear to be one of the more unimpressed (and unimpressive) groups we’ve seen this season.

Similarly, Butler went to back-to-back NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP games in 2010 and 2011 (not exactly ancient history), yet Bulldogs fans have managed to fill the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse to just 69% of it’s capacity, checking in just under 7,000 fans/contest. For comparative purposes, UNLV last went to back-to-back titles in 90-91, and a decade later more than doubled Butler’s home average following their consecutive appearances. We get it, the Bulldogs had a down year last year, but they are 14-2 with wins over the likes of Marquette, North Carolina, and previously top-ranked Indiana (a state rival)! If that, combined with the Bulldogs recent history can’t fire Butler fans up, I’d hate to see them during a string of bad seasons.

La Salle is another fan base that could use a bit of a wakeup call. The Explorers are coming off a solid 21-12 NIT season and so far are off to a solid start at 11-4 (1-1). Sure, they’ve had just five winning seasons the past 20 years, so we understand the rust, but when you can’t sellout your 3,400-seat home gym against a visiting Big East state rival (Villanova), I have to question weather that fanbase belongs in a league trying to pass itself off as one of the best in basketball.

Before joining the A-10, VCU fans packed the Richmond Coliseum for sold-out CAA tournament games.

One fan base that certainly belongs in that type of league can be found in VCU. The Rams have sold out 28-consecutive home games, a streak that actually predates their appearance in the Final 4. With a season ticket wait list and an ever-improving national profile, that streak may go on for some time. Before joining the A-10 this past summer the Rams played their conference tournaments in the 11,200-seat Richmond Coliseum (their former home court). Appearing in the championship game every year since March of 2009, the Rams were a major part of four straight sellout title games there in CAA play.