Fan reaction to 2014-15 A-10 schedule pairings

Atlantic 10 fans are a passionate bunch, so with the league releasing the 2014-15 schedule pairings, we wanted to see what fans from around the league thought and went on a tour of the conference’s most active message boards to do so. Here’s a sampling of what we found.

Davidson – DavidsonCats.com
“Seems like we made out really well here. Playing St. Louis and Dayton at home… Having 3 of our 4 away only games against teams who were toward the bottom of the league last year and pairing for home/home series against the closest for travel. Best case scenario I think.” – wildcatspride
“Interesting take…but, SLU is supposed to be way down next year, so having them at home not necessarily the most advantageous. Also, we’ve got VCU, GWU and Richmond on our schedule twice, projected to be three of the best teams in the A10 next year. Expected given travel distances, but i wouldn’t say we made out super well.” – BaseRich306
“Just glancing at the pairings, it does appear that the league made a deliberate attempt to minimize travel time and expense, which will help both the athletic budget and student/athlete performance. I have to give them a lot of credit for that. Seems like a cut above the intelligence of the Southern Conference administration.” – rbarney

Dayton – UDPride.com
“It is favorable record wise, but we won’t have a lot of chances to turn heads with this schedule. We will have to take care of business when we get the chance.” – NorthwestFlyer
“I gotta say this is absolutely terrible work on the part of the A10. St Louis I have no problem with as a long time rival. Not playing VCU, UMass, George Washington or any team expected to finish in the top 6 of the conference does Dayton and the league a disservice.” – OSU Flyer
“The road to the A10 regular season Championship is paved with wimps. Nothing wrong with that….” – rollo

Fordham – FordhamFans.com
“Can we go 7-11 in league? Need to step up this year.” – 85Ram
“Looks like we got the better end of the stick here. I am one of those people who believe in today’s day and age, in terms of tournament selection, road wins should count more as they are extremely hard to come by in college b-ball.” – kidfrommy
“The question should not be whether we can go 7-11, but whether we can go 9-9, 10-8 or better.” – El Jefe

George Mason – Masonhoops.com
“Those home and homes make sense, although I’m surprised we don’t have one with one of the Philly teams.” – GMUGemini
“Such bull**** that VCU gets a home only game in season one, and then the following season it’s a home-away.” – JBiggs
“10-8 in A10 play.” – GMURaider

UMass – UMassHoops.com
“Overall, though, this is a manageable slate and could have been worse. The A10 is going to be much more top heavy this year, with GW, VCU and Dayton the clear top three and us somewhere anywhere in the 4-10 range (though I think 4-6 if we play even reasonably well). I don’t think we’ll sweep URI this year, but if ever there were a year you looked forward to road trips to La Salle and SJU, it’s this one. Other than the top 3 and Rhody, I am not terribly worried about anyone. Only two losses I automatically chalk up on this slate are VCU and GW and we could upset GW. Home slate looks very favorable. We should be favored in 8 of the 9 games and I think Dayton is entirely beatable at home.” – Marty Peretz
“Doesn’t look to me like we got a bad draw at all… At VCU is going to be an awesome game that we will likely lose, but still will be awesome. The rest are winnable. 17-1 in conference!!!!” – MJatUM
“early prediction 12-6.” – NilesGold

Rhode Island – KeaneyBlue.com
“Gotta like our road-only schedule. We own dayton regardless of venue, and GM is very beatable on the road (shouldve won there this year), as is Duquesne” – ziporiri

Richmond – SpiderNation.com
“On the bright side, we get a lots of chances to pick up quality RPI enhancing road wins.” – 97spiderfan
“I see us going 13-5. Glad we didn’t draw Fordham for a Home and Home. Mason and Davidson, win or lose, need to have decent seasons this year for our RPI sake come tournament time.” – The Sauces of UR
“It does look like a pretty tough bunch of road games. I do like that they gave us, VCU, Mason, GW and Davidson all home-and-homes against the other four.” – Eight Legger

St. Bonaventure – The Bonnies Bandwagon
“Tough slate. 5 of the 6 tournament teams on the road and 9 games total against them.” – almelo95

Saint Joseph’s – Hawk Hill Hardwood
“It feels like we are always playing AT Dayton” – originalhawks09
“Home – DAV, GW, MASON, RICH, FOR, LAS, UMASS, URI, SBU  
Away – DAY, DUQ, SLU, VCU, FOR, LAS, UMASS, URI, SBU  ” – HarrisburgHawk08

Saint Louis – Billikens.com
“Not to be the downer, but why do we play Rhode Island twice. Damn.” – Deutschkind
“Happy to get Dayton and VCU twice. Would have preferred UMass, St. Joes and LaSalle twice over the other three (I don’t really know who is supposed to be that strong but those are bigger names in my mind and I like playing the Philly schools more). My wife will have to get her blood pressure checked as she can’t stand Hurley so seeing him twice may put her over the top.” – kshoe
“Are the Billikens being allowed to avoid Olean 2 years in a row? Are the Bonnies really coming to Chaifetz Arena 2 years in a row? In the words of Tony Bruno: “This is an outrage.” – Bay Area Billiken

VCU – VCURamNation.com
“Shame we don’t play at least once in Philly. That said, this is a very favorable schedule and has some great road trips for us fans.” – Ramcounter
“We got it good in year one, got the bad deal last year, and it rotated back for next year. It is good for us as to home court advantage, but even better as fans. Tickets will be an even hotter item next year as long as we play well and keep the momentum going forward.” – Ram14
“VCU got a very favorable conference schedule” – Wolfpack Ram

Editors note: Several teams went unrepresented on this list due to a lack of posts from their fans.