Sounds about right doesn’t it? According to many “experts” and members of the media, the A-10 just isn’t very good. St. Louis lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and squeaked out a win against North Carolina A&T last night. St. Joe’s lost to Farleigh Dickinson and barely beat LIU Brooklyn last night. Both of those schools were in the NCAA tournament last year, with St. Louis winning the regular season title and St. Joe’s winning the conference tournament. And then the year ended and 80% of their combined starters graduated or used up their remaining eligibility. THE NERVE OF THOSE KIDS! Now both schools are starting over in a variety of ways and the results have been less than stellar. It is like these new kids who have 1/100 of the experience and playing time of their predecessors are not instantly attaining championship levels of play. Weird!!!
The other night VCU played Villanova up in Brooklyn and wound up getting smacked around in the second half; losing 77-53. Pay no mind to the fact that it was a two point game at half. I really shouldn’t even bring up how VCU has lost quite a few ugly games in November over the past 3 years. Last year Florida State beat the Rams like a rented mule. Two years ago a November loss at home to Wichita State had people ducking for cover. Three years ago Seton Hall and Georgia Tech beat the brakes off the Rams in another early season tournament. And then I woke up yesterday and came upon this little article:
According to Mr. Dauster, “There is a ceiling to how good this VCU team can be, and they may have already reached it.” After 5 games, VCU may have already reached their full potential as a team? I don’t know about you but I’m relieved. No point in seeing how the next 26+ games shake out. We’ve seen all we need to see here. I can clear my schedule and really get into minor league hockey for a change. The last thing I need to do is to possibly consider the chance that Villanova is pretty good and the Rams had 18 minutes of putrid play on Monday night. I’d hate to reach my ceiling for dumb-ass assumptions to make sooooo early in the season.
Whatever we do as a collective group of supporters of the Atlantic 10 Conference, we must not take a step back and remind ourselves that it is NOVEMBER!!!! AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFEoMO0pc7k
So maybe the A-10 won’t get 6 teams in the Big Dance this year. What if Rhody, GW, Dayton, UMass, and the ceiling-hitting VCU Rams make the dance? Or maybe VCU can’t get it together and their team which consists of 75% freshmen and sophomores isn’t all that great. Maybe UMass can’t replicate last season’s success. Perhaps GW takes a step back and Dayton is inconsistent at home and on the road. Maybe Rhode Island peaked last week and can’t sustain a high level of play this year. What if UR gets going and makes a run? Maybe LaSalle continues to play excellent defense for the next 3 months and punches their ticket to March Madness this season? I don’t know what is going to happen and neither do you. I mean besides the fact that St. Joe’s and St. Louis stink and have 0 chance of improving. Right?
I was going to really go on a rant and take Mr. Dauster and company to task for their predictable overreactions and assumptions but I realize that it would just be a waste of time. I’m just going to do my best to put the “experts” on mute for a while and get back to enjoying Atlantic 10 basketball. Happy Thanksgiving people! Enjoy your holiday and any hoops you get to watch. Also, if you are freaking out about the state of the conference, I suggest you grow a mustache and R-E-L-A-X. It’s all good.
