2012-2013 Top 144 Countdown

[tornado]

#92 Dayton - he has them at 9th in A10, Kevin Dillard will not be surrounded by quality senior scorers this year - let's see if they do better than last year's 9-7, 7th place conference finish & NIT season..
with all the quality players, transfers, and 3/4-STAR kids they've had there at Dayton - how come 7th-9th place is the best they can do?

#91 Utah State - Sean Harris mention -

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/4604

[cpacmel]

#92 Dayton - he has them at 9th in A10, Kevin Dillard will not be surrounded by quality senior scorers this year - let's see if they do better than last year's 9-7, 7th place conference finish & NIT season..
with all the quality players, transfers, and 3/4-STAR kids they've had there at Dayton - how come 7th-9th place is the best they can do?

I think Dayton was actually in a tie for 5th place in the A10. http://WarrenNolan.com/basketball/20.../Atlantic%2010

The 4 teams that finished higher than them all made the Big Dance.

[tornado]

they were #6 seed but several teams in the conference were 9-7 - including #8 seed UMass & #7 seed La Salle
..never finishing higher than 4th is the hallmark of mediocre we have learned

[Da Coach]

They were also the 7th in RPI for the A10.

[DoubleJayAlum]

they were #6 seed but several teams in the conference were 9-7 - including #8 seed UMass & #7 seed La Salle
..never finishing higher than 4th is the hallmark of mediocre we have learned

A10 is a much tougher conference. You can finish 4th in the A10 and still get an at large a lot of the time. Finishing 4th in the MVC very rarely gets you an at large to the NCAA tourney (it takes an truly amazing year for the conference). Remember that the MVC was a one bid league from 2008 until last year when we finally got (only) two teams in...

[tornado]

sure but because there are a bunch of bad teams lurking at the bottom of the A-10 and an uneven schedule - it's possible to get a lot of easy wins - which won't happen in the Valley where everyone plays everyone twice.

all in all - when you look at Conference RPI & SOS and how many teams in the MVC vs. the A-10 have made it to the Sweet Sixteen in recent years - I would say they are conferences that are comparable and close to being equal -
..as far as the number of at large bids - the east-coast-centric Selection Committee I note gave THREE at large bids this year to teams whose RPI were right at or worse than what Barry had when he was spurned.
I suspect they'd never spurn a team whose conference name included "Atlantic" in it unless their RPI was 69 or 70

[JMM28]

sure but because there are a bunch of bad teams lurking at the bottom of the A-10 and an uneven schedule - it's possible to get a lot of easy wins - which won't happen in the Valley where everyone plays everyone twice.

all in all - when you look at Conference RPI & SOS and how many teams in the MVC vs. the A-10 have made it to the Sweet Sixteen in recent years - I would say they are conferences that are comparable and close to being equal -
..as far as the number of at large bids - the east-coast-centric Selection Committee I note gave THREE at large bids this year to teams whose RPI were right at or worse than what Barry had when he was spurned.
I suspect they'd never spurn a team whose conference name included "Atlantic" in it unless their RPI was 69 or 70

Not a big fan of the A10 scheduling, and this year will be very strange with the 16 team format.

The addition of Butler and VCU put the A10 well above the MVC I believe. The biggest problem the A10 has had in recent years is the bottom 2-3 teams have been REALLY bad. Usually headlined by Fordham. The A10 will be a better conference than perhaps 2-3 BCS conferences this year.

[TheAsianSensation]

Dayton has massively underachieved. I would riot if I were a Dayton fan.

..as far as the number of at large bids - the east-coast-centric Selection Committee I note gave THREE at large bids this year to teams whose RPI were right at or worse than what Barry had when he was spurned.

Different years, different scenarios. Those three at large bids would've been spurned just like Barry if those seasons happened in '06.

I suspect they'd never spurn a team whose conference name included "Atlantic" in it unless their RPI was 69 or 70

The Atlantic Sun conference members challenge your claim

[tornado]

..
The Atlantic Sun conference members challenge your claim

..maybe - but probably the NCAA sees through their silly attempts to portray themselves as an ATLANTIC based conference....
.... what screws it up for the A-Sun Conference - virtually NONE of their team actually ARE Atlantic Coast teams...

Belmont - Nashville, TN - the middle of Tennessee - 600 miles from the Atlantic
Mercer - Macon, GA - almost 200 miles from the Atlantic
SC-Upstate - Spartanburg, SC - almost 200 miles from the Atlantic
ETSU - Johnson City, TN - 250+ miles to the Atlantic
N Florida - Jacksonville - OK now we're getting close - although Jacksonville is still not on the Atlantic - it's 15 miles inland but if they only had a couple more members this close then I could see why it's called "Atlantic Sun"
FGCU - on the Florida Gulf Coast - these guys kinda DON'T wont to be linked to the Atlantic - as they are well over 100 miles away
Lipscomb - Nashville again, 600 miles inland
Jacksonville - of course also in Jacksonville, FL but this is the exception rather than the rule with A-Sun teams
Stetson - Deland, FL - close, but 30 miles inland
Kennesaw State - near Atlanta - 250 mil inland
Northern Kentucky - transitioning - just about as far away at ETSU

[tornado]

continuing...

#90 Oklahoma
#89 Oregon State
#88 Florida State
#87 Bucknell
#86 Providence
#85 Houston
#84 Wichita State - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/4679

[tornado]

83 - Texas A&M
82 - Middle Tennessee
81 - Northwestern - projected NIT
80 - LaSalle
79 - UConn
78 - Loyola (MD)
77 - Iowa
76 - Lehigh
75 - Vanderbilt - wow this is low coming off a 25-win season!
74 - UCF despite their turmoil!
73 - Virginia Tech
72 - Nevada
71 - Temple
70 - Akron
69 - Oregon
68 - Belmont
67 - Rutgers - wow this is kinda high
66 - Butler - wow this is low...
65 - Arkansas

[tornado]

Yet another countdown - Yardbarker

#111 Nebraska
#110 Utah
#109 Mississippi State
#108 TCU
#107 Wake Forest
#106 Texas Tech

These guys are still counting down as well...


105 - Texas Tech (hmmm maybe a little too soon)
104 - Virginia Tech
103 - Arizona State
102 - Penn State
101 - Boston College
100 - DePaul
99 - Georgia
98 - Seton Hall
97 - South Carolina
96 - LSU
95 - Oregon
94 - ODU
93 - UCF
92 - Houston
91 - Dayton
90 - Vanderbilt
89 - Belmont
88 - Long Beach State
87 - Washington State
86 - Lehigh
85 - Oklahoma
84 - Georgia Tech
83 - Providence

http://www.thesportsbank.net/college-bball/83-providence-friars-college-basketball-111-in-111/

[tornado]

.....
67 - Rutgers - wow this is kinda high
66 - Butler - wow this is low...
65 - Arkansas....

Some more Valley teams showing up......

64 - Oklahoma State
63 - Georgia Tech
62 - Marshall
61 - Old Dominion
60 - Colorado
59 - Colorado State
58 - UMass
57 - Harvard - maybe not now that the scandal has cost them their best players


#56 Illinois State - http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/4829
...they call John Wilkinis "..a 6-9 wing who is a matchup nightmare"..and say John Jones could redshirt as it wouldn't save him a year of eligibilty would it??
Why would he possibly do that when he is just now coming off a redshirt year?? If he redshirts again he'd lose that entire year totally because I can't imagine NCAA
would grant the kid a 6th year to be able to take advantage of TWO voluntary/academic redshirt seasons!

[cpacmel]

Jones has 4 years left to play 3.

[tornado]

why could he not appeal and get a 4th year as Daniel Ruffin did, and how is it he loses a season of eligibility when he did not play yet..?