Non-P6 hoops-it's that time of year.

 Procrastination on doing a blog ends with Davidson(A10) knocking off my Terps(B10). Troy(SBC) took Oregon St to OT before falling 81-80, while Marshall (SBC) falls to Radford(Big South). Bryan Antoine converted a four-point play with 1.5 seconds left for Radford in the win over # herd.

Monmouth(CAA) beat WVU(B12)

Interesting action in the MAC/SBC: Coach Groce's Zips beat USM. Akron 72 USM 54

And for my Mewe buddy Arkrazor:  Cal Baptist(WAC) 80 Jackson St(SWAC) 66. Daniels Jr scored 25 for the winners.

This was a good one in the MAC/SBC challenge: Ball St 73 ODU 68 

 C. Jenkins G - ODU 20PTS 6REB

J. Anderson G - BALL 29PTS 9REB

UAB(AAC) beat my Terps.

Nov 21, 2023

Checking back in: UNLV(MWC) gave Florida St(ACC) a scare before losing 83-75. D Thomas Jr of the Rebels is a fun player to watch.

St Josephs(A10)  took Kentucky(SEC) to OT but fell 96-88.

SMU(AAC) beat West Virginia(B12) 70-58 .  Mustangs need to use this season to get ready for ACC hoops next season.

Nov 25, 2023

FAU(AAC) beat TAMU(SEC) yesterday and is off to a 4-1 start coming off last season's Final Four appearance. The loss was to Bryant of the American East conference.

Marshall(SBC) is off to a bumpy 2-4 start including getting pasted by Kentucky(SEC) 118-82 yesterday

Nov 30, 2023

Bowlsby, former Big 12 Commish, will be the interim AD at Northern Iowa replacing David Harris, who left to become the athletic director at Tulane.

Northern Iowa(MVC) is 2-5 this season but they beat Stanford.

Tulane is 5-1. Its only loss was to Bradley(MVC).

How about St Joseph's(A10) beating Nova(Big East). Erik Reynolds II scored 24 points in a road win. 

Dec 5, 2023

Catching up: UNCW(CAA) coach Takayo Siddle steered his team to an 80-73 upset of No. 12 Kentucky(SEC) on Saturday. In 2007 he scored eight points for Gardner Webb in an upset of UK in Rupp Arena.

Appy(SBC) beat Auburn(SEC)

T. Joseph(27PTS 6REB 3STL) for Southern(SWAC) in an upset of Miss St(SEC)

SEC stumbled against non -power 6.

Dec 7, 2023

Big home win for Towson U(CAA).  C. May G 27 PTS, 7 REB in 81-71 win over UMass(A10). Tigers keeps getting better after starting the season losing to Wake Forest, North Texas, and S Dakota St. Towson U is just north of Baltimore City.

UIC(MVC) 55 Jax St(CUSA) 49 Illinois-Chicago is having a decent OOC start. JaxSt could have a bumpy ride in CUSA hoops.

Dec 13, 2023

Sam Houston St(CUSA) edged ULM(SBC) 63-62. Great football debut in 1A, and now their hoops are doing ok. The last time SHS went to the Dance was in 2010 as the Southland champ.

Cal Baptist(WAC)lost 76-55 at Oregon 

Dec 14, 2023

Headed toward conference play. FAU(AAC) has kept in stride after its F4 appearance in the spring. Loss to Illinois. Wins over VTech and TAMU. Now if they beat Zona Dec 23.....

GW(A10) intrigues me at 9-2, the losses were to South Carolina and UIC. They haven't been good in a while so maybe the record is a false positive. James Bishop IV leads the team with 16.9 PPG.

Dec 16, 2023

Zags got more work to do. UConn 76 Gonz 63. In other WCC OOC play San Diego Toreros beat Portland St(Big Sky). SD beat Ariz St (Pac12) a few days ago.

Atlantic 10 a solid hoops conference gets bigger

 Loyola of Chicago joins the A10 for the 2022/23 basketball season which likely sets up a regional rivalry with St Louis who joined the A10 in 2005. Davidson, a frequent Dance participant, is the most southern school, while VA schools, VCU, George Mason, and Richmond, have also made a few Dance appearances.  St Joseph's of Philly was a successful A10 program under Phil Martelli.  John Calipari's UMass squad wreaked some havoc in the A10 basketball world in the mid 1990s, and I can't forget those Dayton Flyers.

A10 will likely remain a conference that gets two to three Dance tickets annually.

I'm surprised that Fran Dunphy, who coached at Penn and Temple, is the new LaSalle HC. I thought they were going to go younger.

I'll check back periodically.

April 11, 2022

Tyler Burton, who was solid for Richmond this season, announced he will be declaring for the 2022 NBA draft but is keeping his NCAA eligibility. Wise move.

Is Frank Martin the answer for UMass? In 10 seasons at South Carolina(SEC), they Gamecocks made it to the Sweet 16 in 2017.

St Louis was an original member of the Metro in 1975 

April 19, 2022

For the 16th straight year, the Atlantic 10 was a NCAA multi-bid conference. The A-10 joins the big boys club: ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 and SEC. 

April 21, 2022

Fordham(A10) coach Kyle Neptune, who's had previous experience at Nova , will replace Jay Wright, who announced his retirement. Neptune got the Rams to .500 in his only season there. No news on the next Fordham HC.

April 26, 2022

Wow, Bruiser Flint, a "Calipari guy" is one of the finalists for Fordham HC gig. Flint is currently on the UK staff, and was the guy who stepped up at UMass in 1996 to replace Calipari, who went to the NBA.

April 27, 2022

Bruiser stays with Calipari. Fordham elevated asst coach Keith Urgo. Prior to Fordham he was a long time assistant under Pat Chambers at Penn State.  BTW, Chambers is back as a HC with FGSU of the ASUN conference.

May 13, 2022

A lot of folks think Saint Louis ,who is returning four starters including Yuri Collins and Gibson Jimerson, will get back into A10 mix at the top, but I don't see any big drop from Davidson and VCU and keep an eye on those Bonnies.

May 19, 2022

Some local flavor from my area. Terps will play Saint Louis(A10) for the second time in school history when they compete in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament on Nov. 19, 2022.

 The last meeting came in rd1 of the 1994 Dance, in which former Terps star Joe Smith posted 29 points and 15 rebounds in a 74-66 victory.

May 29, 2022

Some A10 baseball news: VCU Rams baseball team are headed to the NCAA Tournament after concluding their 2021-2022 season with a 15-game winning streak  and their second consecutive A10 Title. Davidson, who entered the A10T as a 1 seed, waits for a possible at large bid.

June 17, 2022

George Washington University set to drop controversial 'Colonials' moniker- Wokers claim it's way to grapple with how best to confront difficult legacies of racial injustice.  Many(not all) folks went to numerous colonies for a second chance. 

June 18, 2022

A lot of news out of Davidson, who left the Southern Conference for the A10 in 2014. The school will retire Stephen Curry's jersey since he finally earned his degree, and HC Bob McKillop retired after 33 seasons there. Matt McKillop, his son, will replace him.

BTW, Lefty Driesell coached at Davidson (1960-69) before taking the Terps HC job.

June 28, 2022

Atlantic 10 only had one player drafted, VCU Vince Williams (47) was selected by Memphis Grizzlies.  He's a versatile 6-6, 205-pound wing.

Aug 16, 2022

St Louis will face Murray State(MVC) in its regular-season opener. Other OOC opponents: Boise State(MWC), Memphis(AAC) and Auburn(SEC); Miami(ACC) or Providence(Big East) in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament after facing Maryland(Big10) in the opening round.

Oct 3, 2022

Davidson Wildcats return two starters from last year's club that finished 27-7 overall and captured the 2021-22 A10 regular season championship, while earning its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance. I'm keeping my eyes on its matchup with Purdue(Big10) in the Indy Classic.

Nov 11, 2022

Ok , its upset OOC season. Towson(CAA), just north of Baltimore City upset UMASS 67-55. Nicolas Timberlake scored 27 for the victor. 

Temple(A10) knocks off No. 16 Villanova for first time since 2012.

Loyer scored 38 for Davidson in a 102-97 road win, not an upset, at Wright St(Horizon)

Nov. 20, 2022

I didn't expect my Terps(B10) to handle St Louis so easily yesterday. MD 95- SLU 67

Dayton who is ranked in the top 25 handled Robert Morris(Horizon) yesterday.

In a big win Friday night Davidson beat South Carolina (SEC) in a regional matchup.

Dec, 11, 2022

A10 Conference play is coming and here's a mixed bag of OOC play. Loyola of Chicago got a big win over Clemson(ACC) while Lasalle lost to Drexel (CAA), a Philly neighbor.

March 28, 2023

Kim English, ex-George Mason HC, was 34-29 in two seasons and this season went 20-13 finishing fifth in the Atlantic 10. He previously worked as an assistant at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee.  How did he get the Providence job?

March 30, 2023

Penn St hires Rhoades from VCU(A10)as next HC, then VCU lands Odom from Utah St(MWC). Odom coached UMBC to the  huge upset of UVA in the 2018 Dance. His dad was the HC at Wake Forest when Tim Duncan was there.

Former Stanford star Madsen leaves Utah Valley(WAC) to coach Cal.

Terps Asst Tony Skinn ,who played at George Mason from 2003-06 and was a part of the Patriots’ F4 team under Jim Larrañaga, is the new HC at GM .  GM(A10) was in the Colonial Athletic Conference  in 2006.

Aug 10, 2023

So much conjecture about the P5. In non P5 chatter : How about UMass returns to MAC. Definitely an upgrade for MAC hoops and not as goofy as conferences stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.