Read the opposing arguments from Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer.
I know the point of this debate is to pick THE sleeper team to watch out for in the NCAA tournament this season. I get that. But, I think narrowing the conversation down to just one team is really too simple. With that thought in mind, it is easy to understand why I believe each tournament team from the A-10 qualifies as a sleeper because the entire conference was underrated from the entire 2010 college basketball season.
Most conferences – other than the so-called “major” conferences – can boast multiple qualifying teams in the NCAA Tournament. The A-10 is, supposedly, a “mid-major” conference. I can’t help but wonder at what point the mid gets dropped a conference designation. It certainly no longer applies for the A-10 conference. They earned three bids into the tournament with all three teams earning a seventh seed, or higher. Conference tournament champion Temple – a team that completed the rare regular season and conference tournament sweep – earned a five seed in the toughest region in the tournament (more on that in tomorrow’s debate). Sixth seeded Xavier (a team Bleacher Fan decided to place a singular focus on) is a team in a less intense region that may have a deep run. Last, Richmond – a conference tournament finalist – grabbed the seventh seed in the South region. These are all solid teams that deserved the seeds they received.
I will provide little detail on Xavier as Bleacher Fan more than has that covered. Plus, if I take credit for his article and my article, chances are I’ll win the vote. That, folks, in TSD strategery.
Instead, it makes more sense to focus on the conference champion Temple Owls and conference runner up Richmond Spiders.
Temple is an easy case to make. First, they lost just five games all season. More importantly, they are not terrible losses. One loss was to a ranked Georgetown team last November… a game they lost by just one point. They beat Siena by four, beat should-be tournament team Virginia Tech by 11, and upset Villanova by 10. Plus, the A-10 presented some challenging in-conference games too, as the conference had five teams win 21 or more games in the regular season. Not bad. More, Temple has incredible offensive balance with only one player averaging over 14 points in Ryan Brooks. In short, Temple is really good and a lot of folks are discounting that (if you picked Cornell, get ready for an L).
Richmond is very dangerous, too. Their first round game against St. Mary’s isn’t a lock, but Richmond should win it. Part of the reason Richmond is so solid is because, like Temple, they played extremely well in the regular season. In fact, though they lost to Temple in the conference championship game, they also beat Temple during the season. Richmond played two ranked teams all season and won both games. First they beat Florida, then Temple, then Xavier in the conference semifinals. They also beat Old Dominion and Missouri, two other tournament teams. Richmond also boasts balanced scoring, though guard Kevin Anderson is the clear team leader on offense averaging nearly 18 points per game.
It is time to think about the A-10 conference is a majorly talented conference. When you filled out your bracket, if you did not place a strong emphasis on advancing A-10 teams, your bracket will probably be a mess by this time on Saturday. Between Temple, Richmond, and Xavier, the A-10 earned three quality bids to the NCAA Tournament. And I have no doubt they will make the most of them.
Did Richmond make the most of their bid?
Uh, yea… Richmond made me look stupid. As I post this comment Temple is trailing to Cornell by 8 at the half. Seems I bought in to the Big East/A-10 hype the “experts” were selling like crazy!
It happens! Wasnt so much surprised at St. Marys but I’d be surprised if this Cornell lead holds up.