25 - 4 ---- (Big East vs A-10)

[Edrick]

With St John's win over Fordham, tonight, the Big East moves to 25-4 vs the A-10 since 2014's conference realignments.

[GoldenWarrior11]

[ecasadoSBU]

Damn... I knew it was bad... but I didn't know it was this bad! A-10 is definitely a step below the Big East

[stever20]

The A10 is in deep trouble this year....

last year they were right now 76-34. they finished OOC with a record of 109-57.
this year they are only 67-50.... So their RPI when they get to conference play will really suffer as a result of all these extra losses.

[Jet915]

A-10 looks like a 2 bid league, MWC is a 1 bid league. Could shape well for Big East....

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

A-10 looks like a 2 bid league ...

I agree. So does Jeff Eisenberg and RPI Forecast.

Poor non-league performance could haunt the Atlantic 10 in March - Jeff Eisenberg - The Dagger- December 8, 2016

In the past nine years, the Atlantic 10 has never received fewer than three NCAA tournament bids. That streak could be in jeopardy this season the way the league has sputtered out of the starting blocks the past four weeks.

Injury-plagued Dayton (6-2) has stayed afloat without starting forwards Josh Cunningham and Kendall Pollard for long stretches, but the Flyers have let their best chances for quality wins slip away. Not only did their late comeback at Saint Mary’s fall just short, they also suffered an upset loss to Nebraska in the opening round of the Wooden Legacy tournament, costing them a semifinal crack at UCLA and relegating them to the loser’s bracket.

Rhode Island (6-3) has offset its victory over Cincinnati by dropping its three other games against good competition. The Rams fell by 10 at Duke, by three at Valparaiso and by three at rival Providence, missed opportunities that will shrink their margin for error in the coming months when Atlantic 10 play begins.

Six wins in its first seven games had VCU (6-3) in decent shape before its recent two-game skid. The Rams have dropped back-to-back games against Illinois and Georgia Tech, both of whom are expected to finish in the bottom half of their respective conferences.

At this point three NCAA tournament bids seems like no sure thing for the Atlantic 10 and two bids seems like an unusually realistic possibility.

RPI Forecast homepage – Teams ranked #1 to #351

RPI Forecast - Atlantic 10

Through games of Dec 7, 2016.

Atlantic 10 Conference

Expected RPI: 8
Current RPI: 7
Current OOC Record: 66-49 (0.5739)
Expected OOC Record: 101-69 (0.5941)

Overall - Expected RPI Rank – Team

28 - 35.0 - Rhode Island
33 - 40.3 - Dayton
47 - 54.9 - VCU
50 - 59.7 - St. Bonaventure
53 - 63.3 - Davidson
85 - 94.9 - La Salle
112 - 112.1 - Massachusetts
127 - 131.6 - Saint Joseph's
143 - 150.8 - George Mason
157 - 163.0 - George Washington
174 - 172.2 - Richmond
228 - 226.0 - Fordham
239 - 237.2 - Duquesne
297 - 287.6 - Saint Louis

[GumbyDamnit!]

A-10 looks like a 2 bid league, MWC is a 1 bid league. Could shape well for Big East....

Going into league play we may have as many as 8 teams with realistic shots at a tourney bid. And with VU and CU as possible Top 10 teams, and X and Butler as Top 20, there will be plenty of opportunities for teams to get quality wins in conference play. For teams in the non-power conference with few teams ranked that's a huge disadvantage. A team like G'town has time to get it's crap together in conference. A team like UCONN has a very short rope.

[JohnW22]

Out of curiosity anybody know the Big East record vs the AAC?

[Edrick]

The most interesting thing about looking that up, other than it shows absurd dominance, former A-10 members Butler and Xavier have only played one game between the two of them against the A-10 -- Xavier's win over UD a couple of years ago.

[stever20]

A-10 looks like a 2 bid league, MWC is a 1 bid league. Could shape well for Big East....

Going into league play we may have as many as 8 teams with realistic shots at a tourney bid. And with VU and CU as possible Top 10 teams, and X and Butler as Top 20, there will be plenty of opportunities for teams to get quality wins in conference play. For teams in the non-power conference with few teams ranked that's a huge disadvantage. A team like G'town has time to get it's crap together in conference. A team like UCONN has a very short rope.

Georgetown really doesn't have the time though, especially if they lose to Syracuse. If they enter league play at 7-5(with UConn game left- so assume a win there- 8-5)- worst case scenario they need to go 10-8 to have any chance of making the tournament. 17-14 has no real shot of making the tourney. I don't care if you are 17-14 with 2 top 10 wins, you just don't get in with that resume. 18-13 for Georgetown projected RPI is 55.1

Meanwhile, lets say UConn like Georgetown splits the 2 games with Georgetown and Ohio St. Beats Auburn. So 6-5 OOC(remember, Chaminade game doesn't count). If they get to 12-6 in conference play to get to 18-11, they are in pretty good shape. 18-11 for UConn projected RPI is 49.4.

I think I would rather have to go 12-6 in the AAC than having to go 10-8 in the Big East. While yes, you can get more quality wins in the Big East, you also have much more of a chance to lose more games.