Chris Mack on Xavier's NCAA chances and BE vs A10

[Bill Marsh]

. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

Top of the A10 stronger than the nBE at the top?

Villanova >>> St Louis
Creighton >>> VCU

[milwaukeejedi1]

Stupid, stupid thing for Mack to say even if he truly believes it. Sounds like complete sour grapes, considering that the A-10 is likely to get 6 bids and the BE 3, possibly 4 if Providence can get a big win at Creighton. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

Of course you aren't going to like it since you are a dayton fan (wilh all the baggage that comes with following that team) and as a result a Xavier hater. But, you are posting on a Big East board and cheering for the Big East is what we do; thus, I am sure many of us do not mind what Coach Mack said.

[xu2002]

Stupid, stupid thing for Mack to say even if he truly believes it. Sounds like complete sour grapes, considering that the A-10 is likely to get 6 bids and the BE 3, possibly 4 if Providence can get a big win at Creighton. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

The A-10 is not getting 6 teams into the tournament. There have been plenty of discussions about most of those teams resumes. Take a look at Pomeroy's website and 4 of those 6 teams aren't even in the top 40 with St. Joes and Dayton outside the top 50.

[ohiohsbball]

As a Big East fan, no one would have any problems with what he said; he is promoting his school and his conference which is a good thing.

As a basketball fan in general, of course it will be debated. Chris Mack would say the same thing about the A10 if Xavier was still in that league. In my opinion, I think the bottom of the BE is better than the A10, but the A10 has more teams. At the top of the league, you can throw whatever numbers you want, but it is really hard to compare top to top. Yes, Villanova and Creighton are probably better than everyone else but when you look at the other teams in the BE such as Xavier, you can not definitely say they are better than GW, Dayton, St. Joes, Umass, SLU, and the other A10 teams in the tournament bubble.

[Irishdawg]

Pomeroy Rankings for each conference
Big East:
1. Villanova - 7
2. Creighton - 9
3. St. John's - 38
4. Xavier - 45
5. Georgetown - 49
6. Providence - 53
7. Marquette - 58
8. Seton Hall - 80
9. Butler - 100
10. DePaul - 185

A-10:
1. VCU - 17
2. Saint Louis - 37
3. George Washington - 41
4. UMass - 47
5. Saint Joe's - 54
6. Dayton - 56
7. St. Bonaventure - 88
8. Richmond - 90
9. Rhode Island - 104
10. La Salle - 115
11. George Mason - 117
12. Duquesne - 151
13. Fordham - 204

Difference in KenPom ratings from previous season
Big East:
Butler - (-62)
Creighton - (+9)
DePaul - (-10)
Georgetown - (-37)
Marquette - (-34)
Providence - (+17)
St. John's - (+69)
Seton Hall - (+42)
Villanova - (+39)
Xavier - (+32)

Total Differential - (+65), Average Differential - (+6.5)

A-10:
Dayton - (+9)
Duquesne - (+97)
Fordham - (+40)
George Mason - (+21)
George Washington - (+71)
La Salle - (-64)
UMass - (+37)
Rhode Island - (+89)
Richmond - (-3)
Saint Joe's - (+26)
Saint Louis - (-21)
St. Bonaventure - (+38)
VCU - (+3)

Total Differential - (+343), Average Differential - (+26)

1. A lot of the A-10 schools are performing WELL above where they did last season, and where they've been historically, which is great, but the question is, can they keep this up?

2. Georgetown and Marquette are performing far below where they normally do. This is Buzz Williams' worst season at Marquette in his entire career by nearly 30 spots. This is also JTIII's worst rated team of his career, and they still have a neutral site victory over VCU (granted, with Josh Smith). I have no idea if Butler will get back to what they've been in the past, but I certainly hope these aren't the type of seasons that I can expect going forward for them. Creighton won't be ranked this high without Dougie McBuckets next season, but I think they'll still be a very solid team going forward.

3. The A-10 is rated better than the Big East in 1 spot (10th). They are certainly very close in the majority of spots, but the Big East is still rated 3rd, while the A-10 is 8th in the conference rankings.

4. Recruiting rankings aren't perfect by any stretch, but in the 2014 class, of Top 150 recruits rated by Rivals, the Big East has 21 commitments. The A-10 has 3.

Were the comments ill-advised? Yeah, they probably were. But I think over the long haul while the A-10 will continue to be a very solid to good league most seasons, the Big East will be better over the course of time.

[ta111]

. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

Top of the A10 stronger than the nBE at the top?

Villanova >>> St Louis
Creighton >>> VCU

Top being those teams under NCAA consideration. Take your rose colored glasses off. The A-10 is looking at 6 teams and the BE is looking at 4 max. So yes, the top of the A-10 is stronger THIS YEAR. I have no clue what's going to happen next year.

[billyjack]

The Big East is 10-2 head-to-head vs the A-10, right?

The A-10 has no wins on a BE home court.

The two losses were:
1. 2-Creighton by 7 pts vs 4t-George Washington in Anaheim; and
2. 3t-PC in OT at 4t-UMass.
That's it.

Included In Our BE Wins:
1. 1-Villanova by 30 pts at 2t-St Joseph's.
2. 2-Creighton by 4 pts at 2t-St Joseph's.
3. 4-St John's by 46 pts vs 13-Fordham at MSG.
4. 3t-Providence by 8 pts vs 8t-LaSalle in US Virgins.
5. 1-Villanova by 21 pts vs 8t-LaSalle at VU.
6. 5t-Marquette by 16 pts vs 4t-George Washington, in Anaheim.
7. 7-Georgetown by 4 pts vs 2t Virginia Commonwealth, in Puerto Rico.
8. 3t-Providence by 1 pt at 10-Rhode Island.
Plus I think two other games that I can't remember...
At least 6 BE teams have wins over at least 6 A-10 teams.
Plus Xavier's win vs Cincinnati by 20 pts on a neutral court is better than any win the A-10 has.

[milwaukeejedi1]

. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

Top of the A10 stronger than the nBE at the top?

Villanova >>> St Louis
Creighton >>> VCU

Top being those teams under NCAA consideration. Take your rose colored glasses off. The A-10 is looking at 6 teams and the BE is looking at 4 max. So yes, the top of the A-10 is stronger THIS YEAR. I have no clue what's going to happen next year.

We get it; you are a dayton fan and want to defend dayton and the a-10 against Xavier fans and the Big East on a Big East board; but, at the end of the day, this is still a Big East board and its posters will overwhelmingly disagree with you. You are not going to change our hearts and minds.

I know it pains you, and its probably the reason why you hate the Big East and are so bothered by Coack Mack's words, but the reality is Big East teams are not leaving for the a-10 but there is a great chance that a-10 teams will happily leave the a-10 for the BEast.

[xu2002]

. I said this at the beginning of the season and have been proven correct-the top of the A-10 is stronger than the NBE this year and the bottom of the NBE is stronger than the bottom of the A-10.

Top of the A10 stronger than the nBE at the top?

Villanova >>> St Louis
Creighton >>> VCU

Top being those teams under NCAA consideration. Take your rose colored glasses off. The A-10 is looking at 6 teams and the BE is looking at 4 max. So yes, the top of the A-10 is stronger THIS YEAR. I have no clue what's going to happen next year.

I have a good idea what will happen. Teams like St. Joes and UMass will fall down back to reality. Just like Lasalle did this year and just like the countless other examples over the past 20 years in the A-10 where a team will come out of nowhere for 1 or 2 years and then fade away. I watched it year after year with frustration when a team would have a great year and I would get excited that it would continue to build and it would disappear. As billyjack noted, look at the recruits coming into each league, look at the TV money (4million to 400k) and it's going to be harder for the teams in the A-10 to sustain the success year after year then a team in the Big East. I'm not trying to be overly negative about the A-10, it's just close to 20 years of observation from watching those teams closely. They'll probably get more teams into the tournament this year, but I'll put my money on Villanova and Creighton to make a bigger impact.

[Flyer75]

The A10 is much closer to getting 6 teams in then what most of you think. Here's why....of the six teams in the discussion, none of them play each other anymore. They can't hurt each other. Only UMass/SLU play each other and those two teams are locks already, no matter what.

So, the consensus out there amongst most of the websites is that as of tonight...6 A10 teams are in. SLU, VCU, GW, UMass, St. Joe, and UD. 4-5 of these teams are virtual locks already. VCU, SLU, GW, and UMass. It would take UD losing at home to Richmond and then the first round of the A10 tourney to not get in (possible but I wouldn't bet that scenario). St. Joe finishes at home against LaSalle (should be a win). Who gets left out??? Unless a major upset happens, the NCAA will be staring at 6 A10 teams with a 45 RPI or better.

IMO, the only way the A10 DOES NOT get 6 teams in is if UD or St. Joe completely crap the bed in this last week...but both have home games and then will be decent seeds in the A10 tourny where they probably don't even have to win one game to get in, assuming they each win their final game of the season.