Early Dance Card

[Always Learning]

Kerry Miller is a national college basketball columnist for Bleacher Report and says these seven BE teams will dance at this point of the season.

They are, their seed, and first game/site:

Villanova, (1) vs New Mexico St in Pittsburgh Butler (7) vs Cincinnati in Charlotte
Georgetown (11) vs SMU in Columbus
Seton Hall (10) vs Miami in Louisville Providence, (10 vs Michigan State in Portland Xavier (11) vs Dayton in Pittsburgh
St John’s (8) vs San Diego St in Charlotte

And what does it mean?

Not a damn thing, but is fun reading.

I like being able to eliminate UD, and meeting old friend Huggy Bear in the second game!

PS, Kerry only has one other conference with seven, the Big 12, so I guess the BE is a pretty good conference, eh?

[OTRMUSKIE]

I would want nothing to do with Dayton away from the TAS. That school wants nothing more than to beat the hell out of us. Once Archie is gone and they have come back to reality with their cute mid major program then I wouldn't mind seeing them again.

[xufan2434]

I would want nothing to do with Dayton away from the TAS. That school wants nothing more than to beat the hell out of us. Once Archie is gone and they have come back to reality with their cute mid major program then I wouldn't mind seeing them again.

Agreeeeed.. It's less about them and more just about Archie.

[paulxu]

I'm thinking predictions in mid January are probably not worth the powder to blow them up.
Wonder if there's any way to find out how some guys predicted in January vs. the results on selection Sunday.

Anyway, it's crazy to go to the Bracket Matrix and see 7 BE teams. Lunardi also has 7 which is great for the publicity.
Must hurt ESPN to have that sort of stuff floating around on their site. Too bad.

[Xavgrad08]

I have a hard time believing St. John's will dance. I think Lavin is a bad coach and I think they will continue to pile up the losses.

[Always Learning]

I would want nothing to do with Dayton away from the TAS. That school wants nothing more than to beat the hell out of us. Once Archie is gone and they have come back to reality with their cute mid major program then I wouldn't mind seeing them again.

No Musketeer ever feared playing Dayton, and beating them in the first round of the Dance would put them in their place.
What is it with not wanting to play them this year?

Their signature wins are over 'Ole Miss (35 at home) and Arkansas (41) at home.

Sure, they are sailing along in first place in the A-10 (a nice mid-level Conference) with wins over Bona (119), LaSalle (97), Duquesne (241), St Louis (264) and good 'Ol Fordham (266).

Archie who?

[BandAid]

I'd have no problem playing Dayton. Ya, we suck on the road, but hopefully there'd be enough fire in the belly from playing an old rival to compensate.

On second thought, I'll hold off until after I see how the team performs against UC...

[LadyMuskie]

The problem with playing dayton, not fearing dayton, etc. is that half of this team has never played dayton and had to experience the full-on nightmare that is all things dayton. Part of the fire to demoralize and destroy dayton is the history, the glorious feeling of having made them weep the year before.

If we play dayton, we must bring in Stanley Burrell, Romain Sato, David West, CJ Anderson, Dante Jackson, et al. to help these young lads on our team understand why nothing but utter destruction is acceptable when going up against that team up north.

[X-band '01]

No Musketeer ever feared playing Dayton, and beating them in the first round of the Dance would put them in their place.
What is it with not wanting to play them this year?

Their signature wins are over 'Ole Miss (35 at home) and Arkansas (41) at home.

Sure, they are sailing along in first place in the A-10 (a nice mid-level Conference) with wins over Bona (119), LaSalle (97), Duquesne (241), St Louis (264) and good 'Ol Fordham (266).

Archie who?

In A-10 Tournament play, Xavier is 1-0 vs. Dayton in Philly, 1-0 vs. Dayton in the lions' den and 3-1 vs. Dayton in Atlantic City. Those are very good numbers.

[DART87]

I would want nothing to do with Dayton away from the TAS. That school wants nothing more than to beat the hell out of us. Once Archie is gone and they have come back to reality with their cute mid major program then I wouldn't mind seeing them again.

With all due respect to Dayton (and Waggy)...Child Please!

[waggy]

Child Please!

[xu82]

Child Please!

If you ask DC nicely, he might be able to help you add a signature line. :-)

[waggy]

If you ask DC nicely, he might be able to help you add a signature line. :-)


I turn sig lines off. Who needs to read the same message over and over and over and over..

[xu82]

I turn sig lines off. Who needs to read the same message over and over and over and over..

can the same be said for messages? :-)

[LadyMuskie]

can the same be said for messages? :-)

To avoid that, you use the ignore feature.

[DC Muskie]

If you ask DC nicely, he might be able to help you add a signature line. :-)

Sorry, I completely forgot after the Bandman told me. I have like a 5 second attention span.

[waggy]

can the same be said for messages? :-)

I hope I'm not that repetitive.


And what would I have to post!?

[LadyMuskie]

I hope I'm not that repetitive.


And what would I have to post!?

Child, please!

[vee4xu]

To avoid that, you use the ignore feature.

You know, I've read about the ignore feature for years and have never used it. Where is it located?

[LadyMuskie]

Click on "settings" up top. Then on the left is account stuff. Somewhere over there should be an ignore link. Click it and add your ignorees.

But, if you sometimes don't log in and just browse, you'll see your ignorees.

Edit: I've thought about ignoring people, but have never actually done it. I don't know. I'd rather argue with the people I think are typing dumb stuff. :wink:

[xu82]

Click on "settings" up top. Then on the left is account stuff. Somewhere over there should be an ignore link. Click it and add your ignorees.

But, if you sometimes don't log in and just browse, you'll see your ignorees.

Edit: I've thought about ignoring people, but have never actually done it. I don't know. I'd rather argue with the people I think are typing dumb stuff. :wink:

I've done it once or twice. Some people are too stupid to argue with.

[LadyMuskie]

I've done it once or twice. Some people are too stupid to argue with.

You're right. I do have one poster on ignore, I think - or at least I did. But he doesn't post regularly and I don't think I'm the only one with him on ignore.

[ammtd34]

No Musketeer ever feared playing Dayton, and beating them in the first round of the Dance would put them in their place.
What is it with not wanting to play them this year?

Their signature wins are over 'Ole Miss (35 at home) and Arkansas (41) at home.

Sure, they are sailing along in first place in the A-10 (a nice mid-level Conference) with wins over Bona (119), LaSalle (97), Duquesne (241), St Louis (264) and good 'Ol Fordham (266).

Archie who?

Arkansas kicked the shit out of Dayton.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400591129

[mid major]

Arkansas kicked the shit out of Dayton.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400591129

This was Scott's and Robinson's farewell game. They would get killed in the BE. Archie will be gone after this year. Anyone who wants them in the BE should be crucified.

[gladdenguy]

I would rather be in the A-10 than the Big East. Xavier fans used to pay attention to Top 25 polls. I didn't know til tonight Dayton was ranked 22nd in both polls.

Lets see.
XAVIER - 2nd season in Big East. 1 play in game blowout to NC State. This year probably won't make the tourney because the team can't win away from Cintas....even against Auburn, Long Beach St., UTEP, or DePaul.

DAYTON - 2nd season in A-10 without Xavier. 1 Elite 8. Currently ranked 22nd in both polls and looking to go undefeated in A-10 play and compete for a top 5 seed.

It hasn't been this depressing since Skip Prosser was coach. Ever since the fight........a program on the decline.

[GoMuskies]

Well, right now they're getting pounded at Davidson.

And our struggles and their relative lack thereof doesn't have anything to do with conference affiliation.

[xubrew]

If we get paired against Dayton in the NCAA Tournament I don't think we should play. We probably wouldn't win the national championship anyway, and we'd have nothing to gain.

[xudash]

I would rather be in the A-10 than the Big East. Xavier fans used to pay attention to Top 25 polls. I didn't know til tonight Dayton was ranked 22nd in both polls.

Lets see.
XAVIER - 2nd season in Big East. 1 play in game blowout to NC State. This year probably won't make the tourney because the team can't win away from Cintas....even against Auburn, Long Beach St., UTEP, or DePaul.

DAYTON - 2nd season in A-10 without Xavier. 1 Elite 8. Currently ranked 22nd in both polls and looking to go undefeated in A-10 play and compete for a top 5 seed.

It hasn't been this depressing since Skip Prosser was coach. Ever since the fight........a program on the decline.

You know, you're supposed to be some kind of great fan, but this is just stupid drivel.

[Xu Red Dogg]

Gladden, I usually just laugh off your posts but come on.... Let's have a little perspective here.

Xavier has played the 19th hardest schedule in the country to this point... People spent months bellyanching over SOS and here we sit with a top 20 SOS. We have 12 wins, 6 of which are top 100 RPI wins. The process has changed. The landscape has changed. This isn't 2008 or 2004. As much as I love the end results for those seasons, we are never ever going to go through this confernce with 1 or 2 losses. It is about picking up big wins, being tough enough to respond to losses and coming together as a team.

The losses this year are frustrating, Auburn and Anaheim kill me, but after being in MSG for the Big East Tournament last year I promised myself to look at this through different eyes. Expecting A10 win numbers in what is the 2nd toughest conference in college basketball simply is not realistic or healthy.

BTW, back to your Dayton comparison, they have played the 116th toughest SOS and they have 4 top 100 wins.

[xudash]

Gladden, I usually just laugh off your posts but come on.... Let's have a little perspective here.

Xavier has played the 19th hardest schedule in the country to this point... People spent months bellyanching over SOS and here we sit with a top 20 SOS. We have 12 wins, 6 of which are top 100 RPI wins. The process has changed. The landscape has changed. This isn't 2008 or 2004. As much as I love the end results for those seasons, we are never ever going to go through this confernce with 1 or 2 losses. It is about picking up big wins, being tough enough to respond to losses and coming together as a team.

The losses this year are frustrating, Auburn and Anaheim kill me, but after being in MSG for the Big East Tournament last year I promised myselt to look at this through different eyes. Expecting A10 win numbers in what is the 2nd toughest conference in college basketball simply is not realistic or healthy.

BTW, back to your Dayton comparison, they have played the 116th toughest SOS and they have 4 top 100 wins.

Imagine now if we were still in the A10, having been left out of the Big East. Seriously, I can't, because that would have been devastating for this program.

We climbed from independent status to the MCC and got the job done there - over time. We climbed from the MCC to the A10 and got the job done there - over time.

We're now in Year Two of our Big East journey; we're in a league that was unfathomable for Xavier's imagination a decade or so ago. I doubt we'll come to dominate the Big East as we dominated the MCC and A10, but we don't need to dominate it, and that is the new beauty of the Big East.

Dayton? You can't be serious. A guy with the last name of Miller coaches there. If he has a little more success, he's gone. If he continues to recruit petty thieves, it's going to fall apart around him anyway.

[waggy]

Yeah I don't think the strength of the BE right now is a mirage. Hope it shows itself in the tourney, but there's no way of ensuring that I guess.

[vee4xu]

Click on "settings" up top. Then on the left is account stuff. Somewhere over there should be an ignore link. Click it and add your ignorees.

But, if you sometimes don't log in and just browse, you'll see your ignorees.

Edit: I've thought about ignoring people, but have never actually done it. I don't know. I'd rather argue with the people I think are typing dumb stuff. :wink:

I wouldn't ignore anyone either. Though, I've considered ignoring myself. There's a chance of losing too much context in conversations. Reading a thread which includes an ignoree, could end up like a conversation in a noisy restaurant when you're at the end of the table and you have to keep asking what someone said. So, instead I just read everything and then say to myself, "i,m just going to ignore that comment."

[XUFan09]

I'm thinking predictions in mid January are probably not worth the powder to blow them up.
Wonder if there's any way to find out how some guys predicted in January vs. the results on selection Sunday.

Anyway, it's crazy to go to the Bracket Matrix and see 7 BE teams. Lunardi also has 7 which is great for the publicity.
Must hurt ESPN to have that sort of stuff floating around on their site. Too bad.

Warren Nolan is the only one I know who leaves up his projections. He starts in week 14. Here is Xavier's page. It also tracks their RPI and predicted RPI, along with his own rating system, NPI (I know nothing about it), and the two major polls. If you search "Warren Nolan [insert team name and year]," you'll find whatever team and year you want.

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2015/schedule/Xavier

[vee4xu]

I see ud made it to #22 this week. I also see that they immediately got smoked 77-60 at Davidson. Bye, bye top 25.

[kyxu]

I see ud made it to #22 this week. I also see that they immediately got smoked 77-60 at Davidson. Bye, bye top 25.

Davidson was also playing without its starting point guard against UD, who averages 16 ppg. Davidson had also just lost to an unspectacular Richmond team by 30.

Oh, the Atlantic-10.

[GoMuskies]

That's almost as bad as losing to DePaul. Actually, no it's not.

[kyxu]

That's almost as bad as losing to DePaul. Actually, no it's not.

Wasn't trying to compare us and Dayton. We're not even sniffing the top 25 partially due to the reason you mentioned.

[X Factor]

Davidson was also playing without its starting point guard against UD, who averages 16 ppg. Davidson had also just lost to an unspectacular Richmond team by 30.

Oh, the Atlantic-10.

RPI's of the teams UD has played so far in the A10.

248
172
251
106
200
38 - Davidson was 54 before they beat UD.

[xufan2434]

Do I miss the 25 win seasons? Absolutely.. But you know what I also don't miss? Always feeling slighted because of conference affiliation and the crap from every other fan that X wasn't legit because of it. X might not seem as good right now and Mack isn't Sean Miller. But how quickly people forget that X used to have some pretty bad losses on the road in the A-10 every year. Some crap performances at places like Charlotte and Rhode Island. People were just as pissed off back then.

At least when X is back to being in the spotlight like that, and I believe it'll be sooner rather than later, then they can say they went through the challenges of the Big East and are battle tested.

[xubrew]

I'm so happy with where we are in the current world of college athletics.

Pitt and West Virginia, Kansas and Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M, Maryland and Duke, Syracuse and Georgetown (actually, that one is coming back), Syracuse and UConn, Kentucky and Indiana, just to name a few. They all insist that they don't need each other and have nothing to gain.

It's as if the thing to do is to avoid old rivalries. It sucks that those are no longer conference games. It sucks even more that most of them don't play at all. People come up with laundry lists of reasons as to why they don't need to play their old rivals, and how much better off they are that they don't play, and how much their old rival sucks now that they don't play, so there is still a high level of fixation there. But....they don't actually play. Instead we have more crappy OOC games than good ones, and it's really not even close.

And then people wonder why ratings and attendance are lower.

The NCAA is the only sports organization in the world where this happens. If the NFL or NBA were in charge of scheduling and aligning the conferences, I guarantee you things would be different, and probably very much for the better. They actually see value to regional and traditional rivalries, and make sure they're all in the same division. If the Red Sox and Yankees were colleges, chances are they'd join a different league, not play, and insist they had nothing to gain by continuing to play.

[MADXSTER]

The one rule I would like the NCAA to mandate would be that all teams must play at least 3 true OOC away games. Nuetral games would not count.

[bleedXblue]

RPI's of the teams UD has played so far in the A10.

248
172
251
106
200
38 - Davidson was 54 before they beat UD.

And for that spectacular run they got ranked. Would someone with a brain please do some research prior to actually voting a team in.

[paulxu]

Next year, Farr will be the only Muskie who has ever played against Dayton.

[xu82]

And for that spectacular run they got ranked. Would someone with a brain please do some research prior to actually voting a team in.

I have to wonder if there is some lingering effect from last years team and their improbable run. This year is....this year! And the teams they've played in conference look pretty darn weak. Wow!

[XUFan09]

Dayton's best wins are against a projected RPI #73 Texas A&M on a neutral court, followed by a projected RPI #59 Mississippi at home. They lost to both top 50 teams they've played so far, and their expected OOC SOS is 137th. The only positives on their resume are zero bad losses and 38th/44th rankings on Kenpom/Sagarin (those are borderline rankings for at-large bids). Not that I'm not worried about Xavier making the tournament, but I would be very worried about making the tournament if I were a Dayton fan.

[xubrew]

It's deja vu.

There are certain members on this committee that I am convinced value road wins against average/mediocre teams more than they value home wins against good teams. Last year on Selection Sunday, everyone was freaking the hell out, particularly in regards to how many A10 teams got in, and the seedings many of them got.

Well, the same people are still on the committee. The middle and bottom of the Atlantic Ten stinks, which makes it easier to rack up more road wins. Fair or not, there are members on the committee who favor that. I don't think that could be more obvious. When you looked at last year's bracket, it really did seem like virtually ever home win and every road loss was downplayed so much it was virtually disregarded.

So, everyone should prepare to be pissed off all over again.