3. La Salle and 4. Saint Louis Are Contenders

3. La Salle Explorers- This pick in the predictions for this upcoming season was a real tough one. I was very tempted to put La Salle at over UMASS at the #2 spot. The Explorers from Philadelphia return three scorers who averaged dobule digits from last years sweet sixteen team, but they also lose Philadelphia native and star guard Romon Galloway. Starting only one game last season and only playing 25 minutes per game, guard Tyrone Garland averaged 13 points per game and shot 42 percent from the field. Now that Romon Galloway is gone, look for Garland to improve on his good season from last year. Garland and returnee guard Tyreek Duren will be 1B in regards to backcourts in the A-10. With Galloway gone, the pressure is on for these two guards to produce. Defensives will be concentrated on both of them rather than perdominately Galloway. It wouldn't surprise me if this duo surpasses the Minutemen backcourt duo midway through the season. It also wouldn't surprise me to see La Salle win the A-10 Conference this year. Forward Jerell Wright's numbers improved from his 2011-2012 season and averaged nearly 11 points per game and nearly 7 rebounds per game. Center Steve Zack ain't no slouch either. This team will still be hungry after their NCAA Tournament success and Coach Giannini will keep them that way. The Explorers should seriously be considered to hang the A-10 Championship banner in Tom Gola Arena. In the end, the top four teams in this conference will have a great chance to win the title. The very last day might decide who comes out on top in this competitive league.

4. Saint Louis Billikens- Here is the story about the Billikens. They can end up 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in this tightly competitive league. Unfortunately for them, Saint Louis lost its longtime point guard and floor general in Kwamain Mitchell. This loss really hurts them and the Billikens will now be searching for someone to step up as their floor leader. The big Aussie forward in Cody Ellis also graduated so they will also be in search for a replacement at the forward spot that can produce just as well as Ellis did last season. Those are two veteran players St. Louis is losing and they are arguably now without their 2nd and 3rd best players from last years NCAA Tournament/A-10 regular-season champion team. Key returnees in Defensive stopper/guard Jordair Jett returns for his last season, guard Mike McCall Jr. comes back to the Billikens for his last time in the blue and white uniforms, and 6-11 New Zealand forward Rob Loe returns for his Senior season as well. Don't get me wrong...these players are solid contributors but is that enough to get the Billikens to the top of the A-10 again? A-10 player of the year candidate in forward Dwayne Evans returns and will need to be the backbone of this years Billikens team and improve on his impressive numbers from last years campaign. He averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game and shot nearly 55 percent from the floor last season. There is no doubt that Evans is one of the best players in the A-10, but can he will his team throughout the long season? Remember, their two valued players from last years team are gone. Opposing defenses will be able to double team Evans more frequently due to the fact that there will be less threats around him in this upcoming 2013-2014 season. Defensively, Saint Louis will be one of the top teams in the A-10, but there will be some offensive woes for this group. Who knows...maybe Jordair Jett will step up his offensive production and maybe McCall and Loe will additionally. We all know what we saw with are very own eyes in San Jose at the NCAA Tournament.. we viewed a great Billikens roster that had tough times putting the ball in the hoop against both New Mexico State and Oregon. This years Saint Louis team may again have trouble scoring this season. Yet, is it possible that Central Michigan transfer in guard Austin McBroom can take some pressure off of Evans and provide instant help to aid this Billikens squad to another title? We shall see.....

1.VCU and 2.UMASS Lead The Way

1. VCU Rams- The Virginia Commonwealth Rams only lose the defensive minded and long time player, Darius Theus. They return all the outstanding ball-hawking players from last years NCAA Tournament team. Under head coach Shocka Smart, VCU will always remain steady throughout the long season. With his squad, there are very few up and down moments. The Rams will be prepared and ready to win the A-10 title this year. Look for last seasons best defensive player in the A-10 in Briante Weber to improve all areas of his game now that Darius Theus is gone. VCU is by far the best defensively sound team in the conference and they rarely beat themselves. If healthy, transfer Terrance Shannon from Florida State should help them greatly. The 6-8 forward is eligible to play right away. Last season, Shannon averaged nearly 8 points and 6 rebounds per game before suffering a neck injury which limited him the rest of the way. In the 2011-2012 season, Shannon also suffered a season ending shoulder injury. Hopefully he stays health to add to a Rams roster that already contains a ton of depth. The Rams are a safe pick to win the A-10 title.

2. UMASS Minutemen- Leading scorer for the 2012-2013 Minutemen and former Hofstra University point guard Chaz Williams returns to Amherst boasting an average of 16 points per game with 4 rebounds per game and 7 assists. Now, transfer Derrick Gordon from Western Kentucky is eligible to play along side the flashy 5-9 guard. As a Freshman at Western Kentucky, Gordon average nearly 12 points per game with nearly 7 rebounds a game for the 2012 NCAA Tournament Hilltopper team. The former rivals top 150 recruit and 4 star product along with leading scored Chaz Williams, should have the best back court in the A-10 this upcoming season. With a favorable 2013-2014 schedule that entails playing A-10 title contenders St. Louis, La Salle, and VCU only once AND most importantly only at home...UMASS has a very realistic shot of contending this season. I am not sure if they can remain as consistent as VCU on the road, therefore I pick them to finish second in conference this season. If former Minutemen guard Jesse Morgan had not transferred to Temple, this current UMASS team could have had infinite depth and I might have even picked them to win the conference this year. Coach Kellogg who has racked up 46 wins the past two seasons has done a fabulous job improving the once mediocre basketball program. I fully expect him to get another 20 win season out of his team this year. All in all, finishing outside the top three would be somewhat disappointing for this squad. This is the year the Minutemen should finally end their NCAA Tournament draught and make the field for the first time since the 1998 season.

My 3rd and 4th team will be the next blog post. Thanks everyone! 

Northeastern And Mid-Atlantic Schools NEED To Be The Majority....

Why does the A-10 Conference have colleges from all over the place? Due to conference realignment, the A-10 had to raid other conferences in order to survive and nobody blames them for it. Davidson College and George Mason University are joining the conference in the future which helps the A-10 maintain a conference of successful basketball teams, but what happened to in-state and Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic college rivalries? I hope you all know that the A-10 in the 1970's and early 1980's consisted of predominately Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S universities. The A-10 has teams like Virginia Commonwealth University(VA), Richmond University(VA), George Mason University(VA), Davidson College(NC), St. Louis University(MO), and University of Dayton(OH) who are clearly not part of the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic portion of United States. How do you expect those teams and schools to create rivalries with schools located in the Northeast like St. Bonaventure University(NY), St. Joseph's University(PA), Fordham University(NY), University of Rhode Island(RI), George Washington University(DC), La Salle University(PA), and Duquesne University(PA)? Think about it, would you want to travel from Missouri all the way to Rhode Island to see your beloved school play on the road? Say goodbye to the money you had once saved for your promising vacation to Aruba, you are now spending all of that money to watch your school play half way across the country! Lets be honest guys, the entire process is indeed a HUGE hassle. Now, here is my point on the whole rivalry issue.....

In order to avoid getting steamrolled during the course of conference realignment, the A-10 will need to look at potential schools that can contribute to the success of the conference. As stated earlier, the A-10 added George Mason and Davidson but, should they have reviewed the Northeastern schools situated around the present Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic schools in the A-10? The answer is a HUGE yes. They should completely consider adding Hofstra University(NY) and Drexel University(PA) from the Colonial Athletic Association. They should seek to add Iona College(NY), Siena College(NY), and Niagara University(NY) from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They should look to bring in Robert Morris(PA) via the Northeast Conference. These teams have had success in the NCAA and NIT tournaments in recent years and can definitely contribute to the conference because of their winning histories and geographical locations. The additions of these teams will create new rivalries within Pennsylvania and up-state New York. When these newly added universities play home-and-home games with the rest of the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic schools in the A-10, rivalries will undoubtedly rise again within the conference. As well, transportation problems are solved for a decent number of schools. I am not saying I want the other schools who are in different regions in the U.S. out of the conference, I firmly believe that there should be two separate divisions within the conference based solely on geographical location.

Rivalries are important in college sports and rivalries are being lost constantly. It may be too late for other Division 1 conferences to create and maintain rivalries but, there is still an amazing opportunity and chance to generate and sustain rivalries in the Atlantic 10. All of the other six power basketball conferences continue to be greedy and keep on going up to the buffet to get anything from french fries to gummy worms. Those conferences are picking schools that should have no reason to be connected to their conference. The A-10 can continue to be polite, eat a fresh home-cooked meal, and quietly cook up a meal that actually makes sense. They can go out to take a quick drive to one of the nearby trusted supermarkets that are close to them. They can still manage to cook up a meal full of flavor, variety, and substance.

The Clean-Cut Atlantic 10 Blog

For all of you in search of material in regards to men's basketball in the Atlantic 10 Conference, you are on the right page. My name is Jacob Mishkin and I am a sports fanatic who plays college tennis for St. Bonaventure University in the A-10 (Don't worry, I won't be bias). Nothing on my blog will jump out at you besides, the words you see on your screen. Basically, my blog will consist predominately of words. The background on this basic blog will be anything but special and there will be no pictures that jump out at you because, there will be zero pictures to see! All of that complex mumbo-jumbo is not needed. In our world today, valuable information that needs to be said is unfortunately thrown aside in order to please viewers. My goal of this blog is to not necessarily please you, the main objective is to rather give you a great amount of substance and information in all of my posts about Men's Basketball in the Atlantic 10. This newspaper-like blog is going to be somewhat unattractive and gray, yet it will be to the point. If you want information, that is what I will pass down to you. I am creating this blog for fun and with the intention of providing everyone interesting insights on A-10 basketball related news. I will give you everything you need to know about one of the most intriguing conferences in Division 1 athletics, the Atlantic 10 Conference. Stay tuned!