The A-10 Tourney is upon us: GW faces winner of Mason and SLU

It's that time again, the A-10 tourney in Brooklyn. GW earned the #5 seed and plays Thursday at 2:30 pm against the winner of #12 George Mason vs #13 Saint Louis, which is today at 6:30 pm.

Tickets are on sale at GW, and if you can, you should go -- the tournament is a lot of fun. There's also a pre-game reception for GW fans and the conference is doing a bunch of contests and giveaways.

The good guys basically need to win the A-10 tournament the make the NCAAs, with an outside shot at getting an at large bid if they make the finals. Bracketologists mostly put GW as one of the first or next four out teams right now. The Hatchet has a good preview of what needs to happen as well.

After the GMU/SLU game, GW would have to face St. Joe's, then the winner of Dayton of Richmond/Fordham to get to the conference title matchup. Not insurmountable, but a lot of basketball in four days. The full bracket is here.

Here's the weekly update from the A-10, with the full A-10 tourney matchups, national picture, bracketology and more.  The conference does note that 80% of teams who finished in the top 5 in the A-10 regular season made the NCAAs, but we shall see.

Championship Week is Here!
With the exciting conclusion of the A-10 regular season and Dayton, VCU and St. Bonaventure sharing the regular season title, the Atlantic 10 Championship is upon us!
The Championship takes place this week in Brooklyn, starting Wednesday afternoon and concluding Sunday with the championship game at 12:30p.m. ET.
Here's included the full bracket for Championship Week, which can also be found online here.
First Round - Wednesday, March 9
Game 1: #12 George Mason vs. #13 Saint Louis
6:30 PM
ASN

Game 2: #11 Duquesne vs. #14 La Salle
9:00 PM
ASN


Second Round - Thursday, March 10
Game 3: #8 Fordham vs. #9 Richmond
12:00 PM
NBCSN

Game 4: #5 George Washington vs. Winner Game 1
2:30 PM
NBCSN

Game 5: #7 Rhode Island vs. #10 Massachusetts
6:30 PM
NBCSN

Game 6: #6 Davidson vs. Winner Game 2
9:00 PM
NBCSN


Quarterfinals - Friday, March 11
Game 7: #1 Dayton vs. Winner Game 3
12:00 PM
NBCSN

Game 8: #4 Saint Joseph's vs. Winner Game 4
2:30 PM
NBCSN

Game 9: #2 VCU vs. Winner Game 5
6:30 PM
NBCSN

Game 10: #3 St. Bonaventure vs. Winner Game 6
9:00 PM
NBCSN


Semifinals - Saturday, March 12
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
1:30 PM
CBSSN

Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10
4:00 PM
CBSSN


Finals - Sunday, March 13
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12
12:30 PM
CBS
*all games are in ET
A full list of all activities taking place during Championship Week is also available here

National Picture Updates
5 Days Until Selection Sunday
In the latest AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll, Dayton and St. Bonaventure are receiving votes. Saint Joseph’s is also receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.
The most recent RPI rankings have six A-10 teams in the top 65: Dayton (21), St. Bonaventure (27), Saint Joseph’s (34), VCU (40), GW (62) and Davidson (63). This is tied with the Big Ten (6 teams) and more than the SEC (5 teams) and Big East (5 teams).
Jerry Palm’s latest bracket prediction has Dayton (6 seed), St. Bonaventure (8 seed), Saint Joseph’s (9 seed) and VCU (10 seed) making the tournament. GW is listed as a ‘probably out’ team in his bubble watch.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has four A-10 teams in his most recent bracketology update. Dayton is a seven seed, Saint Joseph’s a 10 seed, VCU a 10 seed and St. Bonaventure as a last four in team. GW sits just outside as a next four out team.
USA Today’s bracket prediction has Dayton as a seven seed, St. Bonaventure as an 10 seed, Saint Joseph’s as a 10 seed and VCU as a first four out team. GW is listed as still in contention for an at-large bid.

The Atlantic 10 Regular Season Matters



A-10 Pulse
  • CBS Sports named St. Bonaventure’s Marcus Posley as national Player of the Week after he put up 47 points against Saint Joseph’s. Matt Norlander writes, 
  • Honestly, considering the circumstances surrounding the importance of the Saint Joe's game, I think Posley's performance is one of the most impressive in the past five years in college basketball.” LINK
  • John Feinstein at the Washington Post said the A-10 “may be the most underrated conference in the country” and should get at least four bids in the NCAA tournament. LINK
  • SB Nation wrote a piece that calls out the year-over-year success of the Atlantic 10, with St. Bonaventure being the latest example of conference success. LINK
  • Sporting News wrote about Will Wade’s success at VCU in a post-Shaka Smart era. LINK
  • ESPN’s Andy Katz had Bonnies’ Coach Mark Schmidt on his show to talk about the team’s recent success and the upcoming A-10 Championship as one of the eight major tournaments this weekend. LINK
  • The Daily Press did a feature on the promising future of the A-10 as the conference turns 40 years old this season. LINK
  • St. Joseph’s junior forward DeAndre’ Bembry was named A-10 MBB Player of the Year and St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt was voted A-10 Coach of the Year. LINK 
  • St. Bonaventure senior Marcus Posley and Dayton junior Scoochie Smith share Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors. Posley had the best scoring game in DI this year, with 47 points in a win over Saint Joseph’s and 18 points at Saint Louis to help give the Bonnies their first-ever A-10 regular season title. Smith led the Flyers to two wins, a piece of the A-10 regular season championship and the top seed in the A-10 tournament with back-to-back career-high performances. LINK

Social Buzz
@MattNorlander says Bonnies should be a lock for a NCAA bid after win over Saint Joseph’s Wednesday
@SethDavisHoops took note of St. Bonaventure’s Posley, who had 47 points last Wednesday.
@TBNbucky thinks St. Bonaventure should be in the tournament no matter what happens in Brooklyn, noting at least three A-10 teams have been in the tournament in the last nine years.
@JonRothstein, among others, noted the buzz that surrounded the VCU @ Dayton game.

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