#462: A-10 Preview

Welcome to the three-man weave college basketball podcast coming to you live on a lovely labor day at 5 p.m. Central. The boys have had, I assume, a lovely weekend. Jim was in Maine, Kai just sat around his house, walked around outside for a little bit, and Matthew was in the boot heel at a wedding. Okay. How was the wedding? It was lovely. Just right there on the mighty Mississippi had a great, elevated event overlooking the front view. Yeah, it was awesome. Great to get back to my dad's roots. I guess I'm a quarter split between the St. Louis and in a boot heel, boot heelian. But yeah, it's good. Jim, how was Maine? Probably a little more scenic than Keith Carter. It's very exciting. I really ended up a big fan of Portland Maine. I can now compare Portland's head-to-head and I'm saying the Maine version greater than sign Oregon. Really? Yes. Especially in particular because of the lobster, the food very delicious over there in Maine. Yeah. I was at a wedding as well. Actually, it was supposed to be doing a little mini East Coast tour post-wedding, but for reasons that trip fell through. So I get to podcast instead. Right. Oh, that's so thrilling. I was supposed to be in Port Smith, New Hampshire tonight. Instead, I'm podcasting with you guys, upgrade, and TBD. There's a tournament in Port Smith, right? Basketball tournament. Bad. Not wrong. Bad, doesn't matter. Well, today's episode is the A10. We're previewing the A10, a very good league, a very good Maine major conference. One of our favorites, 14 teams, so we're going to be probably a little long-winded on this podcast. We'll do our best to be swift on our takes, getting to the nitty gritty. Those teams give you kind of rankings. None of us wrote this, actually, for basket and review. That is Will Warren. That is doing it for us this year. But I assume we all have ratings, I have ratings. You'll find out a lot of them are the same, but no spoilers. Before we get into the show, 3MW underscore CBB, that's where you can find us on Twitter and Instagram. Please follow us there. Subscribe to the podcast. iTunes. Spotify. Wherever you get your podcast, leave us reviews. We will read your five-star reviews from iTunes at the end of the show. And then basket and review. That is where you can find our work and the work of so many other talented college basketball writers and commentators, basketinterview.com. That is Trilly Donovan's big old project. He puts together a bunch of cool folks together that love college basketball and he has a discord as well. The link to the discord and the website are in our description to our video. The discord is where we are hanging out 24/7, always popping in there, chatting in our channels and other channels. Just a great college basketball community as we roll into the season. No better time to join. That's $10 a month. We hope to see you there real soon. I think that's the intro, guys. I felt good about that one. Let's get into Roots Roundup. Let's start the show. Psych to talk about the 810. Jim, take us away. Yeah. You really knocked it out of the park, Kai. News and notes in here in our Roots Roundup section. But before we do. We've got to give a shout out to CB Analytics. As currently formed on my computer, I have four CB Analytics tabs open. They're going to sound very relevant to an 810 preview. I have the on/off numbers for George Washington open. I have the player page for Robbie Avila open. I have the division one team stats for all of college basketball. I don't remember why. I also have the division two conference rankings for Damon University, where a coach and three players are coming from for St. Bonamentier. So Matthew, all different ways to research the league, the teams, the players, that's what we get at CB Analytics. That's right, Jim. We get a whole bunch of stuff. We get all of the advanced stats, sliced and dice contextualized. However you want them, we're going to talk a lot about sort of D2, D3 up transfers. We get deeper into mid-majority, and there is no better source to get that data contextualized by who they played and when they played them. Just one sheet ahead up, I thought it was an interesting dichotomy in the 810 last year. The production by Starters and Bench in reserves, trivia question for you, Kai. Who was number one and number last in Starters versus Bench usage? Production. A team, you mean? Yeah, so minutes kind of a way to that. I just did a cup points blend, which team did not like their bench? What team basically had a democratic, indistinguished? Historically, same bound adventure. Your priors are good here, and that was correct. Yes, good. Good. That was accurate. And then on the low end, which totally checks out, injuries always play a, yeah, injuries always put a part in this, but Davidson played a ton of guys last year. Interesting. That's my good guys. Some talented guys kind of came in and played, yeah, area. I was already to say like, slew with some of the bench days. He was third to the lowest rich man was very low of the bench. Yes, you. He was also very, yeah, slew VCU, Richmond, Davidson, and like to hear of their own in terms of democracy, Bench for Starters. Got it. Okay. All right. Well, yes, that is some of the great data you can get from CDV Analytics. Make sure you use promo code weave. Thank you. Yeah, promo code. Yeah, that's the read. Sorry, sorry. Yeah. If you're, if you're signing up promo code weave for $40 off your first month, it is well worth it as we get into college hoop season. This is the perfect time for it. So sign up for CDV analytics.com promo code weave. All right. Key headlines. Fellas, lawsuits continue. The wars in the courtrooms continuing. There's even more at this point now with St. John's, Boba Carson is one of the many international guys that is now in a court room with the NCA, I think basically most of LSU's roster is in a non-going lawsuit right now. It's really hard to track and the random, different court dates for the stays and the TROs and the appeals of the stays are different in every state. We're just going to keep kind of shrugging at these. And we will take the rosters as they come, come, once we get to the season, we're going to highlight in our preview episodes where the five for five guys star, shout out to the A-10 and it's purity, I believe there's only like one committed five or five guy right now. Ginyard at Duquesne. Now there may be others as the flood gates open. But right now the A-10 ethical hoops and we respect you for that A-10. Injuries. We did mention last time out here on the pod that Michigan might have some concerns from its tour day Europe and officially Brandon McCoy is out with a torn ACL or an ACL injury the school announced, but taking that to mean he has done for the season. That is a major bummer for Mr McCoy. It's bad for Michigan. They are now even more leveraged on trying to get Roddy Gale back into the lineup as one of their five for five additions. It's a very freshman heavy bench there, Mr McCun and it doesn't look like the kind of repeat NCAA champion without their big star freshman. No, especially with Mike Boyton leading the way instead of Dusty May. No offense to Mr Boyton, but not quite the coach of May and we'll talk about that in our future big 10 preview. I think we talked about it a little bit so far this off season. But yeah Michigan not looking good. Brandon McCoy is supposed to be a big player there. Yeah one of the best athletes in the class seemingly an outstanding defender that was going to kind of short the wing defense because they just don't have a lot of options in that regard and now going to be really scrambling, especially if Gale does not end up getting eligible and then some of those five for five things fall through. Okay, let's pivot to some suspensions and dismissals. We are hot and heavy in that at this point of the year, surprisingly. Giselle James is no longer on the Charlotte roster. Giselle James is definitely not on the Cincinnati roster as the Cincinnati basketball program was insistent upon. I believe he posted a DM from Cincinnati to him telling him to like season to assist all associations publicly with Cincinnati, like stop trying to make profit off saying you were playing there or your jerseys and stuff. It is a full mental breakdown and that's kind of really all I'm going to say because it's almost sad at this point. It's two straight off seasons and it's not good, it's not good for Mr. James. The other one worth mentioning because we've already done our WCC preview, Miles Che is off the St. Mary's roster. We kind of talked them up. I believe kind of especially excited about a guy who had been at UC Irvine, UNLV. He's seemingly going to be a contributor there but he was a relative non-factor on their foreign tour behind Freshman Guard Darius Bivens. They apparently parted ways. Che was not happy with that role and they did just get a five-for-five commitment to backfill that spot with Jeremy Dett Smith from Sanford, Stan Ferd. But I don't know if that's actually going to go through, but yeah, Miles Che officially gone. So, we've already got people dropping like flies from previews we've done in preview season so far. So, thank you for keeping it interesting out there. That's pretty much all I got, Kai. That is it for Roots Roundup. Thankfully, there's not a ton of, I mean, there's plenty of news happening. It's just not definitive. It's going to change next week and the week after and the week after. So we're just going to kind of settle it when the dust settles and we'll talk teams in the meantime. Well, the gym. Let's talk 8-10 guys getting our 8-10 preview here. Give you a little way to land real quick, some high-level notes, then we'll get into our little standings to your discussion. No all conference, as we said, we did not write this preview this year. This is all well-worn. He does great work. Go check out the preview when it releases. I believe that's happening October. As we start, our previews mid-delay September here of the big boys conference is coming out first. One new coach, Jim Henson at it, but Mike McDonald takes over to St. Bonaventure. He is the only coaching change. Mark Schmidt was a well-regarded coach in this conference. A bit of a surprise that he was let go. Bonnie said it'd been great lately. The whole wage thing hasn't really worked out. Who could have saw that one coming? But Mike McDonald, welcome to the league. And then last year, little reminder, eight, 10. Pretty darn good last year. Seventh in Kempom was actually its best ranking as a conference in 2015, but it might have only been a one-bed league if you if VCU did not win the conference tournament, which is a bit interesting. There are five all conference guys back. Jokovic, the only first team or back. He plays for VCU. Glover Tuscano, second team or place for St. Joe's. And two, excuse me, three slew guys. Trey Green, McCotry, and Mr. Kellen Thames are back for the Billikens. So a bit of turnover, but Jim, not as much as the American. A little bit more coming back in this league. - Yeah, American just gets ravaged every off season. I was just having this internal debate as we went through this. I was gonna ask both of you as well. Is this league better or worse than it was last season? I kind of think marginally slightly worse. And I don't know-- - I think worse. - Yep, agree, that's with me. This, the nice part is there's much more likelihood of a three-bid A10, finally, mercifully, because the tournament expanded. But I think we're probably all gonna be in agreement on the clear two at the top. And then it's user's choice after that, Matthew. - Yeah, I almost did a split year one. I think Dayton has a very intriguing roster. But like slew and VCU, I don't know how you can look at those two and not put them in a cut above the rest. - Yep, and that's exactly what I did, Matthew. My tier one is VCU and slew. I put Dayton on its own tier two. So directly Matthew, I agree with you on Dayton. - And then Ty should, should we mention? I did mention there's a little one five for five guys. - Yes, that matters. - Ginyard from Ducane. - Ginyard, he would be a second five for a first team all conference guy back. And potentially a third. I know Avila is trying to get his eligibility in court. He's enrolled at slew right now. So it's not like the same public commitment as some of the other like transfers. But I think there's gonna be a few more that leak into the leak as some of the lawsuits settle. - Yeah, per usual. Yeah, Robbie Avila tried to do a lawsuit in Illinois for some reason, even though it doesn't make a lot of sense. - It's where he's from, I guess. - Okay, maybe that's why. Regardless, he might be back, we'll see. But anyways, VCU and slew on their own tier, Dayton, tier of it's not on tier two. And then tier three is huge for me. You could have these teams almost in any order, almost any order. But I went George Mason, George Washington, Ducane Loyola, Davidson, St. Joe's, Rhode Island, Fordham Richmond in my tier three. And then my tier four gym, I got LaSalle and I got St. Ponte Venture bringing up the rear. - Yeah, I don't have any major differences. The VCU slew top tier on board. The LaSalle St. Ponte Venture bottom tier on board. I did bump the Georgia's up to the tier with Dayton. I really liked that George Mason roster and skin has been really solid. I know they kinda collapsed on the end of the season last year, but there's a little bit of injuries as part of that. And I know people are gonna throw stones and mud at GW's year last season, but they were 86 and camp on 40 spots higher than the previous season. Castro missed a bunch of time. I know they went eight and 10 in the league, but I still think they kinda showed that they have that top 100 creeping up to top 75 potential. And I like the roster. They added some pieces that make sense to me. So similar to you, slightly different order in that big tier three that would be for you Ducane through Richmond, thinking of a little higher on Fordham, a little lower on St. Joe's. I like David's in two. I think Rhode Island's, I kept wanting to maybe rank Rhode Island last, and then because of the Salon St. Bono mentor, but I do have them at the bottom of that tier. Yeah, I had Rhode Island, LaSalle, Bonnie, on their own bottom tier, but I don't really feel like they're a tier below the teams above them, but I just feel like the most confident that they will cluster around the bottom is my wishy-wash explanation. I was higher on Richmond Kai. I think the ITC bits are a, because they had them fifth. You're right, it's just like it's just so fluid. Other than that, I think I agree with most of what you said. I had Mason and G-wash right behind Dane, as Jim you said that. So I started Richmond Sixth. And then just sort of a blend in there. I'm always too high on Loyola, 'cause I believe in Valentina. Yeah. I'm just saying again. 60th or 300th, that you just take your hand. I have no idea what to do with that program. I've never rated David's, David said I'd never get them correct. So I just put them in the middle by default, makes sense to me. I still believe we're talking about them on the screen. Exactly. Big up your age. You lost a little some of our Davidson followership, when we just completely omitted them from any conversation. And then St. Joe, I think I look at with Donna who did last year, I just like got her respect him. I think he's got a decent blueprint and good ball coach. So a lot of mush. Yeah, who do we talk about it about? Oh, Fordham. Of course I have Fordham high. Mikey McPies. I kept moving Fordham up. I kept moving St. Joe's up. I moved Rhode Island down. It was a weird exercise, but we can dig in now. We can dive into the old teams here. We're gonna start at the top of the VCU, Martelli, man. Two straight-in civil tournaments for him. One at Bryant, one at VCU. He's kept the VCU train rolling. Is this job like Utah State? Is it just a coach-proof job or the program's always good? Or are there some awesome hires? The program itself has had one team outside of the top 75 since 2006. That's just consistency in the middle of the landscape. They have a ton coming back. Nick Lewis, the rookie of the year, last year's back. Joe Kavitch, I mentioned the first teamer. Brandon Jennings was all defense. Bell, Ward, Noel, all back. And you add Blake Harper. A guy that could be very awesome at this level. Huge former stops at Howard and then Creighton. All since the style I get from middle Tennessee. As I kept thinking about it, Jim, VCU might be dot, dot, dot. Top 25, good this year. They're in that ballpark. I was trying to debate if I'm more encouraged by the team's super high floor because they have eight to nine guys. I think are very, very competent and talented. And whatever they like the ceiling, even more. Because Lewis could be a superstar. Jennings is such a monster defender. Joe Kavitch is already, unless Avila returns, probably the best player in the league. I think even Slufans would say that. I like Thames, but he can only play 20 minutes in game. So yeah, they've got the floor and the ceiling. Tyra Ward was up and down last year. I thought he might be their best player less. He didn't even need him to be good to be an at-large team. No, well, the Yukon transfer didn't need him to be good. They just recycle with great additions. They do a great job of finding the power conference rescues. Like Tyra Ward, like Blake Harper. And also some up and coming guys, like even Ralph Byer from Sacred Heart is like, all right, we know this guy can come in and shoot 40% from three on pretty good volume. I am very impressed with him, Matt. I thought Martellia would be a good coach at this level. And yes, it's hard to distinguish between him and VCU as a program, but he knows what he's doing. He elevated Bryant when he was there after Grasso was gone. So I believe in them, and I'm an agreement that they're number one in the conference. Yes, I did put them out of Sluf. I just think they have a higher floor, to be honest. And I think both Thames have like our tournament problems. We'll agree with this. Yes, we'll for it. I just, I wrote down Luke at my notes last year. I just like that he went with the same blueprint of depth and optionality, easy to do when you have the resources that they have. But I think using those resources in a more democratic-- that's the word of this podcast today-- a more democratic fashion. I just think the blueprints there have some kind of crazy upsides and some sophomores, too. I don't know what's-- yeah, I think this he was better than last year's team. That was sort of like the wow. It is. And so 40 second last year, we'll see how the relative, like, how it compares to last year on the whole, but I just think in a vacuum, if you think this he's better than last year, which is like a very real likelihood, then you feel pretty good. This is like a top 35-ish team, top 30 team. Yeah, because the thing you want to grasp is like, oh, they're not going to have the hill fire flame thrower off the bench, but like Blake Harper is that kind of a score when he's getting going. He's a different mismatch at his height. So yeah, I think they're probably slightly better, too. Let's move on to Slough. Our darlings, since Josh Scherz took this job, we love Josh Scherz. He is the best coach in the league for my money. I don't think many would disagree with that. He led Slough to their first at large since 2014. Their best rank since 2013 in Kim Pum. Obviously, Robbie Avila is a big loss, but everything else looks great. They return, I'll say essentially, four starters, counting thames. If you can play real minutes, Jim mentioned, you can really only play 20 minutes per game. Due to what does he can't like sweat or something? It's a, it's a strange condition he has. I can't remember what it is. Some say, yeah, it is odd. He might be player of the year. If you could play real minutes in the league. In the McCottery, Trey Greene, all of those guys are all conference players. Sharma Matthew is all freshman. Quentin Jones was a starter. And serviceable additions, I think, in Elijah Strong from South Carolina. Aila McKaley, I'm going to say a pronunciation there from Colorado. to serve. The most noticeable role guys that shirts can plug into his lineups, this team, I think, is nearly as good as last season, if not right around the same net. I think I haven't, like, around the same. I don't know anything about McCaley, so please hype him up if he needs to be hyped up appropriately, but I sort of like them, like, I love Avila, right? I just think there's some opportunity to play with some more dynamism at that, like, five position. I think it's just cool they can do the McCotry fames, alternate thing again. You have Sharma's, like, the Flamethrower. They keep going to be their depth. Like, what do they get from these, like, freshmen who are supposed to be pretty highly regarded? Because that's going to be kind of a secret sauce to what's made this team so good. They just come out to you with waves of depth. No one's, it's very rare, they'll, like, have everyone who's off, like, just, they find hot hands, they find the right guy, and just sort of keeps their, much like VCU, just that kind of widespread depth. They come at you from different angles, they're hard to scout. I think to me, it's, like, what does the bench look like? That's kind of determined the upside of this team where I think VCU on paper, their bench looks better from what we know right now. Yeah. A little more proven. I'm a fan of Amad, the big Canadian point guard that they brought in Dremel Thomas is a pretty well-regarded recruit. They did solidly bringing in freshmen, and then the transfers in the front court, I think are what kind of maker break the team. Because last year, Aval was an elite passer. Anyway, you slice it. He knew the system inside and out. He knew all the cuts, the reads, when to go for himself, when to try to set up others. And I think that's hard to learn for a big man. I think the McCaley-Jack's curve is the one, I think, getting a lot of the hype in the off season, like, because he's coming back and does know the system with shirts. Then you got Elijah Strong, like, monster per minute score from the SEC, and check Pearson in a former top 50ish recruit at Marquette. So you've got bites at the apple at the big man spot, but none of them were quite what Aval was. And the weirdest thing, Aval was an awesome rim protector. Like they were, they allowed 48.5% shooting at the rim and league play when Aval was on the court, which is like a 99th percentile number for the entire country. I don't know how they did it. They have a lot of length at other positions too. But I think solving the Aval absence makes them a clear number two to me behind VCU. They've got to sort that out because of the way he fit and the kind of symbiosis he had with shirts. Both these teams are at large. Yes or no? Yes. Yes. You got to do the 76 teams now just means we get to say yes every team. Yes. You get a bid. You get a bid. Yes. My fair odds would be like a coin flip that both make. Yeah. Probably coin flip. But both are favorites to make it. I agree. I like that. Good for ending Matthew. Thank you. Dayton is on their own tier for me. It felt like an underachievement the last two years and yet they went 24 and 12 and 10. It's sort of the same story with Anthony Grant. He's underperformed his Kim Palm rank four out of the six years after the COVID year. But Dayton's almost always top 75 or better. Not a lot of continuity this season. Latong is back up front. He is a stud. But mostly everyone else is a transfer. This team last year was nails on defense. They're in number 30 in the country. But the question is where is the offense? They're transfer class. It's not bad. But I'll go Joseph with a man and Joseph Marshall. I like Travis Perry and Zay Lowery coming in. Though they haven't really proven a ton at the D1 level. Maybe stepping down will help. I really like Jalen Haynes and he's been a stud in this league already which George Mason. It's a team gym that I feel like is in a similar sort of season. It's ranked 60 to 80. It's good. Not great. And now we got Anthony Grant in his 10th year with two NCAA tournaments including the COVID year. Yeah. I think this team with shirts as the coach would be tier one in like a possible at large. He is an elevator and I think Grant has become more of just like he settled into a spot. The US flyers fans, the diehards like they are ready for the mutual parting of ways and just seeing what else is out there because he hasn't consistently had them in the tournament and the resources, the fan base, everything they have. I mean, look at this roster. It's probably more expensive than a quarter of P5 schools at least. The Joseph thing is interesting because it's, to me, he's like Tyler and Riley last year. We had the really good end of the year at Cal Baptist and then exploded for Tulsa. Joseph had a really good end of the year at Marshall where he became like a little bit more of the guy. And maybe he has that burst onto the scene moment. Lowry, we liked Mark Ked after he left. That's cool. Yeah, I know. That's cool. I'm going to upset the apple cart there. But man, I love the fit of Haynes and Lattang, Matthew. You've got the rim protector and Lattang that can stretch it offensively. Haynes, maybe not a true, defend the rim five men. But he is a bully on the block. He's a pretty decent passer if he's featured in the post and you can flex those two guys. I really, really like the fit. You've got depth. Simon's a great permanent rebounder. Thomas and some of the other names on there, like Tristan Ford is supposed to have upside at Murray State. He breached it. Like they kind of go deep and they've also got some pretty solid top end options. But they're just a tear below for me, Matthew, because of the, they don't have the same coaching bump. I agree. I think the grants thing, the grants narrative is swung almost too far. I think he's like an underrated coach just in relative to like the perception of him. Now, but I agree as you generally, he's not like, he's not Josh Hertz. So I think the talent is pound for pound on parlor, it's slew. I argue this is actually the best front court in the A10. Hold my nose and say that. Let that let that marinade. Bell and joke of it. Could baby. Yeah, I know. It's like, yeah, VC. Okay. But Joseph, I think it's the key here. Right? They just need some like solid like perimeter pledge. It's sort of a, it's a wild card back court that could be like best in the league. It could just be very erratic and unreliable and sort of lead to the same inconsistencies. And foibles that Dayton has dealt with like the last three, four years. Does Travis Perry have the, the, the pressure, the lawyer bump or the foster lawyer bump going to the A10? And we have a Durkack still in the Durkack family still in the Durkack brothers. Yes. Top hit your career means the best freshman league. I would assume, correct? Was that right? I'd buy that. Yeah, by that measure. Yeah. Uh, we're going to tier three. It's a giant tier. And we're start with George Mason. Tony Skins. Good. Tony Skins. Really good. Uh, three straight top 100 teams. That has not been done here at George Mason since Lairnega, Kimming never did it once. Uh, they were 18 and one and 6 and 0 in the A10 last year at one point with the, with a win at VCU, excuse me, over VCU, and they finished five and nine. It was a tough end of the year for George Mason. I got a couple guys back. O'Connor was a guy that was expected to take a big Lee class season, but he took a medical red shirt, pressed these a partial star to low usage and can go sort of a role player. But Matthew, they get Baraka Koji back. A former George Mason player, Boomerangs. He played under skin as a freshman. He was a stud at Mercer last year. He was first team all so calm. He led the conference in assists per game. He was number two in points per game. So major stud coming at the point card spot and then a bunch of role guys from the portal and also somehow James Naji, the guy that caused controversy coming back to Baylor last season from the pros, okay, maybe he's something in the A-10. Lots of positional sides once again, Matt. I think the deepens can be really good. And I trust skin. I think it's the top four or five team. I think so as well. I definitely trust skin. I also think that, man, I just sort of fooled by their awesome star. They didn't play anybody. I think they were kind of built to really wear teams in their league or lesser down and I think that played out and then they sort of hit a injury snap who laid and they kind of limped to the finish line. But still, very good team, very good coach in all mason. It's weird to think that he actually didn't improve his camp hop ranking last year. They started 91st finish 100 but obviously that sort of happened late in the year. On paper act, I don't like the roster as much. Like I love a Koji. There's depth. I just tried to put myself back in my shoes this time last year and I think I liked the roster better last season. So I don't know where that leaves me, Jim, but I have them seventh. I can't count right now, but maybe a little bit lower than you, Kai. Yeah, a couple of teams I just like better. Yeah, I've got him fourth. I think this could be like a top 45 defense or so. I think they're going to be incredible and then Koji is a beast on the ball. It was always the wonder if the offense was going to catch up with his defense and it finally did last year. Kanga is a monster. One of the most productive permanent rebounders in the entire country. Also a bit of a shop blocker as well. He's got to cut down the fouling. That's typical for a guy coming in that athletic, but I like that one, two punch as your bookends to your defensive lineup. Then they've got a lot of size length with EOE. Can I call him that from Butler? Sure. Oliogu, Elabor. I'm going with EOE. And they get a counter back from missing last season who was very familiar with the scheme. And then the defense, excuse me, the bench. They've got a bunch of bites at the apple for skill. Marvilde shot 50% from three on low volume last year. Adair from Oliogu, Maryland was like a stretch for that couldn't quite get going from perimeter, but he's got a lot of skill as a freshman. So I think they're just trying to find the right combinations and that's going to be up to skin. But there's enough to work with here to go with what I think is going to be an awesome defense and that's skin's bread and butter. Yeah, it's your point 31st, two years ago in Kempom, Jim, their defense. So he's done it before. The 45 is not a crazy prediction. - So why are they eighth in the conference last year in defense? - It just kind of fell off. They didn't have the same, I mean, Riley Allen's pocket. - Yeah, I think that was the trade-off you made. Yep, that was the trade-off you made. Kongen, that was sort of the game. - Boy, you need to score that. - I can't really score. Offends awesome, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, but two straight years, they were top 12 and 2.0 percentage defense. So like that is a sustainable thing. And I think they'll have to have that back again this year. - Same page, Jim. Let's go to another George Washington. Not really sure how you go eight in 10, the eight in 10 with the roster they had last year, but to Jim's point earlier, they did finish 86th in Kempung. That was the school's best ranks in 2016. They were the fourth best team in the eight in per Kempung. They have one guy back in last year, a ring urine, a productive guard, ball handler, shooter type of guy, but the transfer class is very good. Terrence Arsano coming in. He's all eight in caliber. He played at Houston, and he stayed. And then a bunch of other power guys, Kasseris from Colorado, whether it's being from Pitt, Dylan James from Georgia, Vukovic from Oklahoma State, Jim, they probably underachieve in a template again, but it's a lot of talent. And it's enough to have them fifth for me right now. - Yeah, can I have your name correct? - Of course. - Are you sure? - Are you sure? - Are you sure? - Are you sure? - Are you sure? - Can I get a ruling that? - Honestly guys, I thought it was Aaron Gurren. So we're all on a different page here. - A-R-A-N-G-U-R-E-N. - Yeah. - G-M-E-T. - Matt, Matt, do some research. Find that out as I vamp here. But no, I love the potential of the additions. It's a lot of like, all right, you were 15 minute reserve for a P5 team. Can you come in and step into a bigger role? I think James, it's surprisingly the one I like, maybe even more than Arsano. Arsano just kind of bummed me out last year. And I think everybody that's on Houston gets a little bit of a Houston bump. And they leave, and especially if you're some guy that's not willing to play for Samson anymore, I've got to discount your competitive nature a little bit. But you get some shooting from Ryder Frost and Vukovic. Kassaris, a little bit more of a downhill guard. Witherspoon, check some, forget there's some boxes of like the amount of free throws he took and assists since I can't remember what the stat filter was. But I think there's ways to make a lot of the guys on this team look appealing. And maybe it's not quite as good as last year's roster, but if it's right around like 80, 85th, that's probably gonna be fifth in the A10 for me. So I'll leave GW right there. - Yeah, it's a double edge short thing for me. Like I just, such a disappointing like overall results to relative potential team. And I think that was very obvious in a lot of their close games. They just did a lot of dumb stuff. Just did not like execute well. Maybe it's a good thing that they sort of, not by choice, but it was a quasi house cleaning this off season. And maybe that's sort of a good thing. Kind of takes the target off their back, bringing some guys maybe who are just more not competitive, just like know how to execute and like, I mean, I think Caputo is a good system coach. I think his in-game stuff's questionable. That makes sense. Just guys feel like he has a very like modern view of like future bad about basketball. It's supposed to be play especially offensively, but man, they were just so like just erratic and like high-levered spots last year. It's how you lose eight games in the A10 when you have that much talent. - 10 games in fact. - 10 games, sorry, 10 games. So you win eight games and lose 10. That's not good, yeah. - Yeah, actually, you know, Caputo is, he slightly under-perform last year, Kim Pum. The other three years, he's slightly over-performed. That actually surprises me. 'Cause for me, his talent has out-performed his actual performance. So that makes sense. - I still give him the gym learning a shine. So I'll tell you guys, I give him a little bit of that ball. - They've gotta just be frustrated. All right, we finished 74 spots ahead of Fordham and Ken Pum, and finished with the same A10 record. - Yeah. - You gotta find a way to win more ball games. They couldn't cross the Delaware Kai, George Washington, couldn't cross the Delaware, 'cause they lost the Delaware at home. - Couldn't Ford the river. - Ha ha. - Yes. - Ha ha. - Duquesne is where I'm going next, which is weird for me. 'Cause I'm not the biggest Drew Joyce fan, but he really hasn't been that bad. He's finished about where Kim Pum expected him to finish the past two years. 17 and 19 league play. They just never seem to have an identity. - I agree. - That's a great take. - That's kind of my like mushy take on Duquesne. They have two guys back, Hall and Damon Shelley, somewhere I'm gonna go with them in the last name. But the transfer class is promising. Josh Smith was the number two skorer, excuse me, number two usage guy in the A7 at West Georgia. Very good score. Score, Pasha, I think is a very promising A10 player from Genetek. Berman was really solid in the A7 as well at Queens. Conan and Demir is a power conference front court. At least they played there, not necessarily that caliber, but there is upside. So Jim, I don't like them as initially, excuse me, I don't like them as much as I initially did when I was prepping for the podcast, but I think they're top 150 again. And then you get Terrence Giniard back. Obviously becomes a massive jump for their standing aspirations. - Yeah, I think they need Giniard to be up here. I've got him down at 10th without him. The Turkish front court's kind of fun. This guy was going to be like the Bash Brothers, Conan and Demir. Conan was supposed to be like an awesome defender at Creighton. And I think they're just, you don't care about defense. We don't want that. That's not Creighton basketball. They got a lot of playmaking in the back court 'cause Pasha was, you know, that's kind of what he was known for before he went up to Virginia Tech and just got buried by Abdalus. They just didn't need that kind of an archetype in the lineup. And if you get Giniard back in there, then wow. Okay, we've got guards that can make plays, can shoot a little bit. I think Josh Smith is going to be bad at this level. - Oh no. - I'm concerned. - I don't know. - A-Sun defenses are not A-10 defenses. And when you're under 40% in the A-Sun, I don't love you in the A-10. So that's why I'd like to see the lineup with, you know, him or as the bench reserve spark and Pasha slides. So the two is a big strong-bodied two and you bring Giniard back in as the PG depth is a mystery. There's some freshmen and some foreign guys that I don't have like strong takes on at this point. I always liked Ola Woney, because I watched two good games of his at VMI and then he got totally buried at Oregon State. So maybe he just stinks. But yeah, this is when I'm slightly lower on Matthew. - I have them eighth and ninth. Yeah, I kind of with you, I think your best take is like, I don't, maybe Joyce just sort of pushing different buttons. Like last year, I think he just got in bed with the Giniard business and we're just like, we're gonna play offense. Like offense will be our thing. I stopped walking the ball, I started to play much more open. He really tried to like kind of just change how he played. And the much which was sort of wrapped up in Giniard being sort of the point, the kind of the point of attack there. Just as he was at Martin, like that whole team up until he was like you, everything orbits around Giniard. So not to like double down on what Jim said, but like I think him, he's a huge part of this projection. Just like the whole archetype of this team changes if he's back. I like that they look a little bit thicker up front. Kind of maybe a reversion back to their defensive roots. Just gotta find that balance. But the depth is a little bit dice year, relative to some of these. The teams like the top seven, top eight in my opinion. - Yeah, you call them 10th. Pasha by the way, for a reminder out there, coastal or might have been the colonial two years ago. Rookie of the year, back two years ago at Delaware. So he has access at a part of the Delaware, like crazy burst into the title term, right? - Yeah, exactly, yeah. - That's right. Okay, Loyola, this is where I lead you. (laughs) I got 'em seventh, but what the hell is that man? Last year, 280th in Kempum. The last season Loyola, after a pre-rank of 99, it was shades of 2023. In both seasons, 2023 and 2026, they finished four and 14 in the 810. They finished nearly 200 spots below their pre-season rank. Outside of those years, they're 27 and 9 in the 810. So it's like a SNP SNAP, a Jekyll and Hyde, it's Drew Valentine. Matt, he hasn't performed his Kempum rank in four straight years, Retro, but Justin Moore has gone, and that can't be a bad thing. He cannot hurt the Ramblers anymore. Only one guy is back, a key player, Amos, and a bunch of newbies. If you can figure out how low it's gonna be this year, please tell me, please tell me. - They gotta be healthy. - I will, it doesn't excuse 280th last year, but this team did beat George Washington. They won at Santa Clara, and they beat Robyn. This team clearly had potential when they played well. But the problem with this team is, I think you could go back a couple of years in Valentine's bad seasons. Turnovers are a problem. When you try and run the Princeton offense, and you have the new players, and don't have any execution and moving parts, offensively, you can really get hamster on quickly. And I mean, some of the defensive stuff, so it's really been a lot of money. They were a terrible victim of bad luck last year. They're 2.0 percentage is pretty good. Teams were on fire from three against them. They were like, yeah, 354th and free throw, percentage defense, so I do think there's a little bit of like, it was not that bad last year. It was bad, it just wasn't that bad, Jim. I don't know what this team, I'd like, I see a ton of upside. - You're doing it, you got a hand. - This is the widest range of outcomes, I think, in like this tier two, yeah, I mean, hand and Nessa, Diallo, Jeffrey, and in the two top 25 Juco's and from France. I mean, I have no idea. That could be really good. - It could be terrible. - Yeah, they've got, town, I think Groatsinger is like their highest paid player, maybe. Like I think they really were super high bringing him in. - Well, I definitely have no idea then. That's like, yeah, I have no clue. - And Nessa was like legitimately good at Cleveland State after he come back. to watch out of the attack initially and has like real talent. You got to find, like you said, Matt, is there a big man passer here? Because it ain't Malik Diallo. I don't really think it's Amos. He didn't pass the ball last year and that's kind of what they run and run offensively. Some of those dribble handoff type stuff and let the big guy get everybody else going downhill. I don't see that on this roster. Is the fit going to work without that? I kind of think no. They have to try harder than they did on defense last year. Their perimeter guys just did not close out, wide open threes all the time and Ruben blocking shots was like pretty much all they had in that regard defensively. So I think they're going to have a little bit more of oomph to them this year. They shouldn't come out and just immediately roll over defensively like they did last year, but man, Kai, how can I have any certainty? They're top 100 or outside the top 250. That's just in the screen range. Yeah. You're good. If Goatsinger is good, they could be good. Hand is probably all A 10. Nessa was all horizon for a bad Cleveland state team. So yeah, Jeffery is like kind of useful from Villanova, I don't know if you can put the pieces together. Drew, Drew, put the pieces together, man. One time for me last year was abominable and I lost a lot of money on them, so not happy camper on them. Yeah. Okay. We forgot about you last year, but not this year, Davidson. Hello, hello, Davidson. I got you eighth. Matt McKillop. You've been okay. Last year was finally the breakthrough. First winning season in the A 10 from McKillop hit the best Kempom finish for him as well. He still hasn't broken 100. That's a bit embarrassing considering what his dad did. You get three starters back with Sam Brown, scovans and platoon. Tough names in the sleep. Put two. I think it's, I think it's platoon because I call them platoon. Platoon. Yeah, platoon. Okay. And then Janowski, man. That first team all summer guy at St. Thomas, he's a stud. And then Jim somehow, John Carter, the movie, John Carter from Navy. He last played in 2022. He graduated high school in 2018. He was second team all Patriot in 22. That's crazy. That guy was really good, by the way. If he's still good at basketball, this team solid and I can have him a little underrated at number eight. Yeah. Part of it, I think, might be because I just, I loved John Carter at Navy. And so he gets to like the service time or like military service exemption. That's why he's eligible and using his COVID year this year. I swear I remember a thing where like maybe I'll get corrected by the eight ten fans. Like Davidson didn't have a grad school for a while. So guys couldn't be there at that college day of college. College. Yeah. Yeah. So that they've clearly figured that out in some way or another because they've had 5th year guys in the past and stuff. But yeah, I like this team. Skolvins, you know, you've gotten an army and a Navy fellow on the same team. You know, the what predator where they're shaking hands. That's right. Yeah. It's predator. Hands me. So good to have that combination. Sam Brown is a little up and down last year. But man, Janowski seems to fit even like a higher upside Parker Friedrichson version. Like Shooter a little bit down hill. Former top 100 guy that went to Nebraska. That's a question mark, Matt, you said right at the top of the CBB analytics section. They played a lot of options down the bench. And I think you got to squint a little more to see that depends on if they're foreign guys. Hanoi Nen and Stoyberg, if they're good, then suddenly you have some depth. But yeah, can we see it? See that top 100 season from the kill up. We'll see. Like I said, I love Platy. I think he's going to have a big break out here. Yeah. He's the obvious breakout. Like I think they come up for it, he's had a couple of like good international talent picks. And I think that's maybe puts you in a more of a bullish state on these guys that he got from overseas. But like Scovans, Roberts, Platy Brown, and then Janowski, who could just be this team's best player, like not even factoring in Carter, like I really good top eight. Where do I have them? Sixth? Yeah. Better than Mason. I think I got them better than Mason. Oh, I'll board that you there. Sorry. I'm sorry. I love Washington, the other George. They're not Mason right there. I was just so low in the team last year. I just sort of was like so frustrated about how dumb they played the year before. They turned them all over a ton, blew away a lot of close games, but they were very good last year. Yeah. Top five defense in a 10 play last year. You looked more athletic, just like compact. Like, yeah, I agree. Just rocks out. Tough to prepare for. Kind of play unique-ish style in this like too. They're better than I thought last year too. They really improved. Yeah. Okay. I talked to myself in a Davis in there. I got to consider where the blooms go. Where did blooms go? I believe he is Penn State where they are not going to play any defense this year. Okay. Just get the three stuff, maybe. Roberts Blooms. Why? Why do you have Penn State? Okay. They got him just real quick tangent. They got him and Brent Buyers from the Mayan, Ohio undefeated team that two guys that are just like, I don't want to enter the three point line. I want to stay out here. Michael. Different. Different. I'm going to St. Joe's in nine and this is a team you could have higher or lower. I guess this whole tier is a mess. Best story of the year last year. Billy Lang fired. Steve Downey who takes over, wins coach of the year. St. Joe somehow finishes third in this league, 13 and five in the eight ten. It's the best mark since 2016 when Phil Martelli senior, led them to the insulate tournament. And they did it with defense. They're number 55 in the country and defense, number two in the eight ten. They got two starters back, Glover, who was second team all eight ten. I mentioned will afford who is all rookie. They all also have a sophomore Myers who saw a decent run off the bench. And Sean Logan is a sneaky get from Davidson major shop blocker. Not much else, but he anchors the defense and Davidson Stevens actually very good last season. The rest Jim kind of met for me and it's what's kind of anchoring them down here at number nine, a D2 transfer in Flamer, hilarious last name, bone that loss of an experience on the bench. Yeah. So I have an 11th and I was debating maybe even having a slight tear break, but I think your points about the defense are what should keep them up here. And I think the defense is going to be the way they have to win again, bringing in Logan as the replacement for Agigbo, like the big time shop blocker to anchor your defense around that makes a lot of sense and your your boy Flamer blocked two and a half shots of game at the division two level two. Sure I did. I wonder if it's like Flamere. Flamere. Yeah. I don't know. That's what he's getting called. He's now he's Flamere on the show. I just think this offense could be a bismill. Like it is Jaden Glover scoring or they're not scoring. So I think the offense if it finishes 300th, I wouldn't be that surprised. That's that's my worry here Matthew. I still think Myers could be really good and I think Glover's, yeah, I mean, I that's the question. I love Sean Logan. I think he's a super underrated defender and I think you look at like Davidson's on off stuff the last few years that checks out so they should be big. But last year they were so good defense because they're like like in that six seven six eight super athletic matrix with like Haskins and Finkley and even Simpson was a great defender at the point of tech obviously they're Glover's Glover to yeah, so they get like one piece of that back. But I do think their identity is changing this year just by nature of the personal tomorrow, which is going to be tough. But getting out of the Duce Shones business early last year was a great decision. We talked about it. No, as you know, Duce Shones and Justin Moore just like to high used to J ten point guards that have torpedoed their team's offense and offenses. So I like just kind of like see what Myers has got like you may be erratic, but he's going to be better upside. He's getting you more upside than than Duce Shones did. They're going to need to take that shot. They're going to be anywhere near the top nine just to have too much margin too many things need to break right for them to like crack the top celebrate for me. Yeah, this this transfer class. Oh, like if you're relying, it's carry from Maine as your seventh man. Yeah, I think freshmen are going to be I think and honestly like you've seen like he's tried it out freshman at Penn like just like yet you're getting in there big minutes. I think these freshmen just could just be on leash to the wolves and you know, I guess that's what Williford was last year. So for point for point number 10, I'm going to an island, but I might be too high. I don't know why I'm trusting Archie Archie has rightly been raked over the Coles for his performance, but he has improved every single season at Rhode Island. He's still over for on Kimp on that performance. He was over for Indiana as well. In fact, 2016 Dayton is the last time that he outperform his Kimp on rank. That's bad. That's a big fall from Grace for for a coach, but this roster isn't that bad. Hinton and Trip are solid. They're back. Sal was back from injury Dylan Williamson, very productive at Towson. He was a third team. I'll see a guy. Death Matt is a concern though. Again, I could be high. I could be looking at the shiny objects of the three starters that I like on this team. The depth is where it falls off. And then again, Archie really hasn't earned my trust over the last decade or so. Yeah. I mean, I actually like this team last year on paper. I'm just like, I don't care about Archie. I like the dudes they brought in. A lot of guys over on their last go around of year of eligibility. It sort of bottoms like the last dance type of thing with guys for a coach who had lost so much of his glory from IU. And it's just like, okay, no, another flop, of course, they do stupid things like being dating a dating beat slew and just like, that's no upside for anyone. Like no one's rooting for an island to beat those teams. Instead, they're just going to make teams we actually like sweat more on the level. Yeah. Yeah, this, I have an 11th, I think, 12th, 12th. I, depth's not even great. Like, I mean, I don't know if Jason Fountain is gonna make sure, I don't, Jim, I'm just out of this team. I don't know why he's still there. I thought they would have made this all season, frankly. Yeah, I'm, I'm not in on either. He finally had one season better than David Cox's worst season. He did, so he still had, was like singing David Cox's praises from the rooftops. In fact, it was like, because he's actively sabotaging the program. And now Archie is like, had a objectively worst tenure than David Cox's had. So I, I'm shocked he's still around. It probably was an expensive biocs. I think they paid him a bunch of money when they first got there. And they might have extended him after 2025, when he won 18 games. I can't remember exactly what happened there. But yeah, I don't, I don't love this team. Your two starting guards are sub 39% from the field. And one of them's moving up in conference. I just, I'm not a fan of Hinton. Trip is my guy, though. I loved you, mere trip. I loved his older brother, physical defender. He gets down hill. He actually makes shots a little bit too. I don't even think it's brother to that. And Deniusus from UT Martin is a useful piece. - Intrigues me. - Intrigues me. - Yes. - Yes. - But man, yeah, it's bleak after that. Itadjury was really good for them as a big man. Like low usage, no, you roll guy last year. And I don't know if so is gonna fill that same spot. I don't think Williamson's better than Miles Corey. And Miles Corey was, you know, the point guard last year. He was bad, they benched him and they went to, they put a, what was their big, they transitioned to, who is it? - RJ Johnson, last year. - Johnson, yeah. Courtney, that was my worst take of the year. I was like, this guy's gonna rock and he just was not good. - Yeah, I just, I, these, if you're sub 40% from the field, at the lower level, it's tough for me to get really hyped about your moving up. So that is my warning light on Dylan Williamson. He will make some tough and cool shots because that's what he does. But I don't, I don't know that they've got enough else around him besides my guy trip. - Where did Miles Corey end up? - He might be out of eligibility, isn't he? - Oh, 'cause he was a, - He was up from non-D1. - 'Cause South Alabama, that's the only place they've recruit for. - That's right, exactly. - For them. This is where we're going next to 11 and for them Sweep Road Island last year, despite finishing 25 spots below them and Kim Pum, I kinda like this roster. Mac Payo, he finished about the expectations last season because of course he did. 80th and defense, 160th and Kim Pum overall. That's good for four of them. The offense was bad and that's gonna be continuing to be the concern here. But three starters are back, technically whip-borne played just 11 games last season, but still counting them as a starter. Another guy, Bodia, started nine games to them as a freshman. Another guy, I'm not gonna pronounce the name right, AQR played nearly 20 minutes per game. So it's strong continuity and then, Matt, you get three serviceable guard transfers, which makes me think that they should be a little bit higher. Lindsey was a first-team all-american East guy at Albany. Patrick was the Southland newcomer of the year in a first-team all-conference guy at Stephen F. Austin. And Odie was a mega hyped guard at St. John's last season. Could have been a home or take by a lot of those guys, but still, in the A10, I think that's a lot of talent. And he could explode, why not? So it's a fun back court, good continuity, and a coach I really like and for them. - How about your boy, John LaBoi? By the way, come off the bench. I don't know if you see him. I have no idea who he is or if he can be good, but I saw him on the board. - John LaBoi, he was like the name. - Yeah, I just have to officially listen to J.J. LeVoi, which I hate when the guys, they don't match up their sports reference. - No one likes that. - Which is where I pulled the stats from. - John LaBoi, the second, yeah, no. Go with junior kid. No, the front court's great. I think AQR Jacobs is like maybe my most underrated player in the league. I think the front court is like the chip off the magpayo block with Bore and Schultzi and they got depth there. And yeah, if two of those guards pop, like Patrick could just be awesome. And if Odie is like anything close to the height machine, he was sort of kind of mentioned kind of cross town, stays home, like there's real potential there. And obviously I'm painting this all with a positive brush because it's magpayo and I think that's sort of, that's the benefit of the doubt he deserves. His team's never shoot. That's kind of just part of his recipe, right? It's a trade off he makes, but if he can find some guys, you have not shot well, that just can suddenly start making shots. I think sort of their possession stuff falls into place with their turnovers and they're obviously on the glass will be terrific. - Yeah, I think it's just like an incrementally better version of last year's team. I think the defense might be a little bit better than 80th and the offense might be a little bit better than 257th. And so you get a team that finishes like 135th or something, which would be a huge achievement for Fordham, given its recent history. That was the year that got Ergo, like all the plotts in the world. Either huge up front, like monstrous up front, they're gonna be incredible on the glass. And then I think with Odie and Patrick, you're bringing two guys that are gonna ramp up the turnovers even more to coming from the SFA system and Rick Patino, St. John system. Those guys are gonna get in your grill defensively. Just can they get enough shot making from Lindsey and Patrick to recreate those Riverside teams where it was Hargers and the other perimeter guys. But yeah, good defensive team, ugly offensively. If they had the season that St. Joe's had last year, that wouldn't surprise me at all. The 50th defense, 194th offense and Fringe Top 100. - I have officially moved ahead of a violent. Done to this. - I've got my job on the spot cast. That's a better. I'm happy with that outcome. - I like the back court and they got a lot of depth up front and I like back pay, what am I doing? Don't be scared, Kai. Just do it. - I'm sure Esom will be a good player. Don't know who he is. I'm just like 6'11." - I don't know. - Productive. - Yeah, because rebound rate will be off the charts. - Be good. - Okay, the spiders. I almost forgot them when I was preparing for this podcast. I got him 12 because it's been Yeesh, man. 10 and 26 and the 8/10 past two years. What's happening? Mooney, who is now in his 22nd season, by the way, he's kind of fallen in a bit of a rut after having a couple of good years in a row following a call for his firing. It's been a big up and down circus for him. Rising sophomore, Arger Bright is back at the point. He was all rookie last year. Yep, yep. Tanner started, he is very met for me and then Harper is back as well. Transistors are the key. You get Jamie Kaiser and one of the McAfrie's who should be solid. I think Kaiser's could be an 8/10 player. You get Stuart from Penn State. That gives a kind of meh for me. But I do like Darren Seran from UC Irvine. I think he's going to be a very good player for them. You got a guy from Bucknell, guy from Mom Myth. Jim, I think it's a talent problem. That's my summary here. It's still a talent problem from Mooney. He hasn't had it in a couple of years. And it's really showed in the results. Yeah, it's a talent and athleticism problem. He does athleticism. Jacob Gillyard set in the NCAA record for steals and suddenly his defenses can't get any sort of stops. And he's clearly prioritizing skill in the front court. That is what Aiman Dury's is. So they're like Mike Walls. And who's the Queen? Neil Quinn, I think before that. The big passing big man. They're always looking for that. Kaiser is not an athlete on the wing. He wants to shoot. So they're emphasizing the skill again. They at least got a lot of size. Besides the Argo Bright, everybody is 65 or bigger. They got a lot of length. I just don't know, Matt. I didn't get very excited looking at this roster. You sounded much higher on it than me. I know Mooney's had some good seasons in years past. But I don't, without more continuity in his offensive system and worth less athleticism on defense, I got a, I'm thinking they're like 150th in the country. Maybe a little lower. That's fair. I do think they'll overachieve. And I'm sort of just like, I think Serena will be better. I don't know why I always believe in that guy, but I think he's going to be good again at some point. I love Argo Bright. Athleticism, yes. Their freshman are always underrated. But just, yeah, they don't have talent. They don't have money. They play ball next to the team with like-- That's true. --that star in that program. It's just like, they've also had huge injuries the last couple of years. I mean, Mooney's a good coach. When he's had good players and a healthier roster, it's pretty clear what he's done there. Just sort of buying and just kind of a Mooney bet for me. I think they finish in the, kind of like, upper half, seventh, or eighth. Tough? What I'm eighth? What did they do? Yeah, eighth. Tough being in the same league in the same city as the best program in the conference. And, by the way, they own you every year. So, like, in any recruiting pitch, like-- Oh, yeah, look at the Richmond versus VCU results like last 10 years, like, yeah, go there, sure. Let's just-- I think I was just super negative about that. I have an eighth also. Oh, really? Head of Loyola and Duquesne, just my four-dom form. Head of Loyola. I've been saying my rankings. I got to do better at that, OK? Yeah, I don't have them too far behind Loyola. They actually started off pretty well last year. I remember being surprised. William and Mary, the beat Belmont, the beat Southern Illinois. And then they lost to Elon and Charleston Southern. And then they just tanked in the A-10. So, like, George Mason a little bit, kind of a weird drop off last season for them. Yeah, I guess I want to be like, oh, well, they have a much higher floor than Loyola, because look at Loyola did. But two years ago, they finished 247th. That was the worst. Like, maybe not. That team was so bad. It's just so bad to watch two years ago. OK, we're heading down to the last tier, tier four, where Lesal and St. Bonneventure lie. I actually have these teams about even, so you can flip them in any order. And really, they're not that far behind the last team in tier three. A-10's fairly flat. Lesal is where I'm going to start here. Nichols, it's your two for him as the head coach. It's a hard place to win. He's off in 9 and 23, 5 and 13. team conference year 228th overall, that's just kind of what a salad's been for the last several years. You get dockery back, you get brewer back from an injury, and then you get Johnson back. We started every single game that he ended up playing last season at the point. And then you got some guys that are like, okay, I have a little bit of confidence that there'll be decent at this level because two of them from the eights and three of them from the eight ten, Tray Moss from George Washington, Anthony Finkley, St. Joe, Steddon, Booker, George Mason, and then Jim, I do like Cam Burton from SFA. That's the one get that kind of stood out to me as a guy that's like, oh, that guy's actually been productive at previous stops. But again, the town is still pretty lacking. This team cannot shoot whatsoever. And the quality size is missing from the roster. Yeah, they tried to, like, we're not going to bring in any shooting except Cam Burton. Cam Burton, can you make all of our three ies for us? Just Cam Burton. You got to do all of that. I, for what I have read about their budget in the discord, I haven't pressed by the talent here. It's a low, low budget. Like they, they might not have a million dollars or something like that. It's, wow, it's bad. So the fact that they retained three starter caliber guys and Finkley from St. Joe's, we just kind of sang this praises for the positional defense size wing forward that he gives them. That adds something. Burton gives them at least a little more shooting than they had last year. Yeah, I, it's definitely not 14th for me, Matthew. I debated having them like 12th or 11th. A bold take would be like, I think this team could be better than Rhode Island this year. I'm sure that will be poorly received by some folks, but they just were not good last year. And I thought the roster was okay. They weren't healthy. Yeah, I just, I, I was thinking they could get up to like 170th last year and they finished lower than they started in Kenpon and didn't, didn't really have a good year. But Nichols is, has found a way a little bit before it radpered and maybe he will do it again here. I think he's a perfect hire for this program who will have major issues hiring like legitimate talented coaches given like, they had to like drag friend done to you out of retirement or go to him. Like Joe, my highlight, I think is there is a specialist just because like of the infinity for the program, like Nichols. So I just think they're always going to be sort of operating from that position of weakness. Nichols blood depth, any loves physical dudes, it gets the line. And I think that's going to be the recipe again. They can just stay kind of healthy. I think they'll be feisty. But yeah, like there's a very, very hard ceiling with this team. That's just kind of the reality to be fun to see them kind of bounce up and raise, you know, get some punches in knock off some, you know, play Dayton or slew or be you scary close. But yeah, so they beat last year Dayton, Dayton, those are the teams raised like every time. Yeah, that's dangerous. Um, I, yeah, they're better than the body and they're better than my cruddy. I don't know. Rhode Island. By the way, LaSalle, sweat pro Island as well. Sure. Well, Rhode Island was Oh and four against four of them in LaSalle. They, they made no sense. You know, I just like that. LaSalle has won 10 plus league games once in 20 years. That was the sweet 16 team with Dr. John. Not great. Uh, okay. Let's finish it off. St. Bonaventure. Uh, March Smith Schmidt has gone off his worst eight in season since his first year in 2008. The program itself hasn't been top 100s as 2022. And it might never be again. Um, yeah. Max McDonald takes over. Mike McDonald was Kinesh's head coach for about a decade, 97 2006. He was 67 and 95 in Mac play. Not great. Kinesh just would pay through the nose for that right now. True. Art place to win Buffalo. Uh, he was D three coach for a while. He went one hundred and four and 42. And that leads a lot better. And then he was D two Damon's coach, uh, national champion back in 2015. He made six more instable tournaments, including two more lead dates. And was a lot better at that level. He brings three of his players from Damon last season. Philip Koski was an all American. He is a guard and it was probably going to be pretty good in this league. Benjamin Bill, a very cool name was a two time first team all conference guy and a third team all American back in 2025. Everyone else is kind of mad. And I'm talking about the, the transfers from the non D two ranks. You're Ari Foltons from NGIT. Your guys, I like Columbia. I like Columbia from stars. I think he's good. Start us off. You like Columbia, you like Columbia from Detroit, Mercy. Yeah. I think he's actually like the best pick up of their portal class. Not named the guys that he brought with them. Uh, do you go? Maybe they're two guys good. Like, there's like some pieces grow butchers back. Maybe he realizes that he's better than he thought last year. Um, I don't know. It's just, yeah. Mason Blackwood's going to start Jim. Is that, is that right? I think I'd rather have him go Bill and Callum Bay up front. I agree with that. Or Grovich, frankly. Um, yeah. I don't know. I, I think he's actually a very good coach. Like I sort of going down the DG rabbit hole. I do think he is like, well, GIT, I know they play in like a lesser league gym to your point. But still, um, I think a good signing for Bonnie's like guy who wants to be there. How long will he be there? I don't know, but like, can probably find some diamonds in the rough. It is talent class. You know, well, swan to be there marksman. He liked coaching here. Also, yeah. Great. No coach that's everyone in DT national title has failed with D1, right? Jim. No, I'm pretty sure every single one of them 100% have succeeded at division one, especially the ones promoted straight to the SEC from that has gone flawlessly. Okay. Let's not lose our minds. Okay. That was a darker era by gone era. Yeah. I, I can talk myself into this. I, I think I was seeing all kinds of rankings for the A10 that had the same fundamental like default last. And I was like, oh, I won't be that low on them. No way. Their coach went 33 and one last year and they brought in one of the best point cards from junior college who's, who's longer and they can, you can see the how the defense might work at this level. And then I ended up settling with them in 14th also. It's just partially because like Matt mentioned, their D2 team was dominant at a conference that was very, very bad. And perhaps the guys weren't quite division one level. I look at the Massey ratings for all college basketball. They were like 284th of all college basketball, which would have made them the worst team in the A10 class. See the A10. It's not, this is not like alone. This is the A10. It's a good league. Just, yeah, sorry. I guess they, I guess they actually might have been better than Loyola last year. Nope. They weren't never. But still, yeah, I, I just, I think maybe I'm over rating like some of the production for the division two guys and not factoring in division two to A10 is harder than division two two so con or whatever it is. So yeah, I got a slot in last and McDonald can prove me wrong. Very well. Okay. How many teams? I'm going to being boring to from Matthew as well. He holds up two fingers. Yeah, I will also say two. I feel like with the 76 teams, it's so tempting to be like, everybody's getting in like we were referencing this is finally the year three teams. And I think Mason or Dayton could do it. But I'm going to say very much, most likely scenario is that top two. My take was more likely one or three. I'll say three is more likely. I agree. Three is more likely. And I don't know, I don't have, I have no math to back that up, but, I know, I don't either, but I just, I mean, like how many teams could be three? Five or six? I guess. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to pull up. I'll try. You're right. The tournament, the tournament does sort of like it just bit stealing opportunities there are are bound. One thing I'm going to want important is for more like more like this. One more like sluice schedule is so much better this year because of the retention and like everybody knows it's, it makes sense. You can lose two when it's all right. Whereas last year, I think everybody was kind of scared to schedule them. VCU's got another very good schedule. Everybody knows what VCU is now. So that really, really helps those two teams. And then Dayton always is like the non-conference hero of this conference. Yeah. It gets picks up a bunch of wins. And then in league play, it's like, Dayton loses to everybody and everybody gets a key win against Dayton. They've got a pretty decent schedule as well. And I think that that helps push it towards three. I hope. Slu can win every game except one gym and we'll be cool with it. Not against Brazil. November 6th. That's right. Okay. Let's finish off with a review. We have one review. Currency of Mr. Bruce City. Bruce City, 77. Players are in St. Louis. He asks, it's a good question. So the weave, first of all, he compliments us as a really good air podcast. Good. Thank you so much. He says, I'm torn as we go through the summer of litigation. I feel like the NCAA once again dropped the ball by not just declaring all the 2022s eligible for one more year, which made the lawsuit predictable. Why stop these guys from playing when eight out of 10 classes from 2017, 2026 will get five years of eligibility, as will everyone going forward. On the other hand, I'm sick of the lawyers, the roster confusion, and especially the will wait RJ Lewis of it all. He asks us, who are we siding with at this point? Do you want the simply admins to win or for all the grads to go away? Or do you want the players to win and get one more shot at collegiate glory, as well as infusing the game with a much talent? His lean is supporting the players gym except for the RJ Lewis TKR types that are already entered the pro ranks. Curious where you all land, he says. I feel bad saying this, but I'm pro NCAA at this point. I think you can change a rule and not have to cater to everyone that came before. Like we didn't have AI to write papers in high school. Should I sue somebody? I don't know. My earning potential could be better. Maybe I got better grades and got new to a better school, et cetera, et cetera. It's obviously not the same example. It's not a concrete. Like they could be making explicitly $2 million if they're allowed to come back. I get it. I just don't think that I don't like that idea that every rule that's changed has to serve the people that came before it. Stuff is forward looking. That's the way it needs to go. I get that the NCAA dropped the ball in the timing. That's my biggest gripe with it. But at first I was like adamant, I'll pro NCAA, and now I'm like, that's just my side that I'm on, and I just want it to go away. Yeah. I'm with you. So a student loan, I had to pay student loans, so no one can have their student loans forgiven. Buh. Yeah. A little bit like that. That's a better example than mine, at least for a comparison. Yeah. I'm also pro NCAA Matthew. They should be able to make their own rules. That's kind of the long and short of it. I agree. They have been horrible at executing it and explaining it and enforcing it. But it's nuts. And it's also common sense. Come on, man. Come on. Go pro. This is a, this should be a black-and-white issue. It's unfortunate for getting Sarah Marshall. It's over when the guy's carrying the, what's the, what's the quote? I don't remember which one you're referencing in here. It's the big smell. I do. When he's taken, he's trying to comfort a Seagull, and he's like, trying to like tell him to move on. The bear hug. Okay. It's over. The big, the big rose, the, I'm going to rewatch that for a while. Oh, man. Just kind of. The guys for the incivile. Yeah. Feels. Totally. Not, we're going to, we're going to get dragged over the coals for that. I just. I have amateurism tattooed on my, oh my God. Not biased, though, Jim, because Mark Mitchell will not play if incivile wins. I am very okay with not getting Mark Mitchell if all of the guys are ineligible. It would be very annoying if only his state lawsuit gets stayed. And I think that's like where some of the Ohio guys are right now or like, well, everybody else is eligible except us. This is maddening. That would be worse. Let's not have partials. Let's not have some guys eligible and some not because of what state they sued in. I think that's crazy. Um, I know. I just got another sitting division one head coach asking me to vote for him for hosting a podcast. Like how do people keep clicking on that and get that viral? Please don't. Don't click on spam. Okay. That's it. That's our podcast. Hey, what's next week? Another preview episode. I believe it's. I believe it's 12. 12. Wow. From the ashes of the, I don't know, WCC and Mountain West rises. Never thought we'd have another pack 12 episode. We will next week will keep you in tune most likely on Sunday, probably at 7 p.m. but we will keep you updated. We're going to have a fourth co-host. It's AI Bill Walton talking about the conference of champions. Rest in peace to Bill. Okay. This will see you next time. Enjoy the rest of your labor day and have a great week. Cheers. [Music] [MUSIC]