Jan. 10, 2013

There was a lot of chatter in the media about the Atlantic 10 this week with conference play beginning. From mid-season report cards to a feature on Blue II, it was a busy week around A-10 newsrooms:

 

Dana O’Neil was at Saint Joseph’s for Butler’s first A-10 game and penned this piece about the Bulldogs performance: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/72139/new-league-same-butler#comment

Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News picks VCU to win the A-10 in this preview: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2013-01-07/atlantic-10-preview-vcu-butler-saint-louis-temple-saint-josephs

RVA News does the same here: http://rvanews.com/sports/a-midseason-look-at-the-atlantic-10/80341

The St. louis Post-Dispatch's Tom Timmerman calls 2012-13 a "One-of-a-Kind Season:" http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/a-one-of-a-kind-season-looms-for-atlantic/article_5ea3734d-c40f-5d9f-877c-eeb1ef30621d.html

Zac Jackson of FOX Sports Ohio delves into the depth of the A-10 this season: http://www.foxsportsohio.com/01/08/13/Atlantic-10-conference-aiming-for-big-sp/landing_xavier.html?blockID=846553&feedID=3725

Troy Machir of NBC Sports calls the league race a “Battle Royale” in a mid-season preview: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/08/conference-catch-ups-atlantic-10-shaping-up-to-be-a-heavyweight-slugfest/

Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com has an in-depth look at the season so far: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21527663/conference-reset-atlantic-10-looks-wideopen-at-the-top

Dave Zeitlin (and Dr. John Giannini) called the A-10 a “Monster:” http://www.csnphilly.com/ncaa/news/Monster-Atlantic-10-is-balanced-incredib?blockID=821603&feedID=704

Pickin’ Splinters does its usual weekly roundup in the A-10 Bounce: http://www.pickinsplinters.com/2013/01/08/troy-daniels-willie-clayton-and-the-a10-bounce/

College Chalktalk’s non-conference grades: http://collegechalktalk.com/?p=5080&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-10-non-conference-report-card

In a preview of Wednesday’s Dayton-VCU game, Doug Harris of the Dayton Daily News touches on VCU coach Shaka Smart’s time in Dayton as the Flyers’ DOBO: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/sports/college/smart-relishes-time-at-dayton/nTqbw/

The SJU-VCU game also pulled in a big TV audience: http://wtvr.com/2013/01/10/vcu-rams-ratings/

Dick Jerardi did an in-depth piece on Temple’s Khalif Wyatt for Philly.com: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20130110_Hard_work_an_earning_experience_for_Temple_s_Wyatt.html

Jerardi also told this story about Brad Stevens of Butler: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/st_josephs/20130109_Dick_Jerardi__A_Philly_treat__A_chance_to_get_a_firsthand_look_at_Butler__Stevens.html

Four questions entering conference play from the IndyStar: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130108/SPORTS0605/301080333/Butler-basketball-Four-questions-about-impact-joining-Atlantic-10

Butler’s mascots, Blue and Trey meet Benjamin Franklin while hanging out in Philadelphia: http://www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue3/8368179136/

And if meeting “the First American” wasn’t enough, the two mascots got their own feature in USA Today, which compares the dogs popularity to that of men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/01/07/butler-blue-ii-mascot/1812971/