March 17, 2013

The Atlantic 10 placed a record nine teams in the postseason, including a record-tying five in the NCAA Tournament, three in the NIT and one in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

Saint Louis (No. 4), VCU (No. 5), Butler (No. 6), Temple (No. 9) and La Salle (No. 13) all earned NCAA bids. It’s the third time the A-10 has received four at-large bids and placed five teams in the NCAA.

Massachusetts (No. 2), Saint Joseph’s (No. 4) and Charlotte (No. 5) will all play in the NIT. Richmond will participate in the CBI.

The nine postseason bids breaks the A-10’s record of eight, set multiple times, including last season.

The fourth-seeded Billikens will open with No. 13 New Mexico State on Thursday in San Jose, Calif. VCU plays No. 12 Akron on Friday in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Bulldogs will face No. 11 Bucknell on Thursday. Temple gets an almost even 8-9 matchup, playing No. 8 NC State on Friday. La Salle will play in Dayton on Wednesday in the First Four, playing Boise State on Wednesday. The winner of that game gets Kansas State on Friday.

UMass, an NIT semifinalist last season, will host No. 7 Stony Brook on Wednesday at the Mullins Center. Fourth-seeded Saint Joseph's plays No. 5 St. John's on Tuesday. Charlotte will paly at No. 4 Providence on Wednesday.

UR will play in the CBI at Bryant.