Oct. 11, 2012

The 2012-13 men's basketball season tip-off is just a month away and with practice starting Friday, the Atlantic 10 and its member teams have been racking up accolades in the last week. From inclusion in preseason top 25 teams to earning player accolades, the buzz about the strength of the A-10, its quality teams and the potential of those teams is at an all-time high.

Jerry Palm's preseason NCAA Tournament bracket has five Atlantic 10 teams in:  Butler, UMass, Saint Louis, Temple, VCU: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a preview of the league that focuses on the strength of the A-10. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/article_80961df6-b56a-5dac-880f-e8e42a73d795.html#.UHVgRmLEYDE.twitter

Dick Vitale has put two teams, Butler (33) and VCU (38) in his preseason Top 40: http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/8477900/dick-vitale-preseason-top-40-2012-13

CBSSports.com named three players to its Top 100 players list: Temple's Khalif Wyatt was picked 61^st, Rotnei Clarke of Butler was picked 63^rd, and Chaz Williams was picked 78^th.  http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/storylist/20512719/2/2012-13-college-basketball-previews/cbssportscoms-top-100-players

CoxSports' season preview from Atlantic 10 Media Day:  http://coxsportsonline.com/archives/6786

VCU is in Sporting News' Preseason Top 25  http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2012-10-02/college-basketball-preseason-rankings-top-25-2012-13-photos-decourcy/slide/25

ESPN's Eammon Brennan says that both Temple and Butler's non-conference schedules are among the 10 most challenging this season: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/65150/the-10-best-nonconference-schedules

Blue Ribbon College Yearbook named Saint Louis to its Preseason Top 25 team. The Billikens checked in at 11^th in the preseason poll.

College Chalktalk did an in-depth breakdown of the Preseason All-Conference teams: http://collegechalktalk.com/?p=2246