By Harrison Leone
Assistant Sports Editor
I have a tumultuous relationship with the basketball teams of the Atlantic 10. From November to March, I actively hated them. I derided their skill, questioned their masculinity and hurled more than my fair share of obscenities their way whenever they dared take the Bob Lanier Court.
But now, after the curtain prematurely fell on my beloved Bonnies, my college basketball allegiances have done a 180.
With the A-10 well represented by five teams in the NCAA tournament, I felt an overwhelming sense of conference pride. Mortal enemies morphed overnight into allies in an ongoing crusade against the power conference giants and plucky mid-majors alike. I gleefully watched Ramon Galloway shoot the Explorers past Kansas State, boisterously applauded as VCU and the havoc defense feasted upon hapless Akron and held my breath when Butler nearly caved to Bucknell. I willfully embraced the fact that a team with the most ridiculous mascot in D-1 sports — the Billikens — was a force to be reckoned with. Even Temple received my praise in their upset of NC State. After the second round of the Madness, my adopted teams were 5-0, with deep tournament runs seemingly in reach.
And then the wheels fell off. When the Rams’ offense evaporated while being outmuscled by Michigan in round 32, I was distraught. When St. Louis was brutalized by a horrifically under-seeded Oregon team, I was inconsolable. In short order, Butler squandered an opportunity against Marquette, while Temple’s upset bid against Indiana was spoiled by the right hand of Victor Oladipo. Only La Salle met sustained tournament success, playing Cinderella with grace and aplomb in upsets of Kansas State and Ole Miss before being halted in the Sweet 16 by Wichita State.
This season will be the last incarnation of the A-10 I have come to know and love. Charlotte, Temple, Butler and Xavier are all jumping ship, with St. Louis and Dayton possibly to follow.
The Musketeers, a team I love to hate like no other, will be sorely missed. Their yearly matchups against St. Bonaventure were sure to thrill and enrage in equal amounts. As for Butler, I have less sympathy for these habitual conference jumpers, who will be making their third move in as many years as they depart for the Big East after coming over only one year ago from the Horizon League. Temple was another source of consistent quality competion for SBU, and the Owls and their yearly brand of high quality hoops will be missed by us here in the A-10.
With George Mason joining from the Colonial Athletic Association, the new 13-team A-10 is still without a doubt a quality league, and is sure to be filled with as many buzzerbeaters and photo finishes as in years past. Next season simply can’t start soon enough.
College basketball has a certain poetry, a manic energy coupled with heart-wrenching passion couched within a mélange of drama, desperation and desire that is absent at the professional level. The game is also wonderfully unpredictable, as anyone who watched Brett Comer dish, drive and dime his Florida Gulf Coast team to the Sweet 16 knows. The NCAA Tournament is the greatest display of why college basketball fans tick off the days on their calendars until March. While the A-10 too quickly flamed out in this year’s wonderful spectacle of sport, it was still able to provide its fans with excitement and concluded this particular edition as well as could have been hoped.
Harrison Leone is the assistant sports editor for The Bona Venture. His email is leonehj11@bonaventure.edu.
