Atlantic Sun

NCAA Basketball Conference Ranking: 2008-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:31:09 -0500

CHN's 31 conference ranking, including 10 year historical averages based on average RPI finish. For more information on historical RPI averages, check out the Conference Data Page. Links lead to league preview pages.

Big East

10 Year Average: 3

10 Year Average: 1

10 Year Average: 2

10 Year Average: 5

10 Year Average: 6

10 Year Average: 4

10 Year Average: 10

10 Year Average: 7

10 Year Average: 9

WCC

10 Year Average: 12

11 Conference USA

10 Year Average: 8

12 Colonial

10 Year Average: 14

13 MAC

10 Year Average: 13

14 WAC

10 Year Average: 11

15 MAAC

10 Year Average: 17

16 Horizon

10 Year Average: 15

17 Southern

10 Year Average: 19

18 Sun Belt

10 Year Average: 16

19 Big West

10 Year Average: 18

20 Patriot

10 Year Average: 23

21 Southland

10 Year Average: 27

22 Ivy

10 Year Average: 24

23 Big Sky

10 Year Average: 20

24 America East

10 Year Average: 21

25 Summit

10 Year Average: 26

26 OVC

10 Year Average: 22

27 NEC

10 Year Average: 28

28 Atlantic Sun

10 Year Average: 25

29 Big South

10 Year Average: 29

30 MEAC

10 Year Average: 30

-Independents

31 SWAC

10 Year Average: 31

Atlantic Sun Basketball Preview: 08-09

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:11:48 -0500

HTML clipboard

Conference Rank: 28th

10 year average: 25th

Conference Page

All-ATLANTIC SUN Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	James Florence	Mercer	Jr
G	Courntey Pigram	ETSU	Sr
G/F	Shane Dansby	Belmont	Sr
F	Marcus Allen	Jacksonville	Sr
F	Jonathan Rodriguez	Campbell	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Courtney Pigram Jonathan Rodriguez		Points: Jonathan Rodriguez 20.9 Rebounds: Jonathan Rodriguez 10.1 Assists: Rob Quaintaince (FGCU) 5.3

ATLANTIC SUN Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

109	Belmont* **	Asun	1	NCAA
156	Stetson	Asun	2
176	Jacksonville	Asun	3
227	East Tennessee	Asun	4
248	Lipscomb	Asun	5
275	Mercer	Asun	6
296	Kennesaw St	Asun	7
302	Campbell	Asun	8
313	Florida Gulf Coast	Asun	9
320	USC Upstate	Asun	10
344	North Florida	Asun	11

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Atlantic Sun?

Other ATLANTIC SUN Content

Conference Media Poll

Belmont Favored in A-Sun Media Poll

Interviews

Rick Byrd: Belmont Head Coach

Other

Rise & Fall: A-Sun

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the Atlantic Sun?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:00:18 -0400

Atlantic Sun Preseason Media & Coaches Poll

Press Release — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:40:31 -0400

Coaches' Poll
Rank School (1st-Place) Points
1 Belmont (7) 113
T2 ETSU (2) 104
T2 Jacksonville (1) 104
4 Lipscomb 87
5 Stetson 76
6 Mercer (1) 74
7 Campbell 55
8 Kennesaw State 38
9 FGCU 32
10 USC Upstate 24
11 UNF 19

Tournament Champ: Belmont

All-Conference Team
Pos Player Class School
G Garfield Blair Sr. Stetson
G/F Shane Dansby Sr. Belmont
G Courtney Pigram Sr. ETSU
F Jonathan Rodriguez Jr. Campbell
G Ben Smith Jr. Jacksonville

Player of the Year: G Courtney Pigram, Sr., ETSU

Media Poll
Rank School (1st-Place) Points
1 Belmont (25) 348
2 Jacksonville (5) 316
3 ETSU (3) 305
4 Lipscomb 245
5 Stetson 240
6 Mercer 183
7 Campbell 163
8 Kennesaw State 145
9 FGCU 106
10 USC Upstate 77
11 UNF 50

Tournament Champ: Belmont

Rise & Fall: Low-Major Conference Review

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:52:45 -0400

In recent weeks, the Rise & Fall series has chronicled the progress (or regress) of college basketball's major conference teams. But if I equated each team to a civilization, I was mistaken. It is really the NCAA conference that equates to a burgeoning civilization or nation, each with its sometimes stable and sometimes rotating member states. Like civilizations, the prestige and power of conferences wax and wane..

Today, I'll start with the status of the low-major conferences before moving up to the big boys.

LOW-MAJORS

AMERICA EAST - DECLINING (SLOWLY )

For whatever reason, the AE's RPI rating swings wildly compared to most leagues.. anywhere between 16th and 29th in the last seven years. When teams like Delaware, Drexel, and Hofstra bolted for the CAA after 2001, it seemed like an iminent disaster (and was for a moment in 2002 with that 29th RPI). But Tom Brennan's great Vermont teams really saved the league's prestige. However, now that Vermont is still trying to regain form under Mike Lonegran and Albany's Jamar Wilson era is over, the league is retreating back into the mid-twenties RPI range where I expect them to finish in 2009.

ATLANTIC SUN - DECLINING

While Belmont was solid last year, it was an abysmal year for the ASun. The league's decline has mainly been do the negative effects of a changing league membership. Central Florida, FAU, and Georgia State have all left in recent seasons for "bigger" leagues, replaced by D1 newcomers like Kennessaw State and North Florida. Last year, 6 teams in the league finished with an RPI below 290th. This led to an overall RPI of 29th, one of the worst seasons in the league's history, and a stark change from the usual range of 20th to 23rd that the ASun enjoyed just a handful of seasons ago.

BIG SOUTH - RISING (SLOWLY)

Basically, this is all about the emergence of Winthrop in recent years. In the last 90's and early 00's, the Big south was right there with the MEAC and SWAC as the last rung on college basketball's ladder. But Greg Marshall's amazing success at Winthrop has the been the main catalyst for the league's overall improvement. While its unclear whether Randy Peele can continue Marshall's success, and UNCA might slip after last year's solid run, those worries can't overturn the league's positive momentum.

BIG SKY - DECLINING (SLOWLY)

This is one of the few low-major leagues to have finished above 15th in overall RPI (ie, the top half) in the last two decades. The league isn't quite as strong as it was just a few years back though, as the subtle switch of losing Northridge to the Big West, in place of horrid Northern Colorado has hurt. For the first half of the decade, it seemed like one Big Sky team always was a serious mid-major contender, highlighted by Montana's 2006 Tournament win (and Weber's big upset back in 99). But such an upset seems highly unlikely right now.

IVY - DECLINING

The Ivy has had better success over the last decade than any low-major league, and its arguable that they should really count in the "mid-major" category. Regardless, the glory days of Penn/Princeton dominance has come to an end, and now the conference isn't really any better than geographical rivals like the Patriot or America East. Cornell is the league's main hope in the present (perhaps to be joined by Amaker's Harvard?) as Penn and Princeton try to resurrect past glory. A repeat of the Ivy's 2002 RPI finish of 13th won't come around for awhile.

MEAC - RISING (SLOWLY)

It wasn't always a given that the SWAC and the MEAC would finish dead last in the RPI. While never good, they were just one of a handful of low-level leagues like the Big South and Southland conferences. But over the last handful of years, its become a certainty that either the MEAC and SWAC will be the bottom of the barrel. Despite being 30th out of 31 conferences last year, it was actually the MEAC's most successful season of the century. Todd Bozeman has turned a dismal Morgan State program (4-26 in 2006) into a winner (over 20 wins last year) while Hampton knocked off legit programs like Tulsa and VCU. Due to these wins, the league's non-conference RPI of 28 tied their high-water mark of the last decade.

NORTHEAST - STATUS QUO

The league is slightly better than it was a handful of years back, but a repeat of last year's success is unlikely. With an RPI of 20th, it was one of the NEC's better performances due to quality seasons from Robert Morris and Wagner. But the win totals put up by those schools and others was really more due to smoke and mirrors, as the NEC's non-conference SOS was one of the worst in the nation. A usual finish around 26th in the RPI should be expected this time around.

OHIO VALLEY - DECLINING (SLOWLY)

Last year's RPI of 28th and .227 non-conference winning %, were some of the worst in league history. Though a small bounce back should be expected in 08-09, the OVC has been in a steady downwards trend. Not to long ago, it seemed like two teams in the league (usually Murray State or APSU) were legitimate Top 100-120 programs that could compete with the big boys. While APSU is still decent, Murray has lost the luster of a few seasons back due to coaching changes.

PATRIOT - RISING (SLOWLY)

The Patriot is coming off of two of their best seasons in recent history, with RPI finishes of 16th and 17th. The great non-conference winning % is a bit misleading though, because they played the worst schedule of anybody in the country (even the independents somehow managed to find better competition.) Thus while American's win over Maryland was cute, and Navy's continual improvement is nice to see, there's still serious room for (more legitimate) improvement.

SOUTHLAND - RISING

Last year was the SLC's best season in recent memory.. and two of its best RPI seasons in the last decade have come in the past three years. SFA knocked off Oklahoma and NCAA Tournament team San Diego. Sam Houston beat higher-level programs like Texas Tech, Saint Louis, and Fresno. And those teams didn't even win the conference, as Texas-Arlington took the honors. While an overall conference RPI of 19 might not seem amazing, it represents a major improvement for a league that has barely outperformed the independents in the past ten years.

SUMMIT - STATUS QUO

Despite the new name, the Summit is no better than it was as the Mid-Con. Never the worst conference out there, it also never seems to have a break out year and hasn't finished above 20th in the RPI in quite some time. Oral Roberts has obviously been the leader in recent years, while Oakland and IUPUI have shown some positive momentum. But there's too many duds in the league membership (Centenary, WIU, etc) to expect a serious break from form any time soon.

SWAC - STATUS QUO

The SWAC's .085 winning percentage against non-conference teams is the worst of any team in the twelve seasons that I have stats for. In fact, previous marks of futility set by the SWAC are the only near competitors (.096 in 2000 for example.) But futility is nothing new for the SWAC, which has been the lowest ranked conference the last four years (by a large margin).. thus it deserves the Status Quo.

- Note that league power isn't quite as fluid as team power, so seemingly small baby steps end up counting more..

- Up Next: Mid-Majors

BCS

ACC

Big 12

Big East

Big Ten

Pac-10

SEC

High-Major

Atlantic 10

Conference USA

MVC

MWC

WAC

Mid-Major

Big West

Colonial

Horizon

MAC

MAAC

Southern

Sun Belt

WCC

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the Atlantic Sun?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:31:40 -0400

Daily Dribble: 12/31

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:53:06 -0500

Just about every conference had one team in action yesterday.. so I thought for a change that I'd run down the results conference by conference.. a little bit of fun for everyone. America East.. Last year's tournament representative, Albany, had their 5-game winning streak snapped at Utah Valley State (discussed in yesterday's independents review). The Great Danes head into conference play with a 7-5 record, presumably the favorites along with 8-5 Vermont. Atlantic 10.. Saint Louis picked up their 8th win in 9 home games, beating Ole Miss (the Billikens first win over a BCS team in almost 3 years.. Kansas State in January of 2004). The Bills face a poor Saint Bonaventure squad to start conference play, where they should improve to 11-3. ACC.. A pair of teams lost to non-conference foes.. Miami at home to Nebraska and Virginia Tech at Marshall. The Hokies loss snapped a 5-game winning streak, but this team has stuggled mightily away from home. They have road/ neutral losses against mediocre teams like WMU and Marshall (who is just 4-8). A-Sun.. ETSU almost shocked Tennessee, falling 93-88 in a well fought game. Freshman guard Dequan Tilley had a career game with 17 points and 8 assists, but Chris Lofton's 28 points were too good for the Vols. ETSU (8-5) next faces conference favorite Belmont (8-5) on Tuesday. Big 12.. Baylor was almost shocked by 3-9 Delaware State of the MEAC. Aaron Bruce tied a season high with 20 points on a very efficient 6-6 from the floor including 4-4 from three. With 9 wins, Baylor already more than doubled last season's win total of 4. Big East.. UCONN went on the road for the first time all season.. and lost. No surprise there as the #9 Huskies had no business being in the Top 10 to begin with. West Virginia, dealing with as many offseason losses as any team in the country, has to be considered a major surprise at 11-1 with just the lone loss against Arkansas.. Seton Hall and Cincinnati dropped non-conference games to BYU and Ohio respectively. The Hall ended up 1-2 at BYU's Holiday Classic, losing to the host team and Oral Roberts. Cincy drops to 9-4 after getting dominated on the interior by Leon Williams. Williams has been a beast for Ohio in the past week.. going for 18 and 10, 19 and 15, and 20 and 12 in three wins.. Georgetown (10-3) picked up a much needed name victory at Michigan. The Hoyas have won 6 straight to move back into Top 30-40ish consideration. Big Sky.. Portland State, coming off a weak 12-win season, already has 10 wins after beating Montana State. The Vikings were led by 17 and 10 from junior big man Scott Morrison. At 13 and 7 boards per game, Morrison is one of the most productive Canadian players in the NCAA. Big South.. VMI (6-9) put up 111 points against Penn State.. but the Nittany Lions scored a program record 129 in the win. In fact, the Lions also set highs in assists and boards for a single game. If I played fantasy college basketball, I'd simply activate every player that's facing VMI on a given night. Not a good night for the Big South, as the league went 0-5 and only Radford came even close to winning (losing by 3 against IUPUI). Big Ten.. As noted earlier, Michigan fell to 12-3 losing at home against Georgetown. The Wolverines nice record is basically a joke as their premier win is at home against Davidson.. Big Ten conference play starts this week, and Michigan hosts Illinois. Home wins against solid but not great conference teams like Illinois are a must if Michigan has any chance of making the tourney.. Goran Suton exploded for a career high 27 points, as Michigan State won their 7th straight against Loyola (MD). The last six of those wins have come without talented freshman Raymar Morgan, arguably the Spartans 2nd or 3rd best player. Morgan is still a week or so away from returning. Big West.. UCSB improved to 10-3, winning their first big conference test against 10-3 Fullerton. The Gauchos held Fullerton star Bobby Brown to his worst game of the season, 10 points on just 4-17 shooting. Stuggling Pacific improved to 4-9 by beating CS Northridge. The Tigers, the premier Big West team for the past handful of seasons, had lost 8 of 9 before the win. CAA.. 9-3 VCU lost a home game to a surging Appalachian State squad. The Commodores got 27 points from inconsistent guard Eric Maynor, but couldn't defend the 11-3 Mountaineers. Appalachian St's probably the hottest unranked team in the country.. having beaten Virginia, VCU, Vandy, and UCF away from home.. George Mason (6-5) won their best game since last year's tournament run, beating 9-3 Mississippi State at home. Will Thomas led all scorers with 22. That's all for today.. I'll move on to the next 11 conferences next Saturday. - A suggested New Year's resolution: Bookmark the Dribble - » 4 reads

Atlantic Sun Conference Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 12:24:58 -0500

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

America Sun Preview

Conference Rank: 26th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Boomer Herndon, Belmont, C

Golden Ingle, Kennesaw St, G

Justin Hare, Belmont, G

Eddie Ard, Lipscomb, F

Rashad Williams, North Florida, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
131	Belmont	1	NCAA
148	Lipscomb	2
179	Kennesaw St	3
201	East Tennessee	4
242	Gardner-Webb	5
274	Campbell	6
312	Stetson	7
296	North Florida	8
328	Jacksonville	9
332	Mercer	10

Preseason Head Coach Interviews:

Murray Bartow - ETSU