In case you didn’t see it, over at ESPN.com, Joe Lunardi has done his first bracketology of the season and right now, he’s got four A-10 schools making the tournament.  The Valley has two.

From Rick Majerus on Monday’s A-10 conference call: I thought in the George Washington game, we played hard and continued to play good defense. Defense is something they can govern with their effort, energy and desire. You can’t always desire to shoot the ball in the basket. I don’t think anyone takes a shot with the intent to miss, but at this point with the kids, they’re trying too hard. They’re aiming the ball, which is worse than being more relaxed. The young man from Dayton, Roberts, he made some really tough shots. He was relaxed. He’s a great player. I’ve got a freshman walk-on, Paul Eckerle, who I gave a scholarship to because I had a bunch lying around. He’s trying too hard. I put my arm around hm and said, don’t worry so much. You’ve got to respect him and l ike him for the attitude he’s taken. I’ve got no qualms with the effort of the players. Now, I can’t do anything about the other characteristics that they have.”

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One thing conference coaches have said a lot this season is about the importance of winning at home. Road wins in A-10 play are expected to be uncommon. So as the season goes on, I’ll be keeping track of who is getting those valuable road wins (or worse, losing at home). The season is young, but after one weekend, here’s where we stand, with a team getting 0 for a home win or road loss, +1 for a road win and -1 for a home loss:

Richmond +1

St. Joe’s +1

Dayton +1

Duquesne 0

Xavier 0

George Washington 0

Charlotte 0

Temple 0

Fordham 0

Rhode Island 0

La Salle 0 (lost at home, won on the road)

UMass -1

St. Bonaventure -1

SLU -1

Wednesday’s games:

GW at Fordham. If Fordham can’t win this one, their season is in big trouble. Said coach Dereck Whittenberg on Monday: “Just because you have five seniors doesn’t mean your team will be mature. … We have to get home, get back to defense and make our shots. If we do that, we have a chance to be good.”

UMass at Dayton: UMass had a disappointing loss at home to St. Joe’s, but Dayton is a tough place to win. Dayton has won 13 straight, its longest win streak in 40 years.

St. Bonaventure at Richmond: Another big one when it comes time to determine who doesn’t make the A-10 tournament. (I’m still going with La Salle and the Bonnies.) Asked how he felt about his team on Monday, Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt said: “I feel like killing them half the time.” SBU blew a 12-point lead, at home, to La Salle, and lost by 11. That’s bad.

(By the way, someone who was at the La Salle-Richmond game said don’t be fooled by the three overtimes. It was a really bad game, and by the end, most of the crowd, which had been made up largely of school kids for a noon start, had to catch their buses and go home.)

Xavier at Temple: You would think Xavier would be able to go in Philly and win this one. Xavier has this game and one at GW before a potential titanic inter-Ohio showdown against Dayton on Jan. 24 in Cincy.

St. Joe’s at Charlotte: Dayton, Xavier and Rhody seem to be the class of the league, and this should decide who’s fourth. Charlotte had a very good nonconference win over Clemson and then edged Temple at home. St. Joe’s scored 98 points and beat UMass on the road.

GW coach Karl Hobbs on Monday, about SLU’s 20-point game: “With St. Louis, I really believe it was one of those things where shots were not going in for them. I don’t know how much we had to do with it. It was one of those weird things that sometimes happens in college basketball.”