On the right side of the page, there’s a place called Blog Roll, where I’m starting to link to the A-10 beat blogs of other papers. Frankly, there aren’t a lot. Schools like Fordham and GW don’t get a lot of coverage in big markets, and there are so many schools in Philly that the papers there have to pick and choose their spots. If the Dayton Daily News has one, I can’t find it, and if you know that there is one, let me know and I’ll add it. I’m surprised they don’t have one, because they cover that team like a blanket. In some of the other markets, like Pittsburgh or Richmond, I’m guessing there’s not enough interest. If anyone knows of one, again, let me know. I’m undecided on linking to fan sites.

Now, on to the hoops.

In Cincinnati, Dustin Dow opines that if you get a good lead on Xavier in the second half, they’ll fold.

In Dayton, UMass showed that if you can take Brian Roberts totally out of the game, you can beat them. (You may need to get a free subscription for the second story.)

(By the way, I was listening to parts of that game online last night and though it may have been how the audio was set up, that was the quietest I’d ever heard a crowd at the UD Arena in the closing minutes.)

OK, they’re not the New England Patriots, but if anyone is going to go unbeaten in the A-10, it will be Charlotte, the preseason pick to finish 10th in the league. Worth noting in there is this quote from St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli:

“No one in the Atlantic 10 should be walking around with their head dropping, like when Xavier goes on the road and loses at Temple. I said from the get-go you could pick anybody first in the preseason and you could pick anybody eighth or ninth and it wouldn’t surprise me if the teams picked eighth or ninth were at the top.

“Charlotte’s a good team. We’re not leaving here anything other than a good team. That’s the way it’s going to be in this league this season.”

(Jim Utter in Charlotte did double duty, also covering the game for the Philly Inquirer. For the flip side, go here.)

When I covered USC basketball years ago, George Raveling always said the best time to play somebody is right after they’ve had a big upset win. If that’s the case, here comes Temple, which was a bit happy about beating Xavier.