Atlantic 10
Xavier has been a somewhat perennial powerhouse in the Atlantic 10 and national landscape since the late 1980s. They have had great success under incredible coaches like Skip Prosser, Pete Gillen and Thad Matta, as well as players like David West, Tyrone Hill, Romain Sato and James Posey. Never have the Muskies seen so much success as they did in 2008. Head coach Sean Miller and his star studded backcourt of Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender led X to their highest national ranking ever at #8. Xavier reached the elite 8 for the second time in school history and broke the school record for wins with 30. XU ruled the A-10 in 2008, but in the early part of the season much noise was made by teams like Dayton, Massachusetts, Temple and St. Joseph's. Dayton was led by all-around scoring threat Brian ROberts as they knocked off two top 15 teams in the early going in Pittsburgh and at Louisville. Temple came out of nowhere to win the A-10 tournament; they were an afterthought headed into March but rallied together and luckily captured the title in Atlantic City. The Hawks managed to squeak into the NCAA field as one of the last teams in due to their impressive two victories over Xavier in less than ten days. The Flyers then were littered with injuries which inhibited them fron contending for the A-10 crown as well as much success in the postseason. UMass finished the year winning ten of their last 12 and ended up with their most successful season since the Bruiser Flint days. As a result, head coach Travis Ford said "Thanks for the Memories" and is now headed to Oklahoma State after leading the Minutemen to the NIT final. Rhode Island managed to snag their first postseason berth since Lamar Odom led the Rams back in 1999. The Atlantic 10 (er, 14) sent eight teams to postseason play with three in the NCAAs, and proved that it belongs among the nation's elite rather than the nation's middle in the discussion for top conferences. The surprise of the season was Richmond, who finished 13th last season, but led a major push and ended up finishing fourth in the league. The Spiders reached the inaugural CBI, their first postseason berth since 2004.
2007-2008 Atlantic Ten Grade: A-
I think that the A-10 became clearly the national surprise as a conference in the early going of this season. They pushed around major teams that were seen to be relevant on a large stage. Things did not go quite successful for the A-10 once conference season began. Teams started beating up on each other, which spelled disaster for this conference, which could have forseeably been a six bid league. Instead, only three went dancing. I give kudos out to the A-10 for their best year of the decade, and hope that it will continue to flourish because this league was one of the deepest around with ten teams finishing over .500
Big East
The Big East was crowded at the top this year. Shocker. The 16-team league once again saw a number of top-heavy candidates battling it out for Garden supremacy. It was Georgetown for the second straight year, who waited until the final game of their regular season to defeat Louisville and capture the crown. Roy Hibbert did not have the type of year he had hoped for with the departure of Jeff Green, but there was ample support from the Hoya supporting cast. Jonathan Wallace, DaJuan Summers and Cecil Sapp all improved over this past season, and look to be returning enough to be formidable next year. Louisville managed to rebound off of early season disappointments to recapture glory and reach the elite 8. Rick Pitino did a fantastic job with this injury laden Cardinal team led by that guy from the Operation game, David Padgett. The player of the year in the league was Luke Harangody from Notre Dame. The Irish forward averaged 20.4 PPG and 10.6 RPG as the Irish managed to turn some heads and finish third in the Big East, giving head coach Mike Brey coach of the year honors. Connecticut, Pittsburgh Marquette and West Virginia all managed to have great seasons, but much of it went unnoticed due to the complete parity of the Big East. That is until the tournament, when the semifinals featured top-seed Georgetown against fifth-seed West Va, and then sixth-seed Marquette against seventh-seed Pitt. The Panthers managed to scrape things together just in time to capture the auto-bid for Jamie Dixon. The disppointment of the season was Providence. The Friars were scheduled to have a breakout year in '07-08, but never seemed to put it all together. As a result, Tim Welsh caught the axe and in rushes Keno Davis. Providence finished 12th in the league standings and barely made it to MSG for the Big East Madness. The 15-16 mark in Welsh's tenth season definitely showed that it was time for a change in The Ocean State.
2007-2008 Big East Grade: B
This conference has turned into such a paltry, blase kind of feeling. They send eight teams to the NCAA tournament, and its just looked upon as expected. The Big East had an incredible year, and was probably the best conference in the nation from top to middle. I cannot justify giving them a good grade because of their lack of a true superstar team. Pac-10 had UCLA, Big 12 had KU, ACC had UNC, but the Big East never really had a team that you could label as San Antone or bust, and I really think that hurts them in their overall evaluation. The players in the Big East are amazing, and the coaching even better, but there is such a common thread between these top ten teams in the conference that you simply cannot differentiate.
Big Sky
Welcome to Relevancy, to the largest university in the state of Oregon. As a prize you get to open up against the national champion Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the World's Largest DanceFloor. The Vikings of Portland State completely dominated the Big Sky conference this season with a 23-10 mark and only two losses in Sky play. As a result, they made their first ever NCAA appearance, and captured coach of the year honors as well as multiple first team all-conference honors. The player of the year in the conference was Viking guard Jeremiah Dominguez. Dominguez led the team with 21 PPG and 4 APG, at 5 foot 6. HE WAS 5 FOOT 6. Dominguez could have been the most interesting player to me in the NCAA Tournament, not because he was going to lead his team to win a game, but rather I have never seen a guy dominate an entire conference at a stature shorter than me. Dominguez is only a junior, so keep your eye on him; he may make the Midnight to March pre-season Glass Slipper team. The University of Portland transfer promises to continue his excitement in the Big Sky as the Vikings will once again be favored to win the league. Head coach Ken Bone won unanimous coach of the year honors, and a shocking development...He is staying at PSU! The Vikings were a tremendous story this season, and they managed to capitalize on transforming the program through D-I transfers and junior college players. Nine of the 14 players on the Viking roster are transfers. No real disappointments in the Sky this year, but the Sacramento St Hornets succeeded in being one of the worst teams in the nation. A 4-24 mark in this conference is nothing to post on the refrigerator, and as a result head coach Jerome Jenkins will be attending Kings' games rather than coaching the Hornets. Defending champion Eastern Washington faltered down to sixth in the conference as expected after losing star scorer Rodney Stuckey to the NBA last season.
2007-2008 Big Sky Grade: C+
Portland State ran this league from January on so there was really no drama to speak of. It was a race for second place which was held for most of the season by Weber State, but the experience of Northern Arizona helped them reach the Sky title game. What it all boiled down to was what Dominguez accomplished. Struggling, at the University of Portland, he decided to travel across town to get more time and focus, and that he has done. He carved out a name for himself in the Big Sky and managed to this Viking team to postseason success which can never be taken away from them. Look for the Vikings to be dancing again come March 2009.
Tomorrow: Big South, Big 10, Big 12
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