Atlantic 10 Hoops Notebook: Are Saint Louis, George Mason, for real?

Two things with A-10 Basketball that I’m still trying to wrap my head around: are Saint Louis and George Mason for real?

I wrote recently how I couldn’t figure that Saint Louis (14-1, 2-0 A-10, NET: 24) gets so much love from the NET metric; last night’s 71-62 win at VCU (11-5, 2-1 A-10, NET: 55) is the first for the Billikens in a Quad 1 game.

Last night’s game in the Siegel Center was actually the first Quad 1 game this season for Saint Louis, which is 1-1 in Quad 2, 3-0 in Quad 3 and 8-0 in Quad 4.

The Billikens’ best wins are VCU at 55 and a neutral-site win over Santa Clara.

The nonconference strength of schedule there is 202.

Against that backdrop, the win in Richmond, huge.

Former UVA baller Ishan Sharma, averaging 8.7 points per game this season for Saint Louis, put up a goose egg in 20 minutes off the bench in the win.

My other A-10 question: Mason (15-1, 3-0 A-10, NET: 76), which won at Fordham (9-7, 0-3 A-10, NET: 225) by a 67-58 final last night.

Similar resume for Mason: 0-1 in Quad 1 (at Virginia Tech), 1-0 in Quad 2 (neutral site, Florida Atlantic), 4-0 in Quad 3, 9-0 in Quad 4, NCSOS: 248.

The killer there: the non-D1 game with Catawba, an 86-62 win on Nov. 11.

The A-10, certainly, hasn’t always been a one-bid league; in 2012, the A-10 got four NCAA bids, in 2013, five; in 2014, six (!).

The conference is hanging its hat at the moment on Saint Louis being at 24 in the NET; the next team in the NET from the A-10 is VCU down at 55, and then it’s George Washington at 72, and Mason at 76.

Gotta schedule better if you want to have a chance, outside of those five days in March.

Nice win for Mason last night in NYC; the 15-1 start is the best in program history.