2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Tournament

Jimmy Boyd’s 2008 Atlantic 10 Conference tournament predictions take a look at who has the best chances to come out on top in this mid-major conference.

You can start tuning into the Atlantic 10 tournament on March 12th when the opening round begins. The quarterfinal will take place on Mach 13th, the semifinals on Mach 14th, and the championship game concludes the tournament on March 15th. The first two rounds are normally not aired, but can be found on the internet. CSTV or ESPN 2 usually picks up the semifinals and you can count on ESPN to air the title game at 6:00 pm EST on Saturday the 15th. All of this year’s Atlatic 10 tournament action will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Every last one of the 12 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference will get a shot to advance to the NCAA tournament as the winner of this conference tournament collects an automatic bid. The Atlantic 10 has returned to form this season as the strength of the conference has really improved. Xavier is a shoe-in for an at large bid to the Big Dance. Umass looks like the other A-10 school with a shot at an at large with St. Joseph’s and Temple needing to do a little work in the conference tourney to get in. Rhode Island cracked the top 25 this season and looked like it would receive an at large bid, but the Rams have really lost focus down the stretch and currently have a below .500 record in conference play.

Xavier has been the real story out of this conference this season and is currently the 11th ranked team in the country. Xavier has a 13-2 conference record and should finish the conference season 14-2 as the Musketeers play a Richmond team which they have already beaten by 20-plus points. Xavier will be trying to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee enough to land a number two seed in the Big Dance, but I don’t think that even a Atlantic 10 tournament title will earn them higher than a three seed with the caution that the selection committee takes when selecting smaller conference schools.

Temple is a team that the Musketeers will have to watch out for. Temple crushed Xavier by 19 points and has really come on strong to finish out the regular season, winning 11 of its last 15 games. The Owls have played themselves into second place in the A-10 standings and I like them to ride their momentum to an Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title.

2007 Recap:

George Washington won the conference tourney as a four seed last year, beating the number three seeded Rhode Island Rams. It mark George Washington’s second conference tourney title in three seasons. The Colonials went on to lose in the first round of the NCAA tourney to Vanderbilt. G.W. could not find the magic that led it to the Final Four in 2005.

Previous Winners:

2007 – George Washington
2006 – Xavier
2005 – George Washington
2004 – Xavier

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