FIELD IS SET FOR 2010 A-SUN TOURNAMENT-- March 3rd-6th, 2010.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 3rd--
#8 Kennesaw State def. #1 Lipscomb

#2 Jacksonville def. #7 North Florida

THURSDAY MARCH 4th--
#5 East Tennessee State def. #4 Campbell

#6 Mercer def. #3 Belmont

SEMI-FINALS: (FRIDAY MARCH 5th)
#5 East Tennessee State def. #8 Kennesaw State

#6 Mercer def. #2 Jacksonville

FINALS:

#6 Mercer vs. #5 East Tennessee State ---SATURDAY 6:00/ET on ESPN2

From a Mercer perspective I would say the following:

Most desirable first round opponent: Campbell, then East Tennessee
Least desirable: Belmont (This probably applies to everyone)

An ETSU vs DLU first round game would be amazing!

(02-15-2010 02:13 AM)afro4president Wrote:  An ETSU vs DLU first round game would be amazing!

Why is that?

I would love to see DLU take out ETSU in the first round.

Just for Gold.

It's way to early to realistically predict this, but I'm calling a second round Belmont v. ETSU matchup for the third year in a row. Two years ago, this made for the most exciting, controversial game I have ever attended.

At any rate. I think this is the first year that I've followed Belmont/A-Sun basketball that the conference tournament won't be easily predictable.
The only two teams that would really surprise me in winning would be KSU or UNF (although, I think that one of them could very well pull off a first round upset). I could go a lot further into what I think might happen, but we'll save that for later.

I think Mercer is the most talented team in the A-sun (first year in 5 that ETSU isn't). I think Belmont wins the A-sun. Why? Rick Byrd.

if UNF played Belmont in round 1 that would be a good game, since UNF beat them once this year.

Some separation is showing with the 7/8 seeds. Mercer has a chance to hit UNF with the hammer on Thursday.

The website doesn't say this yet, but Kennesaw has already clinched a spot in the tournament. By virtue of their sweep of Stetson, Kennesaw can finish no lower than eighth among tournament-eligible teams.

(02-15-2010 08:01 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  if UNF played Belmont in round 1 that would be a good game, since UNF beat them once this year.

I wouldn't read too much into that loss. The final score if I remember correctly was 43-45, and we were playing the worst basketball that I have ever seen us play in that stretch of suck. Since the end of January after we lost to Jacksonville, we have been playing really well, and I refuse to believe that any team in the A-Sun could keep us below 50 points.
I see where you're coming from though. There's no team that will be in the conference tournament that is just going to bend over and take it from any other team. Every single game is going to be fun and exciting to watch.

(02-16-2010 02:07 PM)ByrdIsTheWord Wrote:  

(02-15-2010 08:01 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  if UNF played Belmont in round 1 that would be a good game, since UNF beat them once this year.

I wouldn't read too much into that loss. The final score if I remember correctly was 43-45, and we were playing the worst basketball that I have ever seen us play in that stretch of suck. Since the end of January after we lost to Jacksonville, we have been playing really well, and I refuse to believe that any team in the A-Sun could keep us below 50 points.
I see where you're coming from though. There's no team that will be in the conference tournament that is just going to bend over and take it from any other team. Every single game is going to be fun and exciting to watch.

I dunno - I think, sadly, that KSU is currently ETSU's bunny. We can never seem to play well against them.

We'd think ourselves a chance against a few other teams, though, which is nice to think.

barring a miracle of circumstances, KSU and UNF will be the #7/#8 seeds.

Belmont's win over Stetson tonight eliminates the Hatters and locks up the 8-team field. In other news, if anyone needs me, I'll be over there in the corner drinking heavily and sobbing quietly.

I'm going to make (not-so) bold predictions here:

Belmont finishes alone in first with 14 wins. Next I can conceivably see Jacksonville, Lipscomb, East Tennessee State, & Campbell finishing in a log jam with 13 wins. Mercer #6 with 12 wins. Kennesaw #7 with 8 wins. UNF #8 with 7 wins.

Of course Mercer's remaining schedule is rough (JU, @BEL, @LIP). Also James Florence is questionable. So going 2-1 here would be great.

This is also the ASUN, so anything can happen -- and will happen.

(02-18-2010 11:48 PM)HatterFan Wrote:  Belmont's win over Stetson tonight eliminates the Hatters and locks up the 8-team field. In other news, if anyone needs me, I'll be over there in the corner drinking heavily and sobbing quietly.

Don't take it too hard...I think Stetson gets a little better next year.

I'm starting to worry that Campbell could win the #1 seed, and Mercer could be the one that gets them there. I'm saying this because they are outsiders now. It benefits us anywhere from slim to none if Campbell goes to the NIT, or even the NCAA's. Although the NCAA is unlikely given they lost by about 30 in the A-Sun tourney last year to Lipscomb with near identical personnel. Yes this may seem harsh against the Camels, but it's not personal. I'm sure they can see the logic behind it.

It depends on how we play. If we play like we have the last 6 games then we are going to win the season and tournament. If we play like we did in the 5 game stretch in Tennesse and the Creek then we finish 3rd or 4th and lose in first round of tournament.

I have not seen us play as good as we did tonight against ETSU. The last two years we have had some of our best games against ETSU at home.

I think our guys wanted the win. Looking forward to the next few games and the tournament.

We are planning on brining a crowd from Campbell to Macon.

I hope we can finish 1st in the Conference. We want UNC first round of NIT.

ETSU sucks...regardless of why we can all agree they do...So I am for ANYONE who takes down DAVID lipscomb.

No doubt Campbell was inspired in that game versus ETSU. That was crazy. Gold -- Lipscomb is going down!