After all, it was the latest wave of conference realignment that caused the Big East to go hunting for Temple, and thus caused the A-10 to go out and get Butler and Virginia Commonwealth. When the Horizon League and Colonial Athletic Association told both teams they wouldn't be allowed to participate in their respective 2013 conference tournaments, they jumped a year early -- in time to join a 16-team league that still featured the frequently favored Owls.

Before the season, that possibility was tantalizing. After two months of nonconference play, VCU looks like the league's clear favorite, and Butler one of its top contenders. Temple and St. Louis are, for all intents and purposes, co-favorites. It's safe to say the overall league hasn't quite panned out the way we expected -- Saint Joe's has struggled, Xavier is young, and a handful of mid-table sleeper teams have missed early nonconference opportunities -- but the fact remains that this brief 16-team edition of the Atlantic 10 could provide one of its most entertaining seasons in league history.

Wins to brag about:
VCU over Memphis; VCU over Belmont; St. Louis over New Mexico; Butler over Marquette; Butler over North Carolina; Butler over Indiana; Saint Joseph's over Notre Dame; Dayton at Alabama; Charlotte at Davidson; Xavier over Butler; UMass over Ohio

Losses that sting:
Santa Clara at St. Louis; Washington over St. Louis; Canisius at Temple; Fairfield at Saint Joseph's; Central Connecticut at La Salle; Weber State at Dayton; George Mason over Richmond; Pacific over Xavier; Vanderbilt at Xavier; Wofford at Xavier; Wake Forest over Xavier

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