Say Goodbye to Coach Ford?

The UMass Minutemen of the A-10 fell last night to The Ohio State University in the NIT Final. OSU of course, was a NCAA Final Four participant a year ago (albeit witht a few key players now gone.)

But the good post-season performance may be bittersweet for UMass fans, as it appears likely that Coach Travis Ford -- who played under Rick Pitino at Kentucky -- seems likely to be an attractive candidate for a major school with a coaching vacancy (LSU seems to be the leading contender). The up-tempo, attacking style that UMass played this year (led by mercury-quick PG Chris Lowe) will be popular with recruits, fans, and players. And it will presumably get more effective with better, "BCS-sized" players.

(The only quibble with Coach Ford's offense? It needs a catchy nickname that can be trademarked. Like this. Or this.)

This morning Ford claimed that he hasn't talked to anyone yet. And perhaps he hasn't. But at $200,000 per year (plus unspecified bonuses), Ford is well below market.

When the phone rings with a BCS school calling, Ford will be answering. And listening.

Pat Forde Discovers the A-10

A shout out to ESPN's Pat Forde, who caught up with the fact that the A-10 is having (so far) a BCS-style season.

Since Saint Joseph's was ranked No. 1 and made a run to the Elite Eight in 2004, it has been lean times for this league. But the A-10 is cycling up right now, having a year similar to Missouri Valley's breakthrough 2006.

The A-10 has a .647 nonconference winning percentage, its best in 14 years and the fourth-best since the league was founded 31 seasons ago. The conference RPI ranks seventh nationally, after being 10th last year, 11th in 2006 and 15th in 2005.

Let's hope that the NCAA Selection Committee also is paying attention.

A-10 in the Top 25

A little more college basketball: a conference that you (probably) haven't thought about this year is having a very good season, at least according to the (much-maligned) RPI. Here are the Atlantic-10 standings:

Through games of Thursday, February 7
Overall / Conf / Overall
W-L / W-L / RPI
Xavier 19-4 / 7-1 / 15
Saint Joseph's 15-6 / 6-2 / 45
Rhode Island 19-4 / 5-3 / 23
Richmond 12-9 / 5-3 / 102
Temple 11-10 / 4-3 / 79
Charlotte 13-8 / 4-3 / 89
Dayton 16-5 / 4-4 / 14
Massachusetts 15-7 / 4-4 / 22
Duquesne 14-7 / 4-4 / 91
La Salle 8-12 / 4-4 / 190
St. Louis 11-10 / 3-5 / 122
Fordham 7-11 / 2-5 / 180
St. Bonaventure 7-14 / 1-6 / 235
George Washington 5-13 / 1-7 / 254

4 teams in the top-25 RPI is nothing to sneer at, although the season is still young. The A-10 is not getting much respect from AP voters, with just one school (Xavier, #13) in the top-25, and two others (Rhode Island, St. Joes) ARV. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Rhode Island in, and St. Joes out, of the NCAA Tournament.