An easily ignored but often impactful factor in Atlantic 10
scheduling is Thursday-Saturday games (ThuSats from here on out). In
most weeks, most teams play either Wednesday or Thursday and Saturday or
Sunday.
Any team that ends up playing Thursday and Saturday can
run into trouble on that second game. Spare me the foolish "those are
21-year old kid, they shouldn't get tired" line. It's hard for any team
to play two games in three days, especially if there's a travel day in
the middle. There's no time to practice and minimal time for video prep
etc. A team with one day rest, even a more talented team will be at a
disadvantage.
The teams that get the Thursday-Saturday games are usually good teams. The A-10 has a CBS Sports Network slot on Thursdays.
Here's
a look at each team's ThuSats. Worth noting, I'm only including games
against league teams. Nonconfernce quick turnarounds are the fault of
the school's themselves.:
UMass 3
Jan 17-19 Duquesne-GW Both home - This
is not ideal if Duquesne still plays fast, but at least the two games
are at home. GW will be coming off a Wednesday home game against Temple.
Feb 14-16 - at VCU, home vs. Temple - This
is a bear with two games beack to back against legitimate NCAA
Tournament contenders. At least Temple will be doing a ThuSat of its own
coming off a home game with Duquesne.
March 7-9 vs. Butler at URI
Virginia Commonwealth -3
Jan. 17-19 - home vs. St. Joe's, at Duquesne - This could be a difficult one especially if Duquesne still plays at fast pace.
Jan. 24-26 at Richmond, home vs. La Salle - This is the second straight week of ThuSats.
Feb. 14-16 home vs. UMass home vs. GW -VCU is coming off a tough game against UMass at home. The Colonials will have seven days off before this game.
BUTLER - 2
Jan 31-Feb 2 - at SLU vs. URI -The Rams are in rebuilding mode, but by this point in the season, this could be a tough game on the back end of a ThuSat.
March 7-9 at UMass vs. Xavier - Among the toughest ThuSats out there. Xavier will have an extra day after a road game at Saint Louis.
Saint Louis - 2
Jan. 10-12 vs. UMass at Temple - Maybe most unfair out there.
Second
game is a road game extra long for SLU and two good teams. Only
mitigator is that Temple will have played at Xavier on Thursday.
Jan. 31-Feb. 2 - vs. Butler, vs. Dayton - At least they're both at home. Both are on TV
TEMPLE -2
Jan 10-12 at Xavier, home vs. SLU - at least both Temple and SLU are both coming from Midwest
Feb. 14-16 home vs. Duq at UMass - Another tough one, but at least UMass is doing the same back to back
DUQUESNE - 2
Jan 17-19 - at UMass, home vs. VCU - This is a bear for any team.
Feb 14-16 - at Temple, vs. URI - Not sure how Duquesne ended up in the multiple ThuSat group.
XAVIER - 1
Jan. 10-12 home vs. Temple, home vs. GW - Both games are home and the second is easier than the first.
Charlotte, Dayton, Fordham, GW, La Salle, URI, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's - 0 - Surprising among this group that neither St. Joe's nor Dayton, who figure to both be TV draws have any.
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