(Disclaimer. I'm an avid Villanova fan. I'm still smarting from the Wildcat's 77-55 loss to St. Joes earlier this year. Villanova is still on the outer bubble with St. Joes at this point, and St. Joes big win over Xavier therefore hurts Villanova's chances of getting an NCAA bid. So my reaction to this win by St. Joes is going to be lukewarm, at best.)
St. Joes beat Xavier last night, 71-66. Xavier was the No. 8 team in the country at the time, and the number one team in the A-10. Now, the average sports fan might think this game is significant, and it is. However, Xavier doesn't deserve to be the No. 8 team in the Country. Why, you ask? Because Xavier plays in the Atlantic 10 conference, and the A-10 sucks a big one.
The A-10 is populated by the following NCAA heavyweights - Temple, UMass, St. Bonaventure, St. Joes, Richmond, La Salle, Charlotte, Rhode Island, Dayton, Saint Louis (the guy, not the town), Duquesne, George Washington, and Fordam. Now, you might say "But wait. Including Xavier, that makes 14 teams. I thought this was called the A-10.?"
You would be correct. There is a very logical explanation: the A-10 is retarded. Some teams, such as Temple, have just enough name recognition to make it seem like a win is significant, hence Xavier's No. 8 ranking. This win by St. Joes shows us not that the Hawks are that good, but that Xavier is that bad.
For comparison, Georgetown is the number one team in the Big East. Georgetown has had to play with the likes of Louisville, UConn, Notre Dame, Marquette, and West Virginia, all likely NCAA tournament teams. Those are the next five in the Big East standings. The next five in the A-10 are Temple, UMass, St. Joes, Charlotte, and Richmond. UMass and Dayton have a shot of making the tourney.
So, in closing; great job, St. Joes. You beat a team that wasn't that good, and had already locked up an NCAA berth and had nothing to play for. You'll forgive me if I'm underwhelmed.
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