While SLU volleyball continues to kill it, this week brought a double-dose of bad news for Billiken basketball.   First came the news that Grandy Glaze suffered a shoulder injury in practice, and will be out a few weeks.  Then the A-10 media decided to pile on, selecting SLU to finish 9th in the A-10.  That is out of 14 teams in this year’s configuration (welcome Davidson Wildcats!)    By my calculations, 9th is not very good.

I would like to write off this poll by saying  the A-10 media hates us,  or maybe we are just misunderstood.   If they would only give us another chance, Kevin Nealon.  Unfortunately, the A-10 preseason poll has been a pretty good predictor of SLU’s finish.

Solid record, A-10 media.   SLU has out-performed the preseason poll the last few years, but only by one slot.

The highlighted 2009-10 SLU team was among the youngest in the country — 346 out of 347 in Experience per kenpom.com — and overcame low expectations by riding Mitchell, Reed and company to a runner-up in Mark Cuban’s CBI tournament.   They lost to future conference rival VCU in the final series.   That team was both young and inexperienced.  This year’s SLU team will not be young;  they will likely start ALL upperclassmen.   They will, however, be inexperienced.   No one on the roster has been a full-time starter before this year.

Maybe the A-10 media tends to sleep on the lower teams.  After the Top 4 they lose interest and treat the rest as one big soup and it’s just not fair.  Let’s take a look:

The A-10 media just dropped the mic and strolled off the stage.