After noting that the CAA had garnered the most television games for its members in this year's edition of Bracket Busters, my next move was to contact Michael Litos, our resident expert on the Colonial. I asked him to analyze what this means for the CAA, and why Drexel was left out of the mix (as they so often are).
Here is what he said.
This is the "Bracketbusters Opportunity" season for the CAA, and it may end up being more important for the conference to put on a good showing than 2006.
Most people are going to look at ODU at Northern Iowa and immediately think "Mason at Wichita!" and they are right, in a sense. It's a roadie against the Valley's top team and honestly exactly why Bracketbusters was supposedly set up. ODU could use a crooked number in the "top 50 wins" category and the bump a road win over a top 20 team provides. Its importance cannot be underestimated. This brings us to my hysterical statement that this year could mean more than 2006.
VCU, Northeastern, and The Fightin' Pugs of William & Mary are all sniffing a top 50 RPI mark. It's very important for those teams to win to get the me-likey side of 50. Ditto Mason and Drexel getting into the top 100. The irony of there being no true difference in the #53 team and #47 team--yet in the eyes of the selection committee there is a tremendous difference--is comical. Plus, the CAA owns Friday night prime time, and five teevee games total is not immaterial.
And let's not miss this potentially crucial fact: each of the bottom six CAA teams are playing an RPI superior team. While ODU and Northeastern are busy with glossifying their resumes, James Madison and Hofstra have the opportunity to add their own bit of concrete to the CAA story.
That's it. I don't give a rip about return games. This is all about the opportunity for an at large bid. Everything else is distracting conversation.
Like Michael's dedication to the honest truth? Read more at CAA Hoops: Life as a Mid Major.