NCAA Basketball A 10 Basketball

"The University of Massachusetts Club reflects the diversity, professional character, and camaraderie among distinguished alumni, and their pride and passion for the University.''

So says the welcome page on the website of the Boston-based private members-only club, consisting of "alumni, faculty, staff and friends'' of UMass.

And as far as the club is concerned, there's no need to edit that statement or re-consider its definition of "professional character'' or "distinguished'' based on who it was scheduled to honor Friday evening: John Calipari.

It isn't easy being only a basketball conference trying to compete with the major programs. No football money from the 1-A level, even to be a patsy team like the Sun Belt, MAC or the ilk. The Atlantic 10 has managed to make it work, but apparently the money is no longer there.

Reports are out that the Atlantic 10 is moving its offices to Newport News, Virginia. There are no member schools in Newport News. The closest school is Richmond. Nearly 80 miles away. The move is apparently driven by economics, as the city's development office actively courted the A-10 to move into new digs no where near any of their members.

According to reports, Xavier has decided to promote assistant coach Chris Mack. The announcement may not be made, though, until Wednesday at the team banquet.

Mack is 39 years old, and has no head coaching experience. He is, however, considered a rising assistant. It probably does not hurt that Mack is a Xavier alum and was a team captain on the basketball team during his time. He also served as an assistant to former Xavier coach Skip Prosser at Wake Forest before joining Sean Miller back at Xavier.

One of the biggest gripes against former CBS basketball analyst Billy Packer was that he didn't respect the mid-majors. He famously complained that there were too many mid-majors in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. That was the year that George Mason upset Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn to get to the Final Four.

This will be the first Packer-less tournament in decades as he retired after last year's Final Four. It's a shame for him because he would have loved the makeup of the brackets this time around. Going against the recent trends, it looks as if the major conferences will get most of the at-large bids, leaving the mid-majors out in the cold.

Saturday is a busy day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best options for how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college hoops.

There's no avoiding it: the Bracket Busters format is in a down year. It's not down because the games will be boring, or because no team will provide some foreshadowing of what it might be capable of in the NCAA Tournament.

Bracket Busters is down because there are just not that many teams in the mid-majors that have been that good this season. The number of teams capable of earning at-large bids from mid-major conferences is on the very low side.

When Xavier goes south, the Musketeers do not limit it to just one end of the court. They have been struggling for most of February. It will not cost them an NCAA Tournament bid, but it sure will drop their seeding. The Musketeers have now lost three of their last four with this latest loss to Charlotte, 65-60.

For Charlotte, this was their first win over a ranked team in four years. The team has struggled this year, and will likely finish with a sub-.500 record. It was their first win over Xavier since the 49ers joined the Atlantic 10 in six games. Still, rushing the floor seemed a bit forced. Especially after beating a team that was just hanging on in the Top 25, and Charlotte was tied or led for much of the game.

University of Cincinnati's head basketball coach Mick Cronin doesn't like ESPN.com's newest NCAA Tournament projections. ESPN's resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi has just seven Big East teams in the dance -- none of which are Cincinnati.

Cronin didn't find it amusing. "I would tell Joe Lunardi he needs to buy the ESPN Full Court package. Are you telling me that Syracuse wouldn't win the A-10? Does somebody want to give me that answer? I'd like to have that argument with somebody.

Saturday is a busy day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on your TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best choices on how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college basketball.

This is when you find out how much your significant other cares about you. Just how much time will you get to watch college basketball when Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday?

Those without a partner or even a date, can take solace in the money not spent on gifts and dinner. In addition, you can to spend over 12 hours watching hoops.

The Dayton Flyers finally rid themselves of a nagging six-game losing streak against Xavier, beating the 14th-ranked Musketeers on Wednesday night, 71-58. Chris Wright led the Flyers with 19 points and also scored the last nine points for Dayton down the stretch.

In what is generally perceived as the Atlantic 10's staple showdown, Xavier was beginning to totally dominate the rivalry in nearly every way possible.

That all changes now, and the A-10 just got a lot more interesting.

Travel costs for universities are a big deal in this economic climate. Look no further than the bowl "selections" that occurred this year -- there were a substantially larger number of teams hanging close to home, presumably to allow for cheaper travel for both the schools and their fans.

But the NCAA says that will not be a huge deal this year, and supposedly, geographical distance will not affect a team's pairing.