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Atlantic 10: UMass, VCU Featured In Tip-Off Marathon

By Jovan Alford

Mar 16, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Troy Daniels (30) gestures after scoring a basket during the second half against the Massachusetts Minutemen in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Barclays Center. VCU won 71-62. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Troy Daniels (30) gestures after scoring a basket during the second half against the Massachusetts Minutemen in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Barclays Center. VCU won 71-62. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Atlantic 10 Conference is once again represented on the national stage. Beginning Nov. 17 and going through Nov. 18, ESPN will be broadcasting the seventh annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. This marathon of games puts many teams from smaller conferences on the national stage across the ESPN family of networks.

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    • The Atlantic 10 will be one of those mid-major conferences being represented in the Tip-Off Marathon. Representing the conference will be the UMass Minutemen and VCU Rams. Both teams had a solid season and went to the NCAA tournament.

    For UMass, this is a good way to get their season under way as they finished last season 24-9 and 10-6 in conference. Then, based on their great play and the strength of the conference, they were rewarded with the sixth seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament.

    But, they were one and done like many of the Atlantic 10 teams, as they fell to the 11th-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, who finished the season 23-12 and had to win their first four games in Dayton, Ohio, to advance. That did not stop Tennessee as they bowled over the Minutemen 86-67.

    Who would have known that UMass would lose to future NBA players Jordan McRae and Jarnell Stokes?

    On the other side of the bracket, VCU finished second in the Atlantic 10 and was riding into the NCAA tournament with confidence as they were rewarded with the fifth seed. Just like the other Atlantic 10 teams, VCU wouldn’t last as they got beaten by mid-major Stephen F. Austin, the 12th seed out of the Southland Conference.

    Coming in to the tournament, Stephen F. Austin finished 18-0 in conference and was riding a ridiculous 30-game winning streak. For VCU, they got a fight from SFA which ultimately led to their demise as they fell 77-75 in overtime.

    Fast forward to now and both teams will be looking to have a great showing in the Tip-Off Marathon as they ended last season on a sour note. For UMass, they lost their leader in Chaz Williams as he was a senior, but return the likes of Derrick Morgan, Trey Davis, and Maxie Esho.

    As for VCU, they only lost seniors Rob Brandenberg and Juvonte Reddic, key players of the team, but the team is still fairly young returning nearly everybody on the roster.

    In the Tip-Off Marathon, UMass will take on the Manhattan Jaspers out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, who also were in the NCAA tournament as a 12th seed and lost to the fifth-seeded Louisville Cardinals 71-64.

    This game can be seen on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 18.

    Finally VCU, who comes in at No. 14 in the preseason coaches’ poll, will be playing at 6 p.m. in the Legends Classic on ESPNU. They will be taking on the Toledo Rockets out of the Mid-American Conference.

    Toledo is another tough mid-major who finished 27-7 and 14-4 in conference last season. The Rockets would be a sixth seed in the NIT as they lost to the third-seeded Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 66-59.

    So for both Atlantic 10 teams, they have tough, battled-tested opponents in the marathon. A loss for VCU or UMass can hurt the Atlantic 10 in terms of Selection Sunday and how many teams might get in from conference. On the other hand, a win can show the committee that last season’s disappointment in the NCAA Tournament was a fluke and that the conference is better than people think.