Shaka Smart weighs in on CAA’s at-large chances

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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Until recently, the conventional wisdom was that the Colonial Athletic Association was having a down year, or, if it wasn’t, it at least wasn’t living up to the year prior.

Because of that, the conference was seemingly divinely ordained by many to be a one-bid league for the NCAA Tournament.  But now three-quarters of the way through the year, talks of an at-large, or even two, are beginning to surface.

“It remains to be seen,” said VCU head coach Shaka Smart. “I think there’s a lot of time wasted on prognostication on NCAA bids, and I know it’s become an industry all in itself with Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm and all the guys that make those projections, but there’s so much basketball to be played it’s ridiculous.”

VCU has the second-best RPI in the CAA behind Drexel and arguably the best shot at an at-large bid.

Yet up to this point, no team in the conference has beaten a team in the top 50 of the RPI rankings. VCU has wins over two top 100 wins in South Florida (78) and Akron (54) with a BracketBusters game against Northern Iowa (52) on the way. Delaware, Georgia State and Hofstra each have wins over two top 100 teams and George Mason and Old Dominion have one apiece.

But with the conference not as strong as it was a year ago, one potential slip up heading down the final stretch could be detrimental to any team’s resume.

“There’s so many regular season games that can go one way or go another way,” Smart said. “And then with the conference tournaments, there’s so much that can happen: just look at last year, what happened in the last week or so of the regular season and conference tournament time.”

Smart was referring to his team’s win over Wichita State in the BracketBusters matchup before taking down Drexel and George Mason in the CAA Tournament. The Rams went on to receive an at-large bid with help from wins over seven top 100 teams and the rest was history.

Six teams in the CAA finished the season in the top 100 of the RPI rankings in 2011, and three received at-large bids. This season, Drexel and VCU stand alone in representing the CAA in that territory.

“I don’t spend too much time on it, and I know everyone in our league is trying to win as many games as they can to put themselves in position for the conference tournament,” Smart said. “And teams that have a chance to win the regular season obviously want to do that.”