Atlantic 17?

Temple is most likely going to the Big East in for the 2013/2014 season. One of the Atlantic Ten's best basketball programs will no longer be a dominant member of the conference. Instead, they head for greener pastures with the likes of Villanova, Georgetown, and UCONN.

Fans of the Atlantic Ten should have seen this coming. Bigger name conferences, such as the Big East and Pac 12, have been adopting successful teams from smaller conferences to ensure their own survival in the recent conference shake up/ mess.

Initially, many though this would mean the Atlantic 10 would loose its top programs like Xavier and Dayton. However, the A 10 has been just as active as some of the big conferences in terms of taking actions to ensure it's own survival. So it lost Temple, but now it looks as though it may gain Butler, VCU, and George Mason.

Butler's men's team has been to the championship game the last two years, VCU went to the final four last year, and who could forget MAson's terrific run only a few years back. All three teams have been no stranger to the NCAA tournament, and success in basketball in general. This would be a huge get for the conference, and make the loss of Temple irrelevant.

It doesn't end there, conference officials have also been reportedly talking to Creighton from the Missouri Valley Conference about possibly joining the league, though due to distance, this seems slightly unlikely. Should all chips fall into place, this would put the Atlantic 10 at 17 teams, which is a lot. But it is also likely that UMASS and Charlotte will leave to go to football emphasized conferences in the near future.

All we know now is that the future is uncertain, but the league is setting itself up to be stronger than ever, maybe even just as good basketball wise as the Big East when all is said and done.

Bonnies Finish Great Run

"Top Seed Notre Dame demolishes No. 5 St. Bonaventure." That was the headline on ESPN.com once the Fighting Irish defeated the brown and white 79-35. Yes, the score is correct, the bonnies lost by 44 points. I watched the game at a friends house and we were all excited for the game to start. Yes, we knew it was Notre Dame, one of the best teams in the country, but we didn't expect to see the game we saw from the Bonnies, keeping it close would have been nice.

By the second half the game was so out of hand that it was unwatchable. Since then, the game itself has been a rough subject to bring up. The team didn't play like themselves and the score really showed it.

However, in addition to all the "well they had a great run" talk, I'd like to add in another positive spin to this season. SBU will likely never win a national championship in basketball, men's or women's. They had their chance back in the 70's when Lanier blew out his knee. Since then, money has taken over college athletics and SBU simply doesn't have enough to play with the big boys. But to me, thats what makes this school special, and what the girls proved to the country this year. They played their hearts out and what was shown throughout the community was maybe reward enough. For a school this small and a budget even smaller, I think what the team did is incredible. In the end, I'd much rather go to a school like this that looses in the third round with that much passion from the community than to a bigger school that is too used to it to care. Remember, only one school in the country wins the championship, so when all others loose, they can only hope for a ride as fun as the Bonnies gave us this year. 

Bonnies Go Dancing

     As corny as it sounds, I wanted to go to a passionate school for college. I would never admit it to my parents, but I wanted a place where the students cared about where they went, and had pride in their school colors, no matter how bad the sports teams, no matter how bad the weather, no matter how bad the food or roads where. After nearly four years, I'm glad to say I'ev never made a smarter decision than the one to attend St. Bonaventure.

 I've been to many Bona baseball games, soccer games, men’s and women’s basketball games. Many times, they break my heart, but along with most students that I attend school with, we all keep coming back from the next one.

 On Sunday, perhaps one of the best days for Bonaventure sports in the past 30 years, the Bonnies men’s and women’s teams gave this school, this community something that it has been hungry for for 12 years, NCAA tournament Bids.

 I was in Atlantic City when the guys one. I was almost in tears. The pride displayed by all students was remarkable. I've never witnessed passion that great for any place or team.

 At seven o clock on Monday night, there was a selection show to announce where the girls basketball team would play. The Rielly Center went nuts when St. Bonaventure came on the screen.

 We may not be Duke or UNC winning national titles, but the pride and excitement may be greater. I've never been prouder to be a Bonnie at a great school with great people. Go Bonaventure, go brown and white.

 

Bonnies Run Comes to an End

Ask anyone in Western New York about the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team and most will tell you the same thing, "Those girls can really play." Up until last night, the team had not lost since December 29th, against Big East member, Villanova. The Bonnies won every single conference game and made it to the finals of the Atlantic Ten conference tournament against Dayton. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end at some point, which is exactly what happened last night.

My friends and I watched the team embarrass themselves in the first half. At one point, they were down 22 points and couldn’t make a shot or keep from turning the ball over. But like they have all season, the team fought back and made a run before half.

The second half the team came out firing and with under two minutes to go, actually lead the game by one point. Unfortunately, a foul was called, putting Dayton at the line, which would lead to a Flyers lead and an eventual Dayton win.

I, as well as many other Bonnies fans, was heart broken. The team played hard all year and was just minutes away from there first every Conference title, only to have it ripped away by another team. Once I stopped fretting about the loss, it occurred to me that nearly every team in the country in college basketball ends their season on a loss. Unless the team wins the NCAA tournament or the NIT, they are bound to be disappointed at some point. With that being said, the Bonnies had an incredible season, taking the program where it has never been brought before. They fought hard in every game up until the end and game the school positive attention.

Congratulations on a great season and good luck in the NCAA, Bonnies. Don’t let one loss get you down.