I’m about an hour from flying to LaGuardia Airport in New York City from Columbus. I’ve got my Starbucks — black coffee, nothing fancy. My devices are charged. It’s time to cover postseason basketball.

This is the third year I’ve added to my coverage of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament with a daily diary. I took it all the way to Sunday last season when the Dayton Flyers played in the A-10 championship game. Another long stay in Brooklyn, N.Y., would be a good thing for the Flyers and the Flyer Faithful.

I paid tribute to the Dayton basketball social media accounts by taking a photo of myself while walking to my car outside my house in Bexley this morning. For years, UD has posted photos of players on the way to the bus or the airplane, as a way to show a road trip has begun. The photos UD shared Tuesday showed the Flyers walking on the tarmac to their charter flight. They left campus at 4 p.m. for a 5 p.m. flight east.

I’m not sure what airport the Flyers flew to. I know in 2015 they flew to White Plains, N.Y., north of the city. That’s why they stopped in Yonkers to watch the NCAA tournament selection show after a loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Selection Sunday. They stopped at a sports bar, Burke’s Bar, to hear their name called.

WHIO’s Mike Hartsock, Dayton Daily News columnist Tom Archdeacon and I rented a car to drive from the Barclays Center to Yonkers to cover the NCAA tournament announcement that year. Arch still complains about us leaving him behind at the bar to write. We had early flights, and Arch needed more time to work. We told him to catch a cab. He eventually made it home — as you all know because he’s still churning out amazing Dayton stories nine years later. He’ll be with me in Brooklyn this week.

Last year, Arch and I were prepared to rent a car again and follow the team to the airport in New Jersey. UD again planned to stop somewhere to watch the selection show if they beat VCU in the A-10 championship game. It didn’t happen. In fact, the last thing I did before going to bed on Selection Sunday a year ago was break the news about UD deciding to decline any postseason opportunities because of the number of injuries on the roster. I wasn’t sad about not having to cover the NIT.

There isn’t quite as much on the line this week for Dayton, which has already locked up a NCAA tournament berth no matter what happens at the A-10 tournament, but this is also its best chance to claim a trophy of some kind this season. A NCAA tournament berth is the big prize, but some sort of hardware to go with it would be nice for the players and coaches. Stopping a 21-year A-10 tournament drought would also be invaluable for the program.

1:54 p.m.

I’m on the ground in New York City — taking an Uber to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn so I can see the end of the second second-round game between Virginia Commonwealth and Fordham. I plan to stick around the arena all day because No. 3 seed Dayton plays the winner of the final Wednesday game between No. 6 Duquesne and No. 14 Saint Louis.

This is the 11th A-10 tournament I’ve covered if you count the 2020 event, which was cancelled during my Uber ride from LaGuardia to the Barclays Center. I arrived just in time to cover the press conference featuring the VCU and UMass coaches and to talk to Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan outside the arena. That was the last glimpse of sports we had until July.

It doesn’t appear a worldwide pandemic will stop the 2024 event. There were three exciting games in the first round Tuesday and a mild upset in the first second-round game Wednesday as No. 9 seed Saint Joseph’s beat No. 8 George Mason 64-57. The Hawks will play No. 1 Richmond in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

George Mason was unable to build on its victory against Richmond in the final game of the regular season. After beating Dayton, the Patriots lost four of their last six games.

George Mason has not advanced past the quarterfinals in nine trips to the A-10 tournament, and this was the sixth time it lost its first game.

“You see the same thing happening through the course of the year,” first-year coach Tony Skinn said, “and you’re just like, ‘Man.’ You go back and watch film. If we would have just did this, we would have won that game. If we would have just did that, we would have won this game. And that was the story line of our season.”

For the 10th straight season, I’m holding an A-10 tournament bracket contest on Twitter, or X as it’s now known. Fifty two out of 68 people who entered the contest picked Dayton to win the championship. Loyola Chicago received seven votes. Richmond received three. St. Bonaventure and VCU received two. George Mason and Saint Joseph’s each received one vote.

Last year, 47 of 62 people picked Dayton to win the tournament. They continue to believe, even though Dayton has never won the tournament outside UD Arena. The Flyers have as good a chance as ever this season.

4:17 p.m.

i just watched VCU hold off Fordham for a 69-62 victory in the second game of the second round at the Barclays Center.

You can sit wherever you want in these early-round games. Fordham filled most of the lower bowl in the semifinals against Dayton last season but brought only a handful of fans across town for this one. VCU had more fans, though I imagine the larger percentage of its fan base will wait to see if the team advances to the weekend games, as VCU usually does.

VCU will play No. 4 seed Massachusetts at 2 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. UMass won the regular-season matchup 74-52 on Feb. 20 in Amherst, Mass. UMass will seek its first semifinal appearance since 2013. VCU has made it to the semifinals seven times in the same span and won two championships.