Dayton (23-4) ranks 42nd in the NET entering the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, which began Wednesday with two games involving the bottom four seeds. No. 1 seed Dayton opens play in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Friday against No. 9 Davidson at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Davidson beat No. 8 Richmond 66-62 on Thursday. Dayton won 70-60 at Davidson on Jan. 30.
UD’s place in the NET will help determine its fate on Selection Sunday — the women’s show moved to Sunday (March 13) this season after many years of being held on Monday — if it does not win three games in three days in the A-10 tournament and earn the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.
The last time Dayton won an at-large bid in 2018, it was 23-7 after losing in the A-10 semifinals. Dayton won two other bids (2017 and 2020) in Green’s first five seasons by winning the A-10 tournament, though it did not get to play in the 2020 NCAA tournament, which was cancelled by the pandemic.
“Obviously, we’re playing in the the tournament, and we want to win it,” Green said. “That’s your goal every single year. Our first goal was to win the regular-season championship, and now our next goal is to win the A-10 tournament and then the NCAA tournament after that. We’re going in to win this thing, but also all year in how we schedule, what we do, we’ve been very aware of the NET, at least as a staff, and our players are veteran enough, they know the importance of going to a (Rhode Island) and winning on the road or going to a UMass, a top-50 NET team at the time, and winning. At this point, we’ve done everything we can do in terms of that. Now it’s just about trying to win the A-10.”
Massachusetts (23-6) ranks 52nd in the NET. Rhode Island (22-5), which Dayton beat twice, ranks 55th. Dayton also has victories against No. 62 Toledo (23-4), No. 66 Fordham (17-9) and No. 81 Purdue (16-13). Unlike the Dayton men’s team, which has losses to four sub-200 opponents, the women’s team hasn’t lost to anyone worse than No. 91 Virginia Commonwealth (14-10), but Green’s Flyers lost their only game against a team currently ranked in the top 50 (No. 43 Florida).
In the latest NCAA tournament bracket prediction by ESPN’S Charlie Creme, Dayton was listed as a No. 11 seed playing No. 6 seed Georgia in Tucson, Ariz.
In the A-10 tournament, Dayton is the No. 1 seed for the third straight season. It won the tournament on its home court two years ago but lost last season in the semifinals to No. 5 seed VCU, which was playing on its home court. This year, the event moves to a neutral court for the first time since 2018 when it was played at Richmond Coliseum for the fifth straight season.
Chase Fieldhouse opened in 2019 and seats 2,500 spectators. It is the home of a NBA G League team, the Delaware Blue Coats.
“I think that it’s going to be a really great site,” Green said. “The city really wants it. They’re excited about it. I think it’s going to have a great turnout and feel, which is the most important thing when you get to this time of the year. Unless it’s at UD arena, I’m all for neutral sites. That was a big thing in our league. All the head coaches really wanted a neutral site. So I get it, and I think it’s probably best for the conference.”
If the top seeds advance, Dayton will play No. 4 seed VCU, the only team to the Flyers in the A-10 regular season, in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday. No. 2 seed Rhode Island and No. 3 seed UMass are the other favorites.
“I think this year it’s wide open,” Green said. “I think the league is that good from top to bottom. I think you could see a lower seed get a win and a so-called upset. I think this is going to be the best tournament we’ve had in a while, and it’s on a neutral floor, so anything can happen.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. Richmond/Davidson, 11 a.m., ESPN+
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