2014 NCAA Tournament Profile: Dayton Flyers

Mandatory Credit: Rob Leifheit-USA TODAY Sports

Dayton Flyers

Record: 23-10 (10-6 Atlantic 10)

RPI: 42

BPI: 47

Conference: Atlantic 10

How They Qualified: At-large

Season Summary

The Dayton Flyers started this season with a solid non-conference schedule that included five teams from the power conferences. On back-to-back days on Thanksgiving week, the Flyers played Gonzaga and Baylor. Dayton defeated Gonzaga before dropping a close one-point game to Baylor. The one major blip on the early-season radar was a loss at Illinois State.

Contrary to its name, the Atlantic 10 has thirteen teams. That created an unbalanced schedule from which Dayton was a great beneficiary. The Flyers only had to play VCU and George Washington once each. Dayton had to play St. Joe’s twice during the regular season and dropped both of those games. St. Joe’s beat Dayton for a third time in the Atlantic 10 tournament and knocked the Flyers out in the quarterfinals.

What You Need To Know

Leading Scorer: Jordan Sibert (12.5 PPG)

Leading Rebounder: Devin Oliver (12.1 RPG)

Leading Passer: Derin Oliver (2.4 APG)

Bad Losses: Illinois State, @ Rhode Island

Good Wins: Gonzaga, St. Louis, UMass, George Washington

What to Expect

The Atlantic 10 got six teams into this year’s NCAA Tournament field. At first blush, that indicates that Dayton played a tough conference schedule. Unbalanced scheduling, however, lessened the burden on the Flyers. It should also be noted that Dayton was probably the last A-10 school to get an invitation to the tournament.

The Dayton Flyers have a balanced scoring attack with four men averaging within three points of each other. The problem for the Flyers is that those four players do not combine for a great deal of total points. Defense may win championships, but you have to put the ball in the basket to win.

A lack of offense will likely lead to an early exit for the Dayton Flyers.