The Dayton Flyers are pumped about gaining an at-large bid to the big dance.  I don’t think just showing up is going to be good enough.  On Friday, March 20, the 11-seed takes on 6-seed West Virginia in Minneapolis.  This is UD’s first trip back to the tournament since 2004.  They had a great season beating Akron 56-50, beating Marquette 89-75, and defeating Xavier 71-58.  They are one of three Atlantic-10 schools in this years NCAA Tournament with the other two being Xavier and Temple.

Head Coach Brian Gregory has very balanced scoring, a group of quick players who steal and dunk with any team in the NCAA, and a young bunch with only one Senior.  Leading the charge is Marcus Johnson.  He is the Flyers biggest threat from 3-point range and averages 12.2 points per contest.  Chris Wright draws attention in the paint.  Wright finds ways to get to the free throw line and averaged 12.9 ppg, as well as blocking 39 shots this season.  Charles Little and Chris Johnson add to a very well-balanced offense where no single player averaged more than 13 points per game.  As a team, Dayton averaged 67.5 points per game.

If there is one thing I am afraid of with this team it is how they play on the road.  At home, the Flyers were 18-0.  On the road, however, they were 5-6.  Fortunately, this will be considered a neutral site game, and the Flyers are 3-1 in those contests.

My cousin Frank, a Dayton season ticket holder, warned me that they would be tough before the season started.  Frank was right.  College basketball fans everywhere will take notice when Dayton moves on and the program continues to gain notoriety over the next few seasons. 

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