Dance Card: Dayton, A-10 at large

Who? The Flyers of Dayton.

What? Named after the Wright Flyer; if you've ever seen an Ohio quarter, you know Ohio takes its history of flight seriously. Rudy Flyer gets his name from UD.

Where? Dayton, Ohio, where the first cash registers were produced.

When? March 24th, in Queens, New York.

Why? Running the table in conference, even if you manage to lose in the conference tournament, is a pretty good bet for an at-large bid.

How? They were an at-large selection.

Surprise? Predicted to finish first in the conference, they finished first and undefeated in the A-10.

RPI: 14

SOS: 96

Record: 27-2 (14-0 Atlantic-10)

Good wins: At DePaul.

Bad losses: At Bowling Green.

Who's running this show? Jim Jabir, since 2003. He's originally from Brooklyn. I'm not surprised.

Extra, Extra! The Dayton Daily News.

Sophomore guard Andrea Hoover leads the Flyers in scoring with 12.2 points per game, one of four Dayton players in double figures. Sophomore forward Ally Malott adds 10.8 points and leads the team in rebounding with 6.6. Jim Jabir's not afraid to go deep into his bench, giving nine players at least ten minutes per game. They're also a very solid shooting team, 44% from the field as a whole (though the median is slightly below that).

They strike me as a team that does what needs to be done. That doesn't bode well for their opponents in the Big Dance.