Travis Ford believes next year’s Saint Louis team could be the best that he’s ever had as a head coach.
The Billikens return everyone of significance from last season’s team that won 23 games prior to the Atlantic 10 Tournament, headlined by a trio of all-conference players in Jordan Goodwin, Hasahn French, and Javonte Perkins.
How confident is Ford in Saint Louis’ abilities?
Confident enough to put together a non-conference schedule that includes home games against San Diego State, Boston College, and MAAC favorite Siena as well as road tilts against Memphis and Minnesota. Saint Louis will also participate in the Orlando Invitational, an early-season tournament that includes Gonzaga, Michigan State, Xavier, Auburn and Boise State.
But Ford knows that those early season opportunities could go away if conferences in college basketball only play league games next season due to COVID-19. If that happens, he believes that the NCAA Selection Committee will have to find another way to seed the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
“If it’s only conference games, I think they’re going to have to find another formula to find out who the best teams in the country are,” Ford said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “There will have to be a different way to decide who’s in the NCAA Tournament.”
No non-conference opportunities would inhibit the chances of many non power conferences to have quality representation in the NCAA Tournament and that would directly apply to the Atlantic 10.
The league only had one team — Dayton — as a lock for the field of 68 last March prior to the cancellation of the Atlantic 10 Tournament despite the fact that five teams in the conference had won 21 or more games.
Saint Louis is currently ranked 30th in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
