This is the time of the season that the Atlantic 10 needs to get busy. So far, the conference isn’t living up to last year’s outstanding early-season results, but that’s no knock. Last November-December, several A-10 teams became the talk of the country, including the Rhode Island Rams, who jumped out to a 14-1 start and into the Top 25.

Some A-10 teams are getting the job done this year, too. Temple and Massachusetts upset ranked opponents last Saturday, when the Owls beat No. 8 Tennessee and UMass edged No. 25 Kansas in Kansas City, 61-60. That was UMass’ first victory over a ranked foe on the road since a win over Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament in 1996. A-10 programs own four wins over ranked teams in the last three weeks, with Xavier beating Memphis in the finals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and Dayton winning at Marquette.

Entering this weekend, the Atlantic 10 owned 14 wins against teams from BCS conferences, the most of any non-BCS league. In addition, nine different A-10 teams have registered at least one victory over a BCS foe, with Xavier’s five wins leading the league.

In RPI numbers through Dec. 14, Xavier (third), Dayton (35th) and URI (38th) were the A-10 teams off to the best start. URI was helped by the 63rd-best schedule in the country. These are all valuable numbers because once league play begins, it becomes hard for many A-10 teams to grab big-time wins and climb in the RPI poll.

On the flip side, six Big East teams were in the top 42 of the RPI. Providence was 110th, with the 95th-strongest schedule. That schedule number will rise significantly once the Friars begin conference play.

Penders is the leader

The Big East may have two active Hall of Fame coaches (Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun) and another strong candidate (Rick Pitino), but Conference USA boasts three National Coaches of the Year, and its bench bosses have won a cumulative 3,000-plus career games.

The league’s winningest coach is former URI boss Tom Penders (Houston), with 614 career wins, followed by Rice’s Ben Braun with 556. The three National Coaches of the Year are Memphis’ John Calipari, SMU’s Matt Doherty and Southern Miss.’ Larry Eustachy. Seven coaches have worked in the Final Four as either head coaches or assistants, including Calipari, Doherty, UAB’s Mike Davis, Marshall’s Donnie Jones, Tulane’s Dave Dickerson, Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik and UTEP’s Tony Barbee.

Hansbrough a favorite

North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough will be a favorite to become just the third repeat winner in the 40-year history of the Naismith Trophy as college basketball’s top player. The others are UCLA’s Bill Walton (1972-’73-’74) and Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (1981-’82-’83).

The Atlanta Tipoff Club, which sponsors the Naismith award, announced its watch list of top candidates for the award this week. Hansbrough was joined by teammates Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson on the list. The Big East placed 11 candidates on the list, followed by the ACC, with seven. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Pacific 10 (PAC-10) each placed six. The only Atlantic 10 rep was Xavier’s Derrick Brown (no Dionte Christmas of Temple?).

The Big East reps include three UConn players (Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien); two Notre Damers (Luke Hrangody and Kyle McAlarney); two from Marquette (Jeremy McNeal and Dominic James); two from Pittsburgh (Sam Young and DeJuan Blair) and one each from Villanova (Scottie Reynolds) and Louisville (Earl Clark). The early pick here to take home the award? Davidson guard Stephen Curry.

Listen up, fellas

Here’s some unsolicited advice to the people at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the R.I. Convention Center, PC and URI.

Take a good look at the O’Reilly All-College Basketball Classic that the Rams participated in last night. It’s time to create a similar event here in Providence. The sponsor will be either Dunkin’ Donuts or CVS, maybe both.

In a one-night doubleheader, PC and URI will bring in two good teams that hopefully merit the event to find its way onto a national TV network (ESPNU or CBS College Sports, perhaps). Fans from both schools will sell out The Dunk, and the two schools will split the gate. Everyone can leave happy.

The key is the opponents. It’ll be tough to lure any big-name teams here, but we’re not talking Alcorn State or Eastern Kentucky, either. How about PC-Saint Joseph’s, URI-George Mason? Or PC-Loyola Marymount, URI-Drake? It can happen.

The six- or seven-week nonconference schedules that teams now play are too long and too boring. Coaches prefer to line up too many automatic wins that fans are roped into paying big bucks for and have no interest in watching. Spicing up the schedule with a one-night doubleheader at the refurbished Dunk is a good first step toward bringing the spotlight on college basketball to this city sometime before Jan. 1 every season.

kmcnamar@projo.com