With just about a month remaining until conference tournaments begin in the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season, teams are continuing to jockey for position to put themselves in the best spot for a run in March.
Every week, The Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff will get together to provide a ranking of the 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
After a week full of upsets and thrilling finishes throughout the conference, here’s how the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team and the rest of teams ranked as of Feb. 11:
15th Place: La Salle University Explorers (11-13, 2-9) (-1)
The season hit a new low point for La Salle on Feb. 7 when they allowed 102 points at home to Saint Louis University, who came into the game at 8-14. To make matters worse, they had to face off against conference-leading University of Richmond a few days later on the road and suffered another double-digit loss, 82-65.
The Explorers have now lost eight of their last nine contests and there have been no signs of things getting much better.
14th Place: Saint Louis University Billikens (9-15, 2-9) (+1)
Despite their record still being well under .500, there’s no denying that Saint Louis has been playing much better basketball as of late. They snapped a six game losing streak with a dominating effort on the road against La Salle, winning 102-84. Then, they stayed on the road to play Saint Joseph’s over the weekend where they fought until the very end in a 87-86 loss.
This week showed steps in the right direction for Saint Louis, being able to get a road win and stay competitive against a team that is currently in the top half of the conference standings.
13th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (14-9, 3-7) (-3)
George Washington has plummeted in our rankings this week after suffering back to back losses at home to Rhode Island and Loyola University Chicago, extending their losing streak all the way to six games. This is a team that was once 14-3 and 3-1 in conference play and now finds themselves searching for any answers, specifically on the defensive end.
They are allowing the most points per game in the conference and have surrendered 80+ points in each of their last six games.
12th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (13-10, 3-7) (+1)
Davidson found themselves a couple points short from having their most successful week of the season to this point. After going on the road to defeat Duquesne University 72-59, they lost a defensive battle to George Mason University over the weekend 57-55.
Losing close games has been a common trend for the Wildcats this year, with five of their seven conference losses being within five points. If a couple plays break the other way throughout the year, Davidson could be looking at a very different situation currently. Instead, they will continue to try and climb out of the basement of the conference standings.
11th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (11-13, 5-6) (+1)
Rhode Island spent this past week on the road where they have struggled throughout the year with a 2-6 record. However, they were a shot at the buzzer away from having an undefeated week.
After a 88-65 win over George Washington led by a dominating second half where they outscored the Revolutionaries 53-28, URI found themselves in a battle to the end with the University of Massachusetts. They had a look to win the game at the end, but came up short in a 81-79 loss. Still, the Rams have to be encouraged with the fight shown in both of these games, especially considering they were missing one of their key players, third-year forward David Green, for the George Washington game and in the second half of the UMass game.
10th Place: Fordham University Rams (10-13, 4-6) (-1)
Fordham had a pretty uneventful week, falling to the Virginia Commonwealth University 75-60 in their only game. They have continued to struggle to build any sort of momentum throughout this year, not winning consecutive games during conference play.
They get eight days off to reset following the loss to VCU, but the schedule isn’t too favorable for this upcoming stretch with St. Bonaventure University and the University of Dayton looming.
9th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (14-9, 4-6) (+2)
Despite having their four game win streak snapped in a 72-59 loss to Davidson on Feb. 7, Duquesne still sees themselves making a jump in our rankings. This is thanks to their impressive 75-69 win on the road over St. Bonaventure University on Saturday to get right back on track.
After an 0-5 start to conference play, the Dukes continue to show that they have turned a corner. They’ve struggled on the offensive end at points, ranking 13th in the conference in points per game, but right now this looks like a team that may be peaking at the right time.
8th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (14-9, 5-6) (-1)
Five of the last six games for St. Bonaventure have been decided by six or less points, and that was the case in both of their games this week as they found themselves on both the winning and losing sides of these close contests. First, they defended home court against UMass with a 79-73 win before dropping one on the road to Duquesne 75-69.
The Bonnies have a favorable schedule coming up and could have an opportunity to break away from the jam-packed middle of the A-10 standings. Their next three games will all come against teams that are in the bottom five of the current standings.
7th Place: George Mason University Patriots (16-8, 5-6) (+1)
George Mason snapped a three game skid over the weekend with a hard fought 57-55 victory on the road against Davidson. The Patriots are another team who continue to play close battles, with eight of their last nine games being decided by single digits.
Despite dropping a game to Loyola Chicago 85-79 at home earlier in the week, they still have a very impressive record of 11-2 on their home court this season. They will have a couple opportunities to improve that record with games against George Washington and Dayton this coming week.
6th Place: University of Massachusetts Minutemen (15-8, 6-5) (-)
UMass was in serious danger of a winless week after a 79-73 loss on the road to St. Bonaventure and a game that came down to the final shot against Rhode Island. Luckily for the Minutemen, they were able to hold on for a 81-79 win over URI and avenge their loss against them from earlier in the year.
Massachusetts continues to look like a dangerous team on the offensive end, leading the conference with over 80 points scored per game. They will have a chance to showcase their offensive prowess against some of the tougher competition in the conference this week, with two of their next three games coming against top three teams (Richmond and VCU).
5th Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (16-8, 6-5) (-)
Saint Joseph’s maintains their spot in the top five of our rankings this week despite suffering a double digit loss to Dayton and narrowly defeating Saint Louis 87-86. No matter how narrow though, a win is a win.
The focus for the Hawks will certainly be fine tuning their play on defense as they have now allowed 80+ points in three straight games. Two of those three games were also against the bottom two teams in the conference. It’s safe to say that kind of defense likely won’t hold up against the tougher competition.
4th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (17-7, 9-2) (-)
Loyola Chicago currently finds themselves as the hottest team in the conference as they have now extended their win streak to four games, defeating both George Mason and George Washington on the road.
The only losses the Ramblers have suffered throughout conference play have both been against top three teams, Richmond and VCU. They continue their incredible turnaround from a last place finish a season ago by consistently taking advantage of the competition level in front of them.
3rd Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (16-8, 8-3) (-)
It has been a massive past couple weeks for VCU, proving themselves as a true contender to win this conference. They followed up their win over first place Richmond a couple weeks ago with a 75-60 win on the road over Fordham, before outlasting Dayton in a defensive battle with a 49-47 win.
This team continues to round into form at the perfect time and have now knocked off each of the top two teams in the conference. Winners of eight of their last nine, the Rams look poised for a deep run in Brooklyn next month.
2nd Place: University of Richmond Spiders (17-6, 9-1) (-)
The Spiders got a full week to recover after suffering their first conference loss of the year to in-state rival VCU. They didn’t seem affected by the loss very much as they bounced back and cruised to a victory over La Salle 82-65.
The story with Richmond continues to be their defensive play, ranking second in the conference in points allowed per game, and their ability to defend the Robins Center. They will have a chance to extend their home record to 13-0 this week when they welcome in UMass.
1st Place: University of Dayton Flyers (19-4, 9-2) (-)
Despite suffering their second conference loss of the year on the road to VCU in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game, Dayton remains in our top spot in the rankings this week. This is largely due to their dominating effort earlier in the week when they took down Saint Joseph’s 94-79.
There does have to be a hint of concern for this team as they have now lost games to the two teams directly behind them in our rankings, Richmond and VCU. They know these are the teams they will have to beat in order to hoist that trophy in Brooklyn next month.