Just under three weekends from now, the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament will be underway in Washington D.C. There is not much separation in the men’s basketball standings. However, there is still time for teams to control their destiny.
It’s the push to get hot (or stay hot) at the right time before playoffs. Each week, The Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff ranks the 15 teams in the conference.
Here is how the A-10 stacks up as of Feb. 17:
15th Place: Fordham University Rams (11-14, 3-9) (-3)
Fordham faced a rough week, losing two straight to descend to the bottom of the A-10 standings. Now last place in the standings, the Rams have also fallen to last in this week’s rankings.
A loss to the University of Dayton was excusable and more or less expected, but falling to the University of Richmond is where Fordham crossed a line. The Rams have now separated themselves from teams competing for a first-round bye.
Although there are too many games left to officially rule out rising up the standings, it would take a lot of winning and a lot of help from the rest of the conference to make it happen.
14th Place: La Salle University Explorers (12-14, 4-9) (-)
La Salle is up to four straight losses, but all have come against teams currently sitting in the conference’s top half. The Explorers will hope to catch somewhat of a break with their next two games coming against the two teams directly ahead of them in our rankings, Richmond and Duquesne University.
It could be finally time to turn things around after suffering exclusively double-digit losses since La Salle’s last win on Feb. 1. Closer games will be key for a team that has the worst scoring margin in conference play by over four points at -10.7.
13th Place: University of Richmond Spiders (9-17, 4-9) (+2)
How ‘bout them Spiders? After knocking off Duquesne last week, Richmond proved it wasn’t an anomaly with a 70-66 win over Fordham on Saturday.
A middle-of-the-pack defense has been held back by a league-worst offense, but improvement has been shown over the last two weeks. A tough overtime loss to Loyola University Chicago earlier in the week is all that kept the Spiders from picking up back-to-back wins. Still, this is a Richmond team that seems to have gone through its rough times and has moved on to better things after a seven-game losing streak.
12th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (10-15, 5-7) (-1)
Duquesne played one game this week, falling by one point to the University of Dayton in dramatic fashion. The Dukes blew a 12-point lead with fourth-year guard Cam Crawford committing a foul in the final six seconds to send the Flyers to the line to take the lead.
The week ahead has Fordham and St. Bonaventure University. After nearly knocking off the Flyers, Duquesne should have easier matchups in these next two and needs to capitalize with a much tougher schedule waiting to finish the regular season.
11th Place: University of Massachusetts Minutemen (11-15, 6-7) (-3)
UMass finds itself in a similar situation as Fordham, taking two losses at home this week in games it couldn’t afford to lose. Now under .500 in conference play, the Minutemen need to stop the bleeding.
St. Bonaventure took down UMass by double digits on Saturday, which doesn’t draw optimism for the Minutemen’s mid-week matchup against Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently in a three-way tie for seventh place in the conference, climbing up to earn a double-bye is achievable, but there is just as much of a chance to fall down to the bottom five and be forced to play in the first round.
It’s a fork in the road for the Minutemen, and their inconsistent play makes it hard to predict what path they’ll take.
10th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (15-10, 5-7) (-)
Davidson split its week with two close games, taking down UMass before falling to George Washington University. The Wildcats have proved that they can stay competitive with any level of opponent, yet they have been more often than not on the wrong side of the results.
Closing out games is crucial; Davidson deserves a first-round bye, but until these tight games start swinging its way we can expect to see the Wildcats on day one of the tournament.
9th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (18-9, 6-8) (-)
St. Bonaventure could have climbed in the rankings this week, but a disaster second half against the University of Rhode Island stopped that from happening. The Bonnies saved themselves from falling by picking up a convincing win over UMass to finish the week.
One-third of the A-10 holds six conference wins at the moment; two of those teams will face off when the Bonnies take on Duquesne next.
8th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (17-8, 6-7) (+5)
Rhode Island jumps up a week-high five spots thanks to last-second heroics by third-year guard Jamarques Lawrence over St. Bonaventure and a double-digit victory over La Salle. Don’t get too excited though, both wins came at home.
The Rams return to the road on Saturday to face Saint Louis University, who is in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Rhody has one road win this season on Jan. 11 over Richmond in overtime and has lost five straight away from the Ryan Center since.
7th Place: Saint Louis University Billikens (14-12, 7-6) (-2)
Saint Louis took George Mason University to overtime, but couldn’t put an end to the Patriots’ win streak. After almost knocking off the best the conference has to offer, the Billikens finished the week flat against Loyola Chicago and have swapped places this week as a result.
An 11-0 run sunk Saint Louis in its last game, and now up to three straight losses, the Billikens have to fight for a top-four spot that looked promising just a few weeks ago. Two teams are looking to get a monkey off their back as URI’s road woes collide with Saint Louis’s skid on Saturday.
6th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (17-9, 6-7) (-)
George Washington stays put this week after making a jump in our last rankings. VCU took an eight-point victory over the Revolutionaries, but Davidson gave GW a great chance to get a win back to close the week and that’s exactly what happened.
The Revolutionaries are keeping it close with top teams and capitalizing on weaker opponents. We will have a clear chance to see how they fare against the middle of the pack with matchups against Saint Joseph’s University and UMass ahead.
5th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (16-9, 7-5) (+2)
Two straight wins have taken Loyola to the top four of the conference and in position for a double-bye. It’s a bit concerning to need overtime to get by Richmond, but a win is a win. Finishing the week with a win over a stronger opponent in Saint Louis reassured earning fifth place this week.
Friday’s matchup against Dayton will be huge for the Ramblers and perhaps the best chance they’ll have to move into the top three of the conference, but first, they will have to handle business on the road at Davidson.
4th Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (15-10, 6-6) (-)
Saint Joseph’s stayed at .500 with another split week of results. The Hawks had picked up back-to-back conference wins for the first time this season before falling to George Mason, but the one-point defeat should give some confidence moving forward.
Taking on George Washington could be a stumbling block for Saint Joseph’s, but Richmond should be a great chance for a strong win in front of the home crowd, where the Hawks are 10-4 this season.
3rd Place: University of Dayton Flyers (18-8, 8-5) (-)
A couple of weeks ago the top five separated themselves from the rest of the conference, now that separation has moved to just the top three. Dayton is the first of what is now an even more exclusive group. The Flyers have quietly increased the gap from fourth place and look more and more like a lock to receive a double-bye come tournament time.
Two wins in a row could turn to three as Dayton travels to take on Loyola Chicago on Friday.
2nd Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (20-5, 10-2) (-)
After a couple of blowouts last week, VCU has settled down while adding another victory to its new win streak. George Washington competed but ultimately didn’t have what it took.
UMass should be a great tune-up for the top offense in the conference before taking on George Mason for the first time this season on Saturday.
1st Place: George Mason University Patriots (21-5, 12-1) (-)
The Patriots have shown they can be beaten, but haven’t lost in 11 games. George Mason continued its win streak with two one-possession victories. It took overtime against Saint Louis, and it required a 16-point comeback to squeak out a one-point win over Saint Joseph’s.
George Mason’s lone matchup this week comes against the team on its tail, VCU. If any team was going to stop the streak, you would think it would be the Rams. There could definitely be some shuffling at the top of the rankings next week.
