It’s the final week of the regular season for men’s basketball in the Atlantic 10 Conference, but the fun has just begun.
The A-10 Tournament tips off on Wednesday, and some teams can still gain crucial ground. For the last time this season, The Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff ranked the 15 teams in the conference.
Here is how the A-10 stacks up as of March 3:
15th Place: Fordham University Rams (11-18, 3-13) (-)
Fordham is playing in the first round of the tournament, nothing will change that. The Rams do have the opportunity to play spoiler this upcoming week, though.
The University of Rhode Island is scuffling and is left with an outside chance at a first-round bye. Fordham will have the opportunity in the season finale to make sure Rhode Island doesn’t grab that bye, and pick up a second victory over their fellow Rams to enter the playoffs with momentum.
14th Place: La Salle University Explorers (12-17, 4-12) (-)
La Salle shook the blowout bug recently, but still holds the worst margin between points scored and points allowed on average in conference play. Another two losses on the week puts the Explorers in the unfortunate position of having the longest losing streak at the moment.
Their streak could easily extend into the first round of the playoffs with George Mason University and Saint Joseph’s University next. Don’t be surprised if the aforementioned blowout bug reappears against two of the top teams in the conference.
13th Place: University of Richmond Spiders (10-20, 5-12) (-)
Richmond is the last team locked into the first round of the tournament at this point. As one of two teams with just a single game in the final week, the Spiders host George Mason on Saturday.
In its last time out, Richmond brought the University of Dayton to double overtime before losing. The Spiders had leads all game long, including in the first overtime, but failed to close out the upset win.
12th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (17-11, 6-10) (-2)
It’s a bad time to be a bad team, and that is exactly what Rhode Island is right now. Three straight losses leave URI with two paths left to a first-round bye; both require the Rams to win their last two games.
The first requires either St. Bonaventure University or the University of Massachusetts to lose out; the second route would be UMass losing both, and the Bonnies dropping one of their remaining games for URI to take the tiebreaker. It could prove to be a pointless exercise, with Rhody first having to face their road woes head-on against Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday.
11th Place: University of Massachusetts Minutemen (12-17, 7-9) (+1)
UMass had just one game this past week, but made the absolute most of it. In what will likely be the last conference rivalry matchup against Rhode Island before the Minutemen move to the Mid-American Conference, UMass rallied in the second half to take the win.
Fourth-year guard Rahsool Diggins surpassed the 1,000 career point mark, finishing with 29 points in the game. The Minutemen will have a much safer chance at a first-round bye if they can win one game, either against St. Bonaventure or Loyola University Chicago. Winning both would make it a guaranteed first-round bye.
10th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (16-13, 6-10) (-1)
Davidson is in the same spot in the standings as Rhode Island, but has a slightly easier path to a first-round bye. If they win at least one, the Wildcats would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both St. Bonaventure and UMass if either lose out. Two wins for Davidson would allow them to just need one loss from either team to jump inside the top 10.
Things could get tricky if URI holds up its end of the bargain and UMass loses out, while St. Bonaventure drops one or both of its games. With just the Bonnies spot on the line, the Rams would hold the tiebreaker over Davidson and receive the bye.
9th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (19-10, 7-9) (-1)
St. Bonaventure dropped a game and drops a spot in our final rankings. The Bonnies aren’t as safe as UMass is with the final first-round bye on the line.
The biggest reason lies in the fact that they close out the season against Davidson. Depending on how Wednesday’s games finish, Saturday’s game could have the first-round bye going to the winner.
8th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (19-11, 8-9) (-2)
George Washington only has one game left in the regular season, going against Fordham on Wednesday. With just one game this week, the Revolutionaries are stuck with a first-round bye.
It isn’t the worst thing to have no pressure on your final game of the season; there will be plenty of time for pressure during the tournament.
7th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (13-16, 8-8) (+4)
It’s a good time to be a good team, and that is exactly what Duquesne is right now. Right when you thought they were out of it, the Dukes strung together two wins to move into the double-bye conversation.
The odds are slim, however, with four teams at 10 wins already fighting for two spots. Duquesne first needs to win out, and then have three of the tied teams lose out. Out of the three teams that lose out, one has to be either Loyola Chicago or Saint Joseph’s. It’s a longshot, but a week ago the Dukes were just as close to fighting for a first-round bye, and have to be happy with where they stand currently.
6th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (19-10, 10-6) (-3)
Loyola picked the wrong time and wrong opponent to take a game off. A 31-point loss to Saint Louis University brought the Billikens right alongside the Ramblers in a tie for third place.
Luckily for Loyola, its remaining two games could be the most advantageous matchups out of the four teams tied. Davidson and UMass are two teams lower in the standings, with the Ramblers already having beaten the Wildcats on Feb. 11.
5th Place: Saint Louis University Billikens (17-12, 10-6) (+2)
Out of the four teams tied, two will face off against each other on Wednesday to help break up the logjam. Saint Louis takes on Dayton before facing Duquesne on Saturday; both opponents are in the midst of playing some of their best basketball this season.
Everything hangs on Wednesday’s result; a loss would be near impossible to recover from at this stage of the season. The Billikens’ best bet is to not leave their chances at a bye up to anyone but themselves to close out the season.
4th Place: George Mason University Patriots (22-7, 13-3) (-2)
Despite being one of two teams guaranteed a double-bye, George Mason dropped a couple of spots thanks to a 17-point loss to Duquesne on Saturday. The loss looked even worse considering they suffered a 16-point defeat to Virginia Commonwealth University two games prior.
The Patriots will have to clean things up before the postseason; Duquesne was able to shoot over 50% from the field, while George Mason turned the ball over 20 times in the loss.
3rd Place: University of Dayton Flyers (20-9, 10-6) (+2)
Dayton has the hardest games ahead, and could end up one of the two tied teams to miss the double-bye. Saint Louis will be a massive game to start the week, but facing a VCU team looking to close out a regular season championship won’t be any easier.
It does give the Flyers a chance to show what they’re capable of before playoffs, and it also would help the long-shot case for an at-large March Madness bid.
2nd Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (19-10, 10-6) (+2)
Saint Joseph’s has cruised to four straight wins, and could keep cruising against Rhode Island at home and La Salle on the road.
Expect the Hawks’ second-best offense and top-five defense to be on full display this week en route to the third round of the tournament.
1st Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (24-5, 14-2) (-)
Eight straight wins have VCU securely in possession of a double-bye; the Rams take on Duquesne and Dayton this week with a chance to lock in the No. 1 seed.
VCU sits at 26th in the latest Associated Press poll, and holds 25th place in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Final standings prediction:
VCU
George Mason
Saint Joseph’s
Loyola Chicago
Dayton
Saint Louis
Duquesne
George Washington
UMass
St. Bonaventure
Davidson
Rhode Island
Richmond
La Salle
Fordham
