The push towards March continues as the mid-point has just passed in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The top three teams have separated themselves from the rest of the 14 teams, but almost every game seems to be must-watch as each team fights for an extra day off before playing in the A-10 Tournament in Henrico, Va. Each week, the Good Five Cent Cigar Sports Staff ranks the 14 teams in the conference.
Here’s how the A-10 is shaping up as of Feb. 2:
14th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (7-15, 0-11)
The Dukes are having a season to forget, to put it lightly. They’ve lost their last 13 out of 14 games, including 10 straight. To add insult to injury, the Dukes haven’t won a conference game all season, with their closest margin of defeat being seven points.
The Dukes will look to pick up their first conference win of the season on Saturday when they travel to New York to face St. Bonaventure University.
13th Place: Fordham University Rams (9-13, 1-10)
After picking up its first conference win against the Bonnies on Jan. 18, Fordham has gone on a four-game losing streak, all by double digits.
The one bright spot for the Rams is the return of their leading scorer, third-year guard Alexis Black, who made her return against Virginia Commonwealth University on Jan. 28 after missing the previous six games.
12th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (12-11, 3-8)
The Bonnies picked up an upset 57-48 win against Saint Joseph’s University on Jan. 14, but haven’t won since. The Bonnies are currently on a five-game losing streak, with their latest loss coming at the hands of a surging Loyola University Chicago.
St. Bonaventure will look to snap their losing streak as they host Davidson College on Wednesday, though it seems quite unlikely. Despite their recent struggles, the Wildcats are still one of the top teams in the A-10.
11th Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (8-15, 4-7)
After a 4-8 start in non-conference play and a 0-3 start in A-10 play, the Rams are stringing together some crucial wins as they look to avoid playing in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
VCU has traded wins and losses over its last four games, with its most recent result being a 77-65 loss against the University of Richmond on Sunday. The Rams will now prepare for the start of a two-game road trip with a matchup against Loyola Chicago on Saturday without the program’s all-time winningest coach, Beth O’Boyle. The school announced on Monday that O’Boyle would be relieved of her duties, and assistant coach Kirk Crawford would take over in the interim.
10th Place: University of Dayton Flyers (11-11, 4-7)
The Flyers went 1-2 during their three-game homestand, with their only win being a 75-71 victory over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday.
Now, Dayton can’t afford any more slipups, or they are at serious risk of falling in the standings and ending up in the first round of the A-10 Tournament.
T-8th Place: La Salle University Explorers (12-10, 5-6)
La Salle is getting hot at just the right moment, winning two of its last three games. They also look to avoid playing in the first round of the tournament.
The Explorers had previously lost their last five games and seemed almost like a lock to be seeded in the first round of the A-10 Tournament. This recent winning surge is followed by a two-game homestand against Dayton and Fordham. These are both winnable games for the Explorers and could present them with a path to an extra day off to prepare for the A-10 Tournament.
T-8th Place: Saint Louis Billikens (11-13, 5-6)
If La Salle is one side of the spectrum on avoiding the first round of the A-10 Tournament, then the Billikens are the complete opposite.
Saint Louis has dropped three straight games, and its next two matchups are against two of the top three teams in the A-10 in Richmond and URI. Their latest loss was against the last of the top three teams, a 66-51 loss to George Mason University.
If Saint Louis is somehow able to survive this gauntlet, there won’t be much light at the end of the tunnel, as they still need to face Saint Joe’s and Davidson.
7th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (13-11, 5-6)
George Washington has won its last three games and is establishing itself as one of the top teams in the middle of the conference after starting 2-6 in A-10 play.
It isn’t smooth sailing for GW, as the Revolutionaries still have to face all of the top five teams in the standings, with four of the matchups being on the road.
If they can pull off even one to two wins in that stretch, they could be a team to watch out for that could make a sneaky run in the A-10 Tournament
6th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (10-11, 6-4)
Loyola Chicago has won its last four games and six of their last seven with a 60-52 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
After starting 0-3 in A-10 play, the Ramblers are building up some quality wins as they look to compete for a top-four seed to earn a double bye in the A-10 Tournament.
The Ramblers should continue to extend their winning streak when they travel to New York to face Fordham on Wednesday.
5th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (15-9, 7-4)
Davidson was once viewed as the top team in the second tier of A-10 teams and seemed well-positioned to get the four seed and earn the double-bye for the A-10 Tournament. After losing three of their last four, there is no such confidence for the Wildcats.
The theme for Davidson during conference play this season had been that they were beating all the teams below them in the standings, but were never able to get over the hump when facing the top three.
With the loss to Saint Joe’s on Sunday, significant questions should be raised about how these recent losses will affect them for the rest of the season and affect their performance in the A-10 Tournament.
4th Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (15-6, 6-4)
Saint Joe’s got its biggest win of the season on Sunday when it defended home court and beat Davidson, 59-51. The win puts the Hawks in a prime position to snag the fourth seed away from the Wildcats.
To do that, Saint Joe’s will have to travel to Kingston for a must-see matchup between two of the top teams in the conference.
3rd Place: University of Richmond Spiders (18-4, 8-1)
Richmond is currently riding a seven-game winning streak, and the Spiders would certainly be placed at the top spot of these rankings in any other season with the way they’ve dismantled their opponents since their 73-61 loss against URI on Dec. 30, 2025.
Unfortunately for the Spiders, the two teams ahead of them are currently undefeated in conference play and have shown a similar level of dominance.
The Spiders do have plenty of opportunities to make that rise to No. 1 as they still face George Mason twice and will host URI on Feb. 25.
2nd Place: George Mason University Patriots (15-6, 10-0)
The Patriots are on a nine-game winning streak and have looked like one of the strongest teams in the A-10, with their closest win during this streak being 59-54 over Loyola Chicago.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Patriots can keep up this dominance with three games coming against URI and Richmond. If so, there’s a strong chance that George Mason can get into the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid rather than needing an automatic bid by winning the A-10 Tournament.
1st Place: RV University of Rhode Island Rams (19-2, 10-0)
The Rams are on a 13-game winning streak, tied for the longest in program history. They have garnered national attention recently as they received 26 points in the latest Associated Press Poll, which is also a program record.
If the Rams want to win their second A-10 regular-season championship in program history, it won’t be easy. The Rams still have Saint Joe’s, George Mason and Richmond left on their schedule, but as URI Head Coach Tammi Reiss tells her team and the media, “We have to take it one game at a time.”
