It seems as though the Atlantic 10 Conference doesn’t care what the weather outside is, as the madness of March has spread throughout the A-10 with less than five days left in February.
Each week, the Good Five Cent Cigar Sports Staff votes on the rankings of teams in the A-10.
Here’s how the rankings shaped up with two weeks left in A-10 play as of Feb. 23:
14th Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (6-22, 2-13) (-1)
Unfortunately for the Ramblers, the madness spreading through the conference missed them. The Ramblers have lost four straight, including three by 10 or more points.
Loyola Chicago appears locked into the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, so we’ll see if the Ramblers can pick up a win in their last three games to carry any momentum into Pittsburgh.
T-12th Place: La Salle University Explorers (8-19, 4-10) (+2)
The Explorers picked up their first win in seven games when they beat the University of Rhode Island 59-46 on Saturday.
A huge win for a team that boasts the conference’s worst offense at 65.3 points per game, and it keeps them afloat in the race for getting the first-round bye with four games remaining. Three of those games are against teams in the top half of our rankings, but not much in this conference seems to make sense anymore, which perfectly encapsulates the beauty of college basketball this time of year.
T-12th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (14-13, 3-11) (-1)
St. Bonaventure has lost three straight games, with each of those being within two scores. Its most recent loss came in a barnburner with the University of Richmond on Saturday.
The Bonnies will continue to look towards third-year guard Darryl Simmons II, who ranks third in the A-10 in points per game, to carry them to at least one more win in the final four games.
11th Place: University of Richmond Spiders (15-13, 5-10) (-)
The Spiders are the only team not in the top two to stay stagnant in our rankings. Despite picking up their second win in four games in the previously mentioned barnburner, Richmond also narrowly lost to Davidson College, 65-63, on Feb. 18.
The Spiders are just 1.5 games out from a first-round bye with three games remaining, so they’ll most likely need to pick up at least two wins to have a good chance of getting the bye. Loyola Chicago on Saturday should be one of those, but we’ll have to see if Richmond’s fifth-ranked offense at 78 points per game can overcome a surging Duquesne University that holds the A-10’s second-worst defense in the last game of the season.
10th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (15-12, 6-8) (-1)
Despite picking up wins against a confusing URI team and a flailing George Mason University, an 89-75 loss to Virginia Commonwealth University knocks the Revolutionaries down one spot in our rankings.
George Washington has picked up just two wins since fifth-year center Rafael Castro last played on Jan. 27. Luckily for the Revolutionaries, three of their final four games are against the bottom three teams in our rankings. They should be able to keep themselves out of the first round and position themselves higher in the standings for a potentially deep Atlantic 10 Tournament run if Castro can return in time.
9th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (15-12, 6-8) (+1)
After picking up its biggest home win in almost 11 years with an 81-76 victory over then No. 18 Saint Louis University, the Rams followed it up with a 59-46 loss to La Salle.
Perhaps no team in the A-10 encapsulates the madness of March more than URI. The Rams are one of the teams that are currently narrowly avoiding the first round. With their rollercoaster level of play, it’s impossible to predict whether they will do enough to keep themselves out of the first round.
8th Place: George Mason University Patriots (21-6, 9-5) (-3)
Our biggest fall this week belongs to George Mason, who has lost three straight after starting A-10 play 9-2. Every loss during this streak has been by double digits, despite the Patriots having the A-10’s second-best defense, allowing 67.9 points per game.
The Patriots, who were once viewed as one of the top teams in the conference, are now at serious risk of falling out of the double-bye. They end the season with games against Saint Louis and VCU, which doesn’t help them in the slightest.
7th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (16-11, 7-7) (-1)
The Wildcats have traded wins and losses in their last four conference games and seem like the epitome of mid, which makes their placement in the middle of our rankings a fitting one.
The Wildcats are also well-positioned to avoid the first round, but don’t have much of a shot at stealing a double-bye. Maybe there would be more hope if the Wildcats didn’t rank 345th out of 361 teams in Division I in free-throw percentage.
6th Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (17-10, 9-5) (+1)
The Hawks have, once again, put themselves in the race for the double-bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament after beating St. Bonaventure and Loyola Chicago this past week.
St. Joe’s will host George Mason on Wednesday, a crucial game in the race for the double-bye. Second-year guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano, averaging 15.7 points per game, will have to be the player the Hawks rely on if they want get that coveted double-bye.
5th Place: Fordham University Rams (16-12, 7-8) (+3)
Our biggest riser this week is Fordham, the hottest team in the A-10 with four straight wins. Each of the Rams’ four wins has been decided by four points or less.
The Rams’ surge undoubtedly seems ready to be stopped when they travel to take on a fellow Ram in VCU on Saturday. With their next two games against teams they beat earlier this season, La Salle and URI, don’t be surprised if the Rams make the meteoric rise from a bottom-three team to a top-six or seven in the standings.
4th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (16-11, 8-6) (-1)
The Dukes’ five-game winning streak was snapped by the University of Dayton with a 78-66 loss on Saturday.
The streak always seemed bound to end at some point, as Duquesne still needed to face Saint Louis on the road on Saturday. Now the question is if the Dukes will be able to carry the momentum from this streak into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
3rd Place: University of Dayton Flyers (18-9, 9-5) (+1)
The Flyers are winners of three straight, all against teams in the top six of the A-10 standings. This winning streak has rocketed Dayton into third place in the standings and put it in position for the double-bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The Flyers still have to host Saint Louis and VCU in their final four games. It will be a great test for Dayton heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament to see how it stacks up and if it has the chance of stealing an Atlantic 10 Tournament title away from either of those teams.
2nd Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (21-7, 12-3) (-)
The Rams stay just behind the Billikens for another week, as their 10-game winning streak was snapped by Saint Louis on Friday in a game that was physical in more ways than one.
The loss to the Billikens seems to have all but ended the Rams’ hopes of obtaining an at-large bid to March Madness. After losing to the Billikens twice, can the Rams pull off the win that matters most if the two meet in the conference championship?
1st Place: No. 23 Saint Louis University Billikens (25-2, 13-1) (-)
After suffering their first loss since Nov. 28, 2025, to URI, the Billikens were able to return to form with a comeback win over VCU.
There’s not much left to say about the Billikens as the calendar starts to turn to March. They are almost assuredly making March Madness as an at-large team if they somehow do not win the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Saint Louis is looking to be the first A-10 team since Duquesne in 2024 to win a game in the NCAA Tournament.
