As we get ready to turn the calendar to March, teams around the world of college basketball know that it’s now or never with their sights on the fast-approaching conference tournaments and beyond.
Every week, the Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff will get together to rank all 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Here is where the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team and the rest of the conference falls as of Feb. 25:
15th Place: George Washington University Revolutionaries (14-13, 3-11) (-2)
Once sitting at 14-3, it has been quite the fall from grace for the Revolutionaries over the past couple months. Their losing streak was extended all the way to 10 games with consecutive road losses to Saint Joseph’s University and Saint Louis University.
The glaring issue for this team has been their defense as they have allowed 80 or more points in eight of the 10 games during the streak. They will spend the final weeks of the regular season searching for their first win since Jan. 15.
14th Place: Saint Louis University Billikens (10-17, 3-11) (+1)
Saint Louis found a way to get just their third conference win of the season on Saturday when they took down George Washington 96-91. This was enough to get them out of the cellar of our rankings for the week.
The Billikens have no problems scoring the basketball, ranking fourth in the conference in points per game and scoring 85 or more points in four of their last five contests. However, they will need to step up their efforts on the defensive end if they want to win consecutive games for the first time since December.
13th Place: University of Rhode Island Rams (11-16, 5-9) (-1)
Rhode Island went into their matchup against La Salle University on Sunday looking to get back on track following losses to Loyola University Chicago and the University of Richmond. Instead, they suffered their biggest margin of defeat since Jan. 20 in a 84-61 loss and have arguably hit a new low point in their season.
Following the loss, the Rams now hold the worst point differential in the conference and are left searching for ways to break their four-game losing streak. In order to avoid a first round exit in Brooklyn for the second straight year, this team will need to regroup fast.
12th Place: La Salle University Explorers (14-14, 5-10) (+2)
The Explorers defended their home court this week with back-to-back double-digit wins over St. Bonaventure University (72-59) and Rhode Island (84-61). They have now strung together three consecutive wins for the first time since December and look to have really found their footing for the first time during conference play.
Despite the success as of late, La Salle still needs to prove that they can play at this level on the road. They have a 3-8 record and haven’t won away from home since Jan. 6. In order to keep the win streak alive, they will need to travel to take down Duquesne University this week before returning home to play George Washington.
11th Place: Fordham University Rams (11-16, 5-9) (-1)
The frustrations were mounting for Fordham as their losing streak stretched to four games after a 68-53 loss to Davidson College on the road. However, they returned home on Friday to snap the streak, defeating Duquesne 79-67.
Overall, it’s been a very inconsistent season for the Rams as they have not won more than two games in a row at any point. If they want to make a run in the upcoming weeks and make some noise in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, this will obviously have to change.
10th Place: Davidson College Wildcats (15-12, 5-9) (+1)
It’s been the same old story for Davidson all season of being unable to get consecutive victories due to their inability to win close games. That continued this week after they took down Fordham 68-53 and then came up just short on the road against Richmond in a 66-63 loss.
This effort against Richmond could certainly be looked at as a positive, but one would imagine the Wildcats are tired of the moral victories at this point. Of their past eight losses, seven of them have been by five or less points.
9th Place: Duquesne University Dukes (16-11, 6-8) (-)
The Dukes have been a force to be reckoned with all season when playing on their home floor, though the same can’t be said for when they go on the road. This trend stayed the same when they won convincingly by a score of 81-66 over Saint Louis at home then followed it up by traveling to Fordham and suffering a 79-67 loss.
Duquesne now has an 11-4 record at home compared to 3-6 on the road. They’ve shown the ability to play at a high level, but, in order to have any level of consistency, they will need to be able to maintain that away from home.
8th Place: Saint Joseph’s University Hawks (17-11, 7-8) (-)
Speaking of teams who have immense success at home and struggle on the road, Saint Joseph’s has been another embodiment of that this season. They defeated George Washington 79-75 to move to 12-3 on their home floor this season before dropping to 3-8 on the road with a 73-69 loss to Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Hawks will get some time off following their close loss to VCU as they prepare for Fordham on Saturday to try and get back to .500 in conference play. Winning this game would also go a long way in solidifying a first-round bye in the A-10 Tournament.
7th Place: University of Massachusetts Minutemen (17-10, 8-7) (-2)
To put it lightly, it’s been a very up and down past few weeks for UMass. Great wins against teams like Richmond and VCU paired with losses to La Salle and St. Bonaventure makes this team tough to figure out.
The Minutemen do currently rank second in the conference in point differential, showing they’re a threat to make a run in Brooklyn in a couple weeks. They will have a chance to build momentum at the end of the regular season with their final three games coming against teams who are in the bottom half of the standings.
6th Place: St. Bonaventure University Bonnies (17-10, 8-7) (+1)
In a week where they played La Salle and UMass on the road, a 1-1 result for the Bonnies isn’t too shocking. The surprise comes in the fact that they lost by double digits to La Salle and then responded by defeating UMass 75-67.
St. Bonaventure will get ready for a very tough test this week when they take on red-hot Loyola Chicago at home before closing out their season with the bottom two teams in the conference, George Washington and Saint Louis.
5th Place: George Mason University Patriots (18-9, 7-7) (+1)
It would be tough to find two more polar opposite results than what the Patriots went through this week. First, they knocked off nationally-ranked University of Dayton in what many would say is their best win of the season. They followed that up by getting dominated from start to finish in an 80-59 loss to Loyola Chicago.
Since everyone in the conference is currently struggling to take down Loyola Chicago, the Patriots still find themselves moving up in the rankings. However, they likely expected a better effort following their upset victory over Dayton.
4th Place: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams (18-9, 10-4) (-2)
After a 74-52 loss to UMass on Feb. 20, it appeared as if the Rams were heading for a really tough week when they trailed 27-21 at halftime to Saint Joseph’s on Sunday. Luckily for them, they were able to mount a comeback with a 52 point second half and salvage a 1-1 week.
VCU has an uphill climb in trying to get a regular season Atlantic 10 title, though the first step in doing so would be a win on the road this weekend against in-state rival Richmond.
3rd Place: #21 University of Dayton Flyers (21-5, 11-3) (-2)
The king has been dethroned. For the first time in about a month, the Flyers are no longer at the top of our rankings. This is due to their 71-67 loss to George Mason in their lone game this week.
Still, Dayton remains the only team in the conference nationally ranked, sitting 21st in the Associated Press Poll, and are still in good position to secure an at-large bid in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament. Right now, their eyes are on the key battle they have Friday when they will travel to take on conference-leading Loyola Chicago.
2nd Place: University of Richmond Spiders (20-7, 12-2) (+2)
Both games the Spiders played this week against Rhode Island and Davidson were very hard fought, but what matters is they found a way to win both. This keeps them tied at the top of the conference standings and also secured a double bye in the A-10 Tournament.
If Richmond wants to win the regular season title, they will have their work cut out for them. Following their game against Saint Louis this week, their final three games of the regular season all come against teams in the top half of the conference standings.
1st Place: Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (20-7, 12-2) (+2)
For the first time all year, the scorching-hot Ramblers are sitting in the top spot of our rankings. They are now riding a seven-game winning streak and just seem to be getting better and better with their past win over George Mason being their biggest margin of victory throughout conference play.
They have a very challenging week upcoming with St. Bonaventure on the road and then a massive matchup against Dayton. Winning both of these games would make them feel even better about their chances of hoisting that trophy at the Barclays Center in a couple weeks.