Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

Atlantic 10 Basketball is shaping to be one of the more competitive conferences in NCAA Basketball. How does each team rank headed into 2018-19?

It was a historic season for Rhode Island Basketball last year. The Rams were ranked for the first time in decades and won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title. The Rams were joined by St. Bonaventure and the bid-stealing Davidson Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament, giving the league three bids.

Overall it was a competitive conference from top to bottom, with just three games separating the 4-10th place teams. UMass and Fordham were at the bottom, with the Minutemen being one of several teams hit with the injury bug.

No team was hurt by it more than St. Joseph’s, who once again lost multiple players for the season with injuries. But credit to the Hawks, they still managed to finish over .500 in the league.

As we come into the 2018-19 season, a lot has changed between the 14 teams in the A-10. Great seniors from the top teams have graduated, while others have lost key players to the transfer market. On the other hand, some of them have used that market to their advantage, gathering former high major conference players to replenish their respective talent pool. Many of them are eligible to play for this upcoming season which could change the equation of the conference.

So who’s the favorite? Rhode Island was considered the consensus frontrunner last year but that’s not the case this time around. That should make for a great regular-season but a tough conference preview. Nevertheless, here’s how I rank the A-10 teams for the 2018-19 season.