Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top-5 non-conference matchups for 2018-19

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ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 24: Clayton Custer #13 of the Loyola Ramblers reacts after a play in the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

St. Joe’s vs. Loyola-Chicago

When: Saturday, December 22

This isn’t technically a home game for the Hawks – it will be played at the historic Palestra on the Penn campus – but it will certainly feel like one terms of the atmosphere. Even with a lot of St. Joe’s students out of Philly for the holidays, there should still be easily enough fan interest in this game to fill up the venue.

Both the Ramblers and the Hawks are mid-major legends. The Hawks grabbed the National spotlight by storming the Elite 8 in 2004, but have had a lot of success, especially at the A10 level, since then as well. Of course, the Ramblers had their biggest season in decades last year, reaching the Final 4 before being knocked off by Michigan.

Loyola will be returning a lot of talent from last year’s Cinderella squad, so they should be the better team and favorite in this game, but don’t sleep on the Hawks. They secured a double-bye last season at the conference tournament by finishing 4th in the regular season, and they might be even deeper and more talented this year.

Next. Top returning A-10 players for 2018-19. dark

One of their stars from two years ago, Charlie Brown, will be returning from injury to join a cast of well-regarded freshman in Valdir Manuel and Jared Bynum and two established scorers in Taylor Funk (12 ppg) and Lamarr Kimble (10 ppg). It’s a game that could absolutely go either way. Add in an electric crowd at a historic venue, and that makes for appointment TV.

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