Busting Brackets
Fansided

A-10 Basketball: Way-Too-Early 2019-2020 Power Rankings

By Stu Luddecke

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Maceo Jack #14 of the George Washington Colonials handles the ball against Carl Pierre #12 of the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half during the first round of the 2019 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament at Barclays Center on March 13, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Maceo Jack #14 of the George Washington Colonials handles the ball against Carl Pierre #12 of the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half during the first round of the 2019 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament at Barclays Center on March 13, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 08: De’Monte Buckingham #11 of the Richmond Spiders dribbles past Tydus Verhoeven #25 of the Duquesne Dukes during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 08: De’Monte Buckingham #11 of the Richmond Spiders dribbles past Tydus Verhoeven #25 of the Duquesne Dukes during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

6. Duquesne Dukes (Tier-3)

Keith Dambrot did an extraordinary job with the Dukes in his first season. They were picked in the preseason coaches’ poll to finish in eleventh, but somehow they found a way to earn the 7-seed heading into Brooklyn. They lost in their first A10 Tourney game against St. Joe’s, but they left plenty of reason to be excited about this upcoming season.

Some of the transfer-outs will certainly hurt – Eric Williams in particular (now at Oregon) – but some of them might also be cases of addition by subtraction. The Dukes’ rotation was huge, and perhaps it led to frustrations and locker room tension that held them back from an even higher finish.

Just as with Mason, Duquesne, even without Williams, should have a high floor and can safely expect to land somewhere in the top half. Perhaps Dambrot is good enough to even sneak them into double-bye territory, but that’s not a safe bet with the top being as strong as it is. The loss of Williams should be essentially canceled out by the development of all the returnees and the incoming talent, and it should lead to another upper-middle-of-the-pack finish – somewhere between 4-7. Either way, whether they surpass their previous mark this season or stay pretty much where they were, they’re bound to be in the mix before long.

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