Atlantic 10 Basketball power rankings: Dayton, Duquesne and VCU on top

10. UMass Minutemen

2019-20 record: 7-10 (1-2)

After a 5-0 start to the season, the youth of the Minutemen has shown, losing 10 of the last 12 contests. They’ve been competitive overall but this team is looking ahead to the 2020-21 season, with just one senior on the roster. UMass is led by freshman center Tre Mitchell, who leads the team with 15.5 ppg, along with 6.2 rpg. Fellow freshman Sean East averages 11.4 ppg and 5.0 apg to lead the offense, who’ll have to do with arguably their best pure scorer on the team.

6’4 freshman TJ Weeks (14.7 ppg), has been out since league play with a season-ending injury and hopes to get a medical redshirt. His absence is tough for a UMass squad who only has a few scorers on the perimeter. But as long as both Mitchell and East continue to develop the rest of the season, that’ll be more important than the win-loss record.

9. George Mason Patriots

2019-20 record: 12-5 (1-3)

Things have gone downhill for the Patriots after their 11-1 start, including a few blowout losses in the new year. Their offense had taken a big hit recently, falling to score 60 in three straight losses. But the biggest loss came with an injury to senior leader Justin Kier, who’s out for the rest of the season.

His absence was felt in the loss at George Washington, despite AJ Wilson going for 18 points and 11 rebounds. With Wilson, Jordan Miller and Javon Greene leading the way, the talent is there for George Mason to avoid a bottom-tier finish. But unless the offense improves drastically starting this weekend at home against Richmond the losses will continue to pile up.