Atlantic 10 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

Tier 2: Duquesne Dukes

No one should be surprised if the Dukes end up with a double-bye spot heading into Brooklyn next March. Keith Dambrot has taken them, respectively, from 10 to 11 conference wins over his first two seasons at the helm, and this could easily be the year he gets them over the hump from ‘rock solid’ to ‘legitimate title-contender’. The pieces are all there; star-power in guys like Sincere Carry, Marcus Weathers and Michael Hughes – all three of whom could end up as all-conference selections, solid returning role players in Maceo Austin, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Lamar Norman, and an under-the-radar Freshman class coming in (keep an eye out for Tyson Acuff).

The Dukes did make a somewhat frustrating habit of playing at the level of their competition – for better and for worse – last season, but by the end of the year they had mostly figured that out (with the exception of an atrocious home loss to GW). Looking at their A10 schedule as a whole, they swept Saint Louis, beat Saint Bonaventure in Olean, beat VCU in the Siegel Center (a tough place to play no matter what kind of season the Rams are having), and put up two respectable efforts against Dayton.

I’m not trying to imply that what happens in one season will automatically carry over to the next, but it’s hard to imagine the Dukes not at least matching their previous mark of 6th with what is essentially the same roster plus some good rookies. That being said, games aren’t played on paper, and this group still has to prove that they deserve to be considered one of the league’s truly elite teams. That day is coming soon enough, I’ll just wait for it to get here before I move the Dukes into the very top-tier.