Atlantic 10 Basketball: Rating league’s 2020-21 non-conference schedules

A Mixed Bag: Davidson, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure

So, full disclosure. This post originally had a tier below this called ‘Cupcakes’. But no team across the Atlantic 10 has a particularly weak schedule, which is a really good thing for the conference. It’s been a challenge to build non-conference schedules this season… across the board, really. But especially in the A-10.

So let’s add in the qualifier that a lot of these teams would prefer a more challenging group of opponents, but due to either conflicts or COVID (or both), games may have fallen through. Let’s dive in.

First up in this group is Davidson, who is right on the cusp of sliding into the top tier of scheduling. The highlight for the Wildcats will be three games in the Maui Invitational, which, as you can tell by the name, will be played in Asheville, North Carolina. Davidson will open against Big 12 power Texas, then face either Indiana or Providence in what figures to be a tough game regardless.

They’ll also play a third game against a TBD opponent as part of the tourney. The remainder of the Wildcats’ schedule is pretty light, although a tilt against Vanderbilt just before Christmas should be a nice challenge.

Duquesne was widely criticized last year for not challenging themselves enough in the non-conference, so they’ve made some improvements this year. The Dukes will open the season with a trio of neutral site games against Little Rock, UNC Greensboro, and Winthrop — all teams within the top 140 in KenPom’s preseason ranks. That’s all that’s on the slate for Duquesne as of right now; let’s see if they try to add another opponent or two before A-10 play gets underway.

Like Umass and Bonaventure (more on this below), Fordham was hit with a COVID shutdown, which impacted their schedule and led to a pair of games getting outright canceled. The Rams will open the season in December at St. John’s, which is a solid opponent for them right out of the gate. But they’ll round things out with home games against Maine, Central Connecticut, and Stony Brook — all teams that won’t turn many heads this season.

As for George Mason, they’ve slid into this category thanks to match-ups with Belmont and Maryland, two tough foes who will certainly test the Patriots. Local rival Old Dominion should also be a battle, but games against Howard, Morgan State and Coppin State will allow GMU to coast a bit.

Moving on to La Salle. At first blush, their schedule looks awfully similar to a couple of other A-10 teams. Like Fordham, they’re also playing at St. John’s to open their season. And like George Mason, they’re also playing at Maryland. Showdowns with St. Peter’s, Howard, and Delaware help to round out a pretty busy slate for the Explorers.

Saint Louis is another team that’s had a host of schedule changes heading into this season, but they’ve managed to hold on to a few marquee games. The Billikens will play host to LSU at the end of November and head to Minnesota just before Christmas. That’s two top 40 teams in the nation per KenPom. But with some other things falling through, SLU will be forced to round out their schedule with… well, whatever the opposite of “powerhouse” is. SIU Edwardsville, Central Arkansas, and UMKC should all go in the win column for the Bills.

And last but not least, St. Bonaventure, another team currently paused due to COVID-19. But even with that, the Bonnies currently have Akron, Hofstra, and Buffalo on the docket – three teams in the Top 160 of the preseason KenPom.

That’s solid, although they did lose out on a game versus Vermont thanks to the pandemic. And with the positive tests, it’s not clear whether Bonaventure will have the room to add another game to their slate. But all in all, this isn’t a bad schedule given their circumstances.