Busting Brackets
Fansided

Atlantic 10 Basketball: Richmond, Saint Louis on top in opening weeks

By Benjamin Zacher

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: The Atlantic-10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the George Washington Colonials andthe Dayton Flyers at the Smith Center on January 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: The Atlantic-10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the George Washington Colonials andthe Dayton Flyers at the Smith Center on January 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 15
Next
Atlantic 10 Baskeball
Atlantic 10 Basketball (Coronavirus). (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Richmond and Saint Louis lead the pack in the early goings of the 2020-21 season – but how are the other Atlantic 10 Basketball teams faring in the young season?

Year after year, Atlantic 10 Basketball, somehow, manages to fly under the national radar – and this season is no exception.  ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, currently, only projects two A-10 teams to make the NCAA Tournament.  Only one team is nationally ranked in the AP Poll, while one more is receiving votes.

But the A-10 has proven to be so much more than that thus far this season.  Eight of the conference’s 14 teams currently rank in the top 100 in KenPom, five have picked up significant non-conference victories, and a sixth nearly knocked off the eventual Maui Invitational champions.

This is all without three teams in the conference even playing a single game – including the squad picked fourth in the preseason A-10 poll in St. Bonaventure.  The bottom half of the conference – those who have played, at least – have not fared as well, but some teams that were not expected to do well have done better than anticipated.

Obviously, it is early in the season – so making any calls seems irresponsible and foolish.  But the A-10 is shaping up to be a conference that could produce much more than two NCAA Tournament teams.  Richmond and Saint Louis, thus far, have picked up victories that will go a long way come March.

Do not rule out teams like VCU, Duquesne, Rhode Island, and Davidson, however – and expect Dayton and St. Bonaventure to potentially be in that conversation soon.  Certainly, there will not be eight A-10 teams in the NCAA Tournament – but there is a lot here that insinuates a bright future for those teams – and a few others – either in this season or for 2021-22.

Again, there are three teams that have not yet played a game due to COVID-19 protocol, so as a little precursor: I have decided to slot those three teams at the bottom of these power rankings.

That is not to say those teams belong in those spots, and it most definitely is not their fault that they are there – but it seems unfair to judge teams that have not yet played compared to those that have.  Once their seasons officially begin, expect them to move around in the power rankings.

Now – with about a week and a half of the 2020-21 season past us – here is where the 14 A-10 teams currently stand as we head into the bulk of December’s schedule.

Home/Atlantic 10