The 2022 Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament gets underway on Wednesday afternoon, and the field is as wide open as it gets.
Dates: Wednesday, March 9 – Sunday, March 12
TV schedule: ESPN+, CBS Sports Network, and CBS
Bracket and schedule here
Location: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
In terms of excitement, the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament rarely disappoints. And this year should be no different. The 2022 tourney tips off this Wednesday in Washington, DC, and there are plenty of storylines after a surprising regular season. Can regular-season champion Davidson keep rolling towards the finals? Will red-hot St. Bonaventure repeat as champions and fulfill the preseason projections? How many A-10 teams will hear their name called on Selection Sunday?
And that’s only part of the story. There’s still VCU, Dayton, Saint Louis, and several other potential dark horses and spoilers. But in terms of the biggest surprises of the season, Davidson has to be mentioned first. The Wildcats bucked their preseason pick (6th) with a 25-5 (15-3) overall record and the regular-season title. Their 79-78 neutral court win over Alabama was the highlight of the season, but Bob McKillop and Co. have been consistent since opening night.
Moving down the standings a bit, George Washington (7 seed) and Fordham (8 seed) finished much higher than expected. Those two squads were the preseason picks to finish second-to-last and last, respectively.
As for disappointments, it’s safe to start with Richmond. The Spiders returned a veteran group this year, which resulted in a preseason pick of second place. Instead, they’ll be the six seed this weekend. UR is certainly still dangerous, but they’re not in the at-large picture like most expected. It’ll take four wins in four days for Chris Mooney to take his team back to the dance.
There’s also Rhode Island, losers of 11 of their final 13 games. It’s wild to think that the Rams were once 12-4 (3-1) back on January 19th. They’re now in the play-in round with head coach David Cox facing serious questions about his future.