Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

1. Saint Louis Billikens

The Billikens are the most complete team in the Atlantic 10 this season. They have starpower that is rivaled perhaps only by Dayton, plus a mixture of depth and experience that is unmatched throughout the league. Yuri Collins should probably be considered the best Point Guard in the league until further notice; Javonte Perkins is back after a year off due to an ACL injury, and there are plenty of promising newcomers to bolster what was already strong depth.

Rotational mainstays from last season like Fred Thatch, Gibson Jimerson, Francis Okoro, and Terrence Hargrove will be joined by Missouri-transfer Javon Pickett (11.1 points 3.1 rebounds for the Tigers last year) and JUCO first-team All-American Sincere Parker. Jimerson in particular is worth singling out as a player who could make the jump from volume shooter to first-team all-conference player.

The incoming freshmen group, in particular, because of players like Larry Hughes II and Kellen Thames, is one of the more promising ones in the league as well, regardless of how many opportunities they’ll be able to see off the bat in their rookie seasons.

SLU is by no means a juggernaut that will threaten to run the table in conference play, but there’s no team that has a better case for the number one spot at this point in time.  They drew a murderous set of conference home & homes in the schedule pairings (Dayton, VCU, Loyola Chicago, and Davidson) this season, so we’ll certainly have a chance to see what they’re made of before March comes around. When it does, expect the battle-tested Billikens to hear their name called on Selection Sunday, whether it’s via cutting the nets in Brooklyn or an at-large bid.