Atlantic 10 Basketball: Non-conference viewer’s guide for 2022-23 season
By Tyler Cronin
Top 16 Most Watchable Games
16. Colorado (61) vs UMass: Myrtle Beach. Thur 11/17 at 1:30, ESPNU !
Brutal mid-work day time.
15. North Texas (67) vs UMass: Springfield, MA. Sat 12/17 at 3. ESPN+
14. Wyoming (64) vs Dayton: Chicago. Sat 12/17 at 8. CBSSN
The Cowboys’ duo of Graham Ike and Hunter Maldanado will be a major challenge for the Flyers’ elite frontcourt defense.
13. Providence (57) at Rhode Island: Sat 12/3 at 5. ESPNU
12. Boston College (74) vs George Mason: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Fri 11/18 at 8. ESPN3 !&
11. Loyola Chicago vs Clemson (60): Atlanta. Sat 12/10 at 7:30. ACCN
10. Richmond vs Syracuse (54): Brooklyn. Mon 11/21 at 7. ESPN2 !
The Spiders’ Princeton-style offense, with Neal Quinn’s passing and Tyler Burton’s outside scoring, is a hypothetical antidote to the vaunted 2-3 zone so this will be good gauge on if the talent level is high enough to win a big game.
9. Loyola Chicago at Stanford (58): Thur 12/22 at 10. PAC-12N &
8. Davidson vs Purdue (25): Indianapolis. Sat 12/17 at 6:15. BTN
Sneaky upset spot. Davidson should have the chemistry all figured out by then and could begin their ascent right before the holidays, like their win at Alabama last year.
7. Arizona St (75) vs VCU: Brooklyn. Wed 11/16 at 8:30. ESPN+
6. Saint Louis at Auburn (13): Sun 11/27 at 3. SECN
If the Billikens are a Top 20 team, this is the game where they declare it to the nation.
5. VCU at Memphis (34). Sun 11/20 at 5. ESPN+
4. Memphis (34) at Saint Louis: Tue 11/15 at 9. CBSSN
You should eschew the second Champions Classic game for a rare late-night A-10 doubleheader. This is followed directly by Dayton at UNLV (118).
3. Wisconsin (55) vs Dayton: Nassau, Bahamas. Wed 11/23 at 2:30. ESPN
Potential games against Kansas and either Tennessee or USC await the winner for a massive strength of schedule boost and a possible signature resume win.
2. Saint Louis vs Maryland (56): Uncasville, CT. Sat 11/19 at 1. ESPNN &
It’s a weak college football day and this game is good enough that ESPN is willing to give it airtime on one of their networks.
1. Dayton at Virginia Tech (21): Wed 12/7 at 8. ACCN &
A potential clash of ranked opponents and a chance for a surefire Q1 win for Dayton in the signature college basketball game of that night nationally.
Honorable Mention: Tree falls in an empty forest category
– Rhode Island vs Kansas St (77): George Town, Cayman Islands. Mon 11/21 at 7:30. Flohoops !
If a game is played on Flohoops, does anyone know if it actually happened?
Best MTE Hypotheticals:
– Loyola Chicago vs Davidson: Charleston, SC. Sun 11/20
Event was filled over a year ago so it’s possible for an A-10 showdown on the last day.
– Kansas (8) vs Dayton: Nassau, Bahamas. Thur 11/24 at 11 am. ESPN !&
If both win their opening game in Battle 4 Atlantis then we get the third matchup in four years after two epic games. And it would come at the absolutely perfect time where everyone is sitting around waiting for a bad Thanksgiving Lions game to start. This immediately goes to #1 on the list if it occurs.