Atlantic 10 Basketball: UMass, Duquesne surprises in latest power rankings

Coming into the season for Atlantic 10 Basketball, there was a clear top tier of three teams in Dayton, Saint Louis, and VCU. Then from 4-14, it was essentially a crapshoot in terms of where anyone can place. There was added interest in where the newest member, Loyola-Chicago, would ultimately end up in year 1 of league play.

So far, there’s been a number of surprises. UMass, under head coach Frank Martin, has made a big splash, while Fordham and Duquesne have just one loss each to this point. Meanwhile, preseason favorites, Dayton and VCU, are having to deal with injuries that have caused them to lose some games and hurt their at-large prospects.

At this point, who does have a good resume? And which teams are staring at the basement of the A-10? Here’s a power ranking of the league one month into the season from last to first place.

15. St. Joe’s Hawks (3-4)

If we were power-ranking individual talent, the Hawks would be in the top half. Erik Reynolds has taken the sophomore leap as expected, averaging 20.0 ppg. Charlie Brown and Lynn Green II are also double-digit scorers in the backcourt, while Kacper Klaczek and Ejike Obinna are a good frontcourt. The problem is that no matter how much they score, they still can’t defend whatsoever, ranking in the bottom 30 nationally in points allowed.

St. Joe’s just gave up 97 points in a loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, while also losing by double figures to both South Florida and Georgia. The only thing good they’ve done is come back to beat Penn on the road in overtime. It’s a shame that this talented roster hasn’t made any improvements on the defensive end and Coach Billy Lange is arguably on the hottest seat in the league.