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

10. Richmond Spiders (3-5)

Admittedly, the record doesn’t look great for the Spiders but they’ve played a far tougher schedule than the teams behind them and two of those defeats were in overtime (College of Charleston and Syracuse). That being said, the recent blowout defeat to William & Mary isn’t something to defend. And with Drake and Clemson among the five remaining non-con games, odds are good that they’ll be under .500 by the start of league play.

Tyler Burton remains one of the stars of Atlantic 10 Basketball, averaging 18.5 ppg and 8.4 rpg. Among the revamped supporting cast, freshman guard Jason Nelson has impressed the most, producing 10.8 ppg and 3.3 apg. But the biggest issue is that transfers Neal Quinn and Jason Roche, who put up big numbers at their previous stops, are combining for just 14.3 and 6.9 rpg. They each did that on their own a year ago. Until their play improves, Richmond will need Burton to be on his “A” game almost every night.

9. St. Bonavneture Bonnies (5-3)

After losing 99.9 % of their production from last season (not an exaggeration), it was a complete question mark as to who would lead the Bonnies statistically. That’s been answered, with Saint Peter’s transfer Daryl Banks (16.9 ppg and 2.6 apg) and Holy Cross transfer Kyrell Luc (16.0 ppg and 5.4 apg) putting up huge numbers in the backcourt. And inside, Yann Farell, Chad Venning, and Barry Evans have collectively played well.

St. Bonaventure certainly isn’t going to be last but they’ll still have their bumps. They beat Notre Dame over a week ago but followed that up with a loss to Buffalo. They’re an interesting team to watch and have five competitive non-con games to play. Going 3-2 at least should be the goal for them.