Atlantic 10 Basketball: George Mason, Fordham rise in latest power rankings

#8. VCU (6-4)

The Rams have obviously failed to live up to the preseason hype thus far, but considering the on-and-off health of star player Ace Baldwin, who is averaging 15.0 points, 6.2 assists and a mind-boggling 3.8 steals per game, they’ve done a reasonable job of staying afloat. Jacksonville was a bad loss to take at home, but they also have a few solid W’s over Pitt and Vanderbilt (we’ll see how those ones age).

The defense has been mostly what we’ve come to expect from VCU (52nd most efficient defense on KenPom), but without Ace distributing, they have just had an immensely difficult time scoring the ball (244th in offensive efficiency). The talent, the (relative) floor, the coaching and culture – it’s all still there – it just needs to keep coming together.

#7. Davidson (7-3)

The Wildcats are about where I had expected them to be at this point in the season. They’ve shown double-bye-level flashes with a lack of consistency, and they’ve kept up a respectable floor (worst loss is to KenPom 194 Delaware) in the process.

Foster Loyer has been playing out of his mind with 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per contest, and Sam Mennenga – 16.6 points, 7.2 boards – has taken the all-conference type of leap that fans were hoping for. Enormous game against #1 Purdue on the horizon; would be a great sign for the Cats if they can keep it tight.