March could mean plenty of things, and one of them is surprises. With all fifteen teams fighting for the Atlantic 10 Basketball title, will we be surprised who receives an automatic bid on Sunday?
At the beginning of the season, many college basketball fans did not know what to expect from the Atlantic 10 conference, as six different programs would enter rebuild mode with a new head coach. Throughout the first half of this season, it felt like it was still anyone’s conference to walk away with come March.
The biggest surprise out of the Atlantic 10 this season is the success of the Fordham Rams, led by head coach Keith Urgo in his first season at the helm. The Rams were projected to finish thirteenth; however, they proved many wrong, finishing the regular season with the third seed. A big reason for this is the team’s depth. Being the local team, they’ll enter the tournament with a home-court advantage feel.
On the opposite end, the Loyola Chicago Ramblers, who joined the conference in July, finished in last place, going 4-14 in conference games this season. The Ramblers are used to the national attention the last few seasons after making a Final Four run in 2018, Sweet Sixteen in 2021, and receiving an at-large bid after winning 25 games in Drew Valentine’s first season last year. This season, they were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.
While the VCU Rams were crowned the Atlantic 10 regular season champions, the remaining top seven teams kept it close in the standings. VCU finished 15-3, just three games over Fordham, Saint Louis, and Dayton, who all tied for second.
The VCU Rams have made nine of the last eleven NCAA tournaments and are most known for their Final Four run in 2011; however, only two number-one seeds have won the A10 tournament in the last ten years. With that said, it should be an exciting week in Brooklyn.