Atlantic 10 Basketball: UMass, Davidson, and GW rises in latest power rankings

12. Loyola-Chicago Ramblers - 7-5

The Ramblers are a difficult team to judge because they've dealt with some injuries and the road losses to South Florida and Tulsa aren't as unforgivable as you might expect. And wins over Harvard and Boston College are fairly good. Still, they're barely above .500 with Central Michigan in the non-con to go.

Phillip Alston (15.7 ppg) remains the team's best player when healthy and Davidson transfer Desmond Watson has easily been the best newcomer of a lauded transfer class. If freshmen Miles Rubin and Jayden Dawson continue to develop, Loyola's rotation could be good enough to scare some teams. But they have work to do to prove they aren't a bottom-tier team.

11. La Salle Explorers - 8-3

Credit to Coach Fran Dunphy for taking care of business, as La Salle has beaten everyone it's supposed to, along with losing to the three teams with more talent than them, with an overtime win over Penn being the exception. They have one of the best backcourts in the Atlantic 10, led by Khalil Brantley (16.7 ppg and 3.7 apg) and Jhamir Brickus (14.6 ppg and 5.5 apg).

Anwar Gill and Daeshon Shepard being double-digit contributors have also helped out the offense. It's a team that still doesn't have much size outside of Rokas Jocius but that still hasn't stopped them from competing on the boards. A home game versus Howard rounds out the non-con schedule for the feisty Explorers.