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

6. Davidson Wildcats - 8-3

For a team that can't use the transfer portal much, they needed the returning pieces to take respective jumps to get out of the bottom tier. So far, that's happened, with five players averaging at least 9.5 ppg on the season. That includes Grant Huffman, the team's MVP with a statline of 11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 5.3 apg.

Davidson has a nice win over Maryland and beat Charlotte on the road. They've been impressive in every game outside of the blowout loss at Saint Mary's. A neutral site game against Ohio later this month should be a good test for them but considering what they lost production-wise, Coach Matt McKillop has done a good coaching job to this point.

5. VCU Rams - 6-5

The are two main factors for why a team with a record like this is so high. One, they have had a massively tougher schedule than everyone but maybe Dayton, though that home loss to Norfolk State was inexcuseable. The other is the fact that they're getting two projected starters back in transfer Joe Bamisile (transfer waiver) and Sean Bairstow (injury).

It may take some time but the Rams' roster could be the most talented in the A-10 if the pieces fit together. Max Shulga, who followed Coach Ryan Odom from Utah State, leads the team with 15.8 ppg and 4.0 apg. Zeb Jackson (15.2 ppg) has had a big year so far as well. If they can get better frontcourt production from guys like Kuany Kuany and Christian Fermin, they'll be very tough to beat.