NCAA Basketball: Houston, Arizona, Auburn rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
17. Dayton (15-2)
Certainly the current kings of the A-10, there’s a lot of good things happening in Dayton. The Flyers lost nonconference games against Northwestern and Houston, but that was over two months ago. This long streak of winning has included a few nice performances even before conference play began, and it’s been all Flyers since the New Year.
Though they trailed at the half, the Flyers survived a close call against Saint Louis, securing a 70-65 win back on Tuesday night. Daron Holmes II continued what has been a dominant season with a 29-point effort against the Billikens. While that contest was close to the end, Saturday was far different in Dayton. The Flyers won in style, cruising to a 96-62 victory against Rhode Island, led by Javon Bennett’s 22 points and another nice effort (21 points, 6 rebounds) from Holmes.
The Flyers have now won 12 games in a row, including a 5-0 start to A-10 play. There are still weeks ahead in this league, but it’s hard to deny that Dayton is the prohibitive favorite in this league. Holland has been outstanding all season long and there are some very strong pieces on this Flyers roster, making them a pretty sneaky contender and not just for this league. They’ll venture out on the road next week, taking on La Salle and Richmond with hopes of remaining unbeaten in the A-10.