Following Deadline Day (who’s staying in the NBA Draft and who’s heading back to school), Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports released his 2016-17 Top 25 on Twitter, and two Atlantic 10 teams made the cut. Dayton came in at #21 on the list, and Rhode Island followed right behind the Flyers at #22. Both teams are expected to be front runners in the A-10 next season, and this pre-season ranking shows just how close they might be.
12. Arizona 13. UCLA 14. Gonzaga 15. Michigan State 16. West Virginia 17. UConn 18. Syracuse 19. Cal 20. Cincinnati 21. Dayton 22. URI
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 26, 2016
It’s likely that Charles Cooke’s return give the Flyers the slight edge in the rankings, but E.C. Matthews of Rhode Island could give Dayton’s senior a run for his money in the battle for A-10 Player of the Year. All in all, these two teams should be fun to watch next season, and just because they’re at the top of the rankings now doesn’t mean they’re going to stay there. The Atlantic 10 has a quite a few teams on the outside looking in that will undoubtedly make a splash next year. VCU, Davidson, St. Bonaventure, and La Salle could all challenge Rhode Island or Dayton for the Atlantic 10 title in 2017. And just like the Bonnies last season, some team could come out of nowhere and win the regular season. College basketball season can’t come soon enough.
