The Atlantic 10 Conference released scheduling for 2018 conference play on Wednesday. Some A-10 teams now know their entire schedules for the 2017-18 season. Some teams get to face better opponents at home, while others have brutal road slates and easy home games. Here’s a look at each team’s conference schedule.
Davidson Wildcats
Home- La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Fordham, George Washington, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure
Away – Dayton, Duquesne, George Mason, VCU, Fordham, George Washington, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure
Davidson gets to face Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure twice, making for some tough home and away games but also some great opportunities. The Wildcats will also play host to Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis, two teams that are likely to be ranked ahead of Davidson heading into next season. The Cats have a chance to beat quality A-10 teams at home, but they’ll also have to take on VCU and Dayton on the road. Davidson will likely be a middle-of-the-pack team, and their schedule seems to show that.
Big Win Opportunities: B+
Relative Easiness: B-
Dayton Flyers
Home – Davidson, Fordham, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Louis, VCU
Away – La Salle, George Mason, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, Duquesne, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Louis, VCU
Dayton has one of the more difficult conference slates. Having to face Rhode Island, Saint Louis, and VCU twice will likely mean at least 3 conference losses. Factor in a road game against Saint Joseph’s as well, and you’ll realize that the Flyers are really going to be tested away from home. This also means that Anthony Grant’s squad is going to have some big opportunities in league play; if he wants to make the NCAA Tournament as Dayton’s first-year head coach, he’ll have to beat St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, and VCU at home.
Big Win Opportunities: A-
Relative Easiness: C+
Duquesne Dukes
Home – Davidson, George Mason, La Salle, Richmond, Dayton, Fordham, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis
Away– Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, VCU, Dayton, Fordham, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis
Duquesne is already going to have a tough time in conference play, being one of the worst teams in the league. That said, its conference slate isn’t going to do it any favors. The Dukes have to play Dayton, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Louis twice, all 6 games of which will probably be big losses. Not to mention, playing Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, and VCU away from home is going to be almost impossible. There are plenty of upsets for the Dukes to pull, but I just don’t see any of them happening barring a meltdown from one of the top dogs.
Big Win Opportunities: A
Relative Easiness: D+
Fordham Rams
Home – George Mason, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Richmond, Davidson, Duquesne, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
Away – Dayton, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Davidson, Duquesne, La Salle, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
In all honesty, the Rams don’t have the most difficult schedule in the world. Getting to play Duquesne and La Salle twice means probably picking up 2 conference wins somewhere in that mix. Home games against George Mason, Massachusetts, and Richmond could be competitive matchups. The Rams are going to get killed on the road when they face Dayton, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph’s, and VCU, but if they could defend home court, there might be 5 or 6 conference wins in the mix for the Fordham Rams.
Big Win Opportunities: B-
Relative Easiness: A-
George Mason Patriots
Home- Davidson, Dayton, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis George Washington, Massachusetts, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
Away- Duquesne, Fordham, La Salle, Rhode Island, George Washington, Massachusetts, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, VCU
George Mason is going to have a ton of enormous games in Fairfax. Playing host to Davidson, Dayton, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph’s, and VCU, it’s likely that George Mason picks up a few big conference wins next season. The road isn’t too rough for George Mason either; Massachusetts, Duquesne, Fordham, La Salle, and Richmond are all teams that can be beaten away from home. I really like the way this team’s conference schedule sets up, and if it can bring out a supportive home crowd, it’s going to have a chance to make some serious noise in Atlantic 10 play.
Big Win Opportunities: A
Relative Easiness: A
George Washington Colonials
Home– Fordham, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, Davidson, Duquesne, George Mason, Richmond, VCU
Away –Dayton, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Davidson, Duquesne, George Mason, Richmond, VCU
George Washington’s schedule is pretty average. The Colonials only have to face Dayton, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Louis once, but three of those games will be on the road. The Colonials have a pretty easy home slate, but the road isn’t likely to treat them well. With all of the outgoing transfers and given Maurice Joseph’s transition as a full-time head coach, I wouldn’t expect a big year from George Washington.
Big Win Opportunities: B-
Relative Easiness: B-
La Salle Explorers
Home – Dayton, George Mason, St. Bonaventure, VCU, Fordham, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis
Away – Davidson, Duquesne, George Washington, Richmond, Fordham, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis
La Salle’s road schedule is very easy. The Explorers get to face Davidson, Duquesne, George Washington, Fordham, Richmond, and Massachusetts away from home. Any of those teams can be beaten in their home arenas. At home, they’ll have a tough time with Dayton, St. Bonaventure, and VCU, but at least they won’t have to travel to take on those teams. La Salle’s schedule looks very favorable, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Explorers win a couple of big games in conference play next season.
Big Win Opportunities: A-
Relative Easiness: B+
Massachusetts Minutemen
Home – Duquesne, George Washington, Saint Louis, VCU, Dayton, George Mason, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s
Away– Davidson, Fordham, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Dayton, George Mason, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s
Massachusetts isn’t going to like having to play Dayton and Rhode Island twice, and road games against St. Bonaventure and Davidson aren’t going to be very easy either. I don’t see Massachusetts beating Saint Louis or VCU at home, but at least they don’t have to go on the road for those games. Honestly, the Minutemen are going to struggle, and this schedule isn’t doing them that many favors. It could be worse though; at least they have two opportunities against beatable teams in George Mason and La Salle.
Big Win Opportunities: B+
Relative Easiness: C+
Rhode Island Rams
Home – Duquesne, George Mason, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, Davidson, Dayton, La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure
Away – Fordham, George Washington, Saint Louis, VCU, Davidson, Dayton, La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure
Two games against St. Bonaventure and Dayton make Rhode Island’s schedule difficult. Also, factor in road games against VCU and Saint Louis. The Rams have easy opponents at home (Duquesne, George Mason, Richmond), and they’re going to have to be road warriors if they want to win the Atlantic 10. I think this schedule sets up for some big wins, but the Rams might have to defy the odds in order to get some of them.
Big Win Opportunities: A
Relative Easiness: B-
Richmond Spiders
Home – Dayton, La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Davidson, George Mason, George Washington, Saint Louis, VCU
Away– Duquesne, Fordham, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Davidson, George Mason, George Washington, Saint Louis, VCU
Richmond’s schedule is pretty tough, as the Spiders will have to face Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, and VCU on the road. A home game against Dayton is a good opportunity, but hosting La Salle and Massachusetts won’t help this team’s resume at all. Two games against Davidson, George Mason, and George Washington likely won’t carry much merit, but they will be competitive games that will be fun to watch.
Big Win Opportunities: B-
Relative Easiness: B-
Saint Joseph’s Hawks
Home – Dayton, Duquesne, Saint Louis, VCU, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure
Away – Davidson, George Washington, Rhode Island, Richmond, Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure
The Hawks’ schedule actually sets up pretty nicely to accumulate a lot of conference wins. Dual matchups against Fordham, George Mason, La Salle, and Massachusetts could honestly lead to 6 or 7 wins right there. The Hawks also get Dayton, Saint Louis, and VCU at home, which could all be big wins with the team Phil Martelli is returning. I think the Hawks got one of the best conference slates, and this could lead to a Top 5 finish.
Big Win Opportunities: B+
Relative Easiness: A
Saint Louis Billikens
Home – Fordham, George Washington, Rhode Island, VCU, Dayton, Duquesne, La Salle, Richmond, St. Bonaventure
Away – Davidson, George Mason, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Dayton, Duquesne, La Salle, Richmond, St. Bonaventure
Playing Dayton and St. Bonaventure twice will be tough, yes, but the Billikens get VCU and Rhode Island at home, two great opportunities. On the road, Saint Louis has a great shot of taking down Davidson, George Mason, Massachusetts, Duquesne, La Salle and Richmond. I really like this team heading into the 2017-18 season, and it definitely helps that the Billikens’ conference schedule is working in their favor.
Big Win Opportunities: A-
Relative Easiness: A-
St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Home –Fordham, George Washington, Massachusetts, Richmond, Davidson, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis
Away– Dayton, George Mason, La Salle, VCU, Davidson, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis
The Bonnies’ schedule will be very difficult, but that’s the road to making the NCAA Tournament. Having to play Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s, and Saint Louis twice will be tough, and Dayton and VCU on the road won’t make things any easier. St. Bonaventure’s home slate is very easy, which is tough for the Bonnies because they’re going to have to win on the road. This is definitely one of the most challenging schedules in the Atlantic 10.
Big Win Opportunities: B-
Relative Easiness: C-
VCU Rams
Home – Davidson, Duquesne, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Dayton, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, Richmond
Away – La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Dayton, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, Richmond
Playing Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, and Richmond twice sets up for some relatively easy conference wins at home and on the road. Even better for the Rams, they get St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island at home and don’t have to face those two on the road. Away games against Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis should be tough, but La Salle and Massachusetts should be easy wins away from home.
Big Win Opportunities: A-
Relative Easiness: A-
5 Comments
Grant – I really enjoy reading your A10 thoughts but when you are doing an article like this I think you need to define your grading scale. For example big win opportunities in this article it seem like you have drawn the conclusion that teams have a better chance of winning at home so if they play the tougher teams at home they received a better big win opportunities grade. When I think about big win opportunities I think about playing @Dayton, @VCU or @Bonas because road wins are weighted heavier by most ranking systems.
So reading this article I kept disagreeing with your big win opportunities grades. If you had defined what the article was going to consider a big win opportunity it would have been better. imho The coach rankings also failed to define the parameters the coaches were ranked on. Providing more structure could have drastically improved that series as well especially when there were controversial rankings.
Again I really appreciate the work that gets posted to this site and just wanted to voice my opinion on how the site and some of the articles could improve.
I think Duquesne should surprise some people with a few upsets — but you’re right, their lineup of home-and-home opponents is brutal. Can’t wait for the non-conference schedules to be released.
UMASS just released a brutal non-conference that has.
South Carolina
Georgia
BYU
Minnesota
Providence
East Carolina
Georgia State
Harvard
Bob Collamore
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Breaking News. UMASS Brought In 8 power
Newcomers.
The New 8 Beasts Of The East.
Power play move.
Here is the Elite 8. Newly Considered via ESPN high – major
overlapping New Recruiting Classes Repertoire in TOP 25 Rankings.
The Sign of the new times.
Jaylen Brantley – Maryland
Keon Clergeot – Memphis
Kieran Hayward – LSU
Jonathan Laurent – Rutgers
Cutis Cobb – Fairfield
Unique McLean – Fr. New England Prep – McDuffie
Khalra Turner- Morris – Fr. New England Prep – New Hampton, NH
Carl Pierre – Boston College Catholic High School.
According to ESPN tonight. UMASS has committed.
Grand Larceny – The Steal Class In the Nation.
A new Top 25 Class at UMASS – News In the A-10 Tonight.
Bob Collamore
SPRINGFIELD – “Could UMASS be the National “sleeper team.”
Intrigue has reporters now just salivating tonight. Indeed.
Look at UMASS brutal tough top 10 new RPI non- conference top games.
Plus 8 new highly successful players in a nation powerful top 25 incoming class.
11:45 – BC Report Combo Leak In Sports In New England