As voted on by our staff, here is this week’s Atlantic 10 Power Rankings.
1. Saint Louis Billikens
The Billikens retain the top spot despite a shaky loss to Pittsburgh where Tramaine Isabell sat out the entire first half due to discipline issues. We’ll get a good sense of SLU when it plays Butler this week — a chance to get a crucial resume-building win.
2. Davidson Wildcats
Davidson got win #2 over Northeastern, though the Huskies kept it close for awhile. The Wildcats should be able to cruise through the next part of their schedule and probably can’t afford any losses. We’ll learn a lot more about this Davidson team when it plays Temple and Wake Forest later in non-conference play.
3. Dayton Flyers
Dayton picked up one of the biggest wins of the year for the conference, beating Butler down in the Bahamas in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Obi Toppin has been a huge key in his freshman year for the Flyers. They have a huge game against Mississippi St. at home this week.
4. VCU Rams
The Rams were one poor call away from getting a win over St. John’s in Brooklyn, but they left the trip with a victory over Temple and outlasted Hofstra on Saturday night as well. The Rams have a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule coming up, but it presents a great opportunity to build a resume.
5. Saint Joseph’s Hawks
The Hawks looked in complete control on Saturday against William & Mary but melted down in the 2nd half and surrendered a 20 point lead to lose in the final seconds. Charlie Brown went off, but it wasn’t enough. That’s a tough loss for SJU, but the Hawks should still be quite the threat in the A-10 conference.
6. Duquesne Dukes
Duquesne has been one of the few steady teams thus far, not necessarily exceeding expectations but certainly not falling short of them either. Picking up a win over UMass Lowell on Saturday, the Dukes improve to 4-1 and get to play Pittsburgh in the City Game. That’s going to be a fun one…
7. Rhode Island Rams
As Jon Rothstein would say… a loss to Stony Brook at home was the epitome of brutality. It’s a long season, but the Rams have to find a way to shoot better from three point land.
8. Massachusetts Minutemen
Massachusetts stays in the 8 spot after a dominant win over Southern Illinois, and credit McCall’s squad for hanging around with Nevada for awhile. However, the Wolf Pack was just too dominant, and the Minutemen couldn’t get many stops. I think Luwane Pipkins will win this team a lot of games in the A-10.
9. George Mason Patriots
It was an 0-2 trip to the Emerald Coast for George Mason, but that was rather expected. It’s been a disappointing season for Dave Paulsen’s squad to say the least…
10. Fordham Rams
Well… welcome to the top 10 Fordham! Schedule has been easy, but the Rams haven’t pooped the bed like the rest of the Atlantic 10.
11. St. Bonaventure Bonnies
The Bonnies need Stockard and Griffin back. Without their seniors, the Bonnies are going to struggle against anyone, and youth is rearing its ugly head right about now.
12. Richmond Spiders
Jacob Gilyard and Nick Sherod were out for the Hampton game? Recipe for disaster. The Spiders got killed at home.
13. George Washington Colonials
Hey! They won a game this week!
14. La Salle Explorers
While we don’t have an undefeated team in the A-10, we still have a winless one. The Explorers fall to 0-7 after an 8th place finish in the Wooden Legacy. YIKES!