The Atlantic 10 season has 4 games to go until the end of the regular season. The top spot is obviously going to be Dayton, with the Flyers 3 games up on second place Rhode Island. Both Rhode Island and Richmond suffered losses last week, but those do not look like they will hurt the teams’ chances to remain in the top 4. One of those losses was by Richmond to St. Bonaventure, who is sitting comfortably in the 4th place slot. That win helped the Bonnies gain a game on Richmond, and now both teams sit at 10-4 in the conference.
Anyway, this is your weekly guide to what to watch for in the A10. We know that nobody has time to watch every game (except for maybe myself), but hopefully this gives you the most insight for what to watch for this week as the most impactful games for the conference this week. Here we go!
Dayton can clinch the A10 on Friday night
Due to the Rhode Island loss at Davidson this past weekend, Dayton can now clinch the A10 regular season title as long as they win on Tuesday at George Mason and then on #FridA10 against Davidson. This would be very fitting to the dream season that Dayton is having this year. Cut down the nets on Friday night at home on ESPN2, then host George Washington the next week for Senior Night as well as have a chance to clinch the 18-0 regular season record. I’m sure the Flyers are not looking ahead to that right now. One game at a time for these Flyers.
The game is on ESPN2 at 7:00 PM EST on Friday.
#FridA10
Duquesne at St. Bonaventure
Duquesne is tied for 5th in the standings while St. Bona is tied for 3rd. This is a huge game for implications of finalizing the race for the top 4 seeds in the A10 tournament. If Duquesne goes into Olean, NY, and wins on Wednesday night, the Dukes would be right back into the race for the 4th spot. With that, Saint Louis would be back into the race as well if the Billikens can win that same night at home against St. Joseph’s. If the Bonnies hold serve at home, it almost surely gets them a top 4 spot with 3 games to go.
The game is on Stadium at 7:00 PM EST on Wednesday.
VCU at Massachusetts (Bones Hyland vs Tre Mitchell)
This is a sneaky good game on Wednesday night. VCU is reeling right now, losers of 4 straight games. UMass are winners of 3 of 4 with the one loss in that stretch coming at home against Dayton, where they played the Flyers tough. Tre Mitchell is on a tear right now. This game is an actual battle in the standings, with VCU being 7-7 and UMass being 6-8. If UMass finds a way to win this one, they would jump VCU in the standings, which would make the preseason #1 Rams in 9th place in the conference. Along with that, this is a matchup between the conference’s two rookie standouts, Bones Hyland and Tre Mitchell. Mitchell seems to be the clear favorite for Rookie of the Year, and Bones has played really well in the absence of Marcus Evans. We shall see what happens in Amherst on Wednesday.
The game is on ESPN+ at 7:00 PM EST on Wednesday.
Fordham at St. Joseph’s
The A10 Talk Staff was torn this week with their ballots and deciding who the 13th and 14th ranked teams are in the conference. This week will decide that. The one-win Hawks host the one-win Rams for a battle to see who will most likely get the last seed in the conference tournament. Although these two teams have been dreadful this season, this might end up being a good game between two evenly matched teams on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.
The game is on ESPN+ at 1:00 PM EST on Saturday.
Saint Louis at Rhode Island
Most Sunday A10 games this year have been very uneventful, but not this week. Sunday’s A10 game will be Billikens vs Rams in Kingston. This game has implications for both teams, with Saint Louis still fighting for a top 4 spot and Rhode Island trying to hold onto that 2 seed but more importantly an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. Rhode Island is still safely in the field even with the loss at Davidson, but they really cannot afford many more losses, especially this one at home. If Saint Louis finds a way to win on the road, where they have struggled many times this season (3-4 on the road in the A10), they can get back in the race for the top 4.
The game is on ESPNU at 2:00 PM EST on Sunday.
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