Through the first two weeks of Atlantic 10 league play, the conference has gone from a multi-bid hopeful to a jumbled mess making national headlines for all the wrong reasons.
VCU (13-4), Saint Louis (10-7) and St. Bonaventure (15-3) were a part of a group of four to five teams that many believed could grab an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Through their first four A-10 games, VCU is 3-1. Its lone loss was a 77-75 almost tournament-like contest at St. Bonaventure. VCU bounced back from that loss to win three straight, including at Loyola Chicago and at home over Saint Louis. As for those Billikens, they started 3-0 in A-10 play with wins over St. Joseph’s (11-6) and St. Bonaventure. Most recently, the Billikens lost on the road to the aforementioned VCU. As for the Bonnies, they have already lost multiple A-10 games, including their worst loss of the season. The Bonnies dropped a home game to La Salle (10-3), the first Q3 loss of the season for the Bonnies. Outside of that incredible A-10 opener win over VCU, the Bonnies haven’t made much noise in the A-10.
With all those teams tangled up, some not-so-great losses, and weak non-conference schedules, it seems unlikely that more than one of the schools will land an at-large bid.
And as the Dayton Flyers (11-6), the Atlantic 10’s crown jewel program? Through four games, they sit 14th out of the A-10’s 15 teams. After a home win over La Salle, the Flyers lost three straight. Their losses to George Mason (13-5) and George Washington (13-4) aren’t awful losses. But the 20-point drubbing the Flyers took from UMass (7-11) was shocking and felt as though it washed away all the momentum the Flyers had built through their non-conference schedule. It’s worth noting that the Flyers are now the only team in the A-10 without a road win.
This inter-conference cannibalism isn’t anything new to the A-10. There is a reason they have sent two schools or less to the past four NCAA Tournaments. Most programs in the A-10 still have around a dozen games to play, and we’ll likely see the best teams rise to the top. However, the weak non-conference resumes for everyone not named Dayton, and the likelihood that more upsets have yet to occur means it’ll take a miracle for the Atlantic 10 to be a multi-bid league.
Those preseason dreams that the A-10 could have three representatives in March for the first time since 2018 have already been crushed, and we’ve only seen two and a half weeks of conference play.
The A-10 made headlines this week thanks to a record-breaking game between UMass and Fordham (8-10). UMass took down Fordham 120-118 after 122 free throws between the two teams, the most in a single game since the 1996-97 season. The two schools committed 79 fouls, nine players fouled out, and the most fouls in a single game since 2017. This game marked the 100th year anniversary of Rose Hill Gym, the oldest active gym in America.
Located in the Bronx, Fordham’s home gym has witnessed many greats come through its doors. Many of those greats had their records broken. Most notably, Hall of Famer Julius Irving held the record for the most points scored by an opposing player, scoring 37 points in 1970. Fifty-five years later, Dr. J’s record was broken by another Minuteman, Rahsool Douglas, the fourth-year guard who scored a career-high 46 points. It was the first time Rose Hill Gym witnessed a triple-overtime game, and unsurprisingly, this was the highest-scoring game in the 100-year history of Rose Hill.
A day later, Fordham announced that it suspended its own head coach, Keith Lugo, for four games. This suspension comes after an investigation by Fordham and the NCAA revealed recruiting violations. One might wonder how this happens in an age of NIL, and some college athletes are making more than their NBA rookie counterparts. The violations were originally unknown. Jeff Goodman reported that it was due to Lugo and the Rams spending “more than the allowable limit on recruits entertainment expenses.” In place of Lugo, former Pitt Panther Tray Woodall is the interim head coach, and Lugo will return to the bench against Rhode Island.
Beneath this mess, there have been plenty of pleasant surprises. The emergence of George Mason and George Washington has greatly improved the quality and depth of the A-10. The Patriots are the first team in the A-10 to reach four wins, and their only loss was to Rhode Island on the road in a hostile Ryan Center.
The Revolutionaries looked promising after a 2-1 start but recently lost to another team that was finally putting it together, Duquesne (8-9). The Dukes are in their first year under head coach Dru Jones. After an ugly start in non-conference, many had written off the Dukes. Through their first four A-10 games, it’s clear Jones and the Dukes never wrote back. At 3-1, the Dukes look poised to compete for their second straight A-10 title behind their stars, fourth-years Tre Dinkins III and Jahseen Corbett.
