The Atlantic 10 has fluctuated back and forth with respect to relative strength of the conference. This year is a down year, with two teams going to the NCAA Tournament for sure, conference champion Dayton (7 seed) and Virginia Commonwealth (9 seed). Rhode Island has been in consideration as well, currently ranking among the First Four Teams out. They'll need to do some work in the conference tournament and get some help from elsewhere to get on the good side of the cutline.
All 14 teams made the Atlantic 10 tournament. The top four seeds got a double bye to the quarterfinals, while the fifth through tenth seeds got a single bye. The Tournament will take place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
First Round-Wednesday, March 8th
#13 St. Joseph's vs. #12 Massachusetts
#14 Duquesne vs. #11 Saint Louis
Second Round-Thursday, March 9th
#9 Davidson vs. #8 La Salle
#12 Massachusetts vs. #5 Saint Bonaventure
#10 Fordham vs. #7 George Mason
#11 Saint Louis vs. #6 George Washington
Quarterfinals-Friday, March 10th
#9 Davidson vs. #1 Dayton
#5 Saint Bonaventure vs. #4 Rhode Island
#7 George Mason vs. #2 Virginia Commonwealth
#6 George Washington vs. #3 Richmond
Semifinals-Saturday, March 11th
#5 Saint Bonaventure vs. #1 Dayton
#3 Richmond vs. #2 Virginia Commonwealth
Championship-Sunday, March 12th
Dayton was able to win the Atlantic 10 championship in the last week of the regular season with a win over VCU. With both of these teams going to the NCAA Tournament, this game is for seeding and bragging rights. I believe that the Rams will take this one, winning in a close game as the other two games they have played this year have gone.
Virginia Commonwealth 70, Dayton 68
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