A-10 Keeps Humming Along

With all the conference re-shuffling this off-season, one of the conferences expected to take a bit of a hit was the A-10. Early in the season, the A-10 looks as strong as it was last season when it sent 5 teams to the NCAA Tournament. It's early - way too early - but they have an outside shot at 5 again this year, with 4 well within reach. Can the A-10 put as many, or more in the dance than the new Big East or American? Maybe. Let's take a look at the early results.

- VCU:

Virginia Commonwealth started the season as the consensus A-10 pick and was a top-15 team. They may still be the class of the A-10 when it's all said an done but a bit of the shine has worn off. They have a nice win at Virginia and at Belmont but were manhandled by Florida State. The Seminoles look better than expected but the game wasn't close on a neutral court. They also lost to Georgetown in that same tournament. VCU isn't the clear favorite anymore but still a very good team.

- UMass:

The Minutemen are on a long NCAA drought that should end this season. I've been high on them since the pre-season and they haven't disappointed. They're 6-0 with neutral court wins over New Mexico and Clemson and a home court win over LSU. They also ran away from Boston College. That's two ACC scalps for UMass. LSU is probably a year away from dancing but still a good win.

- St. Louis:

I'm a bit bullish on the Billikens this year. They had an opportunity to make a statement with a win over Wisconsin or Wichita State but lost both, to the Badgers in Cancun and to the Shockers at home. The rest of the non-conference schedule doesn't have a team on it that will be a great win and they can't afford to slip up against Indiana State at home and winning at Vandy would be recommended.

- Dayton:

The Flyers stand at 6-1, with their only loss coming to Baylor by 1. Baylor figures to land in the top 4 of the Big 12. So, no shame in that loss. They have a very good neutral court win over Gonzaga and beat Georgia Tech by 10 at Tech. The Flyers also pounded Cal on a neutral court. Dayton travels to Ole Miss in early January. Win there would be very helpful and they need to keep winning the games they should in non-conference. They should be in a good place heading into the A-10 season. They need to play better in conference this year and if so, a return to the dance will be there.

- George Washington:

The Colonials had a big win over Creighton last night. Creighton has a couple of early hiccups but should finish in the top 4 of the Big East. That being said, Marquette whipped them on Saturday. GW is probably not a legit NCAA team but theyy'll have something to say about who is in the A-10.

Others:

Richmond is 6-2 with its best win being over Belmont. Its two losses were to a mediocre Minnesota team and an erratic North Carolina team. Richmond still travels to Wake Forest and Florida. They'll be underdogs at both and Florida would be a real long shot but a win over Wake would help the resume of them and the conference.

St. Joe's is 4-2 and plays Temple and Villanova this week. KenPom has them losing both. At the very least, they need to split. It isn't far-fetched for them to win both but is unlikely. They also play Drexel on the 18th. Drexel is the early favorite in the Colonial and would be a good win.

The disappointment is LaSalle. Fresh off the Sweet 16, the Explorers are 3-4 with losses to Manhattan, UNI & Providence. The Manhattan loss sounds bad but the Jaspers are favored in the MAAC. They also lost to Penn State who will probably win a few games they aren't expected to this season. Still, the Explorers are going to need to be real impressive in the A-10 to have a chance at back-to-back Sweet 16's. It won't be easy.