Earlier this week, George Washington defeated Wichita State to win the Diamond Head Classic. At this moment, that could be the best win for the A-10 this year in non-conference play. Multiple bid league? Probably, but hardly a lock.
The top 5 teams in the league by record are Davidson (9-1), Dayton (9-2), VCU (9-3), George Washington (9-3) & Rhode Island (7-3). Davidson doesn't have any good wins though they get a crack at Virginia on Tuesday. That's an unlikely win but Davidson probably chose the correct road in scheduling in their first season in the A-10. there is a good sized difference playing in the SoCon vs. the A-10. I wouldn't expect them to be a team in consideration for a bid, though.
Dayton has wins over Texas A&M and Boston College but neither of those teams will be playing in the big dance. They lost by 14 at Arkansas and lost by 11 on a neutral court to UConn. The Flyers should be finish in the top 3 but probably don't have much wiggle room come March. The road has been made tougher with the dismissal of starting C Devon Scott and backup F Jalen Robinson. The Flyers currently have 8 scholarship players and none taller than 6'6".
VCU was the pre-season pick and will be the favorite going into conference play. VCU has two good wins the last two Saturdays, outlasting Northern Iowa in double ovt. two weeks ago and defeating a Mick Cronin-less Cincinnati team last Saturday. What hurts VCU is a loss to a good Old Dominion team and two blowout losses to Virginia and Villanova. Given a chance to make a statement, VCU laid an egg on both occasions.
GW had a good week. In addition to the win over Wichita State, they also beat Colorado in Hawaii. Those wins help offset losses to Seton Hall, Virginia & Penn State. Look for GW to be the biggest threat to VCU in conference play.
Rhode Island was my team to watch and at 7-3, they're still in the discussion but don't have a good win. they won at Nebraska but everyone is winning at Nebraska. They lost to a mediocre Georgia Tech team and at Providence. The Rams get home games against GW and VCU while avoiding them on the road. Win those, and they'll put themselves into consideration. They need to avoid bad conference losses, though.
It's possible a Richmond or St. Bonaventure makes a move in conference as well. UMass needs to make a move struggling to a 6-6 start, going 3-6 in their last 9. Overall, the A-10 has been a bit of a disappointment thus far. Conference play should be a battle with little room for error.
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