CBB: A10 Conference Tournament Preview

Favorite (odds below +500)

Dayton Flyers (+170): Dayton is the only team in this section. Despite finishing 3rd in the standings the Flyers are the only team locked into the NCAA tournament and are the odds on favorite to win. Other bubble teams will be rooting for the Flyers to roll through the A10 tournament. This team earned an At-Large for a reason, they are electric. DaRon Holmes is the best player in the conference, Kobe Brea is the best 3pt shooter in college basketball and the other Kobe (Kobe Elvis) can fill it up too. This offense can play with anyone, as I witnessed on Friday when I saw them beat VCU. Flyers fans are very excited about this team, this is their best shot since the 2020 team.

Sleepers (+500 or above)

Richmond Spiders (+600): Richmond entered this season seemingly on a rebuilding year. They lost a lot of top players the last 2 years, including Tyler Burton transferring to Villanova. The Spiders surprisingly rolled to an A10 regular season championship. They have a very solid all around team and their defense can defend pretty well. Richmond doesn’t force many turnovers which doesn’t allow them to get easy baskets on an off night, this led to disaster against George Mason in the regular season finale.

Loyola Chicago Ramblers (+700): The Ramblers and Sister Jean are back in contention again! Loyola Chicago had a fantastic rebound season, their non-conference wasn’t great but they really got hot late in the season, winning 10 of their last 11. The Ramblers as we’ve gotten used to play great defense which helps keep them in most games.

UMass Minutemen (+700): Frank Martin is beginning to get things rolling at UMass. The Minutemen were much improved this season racking up 19 wins. They dropped a few games they shouldn’t which dug them a hole but they’ve played very well down the stretch. UMass is very good at generating extra possessions which will be helpful in tournament play.

VCU Rams (+800): I will admit, I am trying not to be biased here, but my disclaimer is that my wife is a family friend of Zeb Jackson (in fact I have him to thank for the tickets to VCU/Dayton on Friday.) That out of the way, I like what this team can do offensively. They shoot it well, trust their players to make plays and are very good at finding ways to get the lane open for easy points. Their defense has stepped it up lately with forcing more turnovers too. The Achilles heel of this team all season has been closing out games, they haven’t lost every time in these situations but a lot of times when they lose, it’s because they lost a lead late.

St Joseph’s Hawks (+1800): Here’s a nice longshot. I refuse to quit on this team until they’re done. Early in the season St Joe’s was a legitimate At-Large candidate thanks to wins over Villanova/Princeton and an OT loss to Kentucky. Sadly they started 0-3 in A10 play to end all bubble talk and never really recovered. If there’s any time to recapture the in-season magic, it’s now.

My Pick:

Dayton Flyers (+170): Dayton has nothing to play for, they’re already in the tournament and everyone else needs this conference tournament to get in! Yes, that is the thought, but one astounding fact is that Dayton has not won the A10 tournament since 2003, the 2020 team could have ended that if given the opportunity. I believe Anthony Grant will remind the team this and the most talented team in the conference shows up to win the conference tournament.