Atlantic 10

If the final week of the Atlantic 10's regular season is as unpredictable as the one that has just passed, the conference will be giving fans an early treat heading into championship week. Over the past five days there was a change atop the standings, leaving a tie between Xavier and Massachusetts as well as the two last place teams in the conference, Saint Bonaventure and Richmond both pulling off upsets and shaking up the A-10 tournament picture. Saint Joseph's which previously had sole possession of fourth place and control of the final first round bye for the upcoming A-10 tournament in Atlantic City, lost in Richmond on Saturday as the Spider claimed only their seventh win of the season. Now the Hawks find themselves tied with a hot George Washington team that has won three in a row with games versus Charlotte and Duquesne remaining whereas St. Joe's faces the two conference leaders, Xavier and Massachusetts.

The Atlantic 10 postseason is less than two weeks away and with that, a chance to partake in the NCAA tournament. But before conference members make the trip down to Atlantic City there is still work that needs to be finished, and that work picks up this weekend with seven league battles Saturday. Here is a preview of the weekend's action:

Atlantic 10's Premiere Weekend Matchup: Xavier @ Dayton, 6:00 Saturday. It was a big week for the Xavier Muskateers, who moved into a first place tie with Massachusetts after knocking off first place Rhode Island. The Muskateers attempt to continue their torrid pace in Dayton which is never an easy task. Xavier features one of the most balanced squads in the country and are led by Senior Justin Doellman who dumped in 29 points Wednesday against the Rams. Dayton is led by guard Brian Roberts and is just one week removed from suffering its first home setback of the season, a 77-69 loss to UMass. Expect Xavier's size and athleticism to cancel out the Atlantic 10's top homecourt advantage in a 80-75 win against the Flyers.

The top of the Atlantic 10 proved their merit this past weekend in conference matchups with Rhode Island, Xavier, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, and George Washington all turning in victories. Jim Baron's Rhode Island squad continues to hold onto sole possession of first place due to the sharp shooting of the coach's son, Jimmy Baron, the 6'2 sophomore was 11 for 14 from the field including 9 three pointers on the way to beating former Conference USA members Saint Louis and Charlotte. Hanging onto first place looks to be a challenging task as the Rams face Xavier in Cincinnati then head back home to face a formidable Fordham squad. Baron wasn't the only Ram to turn in a solid performance this week as the Rhode Island frontcourt outplayed E.J. Drayton of Charlotte in an 85-69 defeat of the 49ers. In the win, forwards Will Daniels and Joe Mbang combined for 31 points and 15 rebounds to help Rhode Island surprise Charlotte on the boards by a 12 rebound margain.

In the past decade and a half, the Atlantic 10 has gone from clear mid-major to the brink of being competitive with many of the power conferences and now back to clear mid-major, and that may even be a stretch. For some reason it seems like they just couldn't get over the hump and just rolled right back down the hill and even surpassing where they were before. Barring some kind of miracle and everything breaking just right, the conference will only be sending one team to the big dance, with Xavier being the team with the best chance of receiving an at large bid.
There is without a doubt parity within the conference, it would not be a stretch to think at least 8 teams can leave Atlantic City with an automatic bid and date with a Duke or Texas. The front-runners for this, shall we call it honor will be Xavier, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, St. Joe's, and George Washington. But there are no teams such as the Jameer Nelson led St. Joe's and Marcus Camby, Final 4 bound UMass clubs of past seasons challenging for a seed on the top line, once again leaving it open for anyone willing to show.