Atlantic 10 Weekend Preview

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.
Currently three games distance first and eighth place with the first place Rams of Rhode Island not exactly striking fear into anyone's heart. Afterall, their best win away from the A-10 is at home versus Utah, while their best road win comes in Philly versus St. Joe's, who up until this past week had not won back to back A-10 games since the turn of the new year. Needless to say the final two weeks of the regular season will be important for more than half of the conference as they jockey for positioning and a first round bye.
The hectic final two weeks kick off at 2:00 today with Temple visiting George Washington and the first place Rams entertaining Charlotte. Other games on the slate feature St. Joe's traveling north to visit St. Bonaventure, Richmond at Xavier and LaSalle at St. Louis all on Saturday. Sunday will send Duquesne to Fordham and UMass to the UD Arena to face the Flyers of Dayton in this weekend's game of the week. Here is a preview of the Saturday and Sunday games:

Game of the Week: Massacusetts @ Dayton. Sunday, 2:00.
In a battle of two teams still holding out hope for a first round bye in Atlantic City, UMass and its stellar frontline visit the always raucous UD Arena in a key Atlantic 10 showdown. UMass' Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme compose the A-10's top front court combining for almost 30 points and 18 rebounds per game. Dayton will counter with counter with Brian Roberts, possibly the A-10's most dangerous guard. In this conflict of styles, look for Dayton to exploit UMass' weak perimeter defense and take a big step towards closing in on the conference leaders in a 68-65 victory.

In other games:
Temple @ George Washington, Saturday 2:00: The struggling Colonials look to snap a four game losing streak against a Temple team trying to rebound from a loss against city rival LaSalle. The Owls, who previously were riding a season high four game winning streak will look to the A-10's top scorer Dionte Christmas for both scoring and sound play as the Colonials force over 17 turnovers per game, a conference best. GWU's top scorer Maureece Rice will get his points, but look for Temple to walk away with a 77-74 win.

Charlotte @ Rhode Island, Saturday 2:00: Can the first place Rams stay atop the A-10 all alone through the weekend? If they do, they'll need help from Dayton. Look for the 49ers to shock the Rams with a big performance from E.J Drayton and his teammates upfront in a 75-70 upset.

St. Joseph's @ St. Bonaventure, Saturday 4:00: The Hawks are simply too talented for a woeful Bonnies team in this A-10 clash. St. Joe's combination of Ahmad Nivans, Pat Calathes, and Rob Ferguson will be simply too much in a lopsided 79-65 win up in New York.

Richmond @ Xavier, Saturday 6:00: In what looks to be the second lopsided affair of the weekend, the well balanced Muskateers of Xavier play host to Richmond. Don't expect too much hospitality though as the Muskateers have 4 players who score in double digits and one just below that compared to Dan Geirot, Richmond's lone double digit scorer at just under 11 per game. When it's all said and done, Xavier should walk out with a potentially sizable victory in the neighborhood of 82-66.

LaSalle @ St. Louis, Saturday 8:00: For a team with wins over Mississippi and Missouri State, St. Louis has struggled mightily in A-10 play, however the same could be said for LaSalle all season, the Explorers are coming off their biggest win of the season over Big 5 rival Temple. After coming up small in two big road games at Xavier and Rhode Island, the Billikens return home in what should be a victory, St. Louis takes this one 76-64.

Duquesne @ Fordham, Sunday 12:00: The high scoring Dukes have endured more than any team over the past year including a 2-7 start. However, over the last month, Duquesne has looked like a different team winning five straight before hitting a snag and dropping back to back games this past week. The slide isn't quite the four game streak currently held by Fordham though. The 5-3 record the Dukes own since shifting to a more high tempo game is largely impart due to its lack of size and could could pose problems for a Fordham team that relies heavily on 6'8 forward Bryant Dunston combined with the perimeter game of Marcus Stout. The Duke's makeup for a lack of size and dictate the tempo in this 91-83 road win.