Week Ahead Top Games
Below are the top games around the league this week. A full schedule is always available on Atlantic10.com and can be found here.
· Coming off a major victory over Dayton last week, St. Bonaventure takes on Duquesne WEDNESDAY night at home. (7pm.ET, TWC-NY)
· VCU will travel to George Washington SATURDAY in an important late-season opportunity for both teams to bolster their NCAA tournament resumes. The Rams currently sit in first place in the A-10, winning their last three games, while the Colonials sit in fifth place. Last time these two teams met on Feb. 6, GW came out with a 72-69 victory. (12:30p.m.ET, NBCSN)
· Dayton’s matchup with Rhode Island SATURDAY will be broadcasted nationally on ESPN2. Just two weeks ago, when these teams last met on the court, the game went down to the wire, with Dayton winning 68-66. (12p.m.ET)
· Second place Saint Joseph’s hosts Saint Louis SUNDAY afternoon. (1p.m.ET, ASN)
National Picture Updates
19 Days Until Selection Sunday
Dayton sits at No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and just outside the AP Top 25 (receiving 80 votes). Saint Joseph’s and VCU are also receiving votes in both polls.
The A-10 continues to have six teams in the top 60 of RPI rankings: Dayton (17), Saint Joseph’s (26), St. Bonaventure (33), VCU (49), GW (52) and Davidson (60).
In Jerry Palm’s latest CBS Sports bracketology predictions (2/22), Dayton is a six seed, Saint Joseph’s eight seed and VCU an 11 seed. GW is a last four in team and St. Bonaventure is a first four out team.
USA Today has Dayton (seven seed), Saint Joseph’s (eight seed), VCU as a last four in team and St. Bonaventure as a first four out team in team in its most recent bracket update.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has three A-10 teams in his latest bracket predictions (2/22): Dayton (five seed), Saint Joseph’s (nine seed) and VCU (nine seed).
A-10 Pulse
ESPN’s Andy Katz said St. Bonaventure’s 79-72 win over Dayton was the ‘Win of the Week’. LINK
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston wrote about Saint Joseph’s recent success and soaring expectations. LINK
Busting Brackets wrote about Saint Joseph’s major win over Dayton as another boost to the Hawks’ tournament resume. LINK
Buffalo News wrote about St. Bonaventure’s growing case for a NCAA tournament bid following key conference victories. LINK
VCU’s senior Melvin Johnson was named A-10 Player of the Week following the Rams’ pair of wins last week. Johnson scored 19 points against Rhode Island followed by 20 points against Richmond, and tied VCU’s career-mark for 3-pointers with 269. LINK
The NCAA’s Brian Mull named three A-10 schools among the nation’s best college basketball towns: Dayton, Philadelphia (Saint Joseph’s) and Richmond made this list of nine. LINK
Social Buzz
@TBNbucky tweeted that the A-10 is a ‘fantastic conference’ with ‘smarter players’
@JonRothstein said five A-10 teams remain in the mix for at-large bids. Also hinted that Rhode Island could have been a sixth if not plagued with injuries.
@JonRothstein also wrote the Bonnies are in the at-large discussion with two major road wins against Dayton and Saint Joseph’s.
@DickieV tweeted about the Bonnies’ win over Dayton.
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