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2011-2012 Atlantic 10 Basketball Predictions

The Atlantic 10 should get three bids to the NCAA Tournament again and with the success of the conferences teams, the NCAA committee should consider giving tournament berths to four teams this year though I doubt that will happen. A year ago Richmond reached the Sweet 16 and Temple made it to the round of 32. Overall the A-10 experienced a lot of success.

Once again Xavier and Temple are expected to be the top two teams in the league. However don’t be surprised if Dayton or St. Bonaventure surprises the league with a first or second place finish.

The Richmond Spiders who are coached by Chris Mooney may struggle some this year. Dayton and St. Bonaventure will fight for the opportunity to go to the tournament as the conference’s third or fourth team.

The league is deep and any team could contend for the top four spots in the league.

1. Temple:  They have won three of the last four A-10 tournaments and figure to be the favorite for the regular season title as well as the conference tournament title.

2. Xavier:  The team will try to win a sixth straight regular season championship. Point guard Tu Holloway will lead the way. However the team needs to look to develop depth.

3. Dayton:  First year coach Ryan “Archie” Miller will use his three returning starters and overall depth to try and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

4. St. Bonaventure: Last year the Bonnies were 8-8 in the Atlantic 10 and will look to improve on that with three starters returning that averaged double figures.

5. St. Louis:  Last year the team finished 6-10 in the conference and with all five starters returning they should finish at least .500 in the conference. Mike McCall averaged 10.4 points a year ago and will lead the way for the Billikens.

6. St. Joseph’s:  After playing a lot of freshman last year, St. Joseph’s should be able to improve on their 4-12 conference record from a year ago.

7. Charlotte:  Alan Major is now in his second season and will have four returning starters to count on. Chris Braswell will lead the way as well as Jamar Briscoe.

8. George Washington: Karl Hobbs is out and new coach Mike Lonergan has the chance to succeed in his first season as the Colonials coach. A year ago the team won 10 conference games even without Lasan Kromah. The Colonials have a shot and earning an NCAA tournament bid this year.

9. UMass:  The Minutemen lost top scorer Anthony Gurley who averaged 18.7 points a game a year ago as well as backcourt mate Gary Correia. The team will have to find a new scorer. Expect this year’s team to finish 6-10 or 5-11 in conference play.

10. Richmond:  After a Sweet 16 appearance last year coach Chris Mooney has a lot of work to do. Gone are Justin Harper (17.9 ppg) and Kevin Anderson (16.6 ppg 3.3 apg). Life won’t be easy without the duo. Mooney will rely on Kendall Anthong and Cedrick Lindsay to step up and provide the scoring the team needs.

11. Duquesne:  The Dukes will struggle to replace the frontcourt players that graduated by with A-10 Rookie of the Year T.J. McConnell returning the team should be solid.

12. Rhode Island:  The team is coming off of a 20-14 season but lost three veteran starters. This year’s team is like to struggle.

13. Fordham:  Fordham will be led by Chris Gaston who average 15.9 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, and 1.5 blocks per game. His numbers actually went down from his freshman season but that is good since it shows the team is starting to put talent around him. Kervin Bristol the team’s leading shot-blockers figures to be a major contributor this year.

14. LaSalle:  La Salle lost two 1,000 point scorers and Aaric Murray decided to transfer due to a rift between him and head coach John Giannini. Murray’s departure may actually turn out to be a good thing for this team. La Salle has some good players to work with and could improve this year or at least make strides for next season. Tyreek Duren will lead the team after having averaged 9.8 ppg and 4.4 apg last year. He will be joined by Earl Pettis who averaged 9.1 points per game a year ago. The team also added Ramon Galloway who transferred from South Carolina and is immediately eligible.