Atlantic 10 Power Rankings: Depth holding true to form

admin November 30, 2012 0

By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent

How strong is the Atlantic 10? The conference placed 12 teams in the top 100 of the latest KenPom.com ratings. Only the Big East (13) had as many. The A-10 still does not have a team ranked in the AP Top 25 or USA Today Coaches Poll. With such overall quality, that is likely to change at some point. But the depth is coming through as advertised.

If the weekend is near, then the latest IndySportsLegends.com Atlantic 10 Power Rankings are here.

1. Saint Joseph’s (4-1)

American University actually held a seven-point lead late in the first half before the Hawks stepped on the gas pedal. Carl Jones and Langston Galloway combined to shoot 9-of-16 from 3. Now St. Joe’s faces its toughest out-of-conference test Saturday at No. 11 Creighton.

2. Temple (4-0)

Could the Owls win the conference in their final season? Temple’s third in the A-10 in scoring and first in assists.

3. Butler (4-2)

Last season, Butler shot a pitiful 28 percent on 3-pointers, good for 336^th of 344 Division I teams. At this early juncture, the Bulldogs are making 33.6 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.

4. Virginia Commonwealth (4-3)

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said VCU is not good, (but) really good. Senior point guard Darius Theus is the engine, and had he not been terrible, the Rams could very well have upset the Blue Devils.

5. Saint Louis (3-3)

Flying out to Washington was always going to be a tough assignment, with or without Kwamain Mitchell. But another loss forces a drop. What’s amazing is the Billikens play their next nine games – yes, nine – at home.

6. Xavier (5-1)

Semaj Christon is a playmaker and program cornerstone. He’s beginning to make the team his own. Tomorrow he leads the Musketeers into West Lafayette against tournament hopeful Purdue.

7. La Salle (4-1)

The fans were excited to finally beat Villanova, but the Explorers are sneaky good. Their talent and skill is at the level needed for an at-large bid. Nobody in the A-10 should look forward to playing La Salle.

8. Massachusetts (3-2)

UMass needed a game-winning layup from Chaz Williams to overcome a 17-point deficit against Siena, which was picked to finish sixth in the MAAC. The Minutemen don’t have the feel of a team that will compete for the upper-third of the A-10.

9. Dayton (4-2)

A heartbreaking home loss to Weber State is exactly the type of game that kept Dayton out of the NCAA tournament last year. The Flyers had hoped this season would be different.

10. Charlotte (6-0)

It’s likely the only championship they’ll win this season, but the 49ers did come away with the title in the Great Alaska Shootout. With this solid start, Charlotte has a real chance to finish with a .500 record.

11. Richmond (5-2)

Throw out the loss to Ohio, a recent Sweet 16 program that rarely loses at home. Worry instead about how the Spiders needed double overtime to beat William & Mary and displayed ineffective defense and subpar rebounding in the process.

12. St. Bonaventure (3-2)

The Bonnies held a lead in the final minute before losing at Ohio. Small forward Chris Johnson is making his coach, Mark Schmidt, look like a prophet for predicting a big year from the senior.

13. George Washington (3-3)

Two things averted a bad loss to James Madison. They got game-saving defensive plays in the form of a block by Isaiah Armwood and a steal by Patricio Garino. And amazingly, the Colonials grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the final 7 minutes. The offense is painful to watch.

14. Duquesne (3-3)

Junior forward Jerry Jones scored a career-high 22 points in a win over Appalachian State.

15. Rhode Island (1-6)

A double-OT win at Auburn helps free the Rams from our rankings cellar. The man responsible, Xavier Munford, looked strong this week, but the fear is that Rhode Island is awful offensively.

16. Fordham (1-5)

With Chris Gaston expected to miss three more weeks with a knee injury, the Rams — at least for the time being — field the weakest team in the conference.