This weekly series takes us to a conference that has out-grown its number; unfortunately size does not matter when the Tournament Committee will surmise what qualities the Atlantic 10 has to offer from all its members. This conference has always had an inferiority complex in comparing itself to the Big East. In some years in the past, the top teams from the A-10 were every bit as good as the Big East’s best. When the Big East was raided for football purposes, they reacted by grabbing the best teams that were available, because the roots of the Big East development were in basketball. For reasons unclear, the Atlantic 10 felt they also needed to expand and took Charlotte and St. Louis from C-USA. Granted Charlotte has been among the leaders in C-USA and often preformed well in NCAA tourneys, however nothing sexy about St. Louis other then the opposing teams can now see the Mississippi River up close, along with the Arch.

Two years ago Xavier and St. Joseph’s both made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA’s, otherwise the recent history of the A-10 has been rather pedestrian, for the conference’s general opinion of itself. The Atlantic 10 will receive at least two bids this year to the tournament; the problem is who deserves to go at this time beyond George Washington for another bid?

George Washington is the flagship for the Atlantic 10 this year, currently ranked 7^th in the country. No team in college basketball gets up and down the floor faster then the Colonials, explaining why they lead the conference in scoring at 80.2 PPG. Center Pops Mensah-Bonsu is the team’s leading scorer for this brigade of speedsters. When GW is knocking down 3’s they can be a handful for any team in the country. Conference opponents are all but literally taking the ball out of the air against the Colonials. On Saturday they face another team that specializes in that style of play in Richmond. The Spiders allow the fewest points in the league at 56.5, one problem; they also score the fewest at 52.5. Richmond is 10-4 at home with 5-5 ATS record. All this slowdown basketball has GW itchy to move the ball at a quicker pace. This causes them turnover problems and is why they are 0-3 ATS as away favorites.

Over the years Charlotte has been a very good shooting team under Coach Bobby Lutz. This year’s team alters that perspective. As a team, the 49er’s shoot 39.6 percent, dead last in the conference. How are they in 2^nd place? Thankfully, the gang that can’t shoot straight keeps trying especially behind the arc, where they average 8 per game. With All A-10 performer Curtis Withers leading the conference in rebounding at better then 11 per game, it makes sense Charlotte leads the league in rebound differential. The 49ers will oppose Fordham who is having a great February with a 4-1 record. This is a big game for the Rams. With their play this month, Fordham can tie Charlotte for 2^nd place with a win. The Rams also have to be excited to receive national TV exposure for the first time since 2001 with ESPN televising the game. The Rams are 7-2 and 5-2 ATS at historic Rose Hill Gym.

Aside from George Washington’s remarkable season, the next best surprise has been LaSalle. Picked last in a couple of pre-season publications, the Explorers have found a rhythm. After dropping five straight in January, LaSalle has come back with six wins in a row, covering all but one. The defense has been good all year by LaSalle, holding opponents to 39.5%, it has been the offense which has been the catalyst in the recovery. Dayton is playing for an NIT berth at this point. The Flyers like many teams in the conference play a rather dull style of basketball. One positive for Dayton is they are 2^nd in FG percentage beyond the 3-point line and 2^nd in defense from the same location. LaSalle is 1-5 ATS as a home favorite; however Dayton is 1-7 SU on the road.

Watching St. Louis play is akin to watching plaster dry. Every year the Billikens don’t score much, defend pretty well and hang around and annoy more talented teams to death. No exception this year and bettors are again showing a quality profit from St. Louis with 12-7 ATS record. John Chaney visits the muddy Mississippi to try his hand at St. Louis. It is a forgone conclusion at this point the Owls will be near the A-10’s basement in field goals made, yet somehow they manage to win. Temple is 8-3 SU and ATS since January 8. If this game is as tight as expected, keep in mind the Owls make only 59.3% from the charity stripe.

Xavier has been a major disappoint with a 6-5 conference record. The road will not get any easier with C Brian Thornton gone for the year; Xavier loses a big body and leading scorer and rebounder. There are wins left on the schedule, but things just got a whole lot tougher for the Musketeers. The best thing you can say about Duquesne is they are one of the best plays on the season to go Over the total. Lately they have even been screwing that up with three Under’s in last five games.

St. Joseph’s will visit Rhode Island in another Atlantic 10 affair. The Hawks have played a number of teams tough this year like Ohio State, Gonzaga, Villanova and conference rival George Washington. Unfortunately, the only thing to show for those games was an “Atta Boy”. The Rams of Rhode Island were setting themselves up for a nice season, until they lost like nearly everyone has to GW. This has sent the Rams into a tailspin with four losses in five games. The good news is Rhode Island is still 7-3-1 ATS in A-10 play with a 5-2-1 record as a home favorite.

On Sunday, Massachusetts travels to Olean, NY to face tied for last place St. Bonaventure’s. UMass was hoping new coach Travis Ford could start to turn the program around. He might, be assured it will not be this year, since the Minutemen have lost 6 of 7. The Bonnies recently beat Richmond for their only A-10 victory, otherwise, another dismal year for St. Bonaventure’s. The lone bright spot has been the play of junior Paul Williams whose name shows up in several categories in the conference stats. The Bonnies are 2-6 ATS at home, UMass is 1-10 SU in the road uniforms.