Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Preview

            There are three teams in the top tier of the Atlantic 10 Conference and all three have a great shot at winning this tournament.  Temple is obviously the favorite as they enter the post-season with an overall record 26-5 and an outstanding conference record of 14-2.  The next best team in the conference hands down has got to be Xavier.  Remember Xavier went on the road and beat a pretty good Florida team.  They are also 14-2 in conference play and lost their lone match-up to Temple by a final score of 77-72 at Temple.  These two teams along with Richmond have been very kind to bettors wagering on them all season long.  Temple is 20-11 ATS, Xavier is 19-10 ATS, and Richmond is 17-9 ATS.

            Temple has been a good team all year and they do it by playing great defense.  They are only allowing 56.8 points per game which makes them the 4^th best scoring defense in the entire country.  Their main weakness that could hurt them in this tournament is their lack of consistent shooting.  One of the two teams to defeat Temple in conference play is Richmond who thumped Temple 71-54 in their only meeting of the year.  Richmond is a dangerous team and one to certainly keep an eye on as the A-10 tournament unfolds.  Much like Temple, Richmond is a dominant defensive team.  They are ranked 33^rd in the country in points allowed per game and 16^th in field goal percentage defense.

            The second tier of this conference is made up of St. Louis, Rhode Island, Charlotte and Dayton.  St. Louis could be a dark horse in this tournament as they have put together in an impressive campaign going 20-10 overall and are also 15-9-1 against the number.  Dayton and Charlotte have talent but have not been playing particularly well as of late and that’s not how you want to enter a tough, physical A-10 conference tournament.  Out of all the teams in the second echelon, St. Louis has been the most consistent as they are 11-5 in conference play and also have 20 overall wins.  St. Louis certainly a bubble team and will definitely be playing their hearts out to make it to the Big Dance.

            This should be one of the more competitive tournaments this week as they are arguably 4 teams that have a great chance in winning it.  Temple has been rock solid all year long and their great defense might be enough to carry them to the winner’s circle.  The question is; how motivated are they going to be as they already know they will be in the tournament regardless of what they do in this tournament.  If they are motivated, they will be the team to beat.