Atlantic City Weekly

This is a new position for Temple, coming into the Atlantic 10 Tournament as the No. 1 seed. In the two previous years Temple was an underdog to regular-season champion Xavier, yet managed to take home the crown and the coveted automatic bid into the NCAA national championship. Looking for the three-peat, Temple has been consistent all year, including a big non-conference win over Villanova and has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for most of the year (No. 17 in the most recent poll). Fran Dunphy’s team concept has worked very well without a major star in his line-up.

Earlier in the season, some basketball pundits felt that a particuarly strong A-10 Conference meant that as many as five teams might have a chance to make it into the NCAA tournament. Those projections have changed in the last month as Dayton and Rhode Island stumbled, while Temple, Xavier (No. 24) and a surging Richmond (cracking the AP Top 25 at No. 23 one week) still look likely to make it into the big dance.

With a new coach, Chris Mack, at the helm after Sean Miller moved on to Arizona, Xavier has been hot down the stretch thanks to the league’s top scorer, Indiana transfer Jordan Crawford, winning seven in a row entering the tournament.

The Richmond Spiders have also been a top team in the A-10 all year, with four returning starters from last season. St. Louis was supposed to be in rebuilding mode, with no upperclassmen, but managed to shock the pundits with their 11-5 conference record and fourth seed.

In a change in format from last season, the first round of the league championship took place Tuesday on the home courts of the teams seeded 5-8. In those games Massachusetts beat Charlotte, Rhode Island took out St. Joseph’s, Dayton beat George Washington and St. Bonaventure defeated Duquesne to earn their trip to Atlantic City, joining the top four seeded teams (Temple, Xavier, Richmond, St. Louis), who received a bye into the quarterfinal round Friday. Semifinal action will take place on Saturday, March 13, with the championship taking place on Sunday, March 14, and televised live at 1pm on CBS Sports for the first time in A-10 history. Here are the teams in the tourney. 

Visit acweekly.com's blog throughout the tournament for updates via Lori Hoffman.

(1) Temple Owls (Philadelphia, Pa.) — Conference (Overall) Record: 14-2 (26-5)

Coach: Fran Dunphy

Projected starters: Ryan Brooks, Juan Fernandez, Luis Guzman, Lavoy Allen, Micheal Eric.

Fran Dunphy’s squad, the top defensive team in the A-10, has had an impressive season, earning wins against Villanova, Seaton Hall and Xavier. The team is led by senior guard Ryan Brooks (14.9 ppg); the scoring (11.5 ppg), defense and rebounding (10.8 rpg) of junior Lavoy Allen and the 3-point prowess of sophomore guard Juan Fernandez (12.3 ppg; 45 percent from the arc). However, defense is where they shine, giving up just 56.8 points a game.

(2) Xavier Musketeers (Cincinnati, Ohio) — Conference (Overall) Record: 14-2 (23-7)

Coach: Chris Mack

Projected starters: Jordan Crawford, Dante Jackson, Jason Love, Terrell Holloway, Jamel McLean.

The X-Men have been remarkably consistent, with five straight 20-win seasons. The team has been on a roll lately, winning their last seven coming into the tournament. Leading the way has been Indiana transfer Jordan Crawford, who leads the A-10 in scoring (19.6 ppg), joined by backcourt mate Terrell Holloway (11.4 ppg) and forward/center Jason Love (11.8 ppg; 8.6 rpg). The X-Men lead the A-10 in scoring (79.5 ppg) and field goal percentage (.468).

(3) Richmond Spiders (Richmond, Va.) Conference (Overall) Record — 13-3 (24-7)

Coach: Chris Mooney

Projected starters: Kevin Anderson, David Gonzalves, Dan Geriot, Justin Harper, Ryan Butler.

With four starters returning, the Spiders were expected to be a force in the A-10, and they have been, tearing it up in the conference with eight straight wins, including 71-54 over Temple, before losing at Xavier in double overtime, 78-76. The Spiders have the best backcourt duo in the A-10 with senior David Gonzalves (13.8 ppg) and junior Kevin Anderson (17.4 ppg).

(4) St. Louis Billikens (St. Louis, Mo.) — Conference (Overall) Record: 11-5 (20-10)

Coach: Rick Majerus

Projected starters: Kwamain Mitchell, Willie Reed, Christian Salecich, Cody Ellis, Kyle Cassity.

After losing so much scoring punch from last season with the graduation of guards Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell, not much was expected from the Billikens, but legendary coach Rick Majerus has his team of eight freshmen and four sophomores playing well. He went recruiting Down Under and plucked teammates from the Institute of Sport in Cranberra, Australia, Christian Salecich, a guard, and forward Cody Ellis (11.7 ppg; 5 rpg), joining returning point guard Kwamain Mitchell (15.9 ppg) and forward Willie Reed (12.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg).

(5) Rhode Island Rams (Kingston, R.I.) — Conference (Overall) Record: 9-7 (22-8)

Coach: Jim Baron

Projected starters: Keith Cothran, Lamonte Ulmer, Delroy James, Will Martel, Marquis Jones.

The Rams lost a lot of their scoring and inside game with the graduation of Jimmy Baron and Kahiem Seawright respectively, but coach Jim Baron always manages to restock his team and keep them near the top of the A-10. This year the team is led by seniors Keith Cothran (15.1 ppg), and Lamonte Ulmer (11.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg), and junior Delroy James (12.8 ppg). The team has some impressive non-conference wins vs. Boston College (80-69) and Oklahoma State (63-59) but have faltered down the stretch in the A-10 losing five of seven.

(7) Dayton Flyers (Dayton, Ohio) — Conference (Overall) Record: 8-8 (20-11)

Coach: Brian Gregory

Projected starters: London Warren, Rob Lowrey, Chris Wright, Marcus Johnson, Kurt Huelsman.

After making it to the second round of the NCAA tourney last year and with four starters returning, including John Wooden candidate Chris Wright (14.3 ppg), the Flyers were expected to rule the A-10 this season. Instead, the team had a very up and down season, more down than up. They had a big win against Xavier at home (90-65), but lost four of their last five games heading into the tournament. After a disappointing season, they might be dangerous in the tournament; the Flyers only way into the dance is to win it.

(8) St. Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.) — Conference (Overall) Record 7-9 (15-15)

Coach: Mark Schmidt

Projected starters: Andrew Nicholson, Chris Matthews, Jonathan Hall, Malcolm Davenport, Malcolm Eleby.

The Bonnies are a team on the rise after spending years at the bottom of the A-10. The team is led by a trio of double-digit scorers, sophomore forward Andrew Nicholson (16 ppg) and senior guards Jonathan Hall (13.4 ppg) and Chris Matthews (12.1 ppg).

(11) University of Massachusetts Minutemen (Boston, Mass.) — Conference (Overall) Record: 5-11 (12-19)

Coach: Derek Kellogg

Projected starters: Ricky Harris, Terrell Vinson, Sean Carter, Anthony Gurley, Freddie Riley

After senior guard Ricky Harris, second in the league in scoring (19.4 ppg) and junior guard Anthony Gurley (13.9 ppg) the Minutemen don’t have much to offer. Harris is third all-time in scoring at UMass with 1,917 points, putting him ahead of both Julius Erving (1,370) and Marcus Camby (1,387). The team’s victory over Charlotte was their first A-10 tournament win since 2002.

A full size image of the playoff bracket

Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship
Where: Boardwalk Hall
When: Fri.-Sun. March 12-14; play starts Fri. noon; Sat. 1pm and championship game Sun. 1pm
How Much: $15-$200 (single-session and all-session tickets available)