2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of the 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, 12 have been invited to participate in the league tournament which begins on Tuesday night. The first round will take place at campus sites of the higher seeds.

While a few of the A-10 squads figure to earn NCAA Tournament bids regardless of the outcome of this event, every squad would love to capture the crown and earn the automatic bid to the "Big Dance". Temple, the two-time defending champ of this event, has earned the top seed this year, and it figures to face the stiffest competition from second-seeded Xavier and third-seeded Richmond, teams that have been nationally ranked at one point this season. Fourth-seeded Saint Louis has hit its stride over the last month and will undoubtedly carry a great deal of confidence into the event. Those four teams have earned byes to the quarterfinal round, which begins on Friday, March 12th in Atlantic City.

The first round kicks off on Tuesday, and all games will be played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. Fifth-seeded Rhode Island suffered a pair of painful losses at the end of the regular season, and it will need to get back on track in a hurry. Sixth-seeded Charlotte, seventh-seeded Dayton and eighth- seeded St. Bonaventure all have talented performers, especially the Flyers, who were the preseason favorite to win the league title. Rounding out the tournament's participants are ninth-seeded Duquesne, 10th-seeded George Washington, 11th-seeded Massachusetts and 12th-seeded Saint Joseph's, none of which are considered serious threats to reach the semifinals, let alone win the tournament.

The first of four first-round games pits the eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure Bonnies against the ninth-seeded Duquesne Dukes. The Bonnies have never won this tournament and are 12-26 all-time in the event. As for the Dukes, they captured their lone title back in 1977, and the 19-30 record in A-10 Tournament games is far from impressive. St. Bonaventure is led by Andrew Nicholson, a standout sophomore, who is eighth in the conference in scoring (16.2 ppg) and 10th in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Damian Sanders leads Duquesne with 14.9 ppg, and he is tied for the conference rebounding lead with 11.4 rpg. The fact that Sanders leads the league in both blocks (3.1 bpg) and steals (2.8 spg) is proof of his tremendous versatility.

The fifth-seeded Rhode Island Rams just missed out on a top-four seed that would have given them a first-round bye, but they now must face 12th-seeded Saint Joseph's on Tuesday. URI won this tournament back in 1999 and is still in search of its second title. The Hawks have two conference tournament championships to their credit, but the most recent came back in 1997, so there has been a long stretch since coach Phil Martelli's program last claimed the prize. Rhode Island is second in the A-10 in scoring (77.1 ppg), but the team is dead last in field goal percentage defense (.472). SJU ranks 11th in the league in scoring (68.8 ppg) and 12th in scoring defense (74.8 ppg), as this has been a season to forget. The Hawks are also the worst rebounding team in the conference.

The seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers and the 10th-seeded George Washington Colonials will meet in the first round, and while Dayton's lone title came back in 2003, the Colonials have won the tournament twice, most recently in 2007. Chris Wright (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has been the best player for Dayton, which leads the league in rebounding margin (+6.6 rpg) but is next-to-last in blocked shots. GW doesn't have a player ranked among the top 15 in the league in scoring, and the fact that the Colonials are ranked in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories speaks to the mediocrity of the squad.

In the final first-round pairing, sixth-seeded Charlotte will attempt to treat the home crowd to a victory over 11th-seeded Massachusetts. Charlotte is a relative newcomer to the conference, and the team owns a 2-4 record in this event. As for the Minutemen, they have won five A-10 Tournament titles, but it has been 14 years since the last one. The 49ers are led by Shamari Spears, a Boston College transfer, who ranks seventh in the league in scoring with 16.3 ppg. Charlotte is the best free throw shooting team in the conference, and that could come in handy in this tournament. As for UMass, it ranks 13th out of 14 A-10 teams in scoring defense (75.4 ppg), but the club is tied for the conference lead in three-pointers made per game (7.1).

The winner of the Duquesne/St. Bonaventure game will move on to face top- seeded Temple on Friday in the quarterfinals. Temple has won eight A-10 Tournament championships, the most of any league member, and the Owls are a stellar 49-19 all-time in the event. Last season, they knocked off Duquesne by a 69-64 final in the championship game, and they beat Saint Joseph's in 2008's title game by the same score. Temple has a few steady leaders in the fold, as Ryan Brooks (14.5 ppg) and Lavoy Allen (10.8 rpg) can be counted on by coach Fran Dunphy to put forth maximum effort every time out. The Owls lead the conference in scoring defense (56.8 ppg), overshadowing the fact that they are the third-worst scoring team in the league (65.4 ppg).

The fourth-seeded Saint Louis Billikens will take on either Rhode Island on Saint Joseph's in the quarterfinals. Saint Louis has only played seven A-10 Tournament games since joining the conference and is 3-4 in those affairs. Obviously, the program is still in search of its first title. Like Temple, SLU relies heavily on its defense to win games. In fact, the Billikens are the lowest-scoring offensive team in the conference (63.8 ppg), but they rank second in scoring defense (59.7 ppg). Kwamain Mitchell paces the club with 16.1 ppg, and he is clearly the go-to guy at the offensive end. Willie Reed is a solid contributor at the defensive end for Saint Louis, as he ranks third in the conference in blocked shots.

Second-seeded Xavier is slated to take on either Dayton or George Washington on Friday, and the Musketeers are gunning for their fifth A-10 Tournament title. They last won this event in 2006 and own a 22-10 record in the tourney all-time. Xavier leads the conference in scoring offense (79.9) and scoring margin (+11.7 ppg). The Musketeers are shooting 47 percent from the field, best in the A-10, and is certainly helps to have the league's leading scorer in the fold. Jordan Crawford is racking up 19.7 ppg as a sophomore, tied with UMass senior Ricky Harris for the top output in the conference. Players such as Jason Love (8.6 rpg) and Terrell Holloway (4.0 apg) help to take pressure off Crawford.

Finally, Richmond will begin tournament play on Friday evening against either Charlotte or UMass. The Spiders are one of the six active members of the A-10 that have never won this event, and they are 6-8 in the event over the years. The duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez will make Richmond a tough out in this tournament. Anderson ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 17.8 rpg, and Gonzalvez provides 14.3 ppg. The Spiders are ranked second in the A-10 in field goal percentage defense (.390). On a down note, they are next to last in rebounding margin, as they are being outboarded by more than five caroms per contest.