A-10 championship preview: Six different programs have won title in last six tournaments

The Atlantic 10 Conference tournament champions have had many different profiles over the years and took many different paths to the trophy presentation and the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.

No. 1 seed St. Bonaventure won the championship by beating No. 2 Virginia Commonwealth in 2021 at UD Arena with a starting lineup featuring five juniors, three of whom started in a championship game loss to St. Louis two years earlier.

That 2019 Saint Louis team, the preseason A-10 favorite, got hot in Brooklyn, N.Y., and won four games in four days as the No. 6 seed after a disappointing regular season, beating the No. 4 seed St. Bonaventure in the final.

No. 3 seed Davidson beat No. 1 seed Rhode Island in the championship in 2018 in Washington, D.C. with a mix of old (the A-10 Co-Player of the Year, senior Peyton Aldridge) and new (freshman Kellan Grady, a future two-time All-10 first-team selection).

In 2017, No. 4 seed Rhode Island took advantage of No. 9 seed Davidson upsetting No. 1 seed Dayton in the quarterfinals and routed the Wildcatsin the semifinals before beating No. 2 seed Virginia Commonwealth in the final in Brooklyn.

No. 4 seed Saint Joseph’s lost its last two regular-season games in 2016 but then beat George Washington, Dayton and No. 2 VCU to win the tournament in Brooklyn.

No. 5 seed VCU lost three of its last four games in 2015 but then won four games in four days to win the 2015 championship in Brooklyn, beating No. 2 Dayton in the final.

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Those are the results of the last six A-10 tournaments. They all took place after the last conference expansion, which brought Davidson to the league in the 2014-15 season. Six different teams have won the championship since then. It might have been seven if No. 1 seed Dayton had won the 2020 tournament, which was cancelled because of the pandemic.

There is no secret ingredient among the past six champions. Being a top-four seed helps, but five different seeds — every seed except a No. 2 — has won the championship in the last six years. Only the No. 4 seed has won twice.

No. 2 seed Dayton (22-9) would like to change that this week at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Flyers will play in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday against No. 7 seed George Washington (12-17, 8-9) or No. 10 seed Massachusetts (14-16, 7-11).

The A-10 tournament starts Wednesday with two games: No. 12 La Salle (10-18) vs. No. 13 Saint Joseph’s (11-18) at 1 p.m.; and No. 11 Rhode Island (14-15) vs. No. 14 Duquesne (6-23) at 3:30 p.m.

Here’s a breakdown of the 14-team field:

Favorite: According to KenPom.com, Dayton has a 26.7% chance of winning the championship. The math probably doesn’t take into account the fact that Dayton has not won the tournament since 2003 when it was held on its home court, but it shouldn’t. It’s unlikely any of the current Flyers know much about that history. Dayton also can lean on the experience of winning three games in four days at the ESPN Events Invitational in November.

A victory Friday would get Dayton to the semifinals for the first time since 2016. Two victories would result in its first championship game appearance since 2015. In coach Anthony Grant’s first four seasons at UD, the Flyers are 1-3 in the A-10 tournament, though his best team in 2019-20 didn’t get to play in the tournament, which was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Second favorite: No. 1 seed Davidson (25-5) has a 22.8% chance of winning the championship. It would be the third No. 1 seed to win the championship in the last 10 years, following Saint Louis (2013) and St. Bonaventure (2021). The Wildcats will play No. 8 Fordham (15-15) or No. 9 George Mason (14-15) at noon Friday.

Dark horse: No. 6 seed Richmond (19-12) has the 18th-most experienced team in the country. That’s why it was picked to finish second in the preseason poll. Like St. Bonaventure, the preseason favorite and ninth-most experienced team, it did not meet expectations, but Saint Louis showed in 2019 a veteran team can get on a roll in March and put a disappointing regular season in the rearview mirror. The Spiders will play Rhode Island or Duquesne in the second round at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Coldest team: Of the top 13 seeds, no one has won or lost more than straight three games entering the tournament. Then there’s Duquesne, which has lost 16 straight games. The Dukes also have the longest A-10 championship drought. They won the first tournament in 1977, when the A-10 was known as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, and have not won since.

Hottest team: While Dayton won seven of its last eight games and VCU and St. Bonaventure won eight of their last nine, the team riding the longest winning streak is La Salle, which beat Dayton, Saint Joseph’s and Duquesne to end the regular season.

Upset potential: Fordham has won one A-10 tournament game in the last six years, and that was at the tournament that was cancelled after the first day of games in 2020. However, under first-year coach Kyle Neptune, Fordham finished the regular season with a 15-15 mark and has its first winning record entering the postseason since 2016. The Rams play George Mason at noon Thursday.

History lesson: Three teams have never won the A-10 tournament: Fordham; George Mason; and La Salle.

• Four coaches in this year’s tournament have won the championship: Travis Ford (Saint Louis, 2019); Bob McKillop (Davidson, 2018); Mark Schmidt (St. Bonaventure, 2012 and 2021); and Chris Mooney (Richmond, 2011).

• Four of the last seven A-10 champions have lost their last regular-season game: Saint Joseph’s in 2014 and 20166; Saint Louis in 2019; and St. Bonaventure in 2021.

A-10 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday

First round

Game 1: No. 12 La Salle vs. No. 13 Saint Joseph’s, 1 p.m., ESPN+

Game 2: No. 11 Rhode Island vs. No. 14 Duquesne, 3:30 p.m., ESPN+

Thursday

Second round

Game 3: No. 8 Fordham vs. No. 9 George Mason, Noon, USA Network

Game 4: No. 5 Saint Louis vs. Winner of Game 1, 2:30 p.m., USA Network

Game 5: No. 7 George Washington vs. No. 10 Massachusetts, 6 p.m., USA Network

Game 6: No. 6 Richmond vs. Winner of Game 2, 8:30 p.m., USA Network

Friday