Atlantic 10 Conference Odds: St. Louis, Dayton Favored
VCU, Richmond Next Teams in Line to Win A10
The Atlantic 10 Conference appears to be pretty wide open this NCAAB season, with St. Louis and Dayton the two favorites. The Sagarin college basketball odds have the Atlantic 10 as the 10th toughest conference in the country. VCU and Richmond aren’t far behind the top two and last year’s conference tournament showed the overall strength of the A10. Before the tournament, the A10 Tournament odds on Richmond were +950 and the Spiders won the whole thing.
There is decent depth in the conference again this NCAAB season. The Billikens are a little stronger than the other teams, so a deservedly the favorite but several others have a chance, most notably Dayton, VCU and Richmond.
Duquesne isn’t completely out of the equation and Massachusetts has some talent. Davidson is a team that could be peaking as the conference tournament begins. It’s tough to back the Wildcats to win the regular season title but they could be worth a wager in the tournament depend on what the A10 Tournament odds look like.
The Favorites
Saint Louis Billikens (+130):
Saint Louis BillikensA fairly short price on the Billikens, as St. Louis returns its top three scorers from last year’s team. St. Louis ended the season 23-12 after a first-round loss in the NIT. The Billikens are a better offensive team than defensive team and the bulk of the scoring comes from the guards. Gibson Jimerson led the team in scoring last season, while fellow guard Yuri Collins was second in scoring. Collins could score more but is content to be a playmaker first and a scorer second.
St. Louis was 12-6 in conference play last year but had to settle for the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. That meant a game against No. 1 seed Davidson in the semifinals. The Billikens were on the outside at the beginning of the basketball tournament, with the A10 Tournament odds at +600. Expect St. Louis to put a little more emphasis on the regular season this year.
Dayton Flyers (+250):
Dayton FlyersThe Flyers return several key pieces from last year’s team, which advanced to the second round of the NIT. Leading scorer DaRon Holmes II is back, as is leading rebounder Toumani Camara. One of the great college basketball names, Kobe Elvis, also returns, as the Flyers return their top five scorers. But scoring doesn’t matter as much at Dayton as it does elsewhere. Your playing time with the Flyers is going to be determined by your defense. And that’s something Dayton is very good at.
Dayton had an excellent chance of sharing the conference title last year but a late season upset by LaSalle relegated the Flyers to second place. Still, Dayton was one of the favorites to win the conference tournament last year. The A10 Tournament odds on Dayton were +360.
If Dayton can continue to play tough defense it has a chance to make amends for last year. It’s worth keeping an eye on the NCAAB scores to see if the Flyers maintain their style.
The Top Contenders
VCU Rams (+750):
VCU RamsThe Rams are being offered at pretty generous odds of +750 to win the A10 regular season title. Virginia Commonwealth is another team that’s going to win games defensively. But the Rams appear to be a lower-scoring version of Dayton.
It doesn’t help that the team’s top three scorers from last year’s team have all moved on. That isn’t to say VCU doesn’t have some talented players. Brandon Johns comes from Michigan as a graduate senior and Jamir Watkins returns after missing last season.
The Rams were upset in their first conference tournament game last year. That’s not what you expect from a team whose A10 Tournament odds were +380 before it began. A loss in the last regular season game prevented VCU from sharing the conference title. But the Rams could be missing the firepower to keep up with the other top teams.
Richmond Spiders (+750):
Richmond SpidersThe Spiders didn’t have a great regular season last year. But they were playing well when it counted, winning the conference tournament and upsetting Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Richmond won the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and might have to go the same route this season. Leading scorer and rebounder Tyler Burton returns but most of the key players from last year have moved on. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Richmond start conference play a bit on the slow side until the players blend together a bit.
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