Richmond, Loyola Share A-10 Crown - Spiders Earn Top Seed

The Atlantic 10 men’s basketball regular season came down to the wire, with Richmond and Loyola Chicago finishing tied atop the standings with identical 15-3 conference records. But it will be the Spiders taking the No. 1 seed into next week’s conference tournament in Brooklyn thanks to their head-to-head win over the Ramblers earlier this season.

Both UR and Loyola receive double-byes into the quarterfinal round, scheduled for Thursday at the Barclays Center. They will be joined by No. 3 seed Dayton (14-4) and No. 4 Massachusetts (11-7) as the top four teams get to avoid the opening rounds.

The action tips off Tuesday with a trio of first round games streamed on ESPN+. No. 12 Fordham (6-12) takes on No. 13 Davidson (5-13) at 11:30 am, followed by No. 10 La Salle (6-12) vs No. 15 George Washington (4-14) at 2 pm. The night cap has No. 11 Rhode Island (6-12) battling No. 14 Saint Louis (5-13) at 4:30 pm.

Those winners advance to Wednesday’s second round, with all four games televised nationally on USA Network. VCU, the No. 5 seed at 11-7, opens the day against the Fordham/Davidson winner at 2 pm. No. 7 St. Bonaventure (9-9) follows against the La Salle/GW survivor at 5 pm.

The evening session has No. 6 Duquesne (10-8) taking on the Rhode Island/Saint Louis winner at 7:30 pm. The 8 vs 9 matchup between George Mason (9-9) and Saint Joseph’s (9-9) caps the second round at approximately 11:30 pm.

The quarterfinals on Thursday feature a quadruple-header back at Barclays Center. Top-seeded Richmond hits the floor first at 11:30 am, with No. 4 UMass up next at 2 pm. Loyola Chicago’s quarterfinal is set for 5 pm, while No. 3 Dayton plays the nightcap around 7:30 pm. All four games will air on USA Network.

After a practice day on Friday, the semifinals take center stage Saturday afternoon on CBS Sports Network. The A-10 title game moves over to CBS on Sunday at 1 pm as part of their NCAA Selection Show coverage.

With the conference’s automatic NCAA bid on the line, it should make for an entertaining week of hoops in Brooklyn. Richmond and Loyola Chicago have been the class of the league, but plenty of dangerous teams like Dayton, UMass, VCU and others are lurking. Expect an exciting, unpredictable battle to cut down the nets at Barclays.