Reacting to the Atlantic 10 MBB Schedule Pairings
These are some of my takeaways from the Atlantic 10 MBB pairings for the 2017-2018 season:
1. VCU lucked out - The four teams that they play once in their entire conference schedule on the road are La Salle, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, and Saint Louis. There is arguments that can be made for all of those teams to land in the basement of the conference standings.
2. The Atlantic 10's scheduling does not negatively affect Rhode Island to knock them off of the top of the conference.
3. Saint Bonaventure will truly have to live up to all of their preseason hype because their conference schedule is tough. Going on the road to play Dayton, VCU, Rhode Island, Davidson, and Saint Louis will not be easy. In addition, they play Rhode Island and upstart Saint Louis twice. They have the most opportunities for quality wins within their conference schedule and also, the most opportunities for conference losses.
4. Saint Louis is a serious dark horse team since their only difficult road games look like they will be at Davidson, at Dayton, and at Saint Bonaventure.
5. Davidson was not given any favors for the upcoming season. The Wildcats have to play Rhode Island, Richmond, and Saint Bonaventure twice. On top of that, they play Dayton and VCU on the road.
Overall, the road to the Atlantic 10 championship looks primed to run through Kingston, RI.
