Tonight was a big night for bolstering the national profile of the Atlantic 10. Last season they flirted with sending as many as six teams to the Dance, before eventually settling for three, with three more in the NIT. This season looked to be a down year, with Temple, Xavier and Richmond all taking a disappointing early loss or two.
The Atlantic 10 collectively came up big tonight. First, Dayton took down CAA standout George Mason 73-67. After some early struggles Dayton is looking more and more like an NCAA Tournament team.
Richmond pummeled Wake Forest on the road 90-74. Wake is undeniably down this year, and will likely finsh with a sub .500 record, however aany blowout road win against an ACC school is good for the overall profile.
Lastly, and perhaps most impressivly, Rhode Island knocked off Boston College 67-65. The Eagles got some pub for their early season loss to lowly Yale. Since that upset they had regrouped and and won seven straight, including wins over Cal, Indiana, UMass, Providence and Maryland. This is a great win for the Rams who played Pitt tough in the season opener, and had looked uneven since.
The win moves the Rams to 9-4 and puts another team in the at-large conversation for the league. Likely no more than three will dance, but with Temple, Xavier, Dayton, Richmond and Rhode Island the A-10 is again relevant on the national stage.
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