There’s a lot of basketball between now and Selection Sunday, but with conference play just over two weeks away, the Atlantic 10 has to be at least a little uneasy about its standing.
The Atlantic 10 is lacking signature wins over teams in the RPI or KenPom.com rankings, the two most prominently used computer rankings.
Ken Pomeroy’s rankings are growing in influence. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them officially replace or at least join RPI as part of the selection committee’s official information.
Rhode Island’s Nov. 19 win over Cincinnati (40 RPI, 23 KenPom.com) is the best one.
UMass and George Washington each have a win over Temple (35/87). VCU’s win over UNC-Asheville (45/128) is unlikely to stay a top-50 win as Asheville will likely fall once it starts Big South play. Duquesne beat Pittsburgh (47/59), but that win won’t likely mean much as the Dukes aren’t an NCAA contender.
There aren’t a ton of opportunities for good wins left for Atlantic 10 teams to have a chance to be in at-large bid discussions.
None of the Atlantic 10’s top three teams — URI, Dayton and VCU — have established themselves as sure fire tournament teams.
Rhode Island (57/43) looked terrific early, but the Rams have gone 2-4 since its Cincy win. Losing to Duke is expected, but it would have been nice to get at least one win from the group of Valparaiso, Providence and Houston.
Hassan Martin being sideline with a quad injury isn’t helping URI.
Dayton (31/39) missed an opportunity for one great one when it lost to St. Mary’s at home (61-57) and one good one when it fell to Nebraska.
The Flyers’ only win over a power conference school is Alabama and the Tide is a middling 4-4. The Flyers still have a shot to grab a solid win over Northwestern (27/40).
VCU (49/49) lost an overtime game to Georgia Tech and suffered an ugly 64-46 loss to Illinois.
If the league is going to get three teams into the NCAA Tournament, it needs those three teams to really separate themselves from the pack in conference play.
Davidson (43/63) might be good enough to get in the mix as well, but its margin for error is smaller.
St. Bonaventure, La Salle, UMass, Richmond, George Washington and maybe George Mason look good enough to beat the league’s top teams and that could do damage to the league’s overall at-large totals.
MY TOP 10 — 1. UCLA; 2. Villanova; 3. Baylor; 4. Kansas; 5. Duke; 6. Kentucky; 7. Creighton; 8. North Carolina; 9. Gonzaga; 10. Louisville.
For the rest of my Top 25, visit the College Hoop Week Guide on gazettenet.com’s UMass Sports Blog.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK: CBS Sports Classic, Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas — The undercard is a chance to see No. 2 UCLA against Ohio State at 3 p.m. The Bruins are arguably the most watchable team in the country.
The main event is No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 7 North Carolina at 5:45. That’s a good game in any season. This year it could have a huge impact on who gets a No. 1 seed.
Crossroads Classic, Saturday at Bankers Life Field House, Indianapolis — The only thing that would make this better was if there was a second weekend Beanpot style to this best-of-Indiana event.
No. 15 Purdue plays No. 21 Notre Dame at 2 p.m. on ESPN, followed by No. 18 Butler vs. No. 9 Indiana at 5 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
ATLANTIC 10 GAME OF THE WEEK: Davidson at No. 3 Kansas, Saturday, 7 p.m. ESPN2 — The Jayhawks are obviously a huge favorite, but …
They’re playing with a really short bench with big man Carlton Bragg suspended, and they’re one of the nation’s worst free-throw shooting teams as their 58.8 percentage ranks them 346 out of 351.
Honorable mention:Temple at Villanova, Tuesday, 7 p.m. FS1 — Sure, Temple isn’t in the A-10 anymore, but if the Owls upset the Wildcats in this Philly showdown, UMass and GW both stand to benefit.
BUZZER BEATER — Washington is going to be faced with an interesting decision after the season: Should coach Lorenzo Romar be fired?
Assuming the 4-5 Huskies don’t make some huge turn around, it’s going to be six years without a tournament berth.
That usually means a coach gets fired. They’ve missed the field despite having five first-round NBA draft picks during that span and current freshman Markelle Fultz is expected to be a top-five pick.
Washington has underachieved.
So why not fire Romar? In addition to being a UW alum, he’s got Michael Porter Jr., the No. 2 recruit in America, signed for next year.
Would Washington risk losing him to can Romar? Is it worth having top talent if it doesn’t translate into a tournament appearance?
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage