Written by: Ryan Cunningham

Twitter: @R_Cunningham04

Twitter: @wingspansports (follow for all your sports information; we follow back)

College basketball is back. Starting today, I will be posting articles once a week talking about what happened during the previous week in the Atlantic 10. I’ll just say it; the Atlantic 10 has been an absolute disaster thus far. There have been a number of bad losses in the conference. Bucknell won at St. Bonaventure to start off the Bonnie’s year. I’m not saying Bucknell is a cupcake game, but if Bonaventure is looking for an at-large bid, this is not a game you want to lose. George Mason, who was picked very high in the league, lost at home to American in overtime. American was picked to finish 7th in the Patriot League. Just yesterday, George Mason was playing great in the first half at Georgia Southern and entered the locker room at halftime up 20. They ended up losing the game by 11, giving up 64 points in the second half. Not an ideal start for Mason, especially with the expectations placed on the team. Longwood, who was picked second to last in the Big South, went over to Richmond and beat them by 5. Over the past few years, Richmond has always started out slow and finished the season hot, but Longwood? Really? That can’t happen in an at-large league. Lafayette, who was picked to finish second to last in the Patriot League, traveled to Philadelphia and took down La Salle in a nail biter. Niagara hosted St. Bonaventure and took them down.

Yes, that all happened.

Current Records:

Saint Louis (3-0) VCU (3-0) Davidson (2-0) Dayton (2-0) Saint Joe’s (2-0) Duquesne (2-0) UMass (2-1) Fordham (1-1) Rhode Island (1-1) St. Bonaventure (1-2) Richmond (1-1) La Salle (0-2) George Mason (0-3) George Washington (0-3)

Similar to last year, the non-conference slate for the league as a whole has been atrocious. This all just makes the conference that much more interesting. You never know what’s going to happen on any given night. This weekend, I will be in Charleston, SC at the Charleston Classic and will be attending Purdue/Appalachian State and Davidson/Wichita State. This Davidson game is a good chance to pick up a quality win for themselves and the league. If they win, they will likely play Purdue and have another chance at a quality win. Kellan Grady of Davidson was just named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for the first week of the season. Grady finished the week averaging 23.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor and 80% at the line. Obi Toppin of Dayton and Austin Rotroff of Duquesne were both named Co-Rookie of the Week. Toppin made his college debut against North Florida with an impressive 18-point, 10-rebound performance in 28 minutes of play. Rotroff went 6-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, in scoring a team high-tying 17 points in Duquesne’s season-opening win over William & Mary. All of the preseason polls and awards can be seen below.

Preseason Poll:

Saint Louis Saint Joseph’s Davidson George Mason Rhode Island Dayton VCU Massachusetts St. Bonaventure Richmond Duquesne La Salle George Washington Fordham

Preseason All-Conference First Team:

Kellan Grady, Davidson

Josh Cunningham, Dayton

Otis Livingston II, George Mason

Luwane Pipkins, Massachusetts

Grant Golden, Richmond

Preseason All-Conference Second Team:

Eric Williams, Jr., Duquesne

Pookie Powell, La Salle

Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island

Courtney Stockard, St. Bonaventure

Javon Bess, Saint Louis

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Preseason All-Conference Third Team:

Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson

Lamarr Kimble, Saint Joseph’s

Charlie Brown, Jr., Saint Joseph’s

Hasahn French, Saint Louis

De’Riante Jenkins, VCU

Preseason All-Defensive Team:

Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson

Terry Nolan, Jr., George Washington

Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island

Jacob Gilyard, Richmond

Javon Bess, Saint Louis

Check back next week for a game by game analysis of what went down this week.