NEW YORK — The way Dr. John Giannini sees it, the Atlantic 10 Conference is virtually realignment-proof.
Despite the losses of Butler, Temple and Xavier, the A-10 remains a strong and potent league capable of sending multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament.
“Everyone has a lot of questions about realignment and how it’s going to affect conferences,” the La Salle coach told SNY.tv Tuesday at the conference’s media day at Barclays Center. “I don’t think it’s going to have a big effect at all on the Atlantic 10.”
Butler and Xavier are now in the Big East while Temple resides in the American Athletic Conference. Yet the 13-team A-10 is loaded with established teams — including former Final Four participants VCU and newcomer George Mason — and those on the rise. Davidson, another established program, joins as the league’s 14th team in 2014.
Giannini pointed out that only the Big East had more Top 100 teams than the A-10 last year, and only the Big Ten (6) had more teams win games in the NCAA Tournament than the A-10 (5).
“First, the depth of our league is almost unmatched,” Giannini said. “Last year we had 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, second only to the Big East. And we had a lot of teams just on the outside, and teams with new coaches that are rebuilding. I think programs like Dayton, George Washington, Rhode Island are going to cross over that 100 barrier this year. I think George Mason, who’s a new addition, is going to be a consistent top 100 team.
“So I just think we have more good teams, including right now, than just about any other conference in the country.”
Giannini also points out that the A-10 has historically withstood the losses of high-profile programs like Villanova, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Penn State.
“If you look at the A10 historically, they’ve endured the changes in conference membership as well or better than anyone else,” he said. “We’ve lost some big names in the past and only gotten better….This league’s always been good and I think we’re positioned to continue being good now.”
VCU was picked first in the A-10, followed by St. Louis, La Salle and UMass.
“The exciting thing is that the vast majority of teams in the league are improved from last year coming into the season,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said.
“Obviously, the way our 13 teams are able to perform in November and December will go a long way towards determining how good our league can be.”
Atlantic 10 Conference Predicted Order of Finish
1. VCU (19) 307
2. Saint Louis (5) 288
3. La Salle 265
4. Massachusetts 236
5. Saint Joseph’s 199
6. Richmond 173
7. Dayton 171
8. George Mason 141
9. Rhode Island 130
10. George Washington 122
11. Fordham 58
12. St. Bonaventure 56
13. Duquesne 38
First Team Preseason All-Conference
Tyreek Duren, Sr. G, La Salle
Chaz Williams, Sr. G, UMass
Dwayne Evans, Sr. F, St. Louis
Treveon Graham, Jr. G, VCU
Juvonte Reddic, Sr. F, VCU
Second Team Preseason All-Conference
Sherrod Wright, Sr. G, George Mason
Isaiah Armwood, Sr. F, George Washington
Xavier Munford, Sr. G, Rhode Island
Langston Galloway, Sr. G, St. Joe’s
Ronald Roberts, Jr, Sr. F, St. Joe’s
Third Team Preseason All-Conference
Branden Frazier, Sr. G, Fordham
Tyrone Garland, Sr. G, La Salle
Jerrell Wright, Jr. F, La Salle
Cedrick Lindsay, Sr. G, Richmond
Jordair Jett, Sr. G, St. Louis
