The Road to Charlotte

With the Atlantic 10 Tournament only a few weeks away here are the paths that the Atlantic 10 squads will take

Charlotte (8-4)
@St. Bonaventure
@Dayton

Outlook: The 49ers will face two teams below themselves in the standings and if they can go out and take care of business they will be able to play in the A10 tournament, which they are hosting. Charlotte needs to take both these teams seriously and if they take care of business they will be able to return home for the A10 tournament.

Dayton (7-6)
@La Salle
@Fordham
Charlotte

Outlook: The Flyers are going to need to pull an upset or two to make it to Charlotte and they will need some help as well. Dayton was hurt by the weekend that saw all of Charlotte's games in Philadelphia get rained, but they did get some help when Saturday's game with UMass was cancelled. Dayton cannot afford to split these games and if they can't go at 4-2 or better, I am not expecting to see Dayton in Charlotte.

Fordham (11-3)
Dayton
@UMass
@Rhode Island

Outlook: The Rams are in a great position right now for a bye and the top seed in the tournament. Fordham controls its own destiny and if they can continue to avoid rainouts, this squad should get a day off. The big showdown will be when Fordham heads to UMass and if things go as expected this matchup could decide the A10 Championship. Even with a split Fordham would likely find themselves winning the A10 title.

George Washington (3-9)
@Rhode Island
@UMass
St. Louis
@La Salle

Outlook: The Colonials have a tough road ahead of them and it just doesn't look like a trip to Charlotte will be in the cards for this year. The Colonials were on a good roll before Kara Clauss went down and they have been in a bit of a rut ever since. I can see George Washington splitting its final few games, but they may be in too big of a hole to make the conference tournament.

La Salle (0-10)
Dayton
@Rhode Island
@UMass
George Washington

Outlook: Well it's pretty similar to Rhode Island's outlook a.k.a. not good. La Salle has no room for error and
even then they need some help. Also if for some reason they are close enough to make the A10 tournament, they may need to find a way to play the rained out DH with St. Joe's.

UMass (8-3)
George Washington
Fordham
La Salle
@Rhode Island

Outlook: The Minutewomen control their own destiny moving forward and they will be facing the bottom three teams in the conference, as well as current leader Fordham. UMass will have a big advantage in that they will be playing at home, where they have only lost five A10 games, ever. The Minutewomen should be in Charlotte, though their seed could come down to the last weekend.

Rhode Island (0-12)
George Washington
La Salle
Fordham
UMass

Outlook: Well the good news for the Rams is that they finish up at home, the bad news is that they need to run the table to make the conference tournament, but even then they still might not make it. The Rams should really focus on finishing strong to hopefully carry some momentum into next year.

St. Bonaventure (5-9)
Charlotte
St. Joseph's
Temple

Outlook: If the Bonnies want to make it down to Charlotte they are going to have to get there the hard way by playing 3 of the top 6 teams in the conference. Even if they do win all of their games it still might not be enough to get in. Not to mention they do need to actually play these games, which is not a given at this point.

St. Joseph's (7-3)
@St. Louis
@Temple
@St. Bonaventure

Outlook: The Hawks have a difficult stretch of games remaining, but they have been playing very well and I am expecting them to make the trip down to Charlotte. St. Joseph's really doesn't have much room for error over these next 6 games, but I can't see that stopping the Hawks.

St. Louis (9-5)
Temple
St. Joseph's
@George Washington

Outlook: The Billikens also have a difficult remaining schedule, but they do have the luxury of hosting Temple and St. Joseph's. St. Louis should make the tournament, but it's not a given for them either. The Billikens need to take every team seriously and they cannot afford any letdowns.

Temple (9-3)
@St. Louis
St. Joseph's
@St. Bonaventure

Outlook: The Owls are in a great spot right now to advance to the A10 tournament, but they do have a tough stretch ahead of them. Temple just needs to keep their level of play up and they should be down in Charlotte. Temple will need some help to get a bye and they find themselves at a disadvantage due to the number of games played.