Fansided

NCAA basketball: Predicting who wins every major conference tournament

By Mike Phillips

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 8
Next
DAYTON, OH – MARCH 07: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers reacts after a dunk in the second half of a game against the George Washington Colonials at UD Arena on March 7, 2020 in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton defeated George Washington 76-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OH – MARCH 07: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers reacts after a dunk in the second half of a game against the George Washington Colonials at UD Arena on March 7, 2020 in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton defeated George Washington 76-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Atlantic 10

  • Dates: March 11-15
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • Top Seed: Dayton

The Atlantic 10 is one of the most entertaining mid-major leagues in the country, but this year’s edition of the tournament really is just the Dayton invitational. All eyes will be on the Flyers, who tore through the regular season by going a perfect 18-0 in A-10 play.

Dayton is now in line for a potential no. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they can win three more games in Brooklyn thanks to San Diego State’s loss to Utah State in the Mountain West final. This event should also be the beginning of the coming-out party for Obi Toppin, who is one of the front-runners for the national Player of the Year awards.

The main opposition for the Flyers will be Rhode Island and Richmond, two bubble teams that probably need to win the A-10’s automatic bid in order to go dancing. Those squads are on the same side of the bracket and could face off in the semifinals, so the loser would presumably be out of at-large contention.

One potential sleeper to watch is VCU, which began the season in the top 25 but slumped to the nine-seed after a disappointing regular season. The Rams have to tangle with UMass first to earn a shot at Dayton in the quarterfinals.

In the end, however, Dayton simply looks too tough to topple. Take the Flyers here.

Prediction: Dayton