2010 Atlantic 10 Tournament preview

When: March 9-14
Where: Campus sites / Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, NJ
Championship Game: March 14 - CBS
Defending Champs: Temple
The Format: 12 teams, 4 rounds

(AP Photo/Al Behrman)

First Round (Mar. 9)
Game 1 - #9 Duquesne at #8 St. Bonaventure - 7:00pm ET
Game 2 - #12 St. Joseph's at #5 Rhode Island - 7:00pm ET
Game 3 - #10 George Washington at #7 Dayton - 7:00pm ET
Game 4 - #11 Massachusetts at #6 Charlotte - 7:00pm ET

Second Round (Mar. 12)
Game 5 - #1 Temple vs. Game 1 winner - 12:00pm ET
Game 6 - #4 St. Louis vs. Game 2 winner - 2:30pm ET
Game 7 - #2 Xavier vs. Game 3 winner - 6:30pm ET
Game 8 - #3 Richmond vs. Game 2 winner - 9:00pm ET

Third Round (Mar. 13)
Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 1:00pm ET
Game 10 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner- 3:30pm ET

Championship Round (Mar. 14)
Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner - 1:00pm ET

Bubble Teams Needing a Win: Rhode Island, Dayton

Rhode Island - RPI (39) - SOS (76) - KenPom (76)
The Verdict: Need to beat St. Joseph's and then St. Louis. That should be enough.

Dayton - RPI (51) - SOS (34) - KenPom (45)
The Verdict: Need to make the A-10 finals. And then pray for a while.

Player to Watch: Jordan Crawford-Xavier
Syracuse's Wesley Johnson deserves all the attention in the world, but there's no doubt that Crawford has been one of the most influential transfers of the season. The former Indiana Hoosier has given the Musketeers a much-needed offensive presence in a defensive-minded league. His 19.7 scoring average also tied with Massachusetts' Rick Harris for the A-10 lead. And, for a high volume three point shooter (65 makes in 30 games), Crawford's accuracy from behind the arc deserves serious recognition. If you're looking for a player who has the potential to put his team on his back and carry them to a league title, then Crawford is your guy.

Prediction: Richmond
The Spiders narrowly missed out on a share of the A-10 regular season championship, but they still have what appears to be the most well-rounded team in the conference. All five starters are upperclassmen, and this is same squad that completely dismantled No. 1 seed Temple back on February 6th. Defensively, the Spiders are one of the best in the country at forcing their opponents into bad shots. They also have plenty of ammunition on at the other end behind scorers Kevin Anderson (17.8 ppg) and David Gonzalvez (14.3 ppg). I'm thinking Richmond over Temple (again) in a nail-biting finale.

Other Previews:
ACC Tournament
Big East Tournament
Big Ten Tournament
Big 12 Tournament
Pac-10 Tournament
  SEC Tournament