The Atlantic 10 is a territory of ferocious fans. With basketball the focus for basically every school, the league, as a whole, takes a lot of pride in its performance.
However, that performance hasn't been quite up to the league’s own standards recently. The A-10 hasn't sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the conference looks like it has a clear top six. That group of teams will need to build significant resume equity in the non-conference portion of the season.
The trickier part, though, is tip-toeing through the landmine that is the A-10 schedule.
Even with a top tier, road tests in the conference are never easy. The top dogs must avoid taking losses to bottom-feeders. That would lead to a highly contentious battle for the regular season title – and perhaps a return to the days of earning three (or more?!) bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Note: Odds are from BetMGM unless otherwise noted.
2024-25 Atlantic 10 Regular Season Title Odds, Futures
| Team Name | Odds (Via BetMGM) |
| VCU | +300 |
| Dayton | +400 |
| Saint Joe's | +400 |
| Saint Louis | +600 |
| Loyola Chicago | +700 |
| George Mason | +1000 |
| UMass | +1000 |
| Duquesne | +1800 |
| Richmond | +2000 |
| Rhode Island | +2500 |
| St. Bonaventure | +3500 |
| Davidson | +3500 |
| Fordham | +4000 |
| La Salle | +5000 |
| George Washington | +8000 |
Atlantic 10 Favorites
VCU Rams (+300)
The Rams survived a portal scare by retaining star guard Max Shulga, one of the top players in the league. He had committed to Villanova, but he flipped back to VCU for one last run with coach Ryan Odom, who he also played for at Utah State.
That gives VCU a returning First Team All-Conference leader as a sturdy foundation.
Loaded with terrific guard play – Shulga, Joe Bamisile, Phillip Russell, Zeb Jackson and even breakout candidate Fats Billups III – the Rams are deservedly the favorite entering the season.
Concerns around interior play linger, but adding a long, versatile piece in Jack Clark from Elite Eight participant Clemson was a sneaky valuable move.
Schedule-wise, VCU sees fellow contenders Dayton and SLU twice, but the other double foes (Richmond, St. Bonaventure) are manageable.
Dayton Flyers (+400)
It's a new era in Dayton, Ohio, as first-round NBA draft pick DaRon Holmes II no longer patrols the lane for the Flyers. Sharpshooter Koby Brea and combo guard Kobe Elvis also departed via the portal.
Anthony Grant has been a consistent winner at his alma mater, though, and swiping power-conference talents in Posh Alexander (Butler) and Zed Key (Ohio State) has buoyed the Flyers’ hope at a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The health of point guard Malachi Smith is a huge question mark, though, and the schedule does Dayton no favors (SLU, VCU, Loyola Chicago are all double opponents).
Saint Joseph's Hawks (+400)
Along with VCU, Saint Joe’s is the only school to return a First Team All-Conference performer (guard Erik Reynolds II).
Add in blossoming sophomore star Xzayvier Brown and two-way force Rasheer Fleming, and Saint Joe's might have the best trio in the conference.
Still, questions about depth and coach Billy Lange’s ability to maximize the Hawks’ potential linger.
Saint Joe's has never finished above .500 in the conference in Lange’s five seasons in charge, so asking him to win the league at +400 is a major leap from that mediocrity.
Other Serious Atlantic 10 Contenders
Saint Louis Billikens (+600)
Saint Louis is the shiny new toy in the league, having added a universally-respected coach in Josh Schertz and two All-Conference recipients from Schertz’s Indiana State team.
Robbie Avila is the biggest name to know, a delightful player who can run the offense from the top of the key.
His teammate, scoring guard Isaiah Swope, will also have a major say in any Billiken success, and bringing back sniper Gibson Jimerson from the portal precipice should set the Bills up to have an elite scoring attack.
The defense has more question marks, though, as athletic Brown transfer Kalu Anya can only defend one player at a time.
SLU also has the toughest schedule in the conference, as all of its double foes are top five preseason teams (VCU, Dayton, Saint Joe’s, Loyola).
Loyola Chicago Ramblers (+700)
If Saint Louis’ offense isn't your flavor, can I interest you in Loyola’s suffocating defense? The Ramblers were a top-30 outfit nationally on that end last season, per KenPom, and sophomore big man Miles Rubin is the best rim protector in the league.
Des Watson is a steady perimeter veteran, and the Ramblers added a strong class of transfers to complement those key returnees.
Loyola gets three of the other top five squads twice, but the Ramblers do avoid a trip to favorite VCU.
George Mason Patriots (+1000)
Ok, let’s get a little cheeky here. George Mason has a stud scorer on the wing in Darius Maddox, a potential force in the paint in Jalen Haynes and an amazing defender in Jared Billups.
The depth looks great, and coach Tony Skinn has high upside in his second season after sneaking into the KenPom top 100 in his debut.
The most intriguing part about a George Mason wager, though, is the schedule. The Patriots don't play any of the top five teams twice, instead getting George Washington, Richmond, Rhode Island and Davidson twice.
That group could potentially all be bottom-half finishers in the league.
George Mason doesn't have to be the best team in the league to pull this off. Just look at Richmond and Loyola Chicago last year, who tied atop the A-10 standings despite being well behind Dayton in all analytical rankings.
Notably, George Mason is +1400 at Caesars and +1200 at FanDuel, so shop around if you can.
Competitive But Flawed
UMass Minutemen (+1000)
Frank Martin’s Minutemen hold some intrigue after revamping the frontcourt rotation to go along with three returning rotation guards.
Matt Cross and Josh Cohen were nothing short of amazing last year, though, and that team only reached 11-7 in the league.
This price isn't high enough to take a swing. The Minutemen are +2000 at both DraftKings and FanDuel, but I’m still not biting.
Duquesne Dukes (+1800)
With a new coach and an almost entirely new roster, the Dukes could be a high-variance dart throw.
It’s hard to imagine this year going better than last year, though, as Keith Dambrot was a coaching legend and the Dukes got hot at the right time (winning 15 of 18 games to make the Big Dance).
Richmond (+2000) & St. Bonaventure (+3500)
I'm putting these two together because they're similar team archetypes: highly-respected veteran coaches that have had terrific teams before, but the rosters look markedly worse than last year.
The Spiders at least have some key pieces back from the team that tied for the league title, but the Bonnies don't return a single player who averaged 15+ minutes per game.
Rhode Island (+2500) & Davidson (+3500)
Conversely to Richmond and the Bonnies, these two squads have third-year coaches who still need to prove it in their current tenures.
Archie Miller has been unable to rediscover the A-10 success he had at Dayton, while Matt McKillop hasn't matched his father’s ceiling.
Miller has finished outside KenPom’s top 200 in both seasons at URI, and though the roster has potential, that’s not a track record worth betting on.
McKillop, meanwhile, has finished 140th and 125th, per KenPom; Bob McKillop finished his career at Davidson with 11 consecutive seasons better than those marks.
Keep an eye on Davidson freshman Roberts Blums, though – he and sophomore Bobby Durkin should form a lethal wing duo.
The Rebuilders
Fordham (+4000), La Salle (+5000) & George Washington (+8000)
We’ll group this trio together, as I think they're all drawing dead for a league title.
Fordham simply doesn't have enough offense, though Abdou Tsimbila and Jahmere Tripp form an elite defensive core.
La Salle is a strange collection of returnees and portal parts, but the overall ceiling isn't high enough (shout out the Explorers’ new arena, though).
George Washington already lost a key player for the season, as Garrett Johnson went down with a torn ACL during the offseason. The Revolutionaries are young and have upside, but they look a year away from ascending into any kind of real contention.
Atlantic 10 Picks & Futures
Here's my final advice: Shopping around is certainly your best bet here – VCU is +400 at Caesars, while Saint Joseph’s can be found at +1000 at FanDuel.
Whoever you like, make sure you get the best price.
I think VCU is the best team, but the number isn’t quite there.
My official recommendation would be to snag a +1400 ticket on George Mason and ride the upside/schedule combination.
