NCAA Basketball Odds: Atlantic 10 Tournament Preview
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
By Bodog Sportsbook
Could the Atlantic 10 get as many as four bids this season to the NCAA Tournament? Many people believe the A-10 has never been deeper and that four is a very possible number with three teams nearly a lock as the conference tournament is set to tip off Tuesday with four games – bet on the tournament with Bodog Sportsbook’s college basketball odds.
Temple, Xavier and Richmond (which is led by newly named A-10 Player of the Year Kevin Anderson) – are the top three seeds and all appear set for the Big Dance no matter what happens this week. Those three all have first-round byes in the A-10 Tournament as does No. 4 seed Saint Louis, which might need to win this to get an at-large NCAA bid. Tuesday’s opening games are on campus, and then the tournament moves to Atlantic City for the weekend. Here are the first-round matchups Tuesday night: No. 12 St. Joseph's Hawks at No. 5 Rhode Island Rams, No. 11 Massachusetts Minutemen at No. 6 Charlotte 49ers, No. 10 George Washington at No. 7 Dayton Flyers, No. 9 Duquesne Duke sat No. 8 St. Bonaventure.
The top seed never seems to win this tournament, which is bad news for coach Fran Dunphy’s Temple team, the two-time tournament champion and 3/2 Bodog Sportsbook favorite. The last No. 1 team to win it was Xavier in 2002. No top seed has even reached the finals since 2005. However, the Owls are one of the best teams in the country away from home with 12 road wins. Temple and Xavier tied for the regular-season crown this year, but the Owls, who enter on an eight-game winning streak, won the one head-to-head matchup and thus got the No. 1 seed. Temple, which leads the conference in scoring defense, lost only to Charlotte and Richmond in the regular season, and it wouldn't face either team until the championship game. Temple is led by forward Lavoy Allen (11.7 ppg, 10.8 rpg), a first-team all-conference pick.
Don’t rule out a tournament run by Dayton (8/1 to win on Bodog Sportsbook), which was the preseason favorite but finished seventh. The Flyers enter having lost four of five, but they are always in the game with eight losses by five points or less since January.
The quarterfinals aren’t until Friday, with the schedule set up like this (all games from quarters on in Atlantic City and Eastern time):
(1) Temple vs. St. Bonaventure-Duquesne winner, Noon
(4) Saint Louis vs. Rhode Island-Saint Joseph's, 2:30
(2) Xavier vs. Dayton-George Washington winner, 6:30
(3) Richmond vs. Charlotte-Massachusetts winner, 9
Get all your Atlantic 10 odds at Bodog Sportsbook
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charlotte 49ers - college basketball odds - dayton flyers - duquesne duke - george washington - massachusetts minutemen - ncaa tournament - rhode island rams - st. josephs hawks