2020–21 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season is the 45th season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball. The season began with practices in November 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in late November, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. League play will begin in early January and end in early March.

The 2021 Atlantic 10 tournament was originally scheduled to be held from March 10–14, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but due to ongoing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was moved to campus locations. The tournament was first scheduled to be played on the same dates but split between the Robins Center at the University of Richmond and the Siegel Center at VCU, but the schedule was later adjusted so that the first four rounds will be played from March 3 to March 6 at those arenas with the championship game to be held March 14 at UD Arena at the University of Dayton.

Dayton were the defending regular season champion. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no defending Atlantic 10 Tournament champion.

Preseason

Preseason poll Prior to the season at the conference's annual media day, awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of the league's head coaches and select media members. RankTeam1Richmond (19)2Saint Louis (7)3Dayton (2)4St. Bonaventure5Duquesne6Rhode Island7Davidson8UMass9VCU10 George Mason11George Washington12Saint Joseph's13La Salle14Fordham(first place votes)

Preseason all-conference teams Award Recipients Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team Kellan Grady, Davidson Jalen Crutcher, DaytonTre Mitchell, UMassFatts Russell, Rhode IslandJacob Gilyard, RichmondJordan Goodwin, Saint Louis Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second TeamMarcus Weathers, Duquesne Blake Francis, Richmond Grant Golden, Richmond Kyle Lofton, St. BonaventureRyan Daly, Saint Joseph'sHasahn French, Saint Louis Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third TeamSincere Carry, DuquesneJavon Greene, George MasonAJ Wilson, George MasonOsun Osunniyi, St. BonaventureJavonte Perkins, Saint LouisBones Hyland, VCU Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive TeamAJ Wilson, George MasonJacob Gilyard, RichmondOsun Osunniyi, St. BonaventureHasahn French, Saint LouisJordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Regular season

Early season tournaments Team Tournament Finish Davidson Maui Invitational 7th Dayton DuquesneWade Houseton Tipoff Classic Fordham George Mason DC Paradise Jam 2nd George WashingtonVeterans Classic2nd La Salle Massachusetts Rhode Island2K Empire Classic4thHall of Fame Tip-Off 1st Richmond Bluegrass Showcase 1st Saint Joseph'sFort Myers Tip Off4th Saint LouisBilliken Classic 1st St. Bonaventure VCU Crossover Classic3rd

Source:

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week     First Place votes shown in ()

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 FinalDavidson AP C Dayton AP C RV RV* Duquesne AP C Fordham AP C George Mason AP C George Washington AP C La Salle AP C UMass AP C Rhode Island AP C Richmond AP RV 19 19 RV RV RV C RV RV* 19 25 23 RV RV RV Saint Joseph's AP C Saint Louis AP RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 24 25 22 RV RV RV C RV RV* RV RV RV RV 23 24 RV 24 RV RV RV St. Bonaventure AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV VCU AP RV RV RV C *USA TODAY did not release a Coaches Poll for Week 2. AP does not release a final poll.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. eight opponents and two games against five opponents.   DAVDAYDUQFORGMUGWULASUMAURIRICSTJSTLSBAVCUvs. Davidson – 1–00–10–10–00–00–10–10–11–00–10–02–00–1vs. Dayton0–1 – 1–11–00–20–11–00–01–10–01–00–20–12–0vs. Duquesne1–01–1 – 0–20–01–11–00–00–21–00–10–02–00–0vs. Fordham1–00–12–0 – 1–01–01–12–01–00–00–01–01–00–0vs. George Mason0–02–00–00–1 – 0–10–20–11–01–00–20–01–01–1vs. George Washington0–01–01–10–11–0 – 0–00–00–10–00–00–01–01–0vs. La Salle1–00–10–11–12–00–0 – 2–01–00–11–11–11–01–0vs. UMass1–00–00–00–21–00–00–2 – 0–21–00–01–00–00–0vs. Rhode Island1–01–12–00–10–11–00–12–0 – 1–00–11–00–11–1vs. Richmond0–10–00–10–00–10–01–00–10–1 – 1–11–01–01–0vs. Saint Joseph's1–00–11–00–02–00–01–10–01–01–1 – 0–01–01–0vs. Saint Louis0–02–00–00–10–00–01–10–10–10–10–0 – 0–11–0vs. St. Bonaventure0–21–00–20–10–10–10–10–01–00–10–11–0 – 1–1vs. VCU1–00–20–00–01–10–10–10–01–10–10–10–11–1 –Total7–49–77–72–118–63–56–116–47–106–53–96–411–410–4

Records against other conferences 2020–21 records against non-conference foes as of February 19, 2021. Records shown for regular season only.

Power ConferencesRecordAmerican2–1ACC1–1Big East1–3Big Ten0–4Big 120–4Pac-120–1SEC6–2Power Total10–16Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerica East1–1ASUN0–0Big Sky0–0Big South1–1Big West0–0CAA6–5C-USA1–3Horizon1–0Ivy0–0MAAC0–1MAC1–0MEAC3–1MVC3–0Mountain West2–0NEC1–1OVC3–1Patriot0–2Pacific West0–0SoCon4–0Southland1–0SWAC1–0Summit1–0Sun Belt1–1WAC0–0WCC1–0Other Division I Total32–17NCAA Division I Total42–33NCAA Division II ConferencesRecordCIAA1–0South Atlantic1–0NCAA Division II Total2–0NCAA Division III ConferencesRecordCoast to Coast2–0NCAA Division III Total2–0Overall46–33

Conference awards On March 10, 2021, the Atlantic 10 announced its conference awards. Award Recipients Coach of the YearMark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure Player of the YearBones Hyland, VCU Defensive Player of the YearOsun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure Rookie of the YearTyler Kolek, George Mason Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the YearTyler Burton, RichmondSixth Man of the YearSherif Kenney, La Salle First TeamKellan Grady, Davidson

Jalen Crutcher, Dayton

Tre Mitchell, Massachusetts

Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Bones Hyland, VCU Second TeamMarcus Weathers, Duquesne

Blake Francis, Richmond

Jacob Gilyard, Richmond

Jaren Holmes, St. Bonaventure

Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure

Javonte Perkins, Saint Louis Third TeamIbi Watson, Dayton

Jordan Miller, George Mason

Jamison Battle, George Washington

Fatts Russell, Rhode Island

Grant Golden, Richmond

Vince Williams Jr., VCU All-Academic TeamJordy Tshimanga, Dayton

Christian Ray, La Salle

Tre Mitchell, Massachusetts

Jaren Holmes, St. Bonaventure

Gibson Jimerson, Saint Louis All-Defensive TeamAJ Wilson, George Mason

Jacob Gilyard, Richmond

Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure

Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis

Hason Ward, VCUAll-Rookie TeamMustapha Amzil, Dayton

Tyler Kolek, George Mason

Jhamir Brickus, La Salle

Jordan Hall, Saint Joseph's

Adrian Baldwin Jr., VCU

Postseason

2021 A-10 Tournament

2021 NCAA Tournament

Two teams from the Atlantic 10 qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Tournament and regular-season champion St. Bonaventure qualified through the conference's automatic bid, while tournament and regular-season runner-up VCU qualified through an at-large bid.

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship 9 East St. Bonaventure eliminated by (8) LSU, 61–76 10 West VCU (7) Oregon advanced due to COVID-19 no-contest declaration

2021 NIT

Four teams from the Atlantic 10 earned at-large bids into the NIT.

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship 1 Saint Louis eliminated by (4) Mississippi State, 68–74 2 Davidson eliminated by (3) NC State, 61–75 2 Richmond defeated (3) Toledo, 76–66 eliminated by (4) Mississippi State, 67–68 4 Dayton eliminated by (1) Memphis, 60–71

References