Though the Atlantic 10 slate was once again thin this week as we coast into the brief holiday break, the conference still somehow managed a down week. Davidson, Richmond, and St. Bonaventure are all slowing after fiery starts to the 2025-26 season, while struggles continue in Chicago. All of which has made Saint Louis’ persistent dominance a much-welcome sight.
Our resident A10 reporter, Riley Frain, is bringing you a weekly notebook this season to recap all the latest news from his coverage around the league.
Davidson, Richmond and St. Bonaventure finally stumbling
Davidson, Richmond and St. Bonaventure were all picked in the bottom half of the A10’s 2025-26 Preseason Men’s Basketball Poll. To the surprise of many though, all three had solid starts to the campaign and have combined for only seven losses through the first month and a half of the season.
However, all three stumbled into some significant upsets within the past seven days, starting with St. Bonaventure on Saturday, falling to Ohio on a neutral court (a Quad 4 loss). Richmond fell in a tightly contested battle at Elon, 73-70, which is the Spiders’ second Quad 3 loss in less than a month. Davidson was upset by Temple at home, 68-63, after taking Saint Mary’s to the wire just last weekend.
It sometimes felt like we were waiting for the other shoe to drop with these three programs amid the early success, but these were all very winnable games. There’s still a ton of talent here, especially with St. Bonaventure, but the middle of the pack in the A10 is definitely starting to shape up.
Can it get any worse for Loyola Chicago?
Loyola Chicago’s struggles in the non-conference have been persistent. Head coach Drew Valentine and the Ramblers battled a seven-game losing streak, finally bounced back with wins over Princeton and Central Michigan but only before hitting an all-time low last weekend.
On Sunday, Loyola Chicago lost to the then 357th-ranked program by KenPom in Chicago State with a final score of 84-79. The Cougars led essentially from wire-to-wire despite the Ramblers getting 18 points from Xavier Amos, 17 points from Deywilk Tavarez and a double-double from Miles Rubin.
That was followed up this week with a double-digit loss to San Francisco, a program that’s faced its own struggles in the non-conference, before a matchup with Santa Clara this weekend. With A10 play set to begin after the holiday break, things are looking dire at the Gentile Center for the time being.
Maybe St. Joe’s is showing signs of life?
Offseason drama on Hawk Hill gave way to a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign for St. Joe’s. The Hawks struggled early against Lafayette and Drexel before three straight losses, including to local Big 5 rival Penn.
However, more recently, St. Joe’s has won five of its last six with a buzzer-beater at the Big 5 Classic over Temple, a strong performance at Syracuse and necessary wins over Princeton, Coppin State and Delaware State.
Deuce Jones II has had to carry the scoring load for an offense that ranks 237th in the country but a strong defense led by Justice Ajogbor and Desear Haskins has anchored the Hawks during this recent stretch. However, with Jaiden Glover-Toscano missing Thursday’s contest due to a wrist injury, the offensive puzzle only gets more difficult for head coach Steve Donahue and his Hawks.
A test against Coastal Carolina on Monday just before the short holiday break should help provide some answers on who will fill Glover-Toscano’s role should he miss extended time.
Saint Louis’ utter non-conference dominance continues
It’s hard to ignore what head coach Josh Schertz and Saint Louis have done during the non-conference. The Billikens are currently 10-1, their lone loss coming at the hands of Stanford in a one-point game, with all five members of Schertz’s starting lineup averaging double-digits though the first 11 games.
After beating San Francisco by double-digits last weekend, Saint Louis returned this week and hit the century mark in a 112-53 beatdown of the SWAC preseason favorite Bethune-Cookman. Seven different players scored 10+ points, with Trey Green managing 19 points and going 5-for-8 from three-point range as the Billikens came just one three shy of the program record.
Schertz and Co. will have a couple tune-up games prior to conference play against New Hampshire this weekend and Division-III Principia just after the brief holiday break. But as the Billikens prepare to host St. Joe’s on Dec. 31 to tip off the A10 slate, who in-conference can possibly put a stop to this utter dominant run Saint Louis is currently on?
