With the A10 forum being the most popular college basketball forum on the site, I figured I should branch out and do one of the mid major conferences. (Please - don't send me a PM telling me why the A10 isn't a mid major) This is obviously nothing compared to WH's preview which are incredibly in-depth. I'll also do the Missouri Valley soon.

Top Players in Conference
Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island
Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph's
Kevin Lisch, St. Louis
Dionte Christmas, Temple
Derrick Brown, Xavier

Player of the Year
Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island

Player to Look Out For
Chris Wright, Dayton

Projected A10 Finish
1. Xavier 14-2
2. St. Joseph's 11-5
3. Charlotte 10-6
4. Temple 10-6
5. Richmond 9-7
6. UMass 9-7
7. Rhode Island 9-7
8. La Salle 9-7
9. Dayton 8-8
10. Duquesne 7-9
11. George Washington 6-10
12. St. Louis 5-11
13. Fordham 3-13
14. St. Bonaventure 2-14

Xavier
I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be the overwhelming favorites in the A10 once again. Sure, they have to replace some very good players in Lavender, Burrell, Anderson, and Duncan, but Brown returns as one of the best players in the conference and Raymond is no slouch himself. Incoming freshman Kenny Frease should be an immediate impact freshman in the post.

St. Joseph's
I don't see this team falling off like some do, as I thought they were the 2nd best team behind Xavier last year and will repeat that way. Sure, losing Calathes and Ferguson hurts, but senior Ahmad Nivins is one of the best players in the conference and will lead this team well. Carr and Govens should step up just fine. They do need to improve the defense, however.

Charlotte
Charlotte is my surprise team out of this conference as they return more than any other team in the A10. Add that to the fact that they went 9-7 last season makes me think there's no reason they can't up that this year. Losing senior leader Leemire Goldwire is a tough loss, but they were excellent on defense and have a couple nice deep shooters in Mack and Andersen.

Temple
Call me lukewarm on them. Most people have them higher than this, but how good were they last year? They did look good at times (winning the A10 tourney), but then there were times that they lost to (gulp) Charleston and barely survived Marist. Dunphy hasn't had these Owls playing much defense, either. I think the loss of Chris Clark could hurt more than some expect.

Richmond
Richmond is another team that returns a lot and could surprise a lot of people. If this team can win 9 games being as young as they were last season, I don't see any reason why they can't do the same this season. Mooney's had these guys playing very well defensively under his reign. They were really good defending the perimeter so opposing teams need to attack them in the post.

UMass
I feel like UMass lost a little too much to meet some people's pretty lofty expectations. Ford did a good job of getting his teams to overachieve, but with a new coach there's uncertainty. The loss of Forbes stands out without question, but I think the losses of solid post player Dante Milligan, and Etienne Brower who could step out and play inside will hurt a lot, too.

Rhode Island
I think I'm a little higher on them than most, but why not? It's amazing how quickly people forget this was a top 25 team at one point last season. They return the top player in the conference, imo, in Jimmy Baron. URI also returns quality players in Seawright and Ulmer, and I would think that they have enough talent to go 9-7.

La Salle
Some are high on them, some are not...I guess I'm inbetween. On one hand, they pretty much only lost Darnell Harris, but he was their senior leader and best player, and those aren't easy to replace. You also have to consider that they had some ugly losses (Howard and Bucknell, really?). They do have five upperclassmen that are experienced and will see a lot of minutes.

Dayton
A lot of people have them much higher, but you can't ignore the losses of Brian Roberts and Jimmy Binnie. Even Andres Sandoval will be missed. That's a lot to replace for a team that some are picking to go 11-5 or even win the conference. The defense let them down a bit last year as well...I guess I'm just not 'feeling' this team.

Duquesne
Interesting to see that WH thinks the Dukes will be dead last in the conference. I'm not so sure...incoming freshman Melquan Bolding is an immediate impact freshman who will be a big time scorer at some point. They were better than 7-9 in conference last year...crushed everyone in their non-con wins and nearly beat Drake and Pitt. Aaron Jackson and Damian Saunders are quality players.

George Washington
GW should improve from being the 2nd worst team in the A10 last season, but I'm not sure by as much as some expect. Sure, they do return a good portion of their team, it's just that they don't have a ton of talent, especially off the bench. Defense will be their strength.

St. Louis
I'm still pretty skeptical on this team...maybe I can't get that ugly 49-20 loss to GW out of my head, I don't know. No question that Kevin Lisch is one of the best in the conference, but Liddell and the majority of the offense couldn't get it going last year. Loss of Meyer and even Danny Brown off the bench hurts a bit.

Fordham
Sadly for Fordham fans, you could tell early in the season that they just weren't going to put it together. It's going to be a rough go around this year after losing more than any team in the conference including 5 seniors from a squad that only went 8 deep. Time to rebuild...

St. Bonaventure
I'm puzzled as to why WH doesn't pick them to be dead last in the conference because they're awful. They lost their top 3 minute getters from a team that only won 2 conference games. Freshman Matt Morgan who looked like he had some potential is gone, too.