Dayton Is Soaring at the Top of the Atlantic 10

The NCAA Tournament is nearly a month away, giving teams across the college basketball landscape little time to make a push to win their respective conferences. Among the conferences that could have a competitive finish down the stretch, the Atlantic 10 has a couple of teams vying for the regular-season title.

At the top of the Atlantic 10, we have the Dayton Flyers, Richmond Spiders, and Loyola Chicago Ramblers all within reach of securing the conference crown. Meanwhile, the VCU Rams, St. Bonaventure Bonnies, and UMass Minutemen are considered longshots to climb to the top of the conference by the end of the season.

Via the college basketball odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, let's take a look at the odds to win the Atlantic 10.

Atlantic 10 Betting Odds

Dayton (-125)

The Flyers are in the pole position in the Atlantic 10 with an impressive 20-4 record through their first 24 contests. Dayton comes in as the No. 16 team in the AP Top 25 poll and No. 22 team in KenPom's ratings in the weeks leading up to the NCAA Tournament.

Despite facing just one ranked team all season -- which was a 69-55 loss to the Houston Cougars in November -- the Flyers are an efficient team that is recording the 20th-best effective field-goal percentage (55.9%) and the ninth-best three-point percentage (39.2%) in the country. When taking the floor, Dayton leans on their forward duo of DaRon Holmes II (19.6 PPG) and Nate Santos (12.1 PPG).

Teams want to be at their best entering March, and the Flyers have suffered just two losses since the beginning of December. Against conference opponents, Dayton is tied with Loyola Chicago for the best record at 10-2, with its two losses coming on the road against Richmond and VCU.

With only six games remaining on their schedule, the Flyers have to take on just three more teams with 16-plus wins. Barring a late-season slip-up, Dayton is primed to be the regular-season champions of the Atlantic 10 conference, and there are reasons to believe they can make a run in March.

Richmond (+270)

Even though Loyola Chicago is tied with Dayton with a 10-2 conference record right now, Richmond has the second-shortest odds to win the Atlantic 10 (+270). The Spiders have the third-best overall record (17-7) and the third-best conference record (9-2) in the A-10.

There doesn't seem to be much confidence in Richmond in the KenPom ratings. It is St. Bonaventure that has the second-highest KenPom rating (79th) and Richmond comes in at No. 88.

Even with that being the case, the Spiders are a well-rounded squad that deploys four players who average 10-plus points per game. Of the bunch, senior guard Jordan King leads the charge with averages of 18.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.

One of the positives for Richmond is the fact that it can finish off defensive possessions with rebounds, logging the 36th-most defensive rebounds per game (27.8) in the nation. Six of the seven losses the Spiders have endured this season have come on the road or at a neutral site, which is notable considering four of their final seven games are on the road.

Loyola Chicago (+370)

Last but not least, we have a team in Loyola Chicago that a vast majority of people are familiar with due to the presence of Sister Jean. The Ramblers failed to advance to the NCAA Tournament last year after registering a dismal 10-21 record, but they have their sights on getting back to the tourney this campaign.

Loyola currently owns an 18-7 record overall and is tied with Dayton for the best conference record at 10-2. Following a road loss to VCU in late January, the Ramblers have won five straight games, and all of the wins have come against conference opponents.

Upon looking at the KenPom ratings, Loyola is slotted in at No. 106, putting them slightly behind the George Mason Patriots. What makes the Ramblers a semi-dangerous team is their stifling defense, one that is forcing opposing teams to shoot 39.7% from the field (16th-lowest mark in the country).

Loyola has just two players averaging double-digit points per game -- Desmond Watson and Philip Alston -- and it doesn't have a single player averaging more than five rebounds per night. With upcoming matchups against George Mason, St. Bonaventure, and Dayton, the Ramblers have their work cut out for them to climb to the top of the Atlantic 10, but a win against Dayton could shake up this title race.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.