Five must-watch Atlantic 10 games

In addition, the conference announced that the first and second rounds as well as the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+. CBS Sports Network will broadcast the semifinals and ESPNU will air the championship game. 2023 will be the 26th consecutive year that the conference’s championship game will air on an ESPN network.

Here are five A-10 conference games to add to your calendar:

Wednesday, Dec. 28 — Loyola Chicago at Saint Louis (ESPN+)

On Dec. 28, 2022, A-10 conference play will return with a new addition, Loyola Chicago who is led by Allison Guth in her first year. The Ramblers will kick off their first A-10 slate by visiting Saint Louis at Chaifetz Arena.

Loyola Chicago will face a Saint Louis team that returns just one of its top three scorers, 2021-22 A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Brooke Flowers, but welcomes nine new players and a new head coach, Rebecca Tillett.

Monday, Jan. 16 — George Washington at George Mason (CBSSN)

George Washington will take on George Mason as a part of a CBS Sports Network triple-header on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16, 2023. The broadcast will also feature wraparound programming put together by the A-10 Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

The latest edition of the Revolutionary Rivalry will feature the matchup of two second-year head coaches who split the series last year in Caroline McCombs (GW) and Vanessa Blair-Lewis (Mason). GW returns four of its top six scorers from last season while Mason returns three of its top five scorers. Both schools also welcome several new faces looking to make an impact.

Sunday, Jan. 22 — Massachusetts at Dayton (ESPNU)

Jan. 22, 2023, will feature a rematch of the 2022 A-10 championship game. While UMass will look very similar, returning its top six scorers, Dayton returns less than 10% of its scoring from last season after Makira Cook and Tenin Magassa transferred while graduate students Araion Bradshaw, Jenna Giacone and Erin Whalen as well as senior Kyla Whitehead concluded their time at Dayton. 

UMass added A-10 All-Rookie Team member Laila Fair from Saint Joseph’s and Piath Gabriel from UConn. Dayton brought in seven new faces under new head coach Tamika Williams-Jeter.

While it will be a very different matchup on the court, the intensity of a championship rematch remains.

Sunday, Feb. 12 — Rhode Island at VCU (ESPNU)

On Feb. 12, 2023, 2021 A-10 champion VCU will host 2022 regular-season runner-up Rhode Island. This game will also be a return for 2019-20 A-10 Sixth Player of the Year Madison Hattix-Covington who played four seasons at VCU and transferred to Rhode Island after the end of last season. 

VCU returns most of its core, four of its five top scorers from last season, but will be missing Taya Robinson who concluded her VCU career last season and was a cornerstone of the team during her five years as a Ram. 

Rhode Island brought in four freshmen and four transfers to fill the gaps after redshirt junior Marie-Paule Foppossi, redshirt senior Emmanuelle Tahane and graduate students Marta Vargas, Dez Elmore and Chanell Williams concluded their time as Rams last season. Rebecca Demeke and Yanni Hendley also transferred out of the program.

Wednesday, Feb. 15 — Saint Joseph’s at Davidson (ESPN+)

The Feb. 15, 2023, game between Saint Joseph’s and Davidson will feature two teams that made postseason runs.

As a 7-seed the Hawks won a game in the A-10 tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since the 2017-2018 season.

Davidson won a game in the A-10 tournament for the fourth year in a row and won the WBI Consolation Championship.

After two in-season transfers and two postseason transfers, Saint Joseph’s returns three of its top five scorers from last season including 2021-22 A-10 Rookie of the Year Talya Brugler.

Davidson returns most of its core from last season, including Elle Sutphin who averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 blocks per game last season and did not start a game until Feb. 6.