Richmond Spiders basketball...and the rest of the Atlantic 10 Conference
I talked about Richmond being a bid-stealer back in 2022, and there's a good chance the Spiders play that role once again in 2024. Richmond won the A-10 regular season crown after going 15-3 in the conference and 23-8 overall. But it's not the Spiders who will receive an at-large bid out of the A-10 this year.
3rd-place Dayton is a NCAA Tournament lock with a NET of 21, a winning Q1/2 record, and no bad losses. The Flyers are simply playing for seeding in the A-10 tournament. But despite Dayton being the only conference team worthy of an at-large bid, this is still a very competitive league.
I already spoke of Richmond who won the league's regular season title, beating Dayton along the way. Loyola Chicago finished tied atop the lead standings and also took down the Flyers in the regular season. Then there's VCU who had a solid season, and, you guessed it, owns a win over Dayton along with wins over Richmond and Loyola.
I keep mentioning that these teams have beaten Dayton to highlight that Dayton could very easily lose in the A-10 tournament. And that's not to mention others like UMass, St. Bonaventure, and George Mason who could absolutely make a run in this conference championship race.
It's tough to pinpoint exactly which team could become a bid-stealer, but if you're looking for the league most likely to produce one, it's the Atlantic 10.