A-10 scenarios: No. 1 seed possible for Dayton Flyers

The Dayton Flyers still have a chance to earn the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The only thing we know for sure with one game left in the regular season is Dayton will get one of the top four seeds and a bye to the quarterfinals on March 11. The top of the standings is a jumbled mess with the potential for a four-way tie for first still existing.

Virginia Commonwealth (14-3) has clinched a chare of the conference title. Dayton, St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure are 13-4, one game back. George Washington has clinched the No. 5 seed.

In summary, Dayton can get a No. 1 seed if it wins and will definitely get a No. 4 seed if it loses. The No. 1 seed plays at noon on March 11 against the No. 8 or No. 9 seed. The No. 4 seed would play George Washington or the No. 12 or 13 seed. That game is at 2:30 p.m. March 11.

The No. 2 seed plays at 6:30 p.m. against the No. 7 or No. 10 seed. The No. 3 seed plays the final game of the quarterfinals at 9 p.m. against the No. 6, No. 11 or No. 14 seed.

Here are the potential scenarios for seeding (tiebreakers explained here):

1. Dayton beats VCU, St. Joseph's loses at home to Duquesne, St. Bonaventure loses at St. Louis: Dayton wins the No. 1 seed because of head-to-head tiebreaker with VCU.

2. Dayton wins, St. Joseph's loses, St. Bonaventure wins: Dayton wins the No. 1 seed because of 2-1 record against the other teams tied for first (VCU and St. Bonaventure).

3. Dayton wins, St. Joseph's wins, St. Bonaventure wins: In a four-way tie for first, Dayton gets the No. 3 seed with 2-2 record against other three teams. VCU (2-1) is No. 1 seed. The Bonnies (3-2) are No. 2. The Hawks (1-3) are No. 4.

4. Dayton wins, St. Joseph's wins, St. Bonaventure loses: In three-way tie with VCU and Hawks, each of the teams is 1-1 against the others, so the next tie breaker is "winning percentage versus the highest common opponent and proceeding down to the lowest common opponent." In this case, the Bonnies are the highest common opponent. VCU is 1-0 against the Bonnies and gets the No. 1 seed. Dayton is 1-1 and gets the No. 2 seed. The Hawks are 0-2 and get the No. 3 seed.

5. Dayton loses, St. Joseph's wins, St. Bonaventure wins: VCU gets the No. 1 seed in all the following scenarios. Dayton falls to No. 4. The Bonnies and Hawks tie for second. The Bonnies get the No. 2 seed because of a 2-0 record against the No. 3 seed Hawks.

6. Dayton loses, St. Joseph's loses, St. Bonaventure wins: The Bonnies finish all alone in second and get the No. 2 seed. The Hawks and Flyers tie for third, so Dayton gets the No. 4 seed because it lost to the Hawks.

7. Dayton loses, St. Joseph's loses, St. Bonaventure loses: The Flyers, Hawks and Bonnies tie for second. The Bonnies get the No. 2 seed because of a 3-1 record against the other teams. That leaves the Flyers and Hawks, and the Hawks win the head-to-head tiebreakers, so the Flyers get the No. 4 seed.

8. Dayton loses, St. Joseph's loses, St. Bonaventure wins: The Flyers tie for third with the Hawks and get the No. 4 seed.

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