An automatic bid is on the line at the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament this week, and there’s a strong chance that the conference championship could result in a bid-stealer for the NCAA tournament.
Saint Louis enters the Atlantic 10 tournament at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh as the No. 1 seed, and is looking for its first conference tournament title since 2019. Robbie Avila and the Billikens have been one of the better mid-major teams in the country this season at 27-4 overall, and the conference’s automatic bid is theirs to lose.
The Billikens, however, hit a few unexpected roadblocks to end the regular season — going 3-3 in their last six games, including an 81-76 loss to No. 10 seed Rhode Island and an 86-75 loss to No. 5 seed George Mason — that has some believing the conference’s automatic bid may not be won by Josh Schertz’s squad after all.
Watch select Atlantic 10 Tournament games live with Fubo (free trial)
One team that could give Saint Louis a real fight for the March Madness auto bid is Virginia Commonwealth University. Under first-year coach Phil Martelli Jr., the Rams earned a co-share of the Atlantic 10 regular-season crown and the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Rams are 24-7 overall and currently on the bubble for the NCAA tournament.
Action begins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 11 with a pair of first-round games. The semifinals are set for Saturday, March 14 while the championship is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 15, one of the final conference championship games to be played before the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed.
Here’s everything to know about the Atlantic 10 tournament:
A10 tournament schedule, bracket, scores
(All times Eastern)
First round
Wednesday, March 11
G1: No. 12 seed La Salle vs. No. 13 seed St. Bonaventure | 11:30 a.m. | USA Network
G2: No. 11 seed Richmond vs. No. 14 seed Loyola Chicago | 2 p.m. | USA Network
Second round
Thursday, March 12
G3: No. 8 seed Fordham vs. No. 9 seed | 11:30 a.m. | USA Network
G4: No. 5 seed George Mason vs. Game 1 winner | 2 p.m. | USA Network
G5: No. 7 seed Duquesne vs. No. 10 seed Rhode Island | 5 p.m. | USA Network
G6: No. 6 seed Davidson vs. Game 2 winner | 7:30 p.m. | USA Network
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13
G7: No. 1 seed Saint Louis vs. Game 3 winner | 11:30 a.m. | USA Network
G8: No. 4 seed Dayton vs. Game 4 winner | 2 p.m. | USA Network
G9: No. 2 seed VCU vs. Game 5 winner | 5 p.m. | USA Network
G10: No. 3 seed SJU vs. Game 6 winner | 7:30 p.m. | CNBC
Semifinals
Saturday, March 14
G11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner | 1 p.m. | CBSSN (Fubo)
G12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner | 3:30 p.m. | CBSSN (Fubo)
Final
Sunday, March 15
G13 (Championship Game): Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner | 1 p.m. | CBS (Fubo)
How to watch A10 tournament
TV channels: USA Network | CNBC | CBS Sports Network | CBS
Streaming options: Fubo (free trial)
The 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament will be broadcast across an assortment of TV channels. USA Network will carry the entirety of the first- and second-round games and three of the four quarterfinal games; while CNBC will broadcast the fourth quarterfinal game; CBS Sports Network will have both semifinals; and CBS will have the championship game on Sunday.
Streaming options for the games on CBS Sports Network and CBS include Fubo, which carries both networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Watch select Atlantic 10 Tournament games live with Fubo (free trial)
A10 tournament favorite
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Sunday, March 8
Here are the teams with the top five odds to win the Atlantic 10 tournament:
Saint Louis: +125
VCU +175
Dayton: +750
Saint Joseph’s: +1200
George Washington +1600
Saint Louis enters the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament as the favorite to win the conference’s automatic bid.
A10 tournament top players
Here’s a list of some of the top players in the Atlantic 10 this season:
Top 5 scorers
DeJour Reaves (Fordham): 17.7 points per game
Tarence Guinyard (Duquesne): 16.9 points per game
Frank Mitchell (St. Bonaventure): 16.4 points per game
Darryl Simmons II (St. Bonaventure): 16.3 points per game
Javon Bennett (Santa Clara): 15.9 points per game
Top 5 rebounders
Frank Mitchell (St. Bonaventure): 10.6 rebounds per game
Rikus Schulte (Fordham): 9.1 rebounds per game
Rafael Castro (George Mason): 8.8 rebounds per game
Miles Rubin (George Washington): 7.0 rebounds per game
Cayden Charles (St. Bonaventure): 6.8 rebounds per game
March Madness bubble storylines for Atlantic 10
Much like the case was a few years back when Richmond won the Atlantic 10 over Davidson, the Atlantic 10 has the chance to be a bid-stealer for the NCAA tournament. VCU is the likely candidate to steal a bid by winning the Atlantic 10, as the Rams are currently projected as a ‘Last Four In’ team and playing in the First Four in Dayton after a strong end to the regular season.
Possible other bid-stealers that could come out of the Atlantic 10 include Saint Joseph’s, Dayton and George Mason. The Patriots were once neck-and-neck with Saint Louis for the No. 1 seed, but a late-season collapse dropped them down to the No. 5 seed.
Atlantic 10 championship prediction
Prediction: VCU over Saint Louis