FanHouse ChrisWright

There are but a handful of games left to play in the Atlantic-10 season and there's only two things we know for sure. One, more than one team will be dancing come March and, two, Xavier and Rhode Island will be two of them. The Musketeers won their seventh straight last night even though Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender struggled in Charlotte. Josh Duncan nailed a three with 16 seconds to play and they outlasted the 49ers 62-60.

Winning in all conditions is what makes the Musketeers head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Even the Rams, a lock to my eyes, can't win on the road with consistency. At least they got to overtime before losing to Temple last night. Dayton, unable to compete after Chris Wright's injury, can't even defend their home court anymore.

They dropped a 63-61 decision against Duquesne, which now leads them by two games. It's hard to make a compelling case for why the Flyers should make the tournament and leave the Dukes at home. When you win your games should and does matter in the final reckoning. Yes, Dayton beat Louisville and Pittsburgh but they are 4-6 in league play. Duquesne, on the other hand, is peaking at the right time, even if their best early win was against Niagara.

Another team winning at the right time is Temple.

There were two teams with a high profile entering Atlantic-10 play. Xavier and Dayton each won games against teams from all over the country and were entertaining thoughts of deep tournament runs just as soon as they made their way through the conference. Xavier, after a slight bobble at Temple, is doing nothing to defy that belief. They're clearly the cream of the A-10 crop and among the very best teams in the country.

But what to make of Dayton? They've lost their last three games in conference and it won't take many more before their bid goes from solid to bubble. It doesn't look like there's going to be any quick fix. The Flyers have been overly dependent on Brian Roberts from day one but will need their superlative guard to play even better thanks to two key injuries. Freshman Chris Wright had surgery last week on his fractured ankle and Charles Little broke his foot in a loss to UMass, erasing the two best forwards from the roster.

In Saturday's loss to Richmond, they got five points from the frontcourt and were carved up inside defensively. Roberts played a strong game but, with no balance and no interior presence, teams can let that happen and feel secure in their chances of winning games.