Dayton gets good news in A-10 schedule

Flyers will play Saint Louis, Davidson, VCU and Loyola twice in 2022-23 season.

The annual release of the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule pairings draws as much attention from fans of the Dayton Flyers as every block-charge call during the season.

Who is Dayton playing twice? Are they the best possible matchups to help Dayton’s strength of schedule?

These are among the most important questions every summer, and the Flyers and their fans got their answers Monday when the pairings for the 2022-23 season were released. The news is good for Dayton.

Here are 10 things to know about the pairings:

1.

Repeat opponents: Dayton will play Saint Louis, defending A-10 regular-season champion Davidson, Virginia

Commonwealth and A-10 newcomer Loyola at home and on the road in the 2022-23 season.

Dayton likely will be the preseason favorite, because it returns all five starters and seven of its top eight scorers from a team that finished 24-11 last season and finished second in the A-10 with a 14-4 mark.

Saint Louis (23-12, 12-6) might join Dayton in the preseason top25 polls. It returns its top four scorers, including all-conference first-team selection Yuri Collins, and Javonte Perkins, who led the team in scoring in the 2020-21 season and missed last season with a torn ACL.

Davidson (27-7, 15-3) lost three of its top four scorers, including A-10 first-team selections Luka Brajkovic and Hyunjung Lee, but is one of the most consistent programs in the conference. It has won 20 or more games five times in eight A-10 seasons and has finished above .500 in conference play seven times. The Wildcats have a new coach, Matt McKillop, the son of Bob McKillop, who retired earlier this month after 33 seasons.

VCU (22-10, 14-4), like Davidson, is almost always a contender no matter who it lost from the previous season. This year, it lost three starers (Vince Williams, KeShawn Curry and Hason Ward) but returns point guard Ace Baldwin, who will be a third-year starter, and one other starter, Jayden Nunn.

Loyola (25-8, 13-5) becomes the A-10’s 15th program after nine seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference. It lost five of its top seven scorers. It has averaged 24.8 victories in the last five seasons.