It’s worth noting that eight of the nine ballots contained six of the same seven teams. None had identical top threes and four teams got votes for first place. Normally, we talk a lot about the wide open middle of the league. For the first time in a long time, there is no consensus at the top.

In case you missed it yesterday, here’s our list of perplexed voters.

Mat Shelton, VCU Rams Nation, A-10 Talk
Dave Ascoli, Rhody Rampage
Dan Bonsall, Once and Future Spiders Blogger
Jaden Daly, A Daly Dose of Hoops
Tom Blackburn, The Blackburn Review
Rogabee, YukuDukes
Jordan Majewski, Staring At The Floorboards
Alan Kelly, Masonhoops
Steve DiMiceli, The Point of Pittsburgh

7. St Joe’s (High:5 Low:10)

Hagan will be full of Martelli grandchildren soon enough via @WACollegeCouns

Steve D – The Hawks have some promising youngsters, but if De’Andre Bembry’s has a bad day, you have to think they’ll have a bad day.

Alan K – Sixth-year senior Papa Ndao will live up to his first name, but the Hawks lack depth.

Jordan M – DeAndre Bembry can do everything on the court, but he needs help. Martelli returns everyone and adds talented FR guards Clover and Kimble, and stretch shooter Oliva from Italy. The Hawks have more depth this year, and should be able to score more efficiently.

Mat S – They should certainly jump UMass and La Salle and enter the top half of the league thanks to Player of the Year candidate DeAndre Bembry.

Dave A – How far can DeAndre Bembry carry a team? Tune in and find out.

6. Richmond (High:4 Low:7)

This looks like a nice team photo. Here’s hoping it’s this year’s team. via @RichmondBball

Dan B – An inside heavy team, coached by Mooney? I’m so confused. Need help at PG to be elite.

Alan K – The Spiders are one of the unknowns: they have talent, but who will step into Kendall Anthony’s shoes?

Dave A – Kendall Anthony is gone, but between rising star ShawnDre Jones and Virginia Tech transfer Marshall Wood, the Spiders shouldn’t miss a beat. Look for another top five finish this season.

Jaden D – The jury is out on how good ShawnDre’ Jones can be as the starting point guard, but Deion Taylor and Terry Allen don’t get near enough credit for what they do. Never bet against Mooney either.

Mat S – The A-10 is going to miss watching Kendall Anthony but that should allow us to finally shift our focus to just how good the duo of Allen and Cline really is.

Jordan M – ShawnDre’ Jones looks ready to evolve into Kendall Anthony’s role, but the front court defensively will miss Nelson-Ododa. Mooney has mobile bigs with Allen, Wood, and Cline, and that could make his offense lethal this year.

5. VCU (High:1 Low:6)

Who’s the A-10’s most photographed guy this offseason? ^^^ This guy ^^^ via @VCUSports

Mat S – Truth be told, I’m even higher on them than I ranked them. They are loaded with talent and I think will surprise a lot of people thanks to breakouts from guys like Tillman, Gilmore and Billbury.

Dave A – There are a lot of question marks surrounding VCU this year, but one thing is for certain: despite his graduation in May, the league will still find a way to award Briante Weber the 2015-16 Defensive Player of the Year.

Dan B – Havoc 2.0, now more Havoc-y? Too talented to be bad, but I’ll need convincing on Wade.

Tom B  – Major regression coming for VCU, I can feel it.

Steve D – All signs point to transition year from a new, old coach to the loss of their two most important players. They need a breakout player or four.

4. George Washington (High:2 Low:6)

I knew I was going to use something weird for GW’s picture, but this was beyond my wildest dreams. Pretty sure Mike Lonergan would recruit North Korea if it were an option. via @TheSoupJC

Jaden D – They’re too talented not to contend. Losing Savage and Kopriva will hurt, but Alex Mitola is a capable replacement to pair with McDonald. Plus, how underrated is Patricio Garino?

Tom B – Should be another 20 win season for Lonergan’s crew. Solid squad, not much depth.

Dave A – The Colonials have a veteran group that’s looking for one final run before graduation. Add Tyler Cavanaugh into the mix and GW will be tough once again.

Rogabee -Likely the best post game in the A10.  Alex Mitola could be most meaningful transfer in the A10 for a GW team that may only be missing a SG.

Steve D – The Colonials underachieved in 2014-15, but I wouldn’t expect a repeat

Dan B – I like this team and I like Lonergan. Except Watanabe, him I loathe.

3. Dayton (High:1 Low:6)

There were a lot of ways I could troll Dayton fans and drive up traffic, but I elected play it safe. Not sure our servers could handle it.  via @DaytonMBB

Tom B  – The Flyers add front-court depth to a roster desperately needing it. UD will make the NCAA tournament for the 3rd year in a row.

Jaden D – I had the Flyers winning the league before the Dyshawn Pierre situation. He could very well be back for A-10 play, but it’s going to be a long adjustment without him.

Alan K – The indefinite loss of Dyshawn Pierre puts a serious dent in the would-be favorites.

Mat S – The Pierre loss is huge but he’ll be back by the start of A-10 play so it shouldn’t effect these rankings. Big year coming from Scoochie Man.

Rogabee – The off-the-court turmoil finally catches up to the Flyers.

2. Davidson (High:1 Low:6)

Could Davidson open their Atlantic 10 era with back to back conference player’s of the year? via @JuanG4

Mat S – Cats finished first in just their first season as an A-10 squad, lose one player, yet are still being slept on. Them Cats still wild.

Alan K – The Wildcats will miss Tyler Kalonoski, but a healthy Jack Gibbs could take Bob McKillop’s team right back to the top.

Rogabee – Sure losing Kalinoski hurts, but return four of top five and add Belford also.

Tom B – Cats return plenty and McKillop is the best X and O’s guy in the league. Favorable schedule.

Steve D – Not often that you can like what is returning to a team this much after losing the conference player of the year.

1. Rhode Island (High:1 Low:4)

One can only imagine the strange faces Dan Hurley will make if he Rams actually win the title. via @coxhub

Dave A – Matthews and Martin are back. Terrell and Garrett are a year older. And Kuran Iverson is in the fold? It’s going to be awfully hard to beat the Rams this season.

Jordan M – Can Four McGlynn and Kuran Iverson bring enough offense to help out EC Matthews and match the exceptional defense of the Rams both outside with Jared Terrell and inside with Hassan Martin? I think so, and the Rams get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Tom B – I know the Rams are the sexy preseason pick, prove me wrong. Don’t think Iverson will have the impact most are projecting.

Jaden D – Dan Hurley has his best roster since arriving from Wagner, with Matthews and Martin both capable of POY honors. Biggest key will be whether or not Kuran Iverson can get his head straight.

Alan K – Dan Hurley’s machine is ready to dominate. It could easily be a Rams vs. Rams battle all year for the #1 seed.

Mat S – This could actually be the year. One of the most talented core groups in the league.

Dan B – A year away for awhile, that year is now here. For real. They’ll win any rock fight.

Rogabee – Easy schedule buoyed the Rams last year up the A10 standings.  Will likely play the best D in the conference, but can they score?  Prove it time for Hurley.

Steve D – Q: What will Kingston, RI and a Hyundai have in common in May of 2016. A: Hassan Martin, EJ Matthews and Dan Hurley won’t be in either. Enjoy it while it lasts URI fans.

Link to teams #8-14

The places may change, but the quality has not and we have another outstanding crew again. The voters are:

Mat Shelton, VCU Rams Nation, A-10 Talk
Dave Ascoli, Rhody Rampage
Dan Bonsall, Once and Future Spiders Blogger
Jaden Daly, A Daly Dose of Hoops
Tom Blackburn, The Blackburn Review
Rogabee, YukuDukes
Jordan Majewski, Staring At The Floorboards
Alan Kelly, masonhoops
Steve DiMiceli, The Point of Pittsburgh

14. Fordham (High:11 Low:14)

Senior Mandell Thomas is a big reason why there is finally a conversation about whether or not Fordham will finish in last. Via @Proudtobearam

Jaden D – The pieces are there, the new coach is a proven winner, but the climb from the bottom is a steep one. We’ll see progress at Rose Hill, but incremental to start.

Jordan M – Jeff Neubauer brings his high pressure zone defense and three point heavy offensive attack to Rose Hill, and the current core of Thomas, Severe, and Sengfelder will fit it surprisingly well. Watch out for incoming FR Joseph Chartouny from Quebec. Rams will be better than expected.

Steve D – Pressure systems are generally easy to implement quickly, but I could see a full on youth movement by the end of the season.

Tom B – On paper, this is a mid-pack team. But things never seem to bounce the right way for Fordham.

Dave A – Fordham’s A-10 schedule is always a bit challenging because they don’t get a chance to play Fordham. New head coach Jeff Neubauer has his work cut out for him.

Dan B – Stop me if you’ve seen this before….

13.  Saint Louis (High:12 Low:14)

Go ahead and try to resist using this dandy of a graphic. Via @SaintLouisMBB

Tom B – Coming off a last place finish, more of the same this year. Will be lucky to average 60 points.

Steve D – Things should start moving in the right directions for Crews, but the team still looked very raw in April. Upside is there for this group but there are no guarantees.

Jaden D – The rebuilding process strikes here too, as Jim Crews is in for another long year with this group. Anything more than four conference wins is a success.

Alan K – The Billikens’ youth movement is still a year away from any significant success.

Mat S – The Jim Crews error is in year two and I expect another depressing season for Billikens fans who have gotten so used to winning.

12. George Mason (High:8 Low:14)

“Green and yellow are the two colors that scream patriotism to me the most.” – No American Ever. Photo via @Tim_Groseclose

Alan K – A strong front court (led by Shevon Thompson) plus a competent head coach (Dave Paulsen) should equal wins.

Rogabee – I like the big three of Thompson, Holloway, and Jenkins but I’m not sure there’s enough other talent.  Coaching change will require adjustment period.

Jordan M – Dave Paulsen is exactly the type of coach this team needed. He’ll preach ball control first and foremost, the main issue with the Patriots last year. Solid core returns with Moore and Holloway in back court and Thompson and Jenkins in front court.

Dave A – Welcome to the post-Paul Hewitt era. Can Dave Paulsen change things? Perhaps, but it won’t come right away.

Tom B – They gave the keys to Paul Hewitt, he went Paul Walker on them.

11. Duquesne (High:9 Low:12)

Offensively, the Dukes will have one of the better guard combos in the A-10. Defensively….. Via @WhoWantsNext

Steve D – They played like a middle of the conference team down the stretch and lost little. Rebounding, defense and Micah Mason will be key.

Rogabee – Among the best guards in the conference, but a ton of questions in the frontcourt.

Dave A – Picture a very good defensive team like Rhode Island or VCU or Dayton. Now picture the EXACT OPPOSITE. There’s Duquesne in a nutshell.

Jordan M – Ferry has to markedly improve the worst defense in the A10 last year, or he might be on his way out. Back court features one of the best shooters in the game in Micah Mason, but unless incoming talent like Mar’Qywell Jackson and Nakye Sanders make an immediate impact, it looks like more of the same for the Dukes.

Jaden D – This is a make or break year for Jim Ferry. Having Colter and Mason will help in the backcourt, but the Dukes need to find a productive interior presence.

Dan B – Once the defense starts to catch up to the shooters, they’ll be a threat.

Tom B – New unis are pretty cool, so they got that going for them.

Alan K – Jim Ferry’s crew has to learn to play defense, or it will be another long winter in Pittsburgh.

Mat S – Meh. Duquesne.

10. La Salle (High:8 Low:13)

Aside from one voter, everyone else had La Salle 9th or 13th meaning the bloggers see them as “ok” or “really bad.” Not much middle ground. Photo via @MattLeonKYW

Jordan M – Giannini has an inexperienced front court replacing Zack and Wright, but with Jordan Price leading the way, this Explorer team should look more similar to the Elite 8 team…just not nearly as good.

Dave A – Is Jordan Price ready for prime time? He could be the different between Dr. John’s team being good versus just okay.

Alan K – One never wants to underestimate Jordan Price, but the Explorers lost a lot this offseason.

Rogabee -Return of four guard offense matches Giannini’s strengths if they choose to go that way.

Jaden D – Jordan Price really impressed me last year picking up the lion’s share of scoring in the backcourt. The front line concerns me though without Zack and Wright.

9. UMass (High: 7 Low: 11)

…is feverishly working to get his 2016 class eligible by November. Via @leahysean

Mat S – The Minutemen lose a ton of production but I still love Clarke and Davis

Jaden D -Derek Kellogg finally has to rebuild in Amherst, and his best player (Zach Lewis) is a transfer sitting out. They’ll still win enough games to stay around .500 though.

Rogabee – There’s still talent, but well…Kellogg…

Jordan M – Without Esho and Lalanne in the front court, Kellogg is entirely reliant on a solid back court and SO wing Donte Clark. Minutemen could be underrated if 6’10 Rashaan Holloway is 100% after knee surgery in his first eligible season in Amherst.

Tom B – Lalanne, Esho and Derrick Gordon — all gone. Pretty empty cupboard for Derek Kellogg.

8. St Bonaventure (High: 7 Low: 13)

To the St Bonaventure fans who always think I pick on them, I had the Bonnies 7th this year. Via @BBallSociety

Steve D – Despite spite the loss of Youssou N’Doye, the Bonnies should have enough left over to do some damage especially with the good Jaylen Adams returning.

Dan B – Olean is always good for 2-3 wins a year to start, and Schmidt’s teams are always prepared and in position.

Mat S – The Ndoye departure never helps but I love Posley, Wright and Adams. I don’t think they compete for a top-four spot but I know I’m not looking forward to playing them if I’m anyone else in the league.

Rogabee – Always seemingly underrated.  Jaylen Adams may be a star in the making

Dave A – The Bonnies won’t be as scary without N’Doye.