Much has been made of the matchup between Rhode Island and GW as a matchup between teams atop the Atlantic 10 conference. An examination of the schedules both teams have faced to date in conference, however, reveals that there is a significant disparity in the quality of conference opponents both teams have faced thus far.

Rhode Island (5-1):
L at Charlotte (80-88)
W vs. Fordham (64-59)
W at St. Bonaventure (71-66)
W at LaSalle (71-68)
W vs. Richmond (58-46)
W vs. UMass (58-55)

GW (5-0):
W at Temple (72-60)
W vs. St. Louis (69-64)
W vs. St. Joseph’s (82-70)
W at Charlotte (83-69)
W at Duquesne (94-78)

The disparity between the quality of competition the two have faced is substantial. While the Rams do have a quality win against UMASS – on a game winning three-point field goal – the rest of their conference victories have been against A-10 bottom feeders. The Colonials on the other hand have played 4 of the top 5 teams in conference, and has three of those by impressive margins. No knock against Rhode Island, who is enjoying a resurgence of sorts this year, but the Colonials have been far more tested in-conference thus far.