Dayton third-best A-10 team in one preseason ranking

Dayton typically doesn’t finish anywhere near its preseason ranking. Last year, Dayton started the season ranked 49th and ended it 87th.

In 2019-20, Dayton ranked 55th at the start of the season and fourth at the end. Three years ago, Dayton improved from 99th to 62nd. In coach Anthony Grant’s first season, Dayton fell from 103rd to 172nd.

Dayton hasn’t finished close to its preseason ranking since the 2016-17 season when it began the season ranked No. 37 and ended the season at No. 39.

This season, Dayton is the third highest-ranked Atlantic 10 Conference team, following No. 30 St. Bonaventure and No. 64 Richmond. No. 91 Davidson, No. 92 Saint Louis, No. 98 Virginia Commonwealth and No. 100 Saint Louis are also in the top 100.

Here are the rankings of Dayton’s non-conference opponents: No. 265 Illinois-Chicago; No. 277 UMass Lowell; No. 219 Lipscomb; No. 308 Austin Peay; No. 83 Miami; No. 3 Kansas or No. 135 North Texas; No. 347 Alabama State; No. 324 Northern Illinois; No. 60 SMU; No. 39 Virginia Tech; No. 57 Mississippi; and No. 319 Southern.

No. 73 Wright State is the highest-ranked Horizon League team. No. 11 Ohio State is the highest-ranked Ohio team.