The Duquesne men's basketball team was picked to finish in a fifth-place tie in the Atlantic 10 Conference preseason poll released this morning.

The Dukes, coming off a 21-win season and a trip to the NIT, were selected in that fifth place spot in a tie with Temple.

As expected, Dayton, which defeated West Virginia in a first-round NCAA tournament game last year, was picked to win the league, with Xavier second and Richmond third.

Among the individual preseason honors, Duquesne junior forward Damian Saunders is a second-team all-conference selection while teammate Bill Clark, a junior swingman, made the third team.

The predicted order of finish among the entire Atlantic 10 is as follows, with first-place votes in parentheses:

1. Dayton (33)

2. Xavier (18)

3. Richmond (4)

4. La Salle (2)

5. Duquesne

(tie) Temple

7. Charlotte

8. Rhode Island

9. Massachusetts

10. St. Joseph

11. S. Bonaventure

12. St. Louis

13. George Washington

14. Fordham

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