BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, held Wednesday through Saturday in Philadelphia, may be one of the most competitive in the country.

Seven teams - at least five of which are probably NCAA Tournament-bound - bring winning records into the event, and six have at least 19 victories. If the seedings hold true, you're looking at a Temple-George Washington, Xavier-Rhode Island final four.

The Musketeers, who open with the St. Bonaventure-Duquesne winner in the quarterfinals, could have an opportunity to avenge two regular-season losses: to the Bonnies and to Rhode Island in the semis.

Team to beat: Temple. The Owls have the top seed in the East, a favorable draw and are playing in Philadelphia. They come in as the hottest team in the league with eight straight conference wins.

Team nobody wants to face: Dayton. A talented group desperate for victories and capable of beating anyone.

Team that most needs the automatic bid: Dayton. Three teams from the East are locks for the NCAA. Two teams from the West are probably in, too. That leaves Dayton, which finished as the No. 3 seed in the division, in a must-win situation.

Team that least needs one more game: Fordham was 2-14 this season and is 5-43 over the past three years in league play. ''Wait 'til next year'' seems like a reasonable battle cry.

Toughest draw/weakest draw: Toughest - George Washington is in the same situation Xavier was in last season: It won't have any easy games. The Colonials get Massachusetts, assuming the Minutemen get past Virginia Tech, then would probably have to face Temple. Weakest - Temple gets the La Salle-St. Joseph's winner, then faces the GW-UMass winner. Temple is 3-0 against those two teams.

Player most likely to be MVP: Lamont Barnes. Temple's 6-foot-10 sophomore center will have to play a big role, with George Washington or UMass - both with talented front lines - waiting in the semifinals. That, of course, is assuming the Owls get by their first game against the La Salle-St. Joseph's winner.

Best unknown player: Caswell Cyrus, St. Bonaventure's 6-9 sophomore, has really improved and is 13th in the league in offensive rebounding and first in blocked shots.

Players under the gun: Xavier's Lenny Brown and Gary Lumpkin, both first-team all-league last season, have been inconsistent shooting this year.

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