SLU travels to Providence to take on a Rams club that is working to solidify their NCAA position — Joey Brackets has them as a slippling 11-seed at the moment — while the Bills jockey with Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, Davidson, and VCU for the #4 spot in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Bills swept in from the #6 spot to win the whole thing last year, so maybe the jockeying doesn’t matter so much.

The Rams feature Fatts Russell as the unanimous runner-up for A-10 Player of the Year honors — Obi Toppin of Dayton has locked up A10 POY and is in the running for National POY — but question marks for the rest of their Top Three. Cyril Langevine has been a stalwart but missed the last game with a lower-body injury. And Jeff Dowtin played but his minutes were limited. In short, the Rams are banged up. SLU catches Rhody at an opportune time, as the Rams will likely need Tyrese Martin or Jacob “Brother of Obi” Toppin to team with Fatts.

SLU’s Player history echoes a familiar poitical trope: the disappearing middle class. There is no longer any question that Javonte Perkins is one of the most explosive Billikens scorers we have ever seen, and Hargrove is an effective understudy. Do they sacrifice too much on defense for what they deliver on offense?

A top four of Goodwin, French, Hargrove, and Perkins seems intriguing but jankety once you add the fifth guy. Here are the candidates:

• JBJ gives you rebounding and rim protection, but huge sacrifices in ball-handling and shooting
• Weaver gives you shooting but shrinkage and no distribution
• Collins can run the show but his handling and assists are largely off-set by turnovers
• Jacobs is a utility guy, and maybe gets hot and hits a couple of threes. If not, he generally just gives you more of what is already on the floor.