Thursday, March 6, 2014

America East conference tournament

This is part 12 of a 32-part series covering each conference and conference tournament.  These previews are meant to provide every bracketologist with the information they need to make informed projections about the teams of the conference.

The final standings:
Vermont 15-1
Stony Brook 13-3
Hartford 10-6
Albany 9-7
UMass-Lowell 8-8
UMBC 5-11
Binghamton 4-12
Maine 4-12
New Hampshire 4-12

Tournament format:
Albany is your host.  The 8 eligible teams will head there for quarterfinals and semifinals on March 8 and 9.  The championship game is then a week later, March 15, at the higher seed.  UMass-Lowell (10-18) in their first transitional year in D1 is not eligible.

The matchups:
1) Vermont (21-9) vs. 8) New Hamsphire (6-23)
4) Albany (15-14) vs. 5) UMBC (9-20)
2) Stony Brook (21-9) vs. 7) Maine (6-22)
3) Hartford (16-15) vs. 6) Binghamton (7-22)

The stakes:
They aren't high.  The winner is a direct threat for the 16 line, with Vermont probably escaping to the 15 line.   Stony Brook is the only other team with a sub-200 RPI, so yeah.  Vermont played a pretty legit schedule and failed to win any game of consequence OOC.  Stony/Vermont would be a good matchup, these are the two clear best teams in the league, and they might not get blown out as a 15/16 seed.

Lower down, Hartford and Albany are toss-ups for CBI/CIT invites; my guess is someone gets one.  Stony Brook is an obvious postseason candidate, but nowhere near the NIT.

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