America East conference tournament preview

This is part 13 of a 32-part series.

Standings:
Vermont 14-2
Stony Brook 12-4
UMBC 11-5
Hartford 10-6
UMass Lowell 7-9
Albany 7-9
Binghamton 5-11
Maine 3-13
New Hampshire 3-13

Format:
Three days, March 9, 12, and 16.  Higher seed will host each game, as they draw this thing out.

Matchups:
1) Vermont vs. 8) Maine
4) Hartford vs. 5) UMass Lowell
3) UMBC vs. 6) Albany
2) Stony Brook vs. 7) Binghamton

The stakes:
Hey remember last year, when I got pissed Vermont was upset and I complained that AEast were sending a pasty instead of a team actually capable of a first round upset?  I stand by that.  Vermont absolutely would've won a 3/14 matchup.  Screw all y'all.

Ok, this year.  Vermont is once again by far the best team, although they have no Q1/2 wins.  They do have a NET of 79, and only 6 losses overall, so I'd imagine they'll avoid the 15 and 16 lines.  But if quality wins are the only thing that matter?  They could fall back.  I think 14 is a reasonable outcome, and 13 is unreachable.

Stony Brook is the one other team that could avoid the PIG if they won this tournament.  They'd be probably a 15, maybe a 16.