Marty Leon is the RTC correspondent for the Patriot League.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. American  (24-5,  14-0)
2. Navy  (19-10, 8-6)
3. Lehigh  (18-11, 7-7)
4. Colgate  (17-11, 7-7)
5. Holy Cross  (16-14, 7-7)
6. Lafayette  (13-15, 7-7)
7. Army  (13-15, 6-8)
8. Bucknell  (5-23, 0-14)

What You Need to Know (WYN2K).  The Patriot League is the second cousin of the Ivy, with academic standards for student-athletes tougher than 90% of the rest of the country.  Bucknell and Holy Cross have been the historical kings of this league until American emerged last year.  With four starters returning led by Garrison Carr, they are a lock to win the league again.  Navy’s Kaleo Kina and Lafayette’s Andrew Brown are two of the league’s best returnees.  Here’s a clip from American’s clincher last year versus Colgate (love the RTC footage). 

Predicted Champion.  American (#14 NCAA) should repeat as champions.  Colgate, a conference tourney finalist last year, was set to challenge until 1,000 point scorer Kyle Roemer went down for the year with an ACL tear.  The experience of American and the program’s momentum after last years great season will lead them to Selection Sunday again.  A possible #14 seed, Jeff Jones’ squad gave Tennessee all they could handle for 35 minutes in last year’s first round of the NCAA Tourney. 

Others Considered.  Navy, Lehigh, and Colgate shore up the middle of the pack.  The Midshipmen return nine of their top ten scorers.  Marquis Hall and Zahir Carrington of Lehigh are both potential all league performers and they could be a sleeper.  Emmit Davis’ Colgate five were primed for a title run until Roemer went down, but still will be a tough out.  Holy Cross is striving to return to its glory days under Ralph Willard.  Jim Crews’ Army team had a nice year in 07-08 and will compete.  Bucknell, with new mentor Dave Paulsen, has been crushed by preseason injuries and only has ten healthy bodies at this time. 

Key Games & RPI Boosters. 

• American @ Oklahoma  (11/14/08)
• American @ Georgetown  (12/6/08)
• American @ Maryland  (12/22/08)
• Colgate @ American  (2/14/09)

Neat-O Stat.  Patriot League coaches have sigificant experience at multiple levels of college basketball.  American’s Jeff Jones has been head coach at Virginia, Holy Cross’ Ralph Willard has been head coach at Pitt, and Army’s Jim Crews has been head coach at Evansville.  On the flip side, Bucknell’s Dave Paulsen has been head coach of D3 Williams and St. Lawrence, and Emmit Davis of Colgate and a member of his staff played at St. Lawrence.

65 Team Era.  The Patriot League didn’t come into existence until the 1991-92 season, but despite its pedstrian record (2-15, .118), in its short time it’s managed to make some NCAA Tournament noise over the years.  Everyone of course remembers the Bucknell upsets of 2005 (Kansas) and 2006 (Arkansas), as the Bisons made it to the second round in consecutive years.  But from 2001-03, Ralph Willard’s Holy Cross team seemed to live on throwing major scares into top-tier seeds, losing by only four to #2 Kentucky (2001), eleven to #1 Kansas (2002), and four to #3 Marquette (2003). 

Final Thoughts.  When evaluating this league, the word that comes to mind is parity.  These teams are all evenly matched so rarely do you get a blowout in any conference games.  This is a great coach’s league.   Winning at home is crucial to having a successful season.   Anyone but American emerging this season would be a huge surprise, and AmU has a chance to break through the first round and make some noise in the NCAA tournament.

Ok, we’ve got some information flowing in tonight this weekend…

The production values on these things are unbelievable, considering they’re still just glorified practices…  from Georgetown…

How about Tom Crean’s first Hoosier Hysteria (Indiana)…

It looked like a great time at the Kennel (Gonzaga) on Friday night…

From Michigan State – a nasty 360-degree left dunk from Durrell Summers…

The original venue of Midnight Madness (Maryland)…

Here’s some K-State footage…  what happened to that Beasley kid?

How about a little George Mason love with Michael Jackson in the background…

Dunk you very much at UConn…

Some Mackey Madness at Purdue…

Here’s an excerpt from Corey Johns, our America East correspondent, at UMBC Sports Blog with a description of their festivities on Fri. night. 

Then came the dunk contest.  Freshmen Brett Burrier (6-6), Jake Wasco (6-9) and Chauncey Gilliam (6-2) and junior Matt Spadafora (6-4) all took the floor for the contest.  The first round Spadafora was the only one to
make both dunks sending him automatically to the finals, and the next guy was up to fan vote, and they choose Chauncey Gilliam.The finals were set and Spadafora hit is first one sending the crowd in an uproar thinking he won it right there, but Gilliam made and even more impressive shot making the crowd even crazier.  With the second shot at a dunk Spadafora barely missed hitting the back of the rim and shooting the ball back out.  Gilliam went on the court with the contest on the line.  He ran up did a 360 hook tomahawk dunk for the win and a floor storming performance as some fans and both the men’s and women’s team’s picked him up and carried him around as he celebrated.

Josh over at Big Ten Geeks, RTC’s Big 10 correspondents, was kind enough to allow us access to some live-blogging he did last night while watching the BTN coverage…

Live-Blogging Midnight Madness in the Big Ten

Josh here, from Big Ten Geeks, blogging the Midnight Madness festivities from…my living room.  But hey, I have the Big Ten Network in HD, and if you’re not one of the 12 or so households that receive the network – no fear! – I’ll be here to give you the rundown.  Looks like we have Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota, and Michigan State on tap. 

…Jim Jackson just compared Wisconsin to the New England Patriots.  I hope Marcus Landry has strong knees.

…Lots of dancing at the Night of the Grateful Red.  Each of the players has a silly dance routine with a cute co-ed (dance team members?  Does Wisconsin have a dance team?  Does Bo Ryan coach that too?).  Some are…better than others.  Jared Berggren gave a rythmically-challenged dance to Vanilla Ice.

…Man, Wisconsin has a lot of tall white guys.  Bo certainly has a type.

…Wisconsin fans hope Jason Bohannon has a better outside shot this season than pop-and-lock.

…Am I alone for thinking Bo Ryan bears a striking resemblance to Jon Voight?  Everytime I see him, Coach Kilmer’s voice pops in my head.

…Yes, Bo danced again this year, but it wasn’t as good as last year’s Soulja Boy routine.  But how can you top that?

…The festivities are tipping off in Mackey Arena.  Purdue has a Mission Impossible theme going. 

…Chris Kramer – not a dunker.

…BTN cuts away from the dunk competition as super-athlete Lewis Jackson starts his routine.  That’s just bad scouting.

…Hey, Kramer threw one down, and it appears he’s worked his way into the finals.  Well, hey, Purdue figures to rely on outside shooting anyways.

…JaJuan Johnson takes home the crown.  No LewJack highlights to be seen.  Color me disappointed. 

…Coach Tom Crean figures that IU will shoot a lot of 3s this season.  The talent certainly seems to be on the perimeter.

…Flipping over to ESPNU.  It’s ex-Big Ten coach Bill Self with a blue microphone.  He looks like he’s lost some weight.

…Scrimmage at Purdue.  A lot of defense being played for a scrimmage.  The Boilers will be tough to score on this season.

…Wild prediction time: LewJack will supplant Chris Kramer as the starting PG by the end of the season.  He looks good out there.

…A lot of growing pains at Indiana.  The fans are still figuring out how to cheer their coach.  Right now, they’re adapting the classical two-syllable chant (“Mich-ael Jor-dan” clap clap clapclapclap) to an elongated “To-om Cre-ean.”  Err, needs some work.  A modest proposal: why not go with the two-syllable “TomCrean!” clapclap, or the “U-S-A! U-S-A” three syllable cheer (“Coach Tom Crean! Coach Tom Crean!”)?

..Out to the Barn now.  You really have to like what Tubby’s done in a short time at Minnesota.  I’m sure Billy Gillispie is a great coach, but I can’t help but feel that Kentucky chased away a good one.

…Announcers are debating whether or not Blake Hoffarber should come off the bench.  Please – no!  The Hoff needs minutes!  It would be a mistake to relegate the best returning scorer to anything less than significant minutes.

…Why is Minnesota showing old footage of Flip Saunders runing some globetrotter-type drills?

…Every time I flip over to ESPNU to check out non-Big Ten festivities, I just get Andy Katz arguing with Adrian Branch in a studio.  Madness!

…Cut to the Breslin Center, which is having a flashback night to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1979 championship season.  Izzo hints that we might see some crazy 70s hair, mustaches, and short shorts.  Hopefully Goran Suton does not partake in that last one.

…Minnesota scrimmage time!  The Hoff is on the bench and…Tubby calls a timeout?  He can’t help himself, he’s always got to be coaching.

…IU scrimmage time!  Yeah, the Hoosiers will be short this season.  Either Tom Crean is mic’ed up, or he’s just really loud.  Chastising players for a lot of bad shots.

Well, that does it for the BTN’s Midnight Madness coverage.  Fun night for the fans, and it means that the season is just around the corner.

From Greg Miller at S. Illinois –

Even though they’re coming off their first non-NCAA Tournament season since 2001, the 2008-09 Salukis had a good crowd on hand at the SIU Arena for this year’s version of Maroon Madness (despite it being a high school football Friday night).  It was the first chance to really get a look at a big group of newcomers that have been highly touted as the best recruiting class in SIU history.  From my perspective, a lot of them showed some serious potential.  Kevin Dillard (2008 Illinois Mr. Basketball) didn’t score much, but his ball-handling skills show he will be able to help Bryan Mullins out a lot at the point this season.  Ryan Hare is an explosive wing out of Chicago who can get the rim quick.  Torres Roundtree put on a well-rounded display.  He threw down an alley-oop from Mullins, drove hard to the rack for an easy lay-up and also did a good job running the break and finding the open man at the other end.  He will be a welcome addition to the backcourt.  Didn’t see a lot from fellow McCluer North alum Anthony Booker.  But size alone, he is a monster.  A legit 6’8 that will definately be able to bang in the Valley.  Justin Bocot was a pleasant surprise.  After sitting out last year with academic problems, Bocot is back and has some serious offensive game.  He showed the ability to get the rim and knock down the long three (depsite having a knuckleball shot).  All in all, it was a showcase for the freshman.  And they showcased some skills.  The one thing that remains to be seen is if these young ‘Dawgs can play that Chris Lowery-defense that has made SIU famous.  Here is a link to some interviews from SIU Media Day and highlights from tonight’s Maroon Madness.

Here are some photos from Memphis tonight…

More to come…

Jordan Freemeyer is the RTC correspondent for the Mountain West and Big Sky conferences.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Portland State  (20-9, 13-3)
2. Northern Colorado  (21-10, 11-5)
3. Idaho State  (15-14, 10-6)
4. Montana  (18-11, 10-6)
5. Weber State  (13-16, 8-8)
6. Northern Arizona  (12-15, 7-9)
7. Montana State  (11-17, 6-10)
8. Eastern Washington  (10-19, 5-11)
9. Sacramento State  (6-23, 2-14)

What You Need to Know (WYN2K).  The Big Sky is a nine-team conference stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the southern Rocky Mountains. The Big Sky has historically been an eight-team conference, but added Northern Colorado as its ninth member in 2006. Unlike most conferences that feature a balanced eight or twelve team tournament, only the top six Big Sky teams get the chance to go dancing. The conference is generally a power in FCS (formerly I-AA) football, but does not have a rich men’s basketball tradition. However, Weber State in particular has been noted for big upsets in the NCAA Tournament. In 1995, a #14 seed Weber State team beat #3 seed Michigan State 79-72, and in 1999 the Wildcats repeated the feat, taking down another #3 seed, North Carolina, 76-74. More recently, Montana made a run to the second round in 2006 with a wins over #5 Nevada.

Predicted Champion.  Portland State (#14 NCAA). This is a relatively safe pick, as the Vikings won both the regular season and tournament championships last season. Portland State returns three starters, including 2007-08 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year Jeremiah Dominguez (pictured below). The 5’6” Dominguez scored 14.4 points per game last season, while averaging 4 assists per game and leading the conference with 1.9 steals per game. Also returning for the Vikings is junior Kyle Coston. The 6’8” forward averaged 7.4 points per game last season and made over 40 percent of his three-point attempts. PSU lost leading rebounders Scott Morrison and Deonte Huff, but return enough firepower offensively to make them the favorites in the Big Sky.

Others Considered.  Behind the Vikings is a pack of about four teams that can challenge them. Northern Colorado is my pick to finish second in the league. The Bears return nine letterwinners from last season, the most in the conference, and are led by all-conference center Jabril Banks. Banks led UNC last season with 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Idaho State should also contend for the conference title; the Bengals are led by guards Matt Stucki and Amorrow Morgan, who combined to average just under 22 points per game last season. Perrenial favorites Montana and Weber State should also be in the mix, led by forward Jordan Hasquet and guard Kellen McCoy, respectively.

Important Conference games.

• Northern Arizona @ Montana State (1/10/09) – This game could go a long way toward determining the final berth in the Big Sky Tournament.
• Portland State @ Northern Colorado (1/19/09) – This is just Northern Colorado’s third year in the conference, but Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion is already proving to be one of the toughest places to play. The Bears were 9-4 there last season.
• Idaho State @ Weber State (1/31/09) – Dee Events Center should be rocking for this matchup between rivals that will have a big impact on what the top of the conference standings look like.
• Montana at Montana State (2/7/09) – It’s Montana against Montana State, when is it ever not important?
• Big Sky Championship Game (3/11/09)

RPI Boosters.

• Northern Colorado @ Colorado State (11/18/08) – This is perhaps the biggest college basketball rivalry in the state of Colorado. The Bears beat the Rams, 72-59, last year.
• North Dakota State @ Northern Arizona (11/25/07) – This is the first of two meetings between the two teams this season, and catches the Bison in the midst of a very tough three-game road trip.
• BYU @ Weber State (12/3/08) – This is yet another chance for the Big Sky to prove itself against an in-state rival. You can bet the biggest venue in the Big Sky will be nearly full for this one.
• Portland State @ Washington (12/14/08) – This game presents a good chance for the Vikings to make a statement against a quality Pac-10 opponent.
• Idaho @ Idaho State (12/29/08) – The Bengals host their former conference-mate and in-state rival at Holt Arena with a chance to prove basketball supremacy in the state of Idaho.

Neat-O Stat.  Sacramento State hired a new head coach for the 2008-09 season, Brian Katz. This is Katz’s first NCAA head coaching job, but he is not the only coach in the league that is in a relatively new place. Only one coach in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona’s Mike Adras, has been at his school for more than four years. Portland State’s Ken Bone is entering his fourth season with the Vikings, and is the second-longest tenured coach in the conference. Idaho State’s Joe O’Brien, Montana’s Wayne Tinkle, Montana State’s Brian Huse, Northern Colorado’s Tad Boyle and Weber State’s Randy Rahe are all in their third season with their respective teams. Last year, Eastern Washington brought coach Kirk Earlywine into the mix.

65 Team Era.   The Big Sky is only 3-24 (.111) over the era, but as stated above, it has some quality upsets on its resume, with #14 Weber St. in both 1995 and 1999, and #12 Montana breaking into the second round in 2006.  Its champion typically receives a #14 or #15 seed in the NCAAs, but generally avoids the dreaded #16.  Here’s an amusing YouTube clip of some of Portland State’s practice and media session before playing #1 Kansas in last year’s first round below. 

Final Thoughts.  The Big Sky should be a very interesting conference to watch this season. There are about five or six teams that could win the regular season title, and the conference tournament should amount to a crap shoot. Whoever wins the league, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see them upset a big conference team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s been 193 days and nights since the Kansas Jayhawks walked off the floor with a national championship trophy held high above their heads.  In the interim, we’ve debated draft stock, analyzed the new three-point line and otherwise provided the daily filler that keeps and justifies your rapt attention on this site (ahem).  But now it’s time to get back to business.  It’s time to start traveling on the long road to the Final Four in Detroit.  It’s time to start listening for the squeaks of sparkling new Nikes on the hardwood, coaches making excuses as to why their players just aren’t ‘getting it,’ and various media idiots luminaries blather on about the strengths and weaknesses of the AASAA offense (present company excluded, of course).   As of tonight, each of the nation’s 343 teams has a dream – a dream of one kind or another – whether it’s simply advancing a round or two in their conference tournament, making the Big Dance for the first time, or actually cutting down the nets at the national championship. 

So let’s get it rolling tonight, with the inappropriately named Midnight Madness celebrations (who actually celebrates at Midnight anymore?), and the warm blanket security that college hoops is, once again, on the horizon. 

We’ll be bringing you coverage of some of the celebrations tonight, as we get information from them around the country.  ESPNU and the Big Ten Network are providing television coverage (although we don’t get either channel).  If anyone goes, send us in some photos and/or videos! 

Here’s a partial list of some of the most notable events.

• Gonzaga – Midnight Madness – ESPNU
• Michigan St. – Midnight Madness – BTN
• Davidson – A Night with the Cats – ESPNU
• Purdue – Mackey Madness 
• Southern Illinois – Maroon Madness
• Kansas – Late Night in the Phog – ESPNU
• Wisconsin – Night of the Grateful Red – BTN
• Oklahoma St. – Midnight Madness
• Georgetown – Midnight Madness – ESPNU
• Indiana – Hoosier Hysteria – BTN
• Minnesota – Tubby’s Tipoff – BTN
• Maryland – Maryland Madness

Next Week:  Florida, Villanova, UNC

Notably absent this year: UCLA, Duke, USC, Tennessee

* not a direct quote

Did you know that Tark the Shark now has a blog called SharkBytes with the Las Vegas Sun?  We mentioned this earlier today in Fast Breaks, and a couple of other blogs (notably, Fanhouse and The Dagger) talked about how interesting this development not only is, but could be will be over the course of a season, especially given Tark’s penchant for outspokenness and rabble-rousing. 

Tark Is Not Friendly With Arizona (photo credit: AP)

But both of those blogs focused on what Tark wrote about recruiting against Kentucky in the good old days, regaling readers with a tale involving all-world prep prospect Sam Bowie and a Rodeway Inn in Pennsylvania.  A funny and interesting story, no doubt, but not nearly as compelling as what we found when we dug a little deeper into the post.  Consider, Tark wrote:

Other programs, like Arizona, would rip us behind our backs, telling recruits’ mothers that hookers would get her son or the mob would get them.  Mothers would call me and I’d have to fly back a second time to talk with her.  I’d tell parents, if a coach comes in and bad-mouths another program, I’d eliminate that coach right away. If your son gets hurt, you and your son will be bad-mouthed.  Once, the father of a kid in San Diego asked me what I thought of Arizona. I said, they have a good program. The dad pounds a folder on his coffee table. Coach, let me show you what they said.  The folder was filled with every bad article ever written about UNLV. Arizona had sent it to the father.

Now, Tark’s been around the west coast a long time – starting as head coach with Long Beach St. in 1968, and continuing at UNLV from 1973-92, but Arizona only became a real force in college basketball upon Lute Olson’s arrival in 1984.  UNLV and Arizona would have probably been recruiting the same caliber of player only after his landing in the desert.  So, who else other than Lute Olson could Tark be referring to here? 

We find it really interesting that, considering how long Tark’s been around, and all the things he’s seen in the game, that he decided to focus on and throw Lute Olson under the bus for playing dirty.  And yes, we realize the irony of Tark calling anyone, anyone at all, dirty.  Still, this is just another feather in the cap of Lute Olson’s 2008 Award Tour.   

Keep it coming, Shark!

Marty Leon is the RTC correspondent for the Patriot and Ivy Leagues.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Cornell  (20 – 9)  (12-2)
2. Penn   (19-9)   (10-4)
3. Harvard   (12-16)   (8-6)
4. Brown   (13-15)   (7-7)
5. Yale   (13-16)   (7-7)
6. Dartmouth   (14-13)   (6-8)
7. Princeton   (13-14)    (4-10)
8. Columbia   (6-22)   (2-12)

What You Need to Know (WYN2K).  In the conference of the true student-athlete, Cornell looks to be the heavy favorite after a 14-0 league record last season.  They posess a huge home court advantage, playing their  games in snowy Ithaca and return the league’s player of the year in Louis Dale.  Penn will be nipping at their heels trying to regain their championship form,  while Harvard, with the best freshmen crop in the league, looks to be third best.  Beyond that, a logjam ensues where anyone can beat anyone on a given night.  Dartmouth has a possible player of the year in Alex Barnett and Zach Rosen out of Penn should be the best rookie. 

Predicted Champion.  Cornell (#15 NCAA) should come away with the title, as they have all the pieces to the puzzle.  Besides Dale, Ryan Whitman is one of the country’s best 3-point shooters, and 7 footer Jeff Forte provides huge frontcourt presence.  Cornell will be a #15 seed at best, as they were pounded by Stanford 77-53 in the NCAA tournament last year.  Here’s a video of their clinching game against Harvard last year.

Others Considered.  Penn could challenge Cornell as they provide three super sophomores.  Tyler Bernardini returns after a rookie of the year season, while forward Jack Eggleston and point guard Harrison Gaines are back.  Though very talented,  this team will need to rely too much on youth to go the distance.  Harvard falls in the same boat, as Coach Amaker has recruited the Ivy League version of the “fab five.”  We can’t count out Yale and Brown who are also capable of beating these three teams.

Important Games.

• Penn @ Harvard  (1/31/09)
• Cornell @ Penn  (2/7/09)
• Penn @ Cornell  (3/6/09)

RPI Boosters.

• Penn @ UNC  (11/15/08)
• Villanova @ Penn (12/2/08)
• Cornell @ Syracuse  (12/3/08)
• Cornell @ Minnesota (12/6/08)
• Cornell @ St. Joseph’s (12/22/08)
• Harvard @ Boston College (1/7/09)
• Temple @ Penn (1/14/09)

Neat-O Stats.

1.  Intensity –  Every league game is crucial with no conference tourney to fall back on. 
2.  Scholarships – None given in this league.  All need based financial aid.  Coaches still successfully recruit nationwide.
3.  Family Feud – Yale coach James Jones and Columbia coach Joe Jones are brothers.
4.  Roots – Hall of Fame coaches Al McGuire of Marquette and Dave Gavitt of Providence began their coaching careers at Dartmouth.
5.  Vermont Connection – Brown coach Jesse Agel and assistants TJ Sorrentine and Kyle Cieplicki were all part of the Vermont team that shocked Syracuse in the 2005 NCAA tournament.

65 Team Era.  Since 1985, the Ivy has gone 3-24 (.111) in the NCAA Tournament, with all three of the wins coming within five seasons of each other (1994 – Penn; 1996 & 1998 – Princeton).  The Ivy is now on an ten-year drought without a win in the NCAAs, and eight of those losses have been by double-digits.  Ouch.

Final Thoughts.  If you want to see the purest college basketball, the Ivy League is one of the few places left where true scholar-athletes are on the floor.  On a rare occasion, the league winner makes a decent showing in the NCAA Tournament, but that won’t be the case this season.  No team is athletic enough to compete with the big boys in March.  The real story out of the Ivy this year is second year coach Tommy Amaker’s troubles at Harvard.  After being vindicated of improper recruiting charges, the NY Times ran an article questioning Amaker’s coaching methods after he dismissed several players for no other reason than he passed over them.  The question is, “Is Amaker trying to bring big-time coaching philosophies to a school where winning isn’t the number one priority?”

Shamelessly cribbing from last spring’s very clever NBA catch phrase, we here at RTC will present to you the Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball as we gear up toward the start of the season a little over a month from now.  We’ll be bringing you players to watch for this season and moments to remember from last season, courtesy of the series of dump trucks, wires and effluvia known as YouTube. 

#20 – Where Duke Goes Home Early Happens

We’re only a day from the real start of practice… let’s lace em up!

• Something’s going around.  SDSU’s all-MWC forward Lorenzzo Wade was indefinitely suspended today by the university for an incident where he was accused of first-degree burglary of an inhabited dwelling.  We’re quite certain that Gabby (and resident Aztec fan) over at M2M is drowning himself in some tasty spirits right about now. 
• Meanwhile, over in Australia, BYU player Chris Collinsworth (no, not the annoying Bob Costas lackey) was stabbed by three attackers while on his mission in that country.  He is expected to fully recover. 
• Parrish gives us four reasons why UNC might not win it all this year. 
• Katz writes a long piece on UConn – the Huskies are getting an awful lot of hype this year, but we dunno, they just don’t feel like a vintage Jim Calhoun team to us.
• Here are 10 sleeper players to keep an eye on this season, and 10 sensational sophomores.
• Do NC State fans care about this at all?  Not even a little?
• Next stop for Patrick Beverley:  Ukraine.  Get your grades, kids. 
• Jerry Jones is trying to get some college hoops going up in his new joint – Texas-UNC starting in 2009-10 as well as the Red River Rivalry hoops-style. 
• Wow, if Jerry Tarkanian is blogging, what does that say about the rest of us?  To be fair, his yarns are entertaining. 
• The crotchety old St. Joe’s Hawk himself, Phil Martelli, received an extension today through 2016. 
• It’s good to see that Miami (OH)’s longtime coach Charlie Coles is back to good health again.  Let’s hope it stays that way. 

Shamelessly cribbing from last spring’s very clever NBA catch phrase, we here at RTC will present to you the Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball as we gear up toward the start of the season a little over a month from now.  We’ll be bringing you players to watch for this season and moments to remember from last season, courtesy of the series of dump trucks, wires and effluvia known as YouTube. 

#21 – Where Coming Back For Another Shot at a Ring Happens

Ray Floriani from College Chalk Talk is the RTC correspondent for the Northeast (NEC) and Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC) conferences.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Mount St. Mary’s  (20-9) (15-3)   
2. Central Conn. St. (19-9) (14-4)
3. Sacred Heart   (17-10) (13-5)
4. Robert Morris    (17-12) (12-6)
5. FDU    (14-14) (10-8)
6. Quinnipiac   (13-14) (8-10)
7. LIU    (11-16) (7-11)
8. Monmouth   (11-17) (6-12)
9. Wagner   (11-18) (5-13)
10. St. Francis (NY)  (9-20) (4-14)
11. St. Francis (PA)  (5-23) (3-15)

What you need to Know (WYN2K). The Northeast Conference, in its 28th season of operation,  formed in the Eighties from the old ECAC Metro. The eleven school league has granted admission to Bryant University who begins NEC play in 2012. The league postseason tournament admits the top eight finishers. Each game is played on the home floor of the high seed in the pairings. What this all means is February games are played hard each night out. Teams are fighting for a tournament berth, a higher seeding or to just become a spoiler. After Valentine’s Day everyone is scoreboard watching. The nation’s fourth most improved conference (behind the Southland, MAAC and Sun Belt) a year ago will see 60% of its starters return. Featured among them are All-NEC performers Jeremy Chappell, a senior swingman for Robert Morris, and  LIU junior guard Jaytomah Wisseh. Central Connecticut also welcomes back 2008 NEC Rookie of the Year, sophomore point guard Shemik Thompson.
 
Predicted Champion. Mount St.Mary’s (#16 NCAA). The NEC defending tournament champs return four starters from a team that captured nine of their last ten games and took the tournament title on Sacred Heart’s floor. Junior lead guard Jeremy Goode, the team leader in scoring, assists and steals is back. Sophomore guard Jean Cajou caught fire late last season and wound up as NEC tournament MVP. Talent plus the momentum of a year ago, which included a play-in win over Coppin State, certify Mount as the favorite. Look for another 16 seed – could a Tar Heel rematch be in the works?

Others Considered. Central Connecticut St. will be in the mix. Four starters return and veteran coach Howie Dickenman is certain to have the Blue Devils playing their best as the season winds down. Sacred Heart finished as tournament runner-up the last two seasons and cannot be counted out. The same goes for Robert Morris, last year’s regular season champion who was upset in the NEC semis and represented the conference in the NIT.

Important Games.

• Mount St.Mary’s @ Sacred Heart  (12/4/08)
• Mount St.Mary’s @ Central Connecicut  (12/06/08)
• Quinnipiac @ FDU  (01/03/09)
• Robert Morris @ Mount St.Mary’s  (1/25/09)
• Sacred Heart @ Central Connecticut State  (2/19/09)
• Mount St.Mary’s @ Robert Morris  (2/28/09)

RPI Boosters.

• FDU @ Pitt  (11/14/08)
• FDU @ Wazzu  (11/18/08)
• Rhode Island @ Monmouth (Hoop Group) (11/20/08)
• FDU @ Mississippi St.  (11/22/08)
• Monmouth @ Villanova (Hoop Group) (11/25/08)
• Mount St.Mary’s @ George Mason  (11/25/08)
• Akron @ FDU  (11/30/08)
• Mount St.Mary’s @ Georgetown  (12/20/08)
• Robert Morris @ Xavier  (12/31/08)
• FDU @ TBA in Bracketbuster  (02/20/09)

Neat-o-Stat. The NEC boasts three coaches who have hit the 400 win total. Dave Bike (464-414) of Sacred Heart leads the way. Mike Deane of Wagner and FDU’s Tom Green hit the magic number this past season. Deane, in his sixth year at the NEC school, has a 416-292 mark. Green, entering his 26th season at FDU, has a 400-328 ledger.  Of the trio, Bike owns a national championship. He led the Sacred Heart Pioneers to the D2 crown in 1986.

Neat-o-Stat con’t. Robert Morris owns the best overall record among conference schools over the past two seasons even though it hasn’t won the tournament title. The Colonials are 43-19 during that time. Interestingly they did it with two different coaches. Mark Schmidt put together a 17-11 record in 2006-07 before heading to St. Bonaventure, and last season, in his first year in Coraopolis, Mike Rice’s club was a gaudy 26-8.

65 Team Era.  NEC life usually means facing a #1 or #2 seed (20 of the past 24 years), and unfortunately, the NEC has yet to defeat one of those teams in the first round. FDU under Tom Green has been competitive each time out. In 2005, they gave top ranked Illinois a battle for twenty minutes, and have also given #1Michigan (1985) and #2 UConn (1998) scares over the years. Last season, conference tournament champion Mt. St. Mary’s defeated Coppin State in the play-in game before running into the UNC juggernaut the next time out.  
 
Final Thoughts. In a perfect world the NEC would be a multiple bid conference. This is not a perfect world (see the $700 billion bailout) so the conference gets one invitation to the Big Dance. From a fan perspective that makes for added drama as the regular season and postseason tournament takes on huge meaning. The championship is especially intense as teams vie for that one spot on Selection Sunday.  Geographical proximity is another issue. You have three schools (St. Francis (PA), Robert Morris and Mt. St. Mary’s) ‘way out west’. But a good percentage of the membership is in relatively close driving distance of each other. In fact, FDU, LIU, Wagner, Monmouth and St.Francis (NY) are all within a 40-mile radius which affords their fans an easy, nearby road trip.  Another attractive feature of the NEC is that players stay around. If a coach recruits a player, then outside of transfer or academic issues, they are typically on board for the duration. No ‘one and done’ to David Stern’s league here.