Michael Hurley is the RTC correspondent for the Patriot League and America East Conference. Click here for all of our 2009-10 Season Preview materials.
Predicted Order of Finish:
Boston University (13-3)
Stony Brook (11-5)
Vermont (10-6)
Albany (10-6)
New Hampshire (8-8)
UMBC (7-9)
Hartford (6-10)
Maine (5-11)
Binghamton (2-14)
All-Conference Team:
Corey Lowe (G), Sr., Boston U.
Joe Zeglinski (G), Jr., Hartford
Marqus Blakely (F), Sr., Vermont
John Holland (F), Jr., Boston U.
Will Harris (F), Sr., Albany
6th Man. Muhammad El-Amin (G), Sr., Stony Brook
Impact Newcomer. Luke Apfeld (F), Fr., Vermont
What You Need to Know. This offseason has been a rocky one for reigning America East champion Binghamton to say the least. The Bearcats went through one of the biggest roster changeovers due to disciplinary reasons in history of NCAA basketball. They are returning only four players as nine from last year are now gone. Out of those nine players, six were dismissed for disciplinary reasons including three starters and two all conference selections. Talk about a rough offseason for Binghamton fans. The latest blow (probably not a blow after how much trouble he got this program into) is that Coach Kevin Broadus has been placed on paid leave and assistant coach Mark Macon will take over in the interim. My humble opinion is that Coach Broadus will never be back. The school will try to work out some type of settlement and they will ultimately part ways. It is crazy to think that Broadus could stay with the program after all the public relations damage already inflicted. Mark Macon is going to have a tough first season to say the least. This team should not be expected to win more than two or three conference games, which is even a stretch. In other news, Boston University fired Coach Dennis Wolff, the all time leader in wins for the BU program, after 15 years. They hired Villanova assistant Patrick Chambers to lead the Terriers back to the top. With the roster he walked into, Chambers has it easier than most first time coaches. This season Vermont’s Marqus Blakely is going for his third consecutive America East Player of the Year award which would put him in the select company of only two others in history, Reggie Lewis of Northeastern and Taylor Coppenrath of Vermont. Blakely also has a shot at his third straight America East Defensive Player of the Year, which would be unprecedented.
Corey Johns is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.
Over the past two weeks Boston U and Albany played their way out of contention for the regular season conference championship. Albany just went in a free fall down the standings, losing five straight while Boston U needed to win out for hope but most recently lost to Stony Brook, taking them out. It’s down to Vermont and Binghamton. If Binghamton wins out they are the champion. They beat Vermont twice this year and have the tie breaker. But if they slip at all Vermont is in perfect position to take the title.
Corey Johns is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.
Two weeks ago the America East Conference looked to be wide open. Everybody was beating everybody and the bottom team was just two games away from the top of the conference. But in the past two weeks the conference has started to even out. Boston U, Vermont and Binghamton have started to separate themselves from the rest of the pack and very surprisingly the two teams in the conference championship last season, UMBC and Hartford, look to be at the bottom for good along with Maine.
Team Overall Record Conference Record
Corey Johns is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.
Everybody is beating everybody in the America East this year. It’s a good thing to show how deep the conference is but it’s a bad thing for the NCAA tournament. When everybody has multiple conference losses, that 14-15 seed teams in this conference hopes for can drop to a 16-play-in game. But what it does mean right now is nobody is safe, and everybody has a chance to win, shown by the bottom teams being just two conference wins away from the top at this point.
Standings
Binghamton 12-7 (5-2)
Vermont 13-6 (4-2)
Boston U 9-9 (4-2)
Albany 11-8 (3-3)
Maine 8-11 (3-3)
New Hampshire 10-9 (2-4)
Stony Brook 10-9 (2-4)
UMBC 8-10 (2-4)
Hartford 6-14 (2-4)
The Contenders
Vermont- The Catamounts have hit their stride as of late and definitely look like they are the top team in the conference having now won four straight (three on the road). Mike Trimboli (15.8ppg, 4.7apg), Marqus Blakely (15.2ppg, 8.5rpg), and Colin McIntosh (13.2ppg, 5.6rpg) are a great trio of scorers that have been consistent all season. The reason Vermont is hot right now though is Michigan state transfer Maurice Joseph has finally become the scoring threat they expected in Vermont. In the past four games he’s averaged 10.8ppg. With four guys scoring in double figures on a team, it’s hard to beat them. But there biggest strength is their bench. Vermont has been running a six man bench for significant minutes lately, allowing them to play full court press more often and really shutting down teams offenses.
WYN2K. The Am East has a tendency toward top-heaviness, with a couple of good teams in a given year that are competitive with mid-major and (sometimes) high-major teams while the rest are relegated to the morass of low-major fiefdom. Over the last several years, the three sentinels of America East basketball have been Vermont , Boston U. and Albany, the three of which have won the last six regular season and conference tourney championships of the league (although only once in the same year – Vermont in 2005) . Led by these programs, the conference has gone 119-176 (.403) against nonconference opponents over the last three seasons, which is a clear step up in success from the conferences below it. We expect the same three programs to battle it out for this year’s crown.
Predicted Champion. Vermont (#16 seed NCAA). Choosing UVM here was an extremely close call, as we fully expect BU and Albany to make a push for the league crown as well. Despite the losses of rebounding fiend Chris Holm (#3 in oReb% nationally) and rising star Joe Trapani (transfer to BC), the Catamounts return probable Am East POY Mike Trimboli at the point guard slot. We feel that his heady play, combined with the losses at the other schools will allow Vermont to hang on to the top spot.
Others Considered. BU is rising quickly, led by a quartet of precocious sophomores who surprised the league by finishing 8-8 in the conference last season. The most interesting of these players is Tyler Morris, reigning Am East ROY who also has the distinction of being the HS teammate of Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr. See if you can find him in the video below (look very closely for the white kid in green). Two-time defending NCAA entrant Albany must also be dealt with, despite losing Am East POY (twice over) Jamar Wilson. Brent Wilson and Brian Lillis (Am East DPOY) have more than enough support to make another run at the title. A final consideration goes to Binghamton, who hired Georgetown assistant coach Kevin Broadus to bring the Princeton offense to upstate NY. Considering that Binghamton was already one of the most sure-handed offenses in the nation (#9 in oStl%), we think this group will be ready for the transition. It also doesn’t hurt that the 2008 conference tourney will be located in Binghamton. Watch out for the Bearcats as a darkhorse.
Games to Watch. As a one-bid league, only one game will matter to most people.
America East Championship Game (03.15.08). ESPN2.
RPI Booster Games. The America East shies away from playing numerous BCS conference teams (18 games scheduled last year; 16 this year), but it makes up for it by playing quite a few winnable games against mid-major teams. For example, last year Albany defeated Utah to go along with the league’s three wins vs. BCS opponents (Vermont 77, BC 63; Binghamton 79, Miami (FL) 74; Stony Brook 59, Penn St. 51). There are several such opportunities this season.
Vermont @ George Mason (11.09.07)
Vermont @ Virginia (11.11.07)
Boston U. @ George Washington (11.14.07)
Maryland-BC @ Wichita St. (12.04.07)
Albany @ Duke (12.17.07)
Boston U. @ UMass (12.29.07)
Albany @ Iowa St. (12.30.07)
Odds of Multiple NCAA Bids.Zip. Even with Vermont going 15-1 in the league last year and losing to Albany by one point in the conference tourney final, they were relegated to the NIT (losing to Kansas St. 59-57). This year will be a more competitive race, which leaves no opportunity for multiple bids.
Neat-o Stat. We have several today. The Am East is a league where coaches get their starts – names like Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, Mike Jarvis, Mike Brey, and Jay Wright all earned their chops in the league before moving onto bigger and better things. Will Binghamton’s Kevin Broadus be the next coaching star from the America East? Also, just call Maryland-Baltimore County’s Brian Hodges the Human Cannon this season – he ranked sixth in the nation in shots attempted, taking 37.4% of his team’s shots while on the floor. Finally, everyone thinks UVM stands for University (of) Ver… Mont, right? Well, no – it actually is latin (Universitas Viridis Montis) for University of the Green Mountains. Go figure.
64/65-Team Era. The America East is 3-23 (.115) over this era, with three first-round victories from 1989 (#14 Siena over #3 Stanford), 1996 (#12 Drexel over #5 Memphis), and 2005 (#13 Vermont over #4 Syracuse). #13 Albany was blitzed last year by #4 Virginia, but in 2006 the Great Danes were leading #1 seed UConn 60-48 with eleven minutes remaining before Marcus Williams took over and finished them off down the stretch (34-9 run by the Huskies). And who can forget the Sorrentine and Coppenrath show vs. Cuse in 2005?
Final Thought. The Am East is one of our favorite low-major leagues. In the few games we see involving these teams, the fans seem to be incredibly rowdy and into the games. The level of basketball as a rule is decidedly below the rim, but teams make up for it in execution and shooting. And how can you not like resident Am East cheerleader (and former UVM coach) Tom Brennan doing studio work for ESPN all winter.
