ralphieralph@netscape.net

March 2nd, 2006

Championship Week Overtakes the Big Apple

AE, CAA, MAAC, and NEC tournaments start this week

The time is here. All the jockeying for position within the assorted conferences has led up to this point in the year: Championship Week. Of course this trendy name for the “week” is usually meant for the major conferences. But besides the bubble teams playing each other in the opening rounds, those tournaments have nothing on the all-out brawls that will take place in conferences that will only get one bid. For the die-hard college basketball fan, this is Christmas. In the New York City area, four league tournaments of interest will begin this week, starting off with the opening round of the Northeast Conference tournament. Below are previews of each of these four tournaments, complete with the chances of the local teams involved.

Northeast Conference (March 2^nd, 5^th, 8^th)

Location: Campus sites (higher seeds will be hosts)

Number of bids expected: 1 (automatic qualifier)

Schedule: Thursday, March 2
Game 1: No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 8 Quinnipiac, 7 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Central Connecticut vs. No. 7 Sacred Heart, 7 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Monmouth vs. No. 6 LIU-Brooklyn, 7 p.m.
Game 4: No. 4 Mount Saint Mary's vs. No. 5 Robert Morris, 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, March 5
Game 5: Highest seed vs. lowest seed
Game 6: Second-highest seed vs. second-lowest seed

CHAMPIONSHIP
Wednesday, March 8
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7:30 p.m.

Interesting aspect of this tournament: The NEC uses a seeding system similar to that of hockey, ensuring that the highest seeded team will play the lowest seed in the semifinals.

Fairleigh Dickinson will enter the NEC Tournament as the favorite to repeat as champion. However, they needed three tries to wrap up the regular season title, losing to both Monmouth and Wagner before beating that same Monmouth team in the season finale to hold off Central Connecticut State. The Knights will open with Quinnipiac, who ran them off the court in their only game, a 102-81 romp by the Bobcats. But Quinnipiac hosted that one, so it should be interesting to see what happens on FDU’s home court. The top three seed in this tournament all have recent NCAA bids under their belts, and Robert Morris at the five seed is a very dangerous team as well. LIU-Brooklyn will visit Monmouth in the opening round, who they defeated 78-72 in their only regular season meeting on the Blackbirds’ home court. The only high seed not to lose to their opening round opponent was Mount St. Mary’s, which swept Robert Morris. This could end up being a wild tournament. St. Francis (NY), Wagner, and St. Francis (PA) get to sit this one out, thanks to their inability to finish in the top eight of the league.

America East Conference (March 3^rd-5^th, 11^th)

Locations: Opening rounds @ Binghamton’s Events Center, Final @ higher seed

Number of bid expected: 1 (automatic qualifier)

Schedule: Friday, March 3
Game 1: No. 8 Maryland-Baltimore County vs. No. 9 Stony Brook, 7 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, March 4
Game 2: No. 2 Binghamton vs. No. 7 Maine, noon
Game 3: No. 3 Boston University vs. No. 6 Vermont, 2:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 1 Albany vs. Game 1 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 5: No. 4 Hartford vs. No. 5 New Hampshire, 8:30 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, March 5
Game 6: Winners of Games 2 and 3, Noon
Game 7: Winners of Games 4 and 5, 2:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP
At higher seed
Saturday, March 11
Game 8: Winners of Games 6 and 7, Noon ET

The only local team in the America East Tournament is Stony Brook, and they may not be there for very long. The Seawolves have the “honor” of playing in the dreaded opening round game against the Retrievers of Maryland-Baltimore County. For the first time in a few years, the Catamounts of Vermont will not be the favorite to walk away with the title. Binghamton, facing the possibility of playing their first two games at home, could be considered the favorite to walk away with the league’s automatic bid. But expect challenges from the likes of regular season champ Albany, Boston University, and a Hartford team that has won four of their last five to close out the season. The high seed will have the home court for the final, which will be played six days after the semifinals.

Colonial Athletic Association (March 3^rd- 6^th)

Location: Richmond (VA) Coliseum

Possible number of bids: Two/ three (automatic + at-large berths)

Schedule: FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 3
Game 1: No. 8 Drexel vs. No. 9 Delaware, 12 p.m.
Game 2: No. 5 Northeastern vs. No. 12 James Madison, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 Towson vs. No. 10 Georgia State, 6 p.m.
Game 4: No. 6 VCU vs. No. 11 William & Mary, 8:30 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, March 4
Game 5: No. 1 UNC Wilmington vs. Game 1 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 6: No. 4 Old Dominion vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 2 George Mason vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 8: No. 3 Hofstra vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m.
 

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, March 5
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Monday, March 6
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m.

Regardless of the label of a conference, be it “major” or “mid-major”, you MUST pay attention to the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. At the top, you have UNC Wilmington, George Mason, and Hofstra, three teams with RPIs ranging from 24 to 38. All three enter the tournament with 22 wins as well, so a good showing could sew up at-large bids for these three. Will all three get at-large bids should they not win the tournament? That’s unlikely, but with teams such as Old Dominion, Northeastern, and Virginia Commonwealth also having strong teams, we may find out. Hofstra will need all they can get and more out of guards Loren Stokes and Antoine Agudio in order to get the automatic bid. So while fans of these schools will have their attention on this tournament, it won’t hurt to check on some of the other bubble teams in major conferences at the same time.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (March 3^rd-6^th)

Location: Albany, NY (Pepsi Arena)

Number of bids expected: 1

Schedule: FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 3
Game 1: No. 5 Saint Peter's vs. No. 10 Rider, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: No. 7 Niagara vs. No. 8 Fairfield, 7 p.m.
Game 3: No. 6 Loyola, Md. vs. No. 9 Canisius, 9:30 p.m.

SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 4
Game 4: No. 4 Siena vs. Game 1 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 5: No. 2 Iona vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Game 6: No. 3 Marist vs. Game 3 winner, 10 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Sunday, March 5
Game 7: No. 1 Manhattan vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 8:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Monday, March 6
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9 p.m.

The other reason as to why Manhattan’s win over Iona Sunday night was so important was that as the top seed, the Jaspers will receive a bye all the way to the semifinals. You would think that not having the services of CJ Anderson would have been the death knell for their NCAA Tournament hopes, but who thought that they could win the league regular season title outright without him? Only needing to wins to get the automatic bid can only help their cause, given their lack of depth. Iona and Marist receive byes to the quarterfinals, which puts them one game away from a backcourt showdown between Jared Jordan and Will Whittington of Marist against Steve Burtt Jr. and Ricky Soliver of Iona. But don’t go licking your chops over this matchup just yet, as the opening rounds of the MAAC Tournament are notoriously crazy. Iona will meet the winner of Friday’s Niagara vs. Fairfield game, while Marist gets the winner of Loyola (MD) and Canisius. Another player to watch is St. Peter’s senior guard Keydren Clark. Although his reign as NCAA scoring champion is most likely over, Clark is only 37 points shy of the 3,000-point plateau. The Peacocks will open with last-place Rider, whom they just beat 77-64 in the season finale. Clark averaged 30 points per game in his two meetings with Rider, including a 39 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist effort in their 104-100 win January 4^th. Expect this one to be exciting, full of great guard play and tight finishes, with a winner-take-all scenario in Monday night’s final.

New York Metropolitan Rankings (previous ranking in parentheses)

1. Hofstra (3): The nation’s second-longest home winning streak is at 20, including a recent win over then 25^th ranked George Mason; in line for an at-large bid to NCAAs

2. Manhattan (6): Four-spot jump comes as a result of winning the MAAC regular season title; this is one of Bobby Gonzalez’s best coaching jobs at Manhattan

3. Iona (2): The Gaels had their chances to put the Jaspers away early in the second half due to Manhattan’s lack of depth and foul trouble but didn’t; Steve Burtt Jr. fouling out was the nail in the coffin

4. Marist (4): The Red Foxes won three of their last four games to close out the regular season; should be in good shape to get an NIT bid if they don’t win the MAAC Tournament

5. Seton Hall (1): The Pirates get a huge home win over Cincinnati after losing three straight to Notre Dame, St. John’s, and DePaul; finale at Pittsburgh and the Big East Tournament will give the Hall opportunities to help their cause

6. Fairleigh Dickinson (7): Third time is the charm: the Knights clinch the NEC regular season title with a home win over Monmouth in the season finale; Knights will need Andrea Crosariol to stay out of foul trouble in order to repeat as tournament champions

7. Fordham (5): After getting to 7-3 in the Atlantic 10, the Rams dropped four straight; stopping the bleeding may prove to be tough with La Salle and Temple left on the schedule

8. St. Peter’s (9): The only consistent option for the inconsistent Peacocks: Keydren Clark. Others will need to step up if SPC is to have any chance at winning the MAAC Tournament

9. St. John’s (8): Won their last outing over Seton Hall, helping to put the Pirates squarely on the bubble; in other good news, guard Daryll Hill had left knee surgery Monday and should be good to go for summer workouts

10. LIU-Brooklyn (11): The Blackbirds beat metro area rivals Wagner and St. Francis (NY) to close out the regular season and get themselves up to the sixth seed in the NEC Tournament

11. Wagner (11): Closed out their season at 13-14 overall, winning three of their last four ballgames

12. Columbia (13): Three-game winning streak came to an end in their 71-65 defeat at Yale. But don’t let this take the luster off of their first sweep of Penn and Princeton since 2001

13. St. Francis-NY (10): End a 10-17 year on a sour note, thanks to a three-game slide to end the season

14. Stony Brook (14): The losing streak has reached eight, but the last team that the Seawolves beat is their first round opponent in the America East Tournament