The America East has been an adventure to say the least over the past decade or so. Five different teams have won the tournament title in the past 11 years but Vermont has been the most active team, appearing in the tournament finals six times with four victories. However it’s been two years since they last won the title and 2012 could be a very good chance for the Catamounts to return to the NCAA tournament for the 5th time in the past 11 seasons.
Standing in their way is regular season champion Stony Brook who will be looking to make their first ever NCAA tournament appearance and just their 2nd overall postseason birth (2010 NIT). Stony Brook went 14-2 in conference play and a respectable 20-8 overall but have no shot at an at-large birth thanks to losses to the likes of Eastern Illinois and Sacred Heart.
Another usual subject in the America East lurks in the shadows as Boston University sits as the 3rd seed and did hand the Seawolves one of their two conference losses. A semifinal matchup between BU and Vermont could be one of the better games of championship week as the last game between these two ended with a 68-67 Catamount victory for a sweep of the regular season series and beating a team more than twice in a season isn’t the easiest of things to do these days.
Picks & Predictions:
Champion: Mike – Vermont & Andy – Stony Brook
Sleeper: Mike – Albany & Andy – Albany
MVP: A sleeper candidate for this honor has to be Vermont forward Brian Voelkel who ranks in the top 3 of the conference rankings in assists and rebounds while scoring just 4.9 points a game and if he can score above that he’ll have a major impact on this tournament.
However my gut tells me it is most likely to be one of two people – either Gerardo Suero of Albany who led the AE in scoring at 21.7 points a game or Bryan Dougher who led Stony Brook in scoring with 13.4 points a game.
Tournament Bracket & Schedule:
1st Round – March 1st *all times are eastern
#8 UMBC vs. #9 Binghampton – 8:15pm
Quarterfinals – March 3rd
#1 Stony Brook vs. UMBC/Binghampton winner – noon
#4 Albany vs. #5 New Hampshire – 2:15pm
#2 Vermont vs. #7 Maine – 6pm
#3 Boston University vs. #6 Hartford – 8:15pm
Semifinals – March 4th
#1/8/9 Winner vs. 4/5 Winner – 5pm
#2/7 Winner vs. 3/6 Winner – 7:15 pm
Final – March 10th
Semi #1 Winner vs. Semi #2 Winner (at highest remaining seed) 11am (ESPN2)
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