Over the past 4 or 5 years the Northeast Conference has really risen it’s overall level of play and becoming less of a pushover come the NCAA tournament, but it hasn’t resulted in positive results in the NCAA tournament.
Defending champion Long Island – Brooklyn repeated it’s regular season championship and will look to get back to their 2nd straight NCAA tournament as the top seed in the conference tournament. The Blackbirds finished regular season play with a 23-7 record and went 16-2 in conference play.
However, the 2nd loss was also the season finale for LIU-Brooklyn so they could be vulnerable to the upset in the conference tournament should they not head the message that loss sent them.
The biggest threat to the Blackbirds really is only Wagner as they were the only team to stay within striking distance of them in conference play, finishing with a 15-3 record. Overall the Seahawks were 24-5 so they can be more than capable of keeping up with LIU-Brooklyn.
Picks & Predictions:
Champion: Mike: Wagner & Andy: Wagner
Sleeper: Mike: Robert Morris & Andy: Quinnipiac
MVP: If the Blackbirds do win look for star Julian Boyd to be the man with the MVP award as he averaged 17.3 points a game, 5th best in the NEC during the regular season, to go along with 9.7 rebounds per game and was named the NEC Player of the Year.
However, should my pick of Wagner win I’d say that it’s a pretty good bet that Jonathan Williams will be a good candidate for the honor and is my pick for MVP. He averaged 13.6 points a game and 5 rebounds per game as well.
Tournament Schedule: *click here for full bracket
Quarterfinals – March 1st
#8 Sacred Heart vs. #1 LIU-Brooklyn 7pm
#7 Central Conneticut at #2 Wagner 7pm
#6 Monmouth at #3 Robert Morris 7pm
#5 Quinnipiac at #4 St. Francis (NY) 7pm
Semifinals – March 4th
Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed – noon or 6pm
Third highest seed at Second highest seed – noon or 6pm
Final – March 7th
Championship at the higher seed 7pm (ESPN2)
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