2010 America East Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/04/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of the nine teams in the America East Conference, eight will begin competition on Saturday, March 6th, for the right to move on to the NCAA Tournament.

Albany was supposed to be the odd team out, as the Great Danes finished just 2-14 in conference action during the regular season. However, Binghamton has decided not to participate in this tourney because of an ongoing investigation into alleged inadequacies within the school's athletic department. That is certainly a shame for fans of the program, as Binghamton beat UMBC to win the AEC a year ago.

Of the eight teams that will participate in this event, four had at least 11 wins in 16 opportunities, and there is no clear cut favorite to capture the crown. Stony Brook went 13-3 to win the regular season title, as it was one game better than Vermont and two games better than both Maine and Boston University. New Hampshire, Hartford, UMBC and Albany are all long shots, as there is an obvious divide between the stronger and weaker teams in the conference. This tournament will be played at Chase Arena in Hartford for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds and at the highest remaining seed's home arena for the title game.

The first quarterfinal matchup pits the top-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves against eighth-seeded Albany. While Stony Brook did win both of its meetings with Albany during the regular season, the two victories came by a combined total of eight points, so don't be shocked if the Great Danes keep this contest close from start to finish. Albany has won this tournament twice, most recently in 2007, while Stony Brook has never captured the title and owns a 4-8 record all-time in the event. The Seawolves lead the conference in scoring margin (+5.7 ppg) and rebounding margin (+3.3 rpg), Muhammad El-Amin heads the club with 16.7 ppg. As for Albany, it has no scorers in the league's top dozen, but the fact that the team sits in the middle of the pack in most of the conference's statistical categories suggests that the it is better than its record indicates.

Another quarterfinal matchup pits fourth-seeded Boston University against fifth-seeded Hartford. The Terriers beat Hartford in both regular-season meetings, but the most recent matchup was a three-point affair. BU has won this tournament five times, more than any other team in this field, but the most recent championship for the program came back in 2002, so a decent amount of time has passed since the club last tasted success. As for Hartford, it has never won the AEC title and is 15-22 in the event. For the Hawks to get the job done this year, they will have to overcome the fact that they own the second-worst scoring margin (-6.6 ppg) of all conference members. Joe Zeglinski tops Hartford and is fourth in the league in scoring with 16.7 ppg. Boston University boasts the conference's leading scorer in junior John Holland (19.9 ppg), and Corey Lowe is in ninth place with 14.1 ppg. Add Jake O'Brien (13.0 ppg) to the mix and it is no surprise that the Terriers are second in the conference in scoring (70.3 ppg).

In what appears to be a lopsided quarterfinal pairing, the second-seeded Vermont Catamounts will take on the seventh-seeded UMBC Retrievers. At just 4-25 overall, including 3-13 in league play, UMBC has endured many disappointing losses this season, and it was easily handled twice by Vermont during the regular season. The Retrievers captured the crown in this event back in 2008, the program's first as a member of the conference. Vermont has accomplished the goal three times, most recently in 2005, but the team still owns a sub-.500 record in the event (21-24). The Catamounts are the top scoring team in the league (70.5 ppg), but UMBC is last in scoring defense and scoring margin. Vermont possesses arguably the AEC's best player in Marqus Blakely, who is second in the league in both scoring (17.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg). UMBC is paced by Chauncey Gilliam, who contributes a less impressive 13.5 ppg.

Maine, the third seed, will battle sixth-seeded New Hampshire in the final quarterfinal pairing. The Black Bears and the Wildcats are both in search of their first AEC Tournament title, and while Maine's 17-29 record at this event is poor, New Hampshire's 8-27 mark is considerably worse. The odds are against the Wildcats picking up their ninth win in this quarterfinal round, as they are the lowest-scoring team in the AEC (61.4 ppg), as they show a woeful 37.7 percent from the floor and even struggle from the foul line. They are last in steals and next-to-last in assists. As for Maine, it is tops in assists and steals, and the club is also first in scoring defense (61.9 ppg). Gerald McLemore leads Maine in scoring with 14.9 ppg, as he is the most productive sophomore in the conference. As for New Hampshire, Alvin Abreu (14.6 ppg) is the player to watch.