The best men’s college basketball teams in the country this year require no introduction. Syracuse makes life miserable for opponents with its trademark 2-3 zone. Kansas’ dynamic post player, Cole Aldrich, is a rare breed, exceptional at both rebounding and shot-blocking and a force of nature on offense. Duke takes care of the ball and spreads the floor with talented shooters. There are other excellent teams, all of demonstrable quality, even to the untrained eye.
America East basketball, on the other hand, can sometimes appear to be designed specifically to repel the casual fan. Sure, sometimes a compelling story emerges, and the uninitiated have little difficulty growing accustomed with a particular team. The Vermont team that stunned Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament comes to mind.
But other years, even America East’s top contenders can’t keep it together long enough to capture anyone’s attention. So far this fall, the latter situation is overwhelmingly the case.
BU, the preseason favorite, has been tested by a difficult schedule. While the results haven’t been awful, it’s tough to tout a 3-6 team as a favorite to win anything. Stony Brook has a 6-3 record, but the Seawolves have no wins against anyone of consequence. The Seawolves also have the worst loss of any upper-tier America East team ‘-‘- Fordham, by 16 ‘-‘- and the Rams were missing their best player. Vermont’s four-game winning streak has come against teams whose combined record against Division-I opposition is 6-23.
Albany’s four wins came at the expense of even weaker teams. New Hampshire has three ugly losses against good teams, a victory over winless Marist, and a decent win against Central Connecticut State. The remaining four America East teams would compete for last place in just about any conference in the country.
America East hasn’t been helped by Binghamton’s implosion, to be sure, but the Bearcats aren’t the worst team in the conference right now. As bad as Binghamton has been, none of the nine America teams are exceeding expectations. In fact, relative to adjusted expectations after Tiki Mayben and five other Binghamton players were released, the Bearcats are doing quite well. In their last three Division-I games, they’ve won one and came reasonably close to winning the other two.
No, America East’s collective troubles this season are widespread. The top teams haven’t done much to distinguish themselves, the middle teams haven’t impressed and the bottom teams have somehow managed to be worse than all the others. UMBC has been worst of all ‘-‘- the Retrievers haven’t even won a game.
Certainly, this year’s America East competition is lower than its usual standard. But more than halfway through non-conference play, this America East season is shaping up to be strangely competitive ‘-‘- and that’s attention worthy.
Two years ago, when UMBC rode a wave of transfers to its first America East title, its campaign was set against a backdrop of bedlam. At season’s end, the gap between second-place Hartford and sixth-place BU was one game. Two teams were tied with 10-6 conference records; three others were deadlocked at 9-7. UMBC’s lead in the conference standings took away some of the meaning from those games, but for those who bothered to pay attention to the games themselves, the battles over playoff seeding were captivating.
Remove a clear-cut leader from the picture, though, and what’s left is this season. Five different teams are capable of beating anyone else in the conference on their best day, but none of them are running on all cylinders as conference play approaches. If you think a race for a conference title is interesting with two or three real contenders, well, five contenders ups the ante quite a bit.
For all ye unconverted, waiting for the right moment to jump on the bandwagon, this is that moment. The competition isn’t necessarily the highest quality, but consider this before returning to your Big East or ACC games, or whatever ESPN is showing: there are no consolation prizes in mid-major basketball.
There are no at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in reserve for the America East teams that don’t secure the auto-bid. Meanwhile, two-dozen power-conference teams are rewarded with NCAA Tournament bids after losing their conference tournaments. Which format is more rewarding to the viewer? Which format heightens the stakes?
Forget the BCS conferences ‘-‘- there’s drama right here on campus, starting Jan. 2. Several contenders fighting for position, then fighting to stay alive, knowing there’s one way ‘-‘- and only one way ‘-‘- to fulfill their dreams of NCAA Tournament qualification.
What’s not to like?
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