No. 1 University of Vermont
Players to watch: Sophomore guard Mike Trimboli is the floor general. He brings a strong outside shot and distributes the ball well. Senior Chris Holm looks like a cheerleader, but plays like a somewhat competent big man. Freshman wing Marquis Blakely is an incredibly athletic 6-foot-5, and although he’s not a go-to-guy right now, he may become one of the best players in the conference in the near future.
X-Factor: Freshman sharpshooter Joe Trapani has slowly been coming back from a foot injury. He’s 6-foot-6 and can really shoot the ball. If he’s healthy and playing well, Vermont will be hard to beat.
What we expect to see: We don’t know exactly what we expect to see, but based on the teams’ nickname we’re afraid of what we might see. We just want to come out and say mounting cats is not okay! Mount Chris Holm instead, please.
What we don’t expect to see: Junior guard Kyle Cieplicki doing anything to contribute to the team, other than maybe phoning home.
Chances of Winning: 45 percent. Vermont is the tournament favorite after going 15-1 in the conference this season. The Hartford vs. Stony Brook winner should pose little opposition in the quarterfinals. If Maine can get past UMBC, they could present more of a challenge with their strong guard play. If they get to the finals they’ll play at home, and it’s never easy to win in Vermont
No. 2 University at Albany
Players to watch: Senior guard Jamar Wilson is the reigning America East Player of the Year and our pick to repeat. He was dominant on Sunday against BU, using an outside shot along with dribble penetration. Senior Jason Siggers is an athletic wing player with a nice mid-range jumper, and senior Brent Wilson is a big man who can really extend the defense with his outside shot.
X-Factor: Junior Brian Lillis is the 6-foot-5 point guard who does all the little things. A tenacious defender and a great ball-handler, he’s one of the most underrated players in the conference.
What we expect to see: With Albany’s experience, making the NCAA tournament last season, they should roll through Agganis and make it to the final next weekend. Also, purple uniforms . . . hehe . . . purple uniforms.
What we don’t expect to see: Junior guard Jon Iati. At 5-foot-9, he’s just too short. We’re not sure if Albany is bringing booster seats with them on the bus, but they should.
Chances of Winning: 40 percent. New Hampshire should be a pushover. The Binghamton vs. BU winner should give the Great Danes a good game, but this Albany team has the guard play to win the whole thing. If Vermont stumbles, expect the Great Danes to take the spot in the Big Dance.
No. 4 University of Maine
Players to watch: Senior guard Kevin Reed can win you games, and he can lose you games. He shoots the ball every chance he gets and has a selfish attitude on the court. He leads the conference with 224 3-point attempts, making 33 percent. Senior guard Chris Bruff is the anti-Reed. He doesn’t throw up long-range prayers but works into the paint and gets good looks despite being only 6-foot-3. He shoots 54 percent from the field and brings down 5.8 rebounds. He’s a hustler and a great player.
X-Factor: Sophomore Philippe Bofia can be a powerful figure on the defensive end and a nice finisher on the offensive end, but how much will he play? He showed great potential last season as a freshman but all his numbers have dropped this season. If the Black Bears get to Vermont, they’ll need him to combat the inside presence of the cat-mounters.
What we expect to hear: M-A-I-N-E, goooo blue! It’s the most annoying cheer in the conference.
What we don’t expect to see: The city of Orono — does it really exist? We’re thinking it’s somewhere between Munchkin Land and the Emerald City.
Chances of winning: 5 percent. They’ve got the talent, and they’ve got the seniors, but their coach, Ted Woodward, is an absolute disaster. He yells at opposing players much more than he does his own. He’s a disgrace to the conference. They’re the only team to beat Vermont this season so if they beat UMBC, watch out
No. 5 UMBC
Players to watch: Junior guard Brian Hodges does most of the scoring coming off the bench. He’s got a decent outside shot and good quickness. Senior forward Mike Housman is probably the most important player on the team. He’s a leader who does all the little things well. Sophomore Jay Greene is a teeny, tiny (5-foot-8) 3-point bomber, but he’s only accurate 31percent of the time. He’s streaky, but if he gets hot, he could give them an edge.
X-Factor: Sophomore Tom Young is one of the most athletic guards in the conference. He doesn’t shoot the 3, which could be an advantage because Agganis might negate a lot of long-range shooting. He’s been far to passive in games we’ve seen him play.
What we expect to see: umBC sucks!
What we don’t expect to see: Any field hockey games being played. How could they cut the only team that wears skirts? Maybe, the men’s basketball team will be donning them instead.
Chances of winning: Josh thinks they have 0 percent, but they’re Chris’ Cinderella pick. They might defeat Maine, but they would need to play the game of their lives to get past Vermont. This program is headed in the right direction though: it brings in three transfers next season, and we really like the way freshman big man Justin Fry played when Vermont came to Case gym.
No. 6 Binghamton University
Players to watch: Watch the goofiness of freshmen Serbian big men, Lazar Trifunovic and Miladin Kovacevic. They’ll give you a good laugh. Point guard Mike Gordon has some skill and Richard Forbes can really score. Trifunovic, for all his goofiness, can actually play a little. He’s real athletic and moves across the lane extremely well for a guy his size (6-foot-9, 230-pounds).
X-Factor: Mike Gordon is a very aggressive on-ball defender. His 2.4 steals per game lead the conference.
What we expect to see: Kovacevic’s unbelievably awkward facial hair, which consists of a beard underneath his chin. We’ll each donate five dollars to a charity of his choice if he agrees to let us shave him before the game Saturday night — we don’t want him to scare away dance team girls
What we don’t expect to see: Empty seats. Binghamton should bring quite a few fans down the good ol’ Mass Pike. Chris thinks they may not be able to navigate their way though a bustling metropolitan area like Boston.
Chances of winning: 0 percent. They’ll have a tough time against BU in their opening game. The Terrier guards are just simply more talented than their Binghamton equivalents. The Bearcats can trot out a number of junior and senior guards, but they aren’t as good as the BU freshmen.
No. 7 University of New Hampshire
Players to watch: Jermaine Anderson and that’s about it. He’s a senior guard with a nice outside shot and a solid overall game. Beyond him, we can’t find a Wildcat we’d want on our team. Blagoj Janev has been considered one of the top big men in the conference for the past two seasons, but he brings little to the table besides a funny last name. His 3-point shots look like a rainbow and with the tough rims at Agganis, we don’t expect him to make a single one.
X-Factor: Will they bother coming down from Durham, or will they send a NASCAR team instead?
What we expect to see: If you have a car don’t expect to park in the Babcock lot this weekend. We expect it to be filled with the houses of Wildcat fans.
What we don’t expect to see: UNH crack 30 points against Albany. They didn’t crack 30 the last time they came to Boston.
Chances of winning: 0 percent. If there is one game in this tournament to bet on, it’s that the Wildcats will get blown out by Albany in their opener. Let’s face it, they only managed to score 29 against us at one point this season, and despite a nice home win later in the year over the Terriers, there’s seemingly no way the Wildcats will be able to take this thing.
No. 8 Hartford University
Players to watch: Jared Von Rosenberg and Michael Turner make up a tandem of hard-working athletic defenders. Bo Taylor and Joe Zeglinski provide some scoring, but are underwhelming shooters. This is a team that shoots under 30 percent from beyond the arc. Their best bet is to abandon all long-range shots, but then again, they don’t have any big men either.
X-Factor: They can put pressure on the basketball. The Hawks led the conference in steals with 8.3 per game. If they come out in a full-court press, they can cause serious problems for teams.
What we expect to see: Thugs. They’re a bunch of thugs. The fight they started at BU was an atrocity. We hope their program will be cleaned up in the coming years.
What we don’t expect to see: Nice law-abiding citizens from the Hartford area. If any of them manage to get out on bail in time for the game they can prove us wrong, but otherwise we’ll assume the team gets its thuggish attitude from the city.
Chances of winning: 5 percent. They don’t have the big men to compete with the top teams in the conference, but they should have a good chance to get past Stony Brook. If/once they do that, they’ll have to play at 12 p.m. the next day, which simply won’t be good for anybody.
No. 9 Stony Brook University
Players to watch: None. Three years ago, they broke our hearts when they eliminated the Terriers in the quarterfinals. We’re still holding a grudge, and frankly the team just isn’t good, and it looks like it might never be. I guess Ricky Lucas and Mitchell Beauford make a nice guard tandem, but that’s the only positive we could come up with.
X-Factor: Who knows? They’re Stony Brook, anything can happen. It seems like they have a million players on their roster, so maybe somebody will decide to show up, play well and pull off an upset.
What we expect to see: The Stony Brook women’s team taking the court to give them a better chance of winning.
What we don’t expect to see: People in the seats at Agganis to see the play-in game. They’re charging $15 for admission, the same price as the other double-header sessions, which is just plain stupid. Why not just spring the $30 to buy the student tournament pass and get to see all the games all weekend long?
Chances of winning: 0 percent. They’re a step below the talent level of virtually every team in the conference. They can get a lucky win here or there, but there’s no way they can string together four, especially if they’re put in the same situation as the Hawks of having to play the next afternoon.