Generally, the America East usually sends lower seeds to the NCAA Tournament, especially of the sixteen seed variety. Teams from the America East conference haven't won a tournament game in the regular field of 64 in at least the last ten years, though they have won a couple of First Four games. This year, however, might be a different story, as the America East has a highly efficient Vermont team (RPI: 49, KenPom: 69) that could spring an upset in the NCAA Tournament.
Vermont won the conference with a perfect 16-0 record. The second place team in Stony Brook finished four games behind the Catamounts. As it stands, Vermont is projected a solid 13 seed, which is potential upset territory. They are not a safe tournament team naturally, as they don't have an RPI Top 100 win because of the conference they play in.
There are nine teams in the America East conference, but only eight will participate as UMass-Lowell is still transitioning into Division I. They will be eligible for postseason play next year. The tournament will be held on campus sites on March 1st, 6th, and 11th. For the semifinals, the tournament will be reseeded such that the highest seed will play the lowest remaining seed.
Quarterfinals-Wednesday, March 1st
#8 Maine at #1 Vermont
#5 UMBC at #4 New Hampshire
#7 Binghamton at #2 Stony Brook
#6 Hartford at #3 Albany
Semifinals-Monday, March 6th
#5 UMBC at #1 Vermont
#3 Albany at #2 Stony Brook
Championship-Saturday, March 11th
There is no serious reason to believe that Vermont can't defend its home court three times and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Out of sixteen conference games that Vermont played, only four of them were in single digits. It is expected of them to romp through this tournament and any other result would be a surprise
Albany 60, Vermont 75
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