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CAA Basketball: Hofstra headlines 2019 conference tournament

By Zac Voynow

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Head coach Joe Mihalich of the Hofstra Pride reacts against the Kentucky Wildcats in the first half of the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at Barclays Center on December 11, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: Head coach Joe Mihalich of the Hofstra Pride reacts against the Kentucky Wildcats in the first half of the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at Barclays Center on December 11, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – MARCH 07: Flags of the schools line the wall during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament between the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks and the Hofstra Pride at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – MARCH 07: Flags of the schools line the wall during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament between the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks and the Hofstra Pride at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Hofstra is headlining this seasons CAA Basketball conference tournament, but there are a few potential bid stealers among the group.

Regular Season Recap

Just like seemingly every year, the Colonial Athletic Association was filled was highly competitive and close games all season long. College of Charleston were the preseason favorites to win the CAA, but right from the get-go it’s been Hofstra’s conference. Hofstra won 16 games in a row following a 3-4 start to the season. Justin Wright-Foreman emerged as a CAA Basketball star to a national star. He’s currently a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, which is named to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Hofstra’s success has been featured on ESPN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and NCAA.com. National media attention is something this school isn’t used to receiving, but they’ve been handling it with class and not letting it affect their focus on the court.

Hofstra is clearly the cream of the crop with a 15-3 conference record and a 25-6 overall record. Although they’re the only CAA team that has been getting notable national media attention, they’re not the only team that could win this tournament.

Northeastern has quietly had a stellar season. The Huskies went 14-4 in conference and hold an overall 20-10 record. The third contender to win the conference title is College of Charleston. Charleston was picked to win the CAA in the preseason polls, and despite not finishing atop the rankings, they still had a very nice season. Charleston finished 12-6 in conference, and 23-8 overall. By the way, it doesn’t hurt that the CAA tournament is being played at the Cougars home arena.

Following the top three teams, there’s a bit of a drop-off. William and Mary went 10-8 in conference but only hold a 14-16 overall record and don’t appear as much of a threat. Following W&M is Delaware, Drexel, Elon, James Madison, Towson, and UNCW in that order. The thing that could potentially make the CAA tournament an interesting one, is that upsets are very common in this conference. UNCW lost nine out of its final 10 games. Their lone win came against Hofstra, the leagues best team.