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America East Basketball: 2021 Conference Tournament preview, predictions

By Elliott Geller

CATONSVILLE, MD - FEBRUARY 21: The American East Conference logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Vermont Catamounts and the UMBC Retrievers at the Event Center on February 21, 2019 in Catsonville, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
CATONSVILLE, MD - FEBRUARY 21: The American East Conference logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Vermont Catamounts and the UMBC Retrievers at the Event Center on February 21, 2019 in Catsonville, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Vermont’s Anthony Lamb UMBC Retrievers America East Basketball Umbc Vs Vermont Men S Basketball 2 22 20
Vermont’s Anthony Lamb UMBC Retrievers America East Basketball Umbc Vs Vermont Men S Basketball 2 22 20 /

For the rest of time, March Madness will have clips of UMBC and their magical performance against Virginia. The first and only sixteen seed to defeat a number one seed will never be forgotten. Not all was bad for UVA as they conquered those demons the following year, but for UMBC out of this very league, America East Basketball, they will be remembered forever.

I don’t know what it is about this conference, but it moves the needle for me. Whether it is the Saturday morning championship game, games being played in their home gyms instead of a neutral site, or having close friends connected to Stony Brook and Binghamton, I’ve always enjoyed following the mid-major basketball this league presents.

Over the last ten years or so, the America East has given us great rivalries, players, and coaches. Rivalries in the early part of those years like Stony Brook and Albany, to now, UMBC and Vermont have created fierce and fiery games during this multi-week tournament.

Battles between the likes of Jameel Warney, Sam Rowley, and Anthony Lamb was some of the best basketball you could watch. And who can forget where current Rutgers head coach came from in Steve Pikell. Previously with the Seawolves at Stony Brook, it is pretty evident that this league can produce hidden talent from players to coaches.

This year was a war of attrition, per usual. Any one of these teams can be beaten by one another on any given night. There is a new format for this league’s conference tournament with NJIT joining the fold. Unfortunately, Maine has opted out for the rest of this season so this will be a nine-team field taking place in a two-week stretch.

More likely than not, the automatic berth in this league will be a 15 or 16 seed, so this conference tournament will be each team’s respective Super Bowl. That is what is so great about a mid-major tournament. Somebody like Clemson verse Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament doesn’t mean too much in the grand scheme of things because they’re both locked in for the NCAA Tournament, but a league like the America East, it’s for all the marbles.

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