Busting Brackets
Fansided

NEC Basketball: 2021 Conference Tournament preview and predictions

By Benjamin Zacher

Dec 8, 2020; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Wagner Seahawks guard Alex Morales (2) dribbles up court against the Seton Hall Pirates during the first half at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 8, 2020; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Wagner Seahawks guard Alex Morales (2) dribbles up court against the Seton Hall Pirates during the first half at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Northeast basketball
Northeast Basketball (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

After 86 days of pure regular season, mid-major chaos, the Northeast Conference is finally set to tip-off its 2021 conference tournament on Saturday afternoon – with an automatic bid on the line in the championship tilt on Tuesday.

It does not feel like that long ago since the NEC’s preseason poll and our very own preseason rankings were published – and if the differences between the preseason poll and the final results are any indication, then the NEC Tournament may prove to be just as unpredictable as those 86 days.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Northeast Conference has decided to trim the number of participants in this year’s tournament, going from eight to four.  That decision, ultimately, panned out well, considering the four teams in the field are the only teams who owned a winning record in conference play.

Among those are three teams picked in the upper half of the 10-team league in the preseason poll, in the fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, and the second-seeded Bryant Bulldogs, both of whom were tied for third in the preseason poll. Rounding out the field, meanwhile, were too selections no one expected to be this good – the top-seeded Wagner Seahawks, picked eighth in the preseason poll, and the third-seeded Sacred Heart Pioneers, who were selected last in the conference.

https://twitter.com/NECsports/status/1367262244933926916

Wagner, ultimately, clinched its first regular-season title since the 2017-18 season – and just the fourth in program history – courtesy of a 64-59 win over Merrimack on Wednesday.  The Seahawks carry the conference’s best record at 13-5, whereas Bryant maintains the best overall record at 14-5.

A handful of teams in the NEC have proven to give power conference schools some fits across the regular season and prior NCAA Tournaments – and the assortment of squads in this field is no different.  With the conference tournament set to get underway on Saturday, it is time to take a look at who has the best chance of coming out on top – and what possible chaos could ensue in the coming days.