Vermont has largely dominated the America East conference over the last 10 years. In the years they have not won the league, Bryant gave Michigan State all they wanted in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Then there was the 2018 NCAA Tournament, which no one has forgotten, the year that the UMBC Retrievers took down the number 1 Virginia Cavaliers. It was the first time a 16 seed had ever beaten a 1 in the NCAA Tournament.
UMBC is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Retrievers swept the America East regular-season and championship. That means UMBC stayed on its home court throughout the America East Tournament. The 2026 Tournament will be the third all-time appearance for the Retreivers in the event, but the first one with head coach Jim Ferry. It is hard to expect UMBC to knock off a one-seed again, but they do have some interesting storylines to follow in the NCAA Tournament.
All They Do is Win
This is a common theme among many of the lower-major schools in the NCAA Tournament. Usually, teams have to go on a heater in their conference tournaments to get into the NCAA Tournament, but the winning streaks are not usually 12 games long. Taking this to another level, the Retreivers have dominated just about everyone they have played in the 12-game winning streak.
UMBC is averaging 79 points per game over their streak and only allowing 62 points per game in that stretch. The domination has allowed the Retrievers to rest their stars down the stretch, which helps build depth, and as we know, there is nothing more important than depth in the NCAA Tournament. UMBC isn’t going to win the tournament so that the winning streak may end in the first round, but don't be surprised to see a confident team that makes a lot of shots. It's not just the way the Retreivers play.
Three Stars
UMBC is a lot different than some other 16 seeds. We know they have been blowing out most of their opponents over their last 12 games, but they have three stars who do everything on both ends of the floor. Most 16-seed teams only have one guy who can score, instead of three legitimate options.
Jah’Likai King is the first option and is more of a streaky volume shooter who does most of his work inside the three-point arc and loves to get to the rim. Ace Valentine and DJ Armstrong are the two players who can change the game for UMBC in a hurry. Each of these guys can shoot, get to the rim, and is extremely efficient. Armstrong shoots 42% from deep, and Valentine shoots 38% from deep. It's one thing to stop King, but if Valentine and Armstrong get loose and comfortable, the Retreivers can keep this game uncomfortably close for a top seed.
Jim Ferry
There are going to be a lot of stories this year about the paths coaches have taken to get their teams to the NCAA Tournament. Jim Ferry is one of those coaches who has had an illustrious career but has struggled to get teams back to the NCAA Tournament.
Ferry got his coaching start in 2002 at Long Island University. He got the Blackbirds to the NCAA Tournament in his last two seasons in New York, but since then, returning has been elusive, and, to be perfectly honest, so have winning records. After his stint at Long Island, he ended up at Duquesne, where he struggled to win, and then served as the interim coach at Penn State for a year, which also didn’t go well.
After Ryan Odom left UMBC, the athletic department hired Ferry, intending to keep the program at the same level as under coach Odom. Coach Ferry has done well, with 3 winning seasons total, and now has a conference championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance on his resume at UMBC. Coach Ferry was chasing the glory of making it to the NCAA Tournament again. Now that he is back, will he be able to get a win?