MAAC Notebook

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Notebook

by Matthew Moll

Judgment Weeks

Ten teams, each with three games remaining and with little officially set for the MAAC tourney. In the last two weeks, the middle five teams can shuffle into first round byes or the bruising seven-eight seed. Who will be where, to follow.

Game of the week

Bracketology in the interim: Marist at Old Dominion February 18.

Hoopville MAAC Player of the Week

Kevin Downey, Sr., Canisius – Averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 66.7 percent (including 50 percent from three) this past week.

Hoopville MAAC Newcomer of the Week

Kenny Hasbrouck, Fr., Siena – Averaged 18.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in two league wins this past week.

How the MAAC tournament works (March 2-6 at Pepsi Arena Albany, NY)

Five months, a tournament, and suddenly next year will begin for nine of the MAAC participants. The MAAC is 0-22 against the RPI top 100 and are only 7-27 against the RPI 101-200 (some of which are within the MAAC), which also means no NCAA tournament at-large bids and also means no NIT.

All 10 MAAC teams will be seeded for the four-day tournament in Albany. Matchups in the first round are as follows:

• No. 10 seed vs. No. 5 seed
• No. 8 seed vs. No. 7 seed
• No. 9 seed vs. No. 6 seed

Those who play in the first round will need to win four games in four days to earn the right to represent the Metro Atlantic. Subsequent rounds are then pitted against seeds two through four who are given first round byes, while the number-one seed earns a free pass to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest seed the top seed can face is the four seed, and it will only need to win consecutive games to enter the field of 65. This tournament style rewards regular season play while also giving the entire conference a chance to dance.

In the event of a two team tie, according to the conference Web site, “tie breakers are based on head-to-head competition, if there is a split the tournament committee would seed higher the team with the best record against highest seeded remaining teams in descending order as the tiebreaker.” In other words, if two teams split the season series and have the same conference record, the school with the better record against those seeded above will earn the higher seed. After the two-team tie, the clear tournament picture becomes murky. We shall cross that bridge later if necessary.

Some history

This seeding system debuted in 2003, and since its introduction the number-one seed played the number-two seed in the finals in every year. The number-one seed has been victorious each time out.

Prior to the new format, seeds seven through 10 were relegated to the four wins in four days gauntlet. Most recently in 2002 Siena, lead by Dwyane Archbold and Prosper Karangwa, took the seventh-seeded Saints to the NCAA tournament, where the Saints would defeat Alcorn State in the play-in game. The only other school to pull off the four-win upset was Fairfield, who did it twice ten years apart (’87 and ’97) as the MAAC’s eighth-seed.

BEST CHANCE (MAAC), Still in it (MAAC), on the outs (MAAC)

Fight for number one

IONA GAELS (12-3), Manhattan Jaspers (11-4)

Any combination of Iona wins and Manhattan loses that equal three will make the Gaels the top seed for the first time in five seasons. The Gaels’ magic number to have at least a share of the MAAC regular season championship is two, with a magic number of three to clinch sole possession of the top.

If both Iona and Manhattan have perfect weeks, the stage will be set for a winner-take-all show down on the final day of the regular season, Feb. 26. Manhattan won the earlier contest handily by a score of 87-69, but this is when the Jaspers were at full strength and Mr. 1800 Steve Burtt shot 23 percent from the floor and scored 10 points below his season average. The sellout crowd at the Hynes Center saw the Jaspers shoot over 51 percent in the second half en route to a 50-point surge to a convincing victory. Do not expect the same performance by Burtt, who sits 42 points behind the second place spot on Iona’s all-time leading scorers list. This time it could be for the coveted two-round bye and the right to be called MAAC regular season champ.

Numbers two through four

JASPERS (11-4), MARIST RED FOXES (9-6), SAINT PETER’S PEACOCKS (8-7), Siena Saints (7-8), Niagara Purple Eagles (7-8), Fairfield Stags (6-9), Loyola Greyhounds (6-9)

In order for Marist to earn the No. 2 seed, Iona would have to lose out and Manhattan would have to defeat the Gaels on the last game of the season. The Jaspers’ season sweep would then put them at the number-one seed. Iona and Marist would have identical records (12-6), but Marist would earn the tie-breaker by because of the season split with Manhattan. Either way, the Jaspers will not be lower than the No. 3 seed and the Red Foxes are poised for a first round pass.

The Red Foxes appear to be the hotter of the two, having won 10 of the last 12. They are 9-1 when scoring 80 points are more. Marist relies heavily on the three, leading the MAAC in threes made and three-point percentage. Jared Jordan paces the potent offense with a national-best 8.7 assists per game.

Among those who wish to be spectators during the first round is St. Peter’s, and although the Peacocks are currently in fourth, they have hit a rough patch. The Peacocks came into the week winning four consecutive games before losing a tightly-contested tilt to Manhattan, then having it handed to them by Loyola. St. Peter’s has been consistently inconsistent all year. Twice the Peacocks have gone on losing streaks of four games and followed those with a string of wins. They must now finish the season against lower-seeded teams, including two teams trying to play spoiler. For now, the Peacocks have the luxury of controlling their own first round placement.

The remaining teams in the running (Siena, Niagara, Fairfield, and Loyola) will need help.

Siena can essentially knockout Loyola with a win when the two meet this week. If the Saints win, they would then have to defeat Iona and Niagara and hope St. Peter’s loses at least two of the remaining MAAC games on Peacock’s schedule. If the “ifs” come to fruition, the Saints watch in Albany for a round.

The “Magnificent Seven”, as the Purple Eagles and their dwindling roster has been recently dubbed, has a bit more difficult road ahead. The Eagles will need to defeat Manhattan and Marist before a possible showdown with Siena for the final regular season game. They would also need St. Peter’s to lose two because of their 0-2 record against the colorful birds.

Fairfield and Loyola are in need of some loses from all teams previously mentioned as well as three consecutive wins to contend for a first round bye. The Greyhounds can aid their own cause with a win over Siena, but after that the Stags are holding out for good fortune. Fairfield could follow suit by defeating the Peacocks much like Loyola did last week, but then will have to contend with Manhattan and Marist, who are also jockeying for tourney position. Should Fairfield and Loyola end the season in a tie, Fairfield would own the tie-breaker (with a win over Manhattan and winning out). Many other tie breaker scenarios could foment this next week, leaving this group to wonder.

The Bad Seed

The seventh and eighth seeds are in a bit of a quandary. Not only do they end up playing each other, making the consideration for a tiebreaker moot (see above), the ride to the dance will be more taxi than limo. Should either advance out of the first round, the team will be forced to face the No. 2 seed, and if the seeds hold true, would then have to face the number-three and number-one seeds before entering the NCAA tournament.

The rest

Canisius and Rider’s disappointing seasons likely will end with the ninth and tenth seeds as the spoils to seasons which once flickered potential. Canisius did end last week with a surprising win over Manhattan to set them up for one final run at a higher seed, but overall the team with the highest attendance in the MAAC has struggled. In the last 11 games, the Golden Griffins have only managed two wins and went on a six-game losing streak. The Griffins are averaging a conference-worst 70.6 points per game and are near the bottom of the league in shooting percentage. The defense and giveaways are not helping either: the Griffs allow over 76 points per game while averaging 14.0 turnovers a night.

Numbers have been none too kind to Rider as well. The Broncos are second from the bottom in the league in scoring (71.4) and scoring defense (76.1) and have the MAAC’s worst turnover margin (forcing 13.4 turnovers per game while committing 15.8). The numbers explain Rider’s futility up until recently. Since the season-long five-game losing streak, the Broncos have been at .500 – not stellar, but the same level of play early would mean a sniff at a first round bye. Sophomore Jason Thompson and seniors Terrance Mouton are in need of some of last season’s magic if the Broncos plan to return to the MAAC finals, but in the world of reality, magic is fiction and a No. 10 seed has never advanced to the finals, let alone won it all.

The bottom seeds will either face the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the first round, but will not face as impenetrable a road as the No. 8 and No. 7 seeds. If the last seed were to advance, the next match-up would be against the No. 4 seed and would not face the top seed until the semifinal. The No. 9 seed would face the No. 6 seed in the first round and the No. 3 seed in the semifinal.