College Basketball Checkpoint: America East Conference

So these comprehensive college basketball rankings haven't been working out the way I've wanted them to, so here's my plan. Starting today, Feb 1, there are exactly 32 days until the first conference tournament begins on March 4. There are 31 conferences in Division 1, so each day until March 4 I will summarize each conference, giving the current standings, teams that are projected to make the NCAA Tournament, and each teams chances of advancing in said tournament. Then, starting March 4, I will attempt to predict the results of all 30 conference tournaments (the Ivy League doesn't have one), in what may be a first kind of endeavor. Then on Selection Sunday (March 16), if you follow these closely, you'll have an easier time filling out your bracket.

Today, we start with the America East Conference. Traditionally, this is a one bid league, and this year appears to be no different. However, the champion of this conference's tournament has a history of giving higher seeds some trouble in the Big Dance. 13 seed Vermont knocked off Syracuse a few years back, and 16 seed Albany gave UConn a heck of a run just a couple years ago.

Standings (as of Feb 1):
1. Binghamton 6-2 (10-10)
Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) 6-2 (14-7)
Vermont 6-2 (11-9)
4. Albany 4-4 (9-11)
Hartford 4-4 (10-13)
New Hampshire 4-4 (7-13)
7. Boston University 3-5 (6-14)
8. Maine 2-6 (6-15)
9. Stony Brook 1-7 (4-16)

Likely NCAA Teams: The winner of the conference tournament will likely receive the only berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Team Most Likely to Pull Off 1st Round Upset: UMBC. The Retrievers clearly have the best non-conference resume of the top three teams. They went 8-5 out of conference, including a 9 point loss to Ohio State.

How Would Penn State Do In This Conference? This conference is bad enough that our lovable losers would likely be right in the mix for the top spot.