Brackbuster

[GODANESGO]

Interviewed on TV-13 tonight, Will stressed the importance of winning Sunday to getting on TV for the BB - tho I'm not sure how much beating #230 UNH will help, losing would sure hurt. Anything to motivate the troops.

 

Exactly, I think it's more of the 'losing will hurt.' However, we're just above/below (depending how you look at it) 100 for an RPI and it's a road game. Depending how some of our other opponents do, a win could put us in the 90's..making us look just that much more appealing for a TV match-up.

 

Were there any mention of possible teams during the interview? From Brown or Wyland /Catalon?

[JonUA97]

Opponent Permitting we can all "pre-game" at my house and take a bus from here, if you know what I mean?

 

SSS!

 

I think you mean 'Go Hofstra', right?

 

 

Yes, still hope we can play at the PFC.

 

SSS

[GreatDanes06]

Good article in todays paper about all of this:

 

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...sdate=1/28/2007

 

Doing my math, right now going into todays game vs. New Hampshire I have the following tv match-ups:

 

S. Illinois vs. Butler

Bradley vs. Nevada

Applachian St. vs. Creighton

Drexel vs. Missouri St

N. Iowa vs. VCU

Utah St. vs. Wichita St

Winthrop vs. Hofstra

Holy Cross vs. New Mexico St

Ohio vs. Boise St

Old Dominion vs. Toledo

UAlbany vs. Indiana St

Evansville vs. Oral Roberts

Kent St. vs. George Mason

[UB Bull from Albany]

as an albany high graduate, and a student at UB, i really doubt Albany would come here because of the sheer different in RPI (Albany is around 110, while we are around 180), but if they did, I'd be really excited. my parents both work at UAlbany (one at the downtown campus, one in the building near the gas station and where uncommon grounds and all those other places are), and have been attending ualbany games since they went D1. I was able to attend the BPG against Boston U and then the AE Championship against Vermont last year, and both were great times. But as a student at UB, I'd love this SUNY matchup to take place, even if it doesn't happen this year. We make a return trip to Siena in a couple years, when Schenectady High grad Andy Robinson comes home, so I'd hope UB and UA would do a 1 and 1, with UAlbany coming here next year, and UB playing UAlbany and Siena on the same trip...

 

but thats just me, Go Great Danes, Go Bulls

[bob87]

as an albany high graduate, and a student at UB, i really doubt Albany would come here because of the sheer different in RPI (Albany is around 110, while we are around 180), but if they did, I'd be really excited. my parents both work at UAlbany (one at the downtown campus, one in the building near the gas station and where uncommon grounds and all those other places are), and have been attending ualbany games since they went D1. I was able to attend the BPG against Boston U and then the AE Championship against Vermont last year, and both were great times. But as a student at UB, I'd love this SUNY matchup to take place, even if it doesn't happen this year. We make a return trip to Siena in a couple years, when Schenectady High grad Andy Robinson comes home, so I'd hope UB and UA would do a 1 and 1, with UAlbany coming here next year, and UB playing UAlbany and Siena on the same trip...

 

but thats just me, Go Great Danes, Go Bulls

 

 

I would like that series even if it isn't part of this years bracketbuster. An OOC rival that would be a home and home series as it should be!

[purplehaze]

as an albany high graduate, and a student at UB, i really doubt Albany would come here because of the sheer different in RPI (Albany is around 110, while we are around 180), but if they did, I'd be really excited. my parents both work at UAlbany (one at the downtown campus, one in the building near the gas station and where uncommon grounds and all those other places are), and have been attending ualbany games since they went D1. I was able to attend the BPG against Boston U and then the AE Championship against Vermont last year, and both were great times. But as a student at UB, I'd love this SUNY matchup to take place, even if it doesn't happen this year. We make a return trip to Siena in a couple years, when Schenectady High grad Andy Robinson comes home, so I'd hope UB and UA would do a 1 and 1, with UAlbany coming here next year, and UB playing UAlbany and Siena on the same trip...

 

but thats just me, Go Great Danes, Go Bulls

 

 

I would like that series even if it isn't part of this years bracketbuster. An OOC rival that would be a home and home series as it should be!

I second Bob's idea. Plus we have the SUNY connection

[UB Bull from Albany]

exactly, two programs that are starting to build momentium (down year for ub this year). i personally believe UB should play all SUNY schools, but thats just me. But the UB UA matchup would be great. I still follow UA (i follow siena a little also, sorry guys) from buffalo, and hope to see them in a TV game against a solid team during bracket busters. I hope for UA to become the class of the AE.

[UA_MA_2000]

As an alum. of both Buffalo and UAlbany, I would love to see that matchup! I was so happy to see Buffalo beat Siena back on December 23. If it weren't just a few days before Christmas, I would have traveled out to see the game. Buffalo beat Siena 69-64, back on December 23, http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/mensbas...0607/game13.htm.

 

Also, Buffalo beat Siena WITHOUT arguably their best player, senior Yassin Idbihi, who did not play that game! Idbihi leads Buffalo in scoring with 15.4 points a game. See http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/mensbas...07/TEAMCUME.HTM

 

IMHO, I would agree that the MAC (ranked #15, RPI) is a stronger conference right now than both the MAAC (ranked #23) and America East (ranked #20).

[UAalum72]

IMHO, I would agree that the MAC (ranked #15, RPI) is a stronger conference right now than both the MAAC (ranked #23) and America East (ranked #20).

Any difference among conferences ranked between about 13 and 27 is virtually meaningless - they're so close a conf. can move 6 or 7 spots from year to year

[UA_MA_2000]

IMHO, I would agree that the MAC (ranked #15, RPI) is a stronger conference right now than both the MAAC (ranked #23) and America East (ranked #20).

Any difference among conferences ranked between about 13 and 27 is virtually meaningless - they're so close a conf. can move 6 or 7 spots from year to year

 

 

I think that is generally true about the mid-major and small conferences, and I agree that there is typically reordering from year to year as far as conference RPI rankings go, but I continue to perceive a consistent difference (albeit slight) between the CAA, Big West (maybe only because of Gonzaga), and the MAC and the rest of the conferences ranked below. I guess what defines a conference as a "mid-major" is that they consistently place themselves in the teens as far as conference RPI goes, no? Perhaps my opinion would be changed if I did some number crunching and looked into it further. Perhaps you have done this already; I just haven't looked at numbers, past records and rankings, etc. as of yet, so I concede my opinion is slightly from "the hip."

 

I suspect we'd find, however, that those 2 or 3 conferences (CAA, B.W., and MAC) are consistently ranked in the mid-teens, while other conferences are consistently in the 20s. On a side note, is 20th the highest the America East has ever been? As a fan of the conference, I am proud of that ranking, and I think we'll continue to rise, and I also hope that the America East will be considered a mid-major conference in the next few years (is this a possibility?).

 

Unforunately, the basketball venues in the America East are generally a lot smaller than many of the venues in the other mid-major conferences (although not always so), so I just hope that our future status as a mid-major conference, ESPN and other media willing (since they seem to define what conferences are considered "mid-majors"), will be solely a function of how we play ball on the court and not our average conference attendance and seating capacities or number of games on television. Having said this, as the conference improves, and it is, I would hope that more students and fans generally attend their respective teams' games.

 

Of course, in the case of at least FOUR of the schools in our conference, hoops will never be the big winter sport at those schools because of hockey [boston University, Vermont, Maine, UNH (UNH is currently ranked #1 in the nation as of Monday, January 29); note also that as of Sunday, January 28th, Vermont is #11, Maine is #6, and B.U. is #7 --- too bad UAlbany doesn't have a hockey team and the America East doesn't have hockey as one of its sports; we'd be the best conference in America for hockey, assuming those other schools joined this hypothetical hockey conference!)]. See http://www.uscho.com/rankings/ . Of course being good in one sport does not obviate the ability to cheer for one's school in another sport!

 

Setting aside the foregoing (and tangential) hockey talk, I think it is very reasonable for the America East to arrive in the top 15 --- on a consistent basis --- for basketball conference RPI in the next few years in large part because I think our academics are generally strong across the conference and more so than many other small and mid-major conferences. Academically (and of course it depends on the program), Stonybrook, Binghamton, and Boston University are all fine institutions. Of course, UAlbany has an excellent graduate education and corresponding reputation. Academics surely can be a building block for building our conference. (I didn't mean to exclude the other schools, re: academics; I simply don't know enough to say anything about those schools)

[haggyland]

On a side note, is 20th the highest the America East has ever been? As a fan of the conference, I am proud of that ranking, and I think we'll continue to rise, and I also hope that the America East will be considered a mid-major conference in the next few years (is this a possibility?).

 

AE Conference RPI was 16th for 2004-2005, in part because of the excellent UVM team that finished with an RPI of 26.

As far as being considered a "mid-major", I do not think that there are any supporters or participants of the program that would classify it as "low-major"....It is a "mid-major" conference, with vast potential for growth.

 

The AE Commissioner's Cup is a possibility again this year for UAlbany, and the completion ofthe 2010 Master Athletics Plan will spurn further athletic (and hopefully academic) growth.

[UA_MA_2000]

I think that was the Vermont team that beat Syracuse in the first round of the Tournament (?). I've heard people on ESPN use the phrase "small-conference" to refer to smaller conferences, or conferences not referred to as mid-majors, but I would agree with you in that we're a mid-major with potential for growth, etc.

 

Curious about the history of the America East, I went to the A.E. website and found this page enlightening: http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbm...p;ATCLID=669433

 

Apparently, the A.E. was formerly known as the ECAC North, and Siena used to be in this conference! I never knew (then again, I was 11 or 12 years old when Siena left the conference). Interesting see how several CAA teams used to be in this conference as well ... . I have memories as a kid of a point guard for Siena named Marc Brown leading Siena to good times. Anyone know whether Siena was in the MAAC by this point? I thought Marc Brown played for Siena in the late 1980s, and according to the A.E. website, Siena left the ECAC North to move to the MAAC in 1988-89. Just curious ... .

[bob87]

I think that was the Vermont team that beat Syracuse in the first round of the Tournament (?). I've heard people on ESPN use the phrase "small-conference" to refer to smaller conferences, or conferences not referred to as mid-majors, but I would agree with you in that we're a mid-major with potential for growth, etc.

 

Curious about the history of the America East, I went to the A.E. website and found this page enlightening: http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbm...p;ATCLID=669433

 

Apparently, the A.E. was formerly known as the ECAC North, and Siena used to be in this conference! I never knew (then again, I was 11 or 12 years old when Siena left the conference). Interesting see how several CAA teams used to be in this conference as well ... . I have memories as a kid of a point guard for Siena named Marc Brown leading Siena to good times. Anyone know whether Siena was in the MAAC by this point? I thought Marc Brown played for Siena in the late 1980s, and according to the A.E. website, Siena left the ECAC North to move to the MAAC in 1988-89. Just curious ... .

 

 

I don't have the dates on Marc Brown. I am not big on Siena history, but I do know that Siena was a member of this conference and NOT the maac when they won their only actual NCAA tournament game. (Play in games to get in the tourney do not count)

[purplehaze]

true--Siena was at that time a member of the North Atlantic Conference, which later became America East.

Seems so long ago. remember the measles thing and games being played in empty gyms because of it.

I believe they played B.U. in the Conference Championship game.

[UA_MA_2000]

Just did a search on the Internet --- apparently, Siena has won at least two NCAA games (I never knew): 1989 (beating #3 seed Stanford, 80-78) and 2002, when they beat Alcorn State in the play-in game (I guess it still counts as a NCAA Tournament win). That was the year (2002) when Maryland beat Indiana in the title game.

Found the info on a neat little website: www.infoplease.com