AE Love

[Clickclack]

Saw this posted by ccd on the AE board and wanted to post it here......

 

The 12th conference with a winning non-league record is one that has never sent a second team to the Dance, one that hasn't won a game there in four years and has one of the worst NCAA records in the country (6-29). It's a league that's traditionally been an RPI afterthought, mired in the 20's. Ladies and gentlemen, at 31-30 for a winning percentage of .508, I present to you the America East.

 

A-East teams haven't shown up in your Upset Club e-mails (until this weekend -- see below), but the conference's collective low-key approach has been as simple and direct as the Missouri Valley's: schedule winnable games. The league has played just nine games against the eight top conferences (1-8), and has spent most of its time picking on teams its own size, within its own geographic footprint. Witness a 9-1 record against the Ivies, 4-2 against the Patriot League, and a 4-5 virtual draw against the NEC.

 

The America East's conference RPI is now at No. 13. I'm not going to lie to you and say that this league is edging into two-bid territory, because it's not. (The State's No. 23 conference ranking is much more representative of current strength.) But what the league has shown us is a brilliant model for the future.

 

Play games you can win. Play as few as you can that will result in 40-point blowouts, even if it means less money for your athletic programs. Don't get bought.

 

Winning matters. If this trend continues, and two or three schools in the league become strong and are able to knock off the odd power-conference team, that will help lift the conference as a whole. In a few years, maybe a two-bid America East won't be such a crazy idea after all.

[SaintsFan]

this...

 

schedule winnable games

 

we have a problem in the MAAC especially in Fairfield who seem to think scheduling Duke and UConn among other non-winnables is the right thing to do year after year. For the most part a fair number of MAAC teams schedule like this. On the other hand a few bite off WAY more than they can chew.