Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (conference rank: 18th)
March 2-6
All games at Siena.
kPOY: Justin Robinson, Monmouth
Regular season champ: Monmouth (preseason #93 / 2nd MAAC, current #81)
Overachiever: Saint Peter’s (preseason #161, current #114)
Underachiever: Manhattan (preseason #175, current #283)
Monmouth is looking to get to the NCAA tournament after going 35-5 in MAAC regular season play the past two years. Like last year, though, I fear people might not appreciate how difficult it will be for them to get there. Sure, Monmouth is rated slightly better than last season’s team that recorded wins against USC, Notre Dame, and Georgetown. But their conference foes have collectively improved slightly as well. Furthermore, Monmouth may have to play its semifinal on its opponent’s home floor.
That opponent would be Siena, who have been underwhelming this season after having hopes of challenging Monmouth for the regular-season title before the season began. High-volume scorer Nico Clareth, who’s been in and out of the lineup due to various non-injury related reasons, has played in seven consecutive games and would be a factor if the Saints make a run.
Saint Peter’s beat out Iona and Siena for the two-seed and have won six straight, nearly jumping into the top 100. An impressive feat for a 12-loss team from the MAAC. All three of these teams are going to provide competition for Monmouth which is why the computations below indicate it’s safer to take the field than King Rice’s club.
Qtrs Semis Final Champ 1 Monmouth 100 89.4 62.4 40.8 2 Saint Peter's 100 69.7 42.4 20.6 3 Iona 100 70.5 35.1 14.7 4 Siena 100 65.6 26.0 13.4 7 Canisius 78.8 27.2 12.1 3.9 5 Fairfield 100 34.4 8.8 3.3 6 Rider 69.8 24.0 8.6 2.3 9 Niagara 56.6 7.0 1.9 0.5 11 Manhattan 30.2 5.5 1.2 0.2 8 Quinnipiac 43.4 3.6 0.8 0.1 10 Marist 21.2 3.0 0.5 0.05