I’ve been doing this for a few years, and it seems like it used to be common that the top seed would not be the favorite to win its tournament. But over the years, more conferences have engineered their bracket to reward regular season play (the nerve!). This season America East joins the party by going to a Patriot League-style tournament where all games are played at the home of the higher seeded team.

Some of the impetus for the change was Albany having won semifinal games the past two seasons against higher seed teams while hosting the tournament. Well, the joke is on you America East, because Albany is the top seed this year and the Danes will host every game they play anyway.

Even though Albany won the league by three games, there’s not much difference in ability in ability between the Danes and the teams that shared second place, Vermont and Stony Brook. Therefore, Albany’s chances are only about 50/50 despite the favorable format.

Other trivia worth noting is that New Hampshire went 11-5 this season, posting its first winning conference record since 1995. According to bbstate.com, the Wildcats’ all-time record in conference tourneys is 9-32 and they’ve never made a title game appearance. They’re not likely to get their first NCAA tourney bid, but that possibility is a lot better than it’s been in a while.

If you get a chance, check out the conference kPOY, Stony Brook center Jameel Warney. He had a monster year and went for 32 and 18 in the season-finale against Hartford.

America East

March 4, 8, and 14. All games at higher-seed team.

All-kenpom.com: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook (kPOY); Sam Rowley, Albany; Ethan O’Day, Vermont; Dre Willis, Vermont; Tanner Leissner, New Hampshire.

               Semis Final Champ
1 Albany        96.9  75.5  48.0
2 Vermont       97.0  69.7  33.6
3 Stony Brook   94.2  29.8  12.9
4 New Hampshire 84.6  22.4   5.2
5 Hartford      15.4   1.9   0.2
6 Binghamton     5.8   0.4   0.03
7 UMBC           3.0   0.1   0.006
8 Maine          3.1   0.2   0.006