2009 America East Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/05/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are nine members of the America East Conference, and all nine are set to participate in the 30th-annual America East Conference Tournament. The prize awarded to the winner of this event is a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and considering the fact that a team from this league is highly unlikely to ever earn an at-large dance ticket, this four-day event figures to pulsate with intensity.

Boston University has five AEC titles to its credit and a 38-24 all-time record at this event, but the Terriers, who are seeded third this season, haven't won this tourney since 2002. Vermont has captured three championships, and the second-seeded Catamounts figure to have a good shot at adding to the total. Albany is seeded seventh, so the odds of the club winning this event for a third time seem unlikely. As for UMBC, the defending champion, it is seeded sixth. The top seed is Binghamton, which is one of five league members never to win this tournament.

After the first round, quarterfinal round and semifinal round are played in consecutive days from Friday the 6th through Sunday the 8th, the championship game will not take place until Saturday the 14th, adding to the drama. While the first three rounds will take place at SEFCU Arena in Albany, New York, the title game will be held at the home venue of the highest remaining seed.

The first round on Friday pits the eighth-seeded Maine Black Bears against the ninth-seeded Hartford Hawks. These two teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season, and both of those contests were highly competitive. Hartford has won only six games all season and ranks last in the conference in both scoring offense (60.3 ppg) and scoring defense (70.5 ppg). The team has gotten dominated on the boards all season, as it is being outrebounded by nearly seven boards per contest. As for Maine, it closed out the season with four consecutive losses and figures to carry little confidence into this event. The Black Bears rank eighth in the nine-team league in turnover margin and have to take good care of the ball on Friday to advance.

The first of four quarterfinal games on Saturday the 7th pits the second- seeded Vermont Catamounts against the seventh-seeded Albany Great Danes. Albany lost seven of its last eight regular season games but did manage to beat Vermont in one of the two matchups between the teams. The Great Danes are the best free throw shooting team in the AEC and are also tops in the conference in rebounding margin, pulling down 8.4 rpg more than the opposition. Vermont is the league's top scoring team, as it is generating 77.8 ppg. Mike Trimboli (16.3 ppg), Marqus Blakely (15.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Colin McIntosh (13.2 ppg) provide the Catamounts with a tremendous trio.

Third-seeded Boston University and sixth-seeded UMBC will battle in another quarterfinal clash. Boston University boasts the league's third and fourth leading scorers in John Holland and Corey Lowe, who are generating 18.0 ppg and 16.6 ppg, respectively. The Terrier, who beat UMBC in both regular season meetings, are knocking down a league-leading 8.8. three-pointers per contest and rely heavily on their perimeter shooting. As for UMBC, it has not played nearly as well as fans hoped heading into this campaign, but the team always has a chance to win thanks to the presence of Darryl Proctor (20.0 ppg). The Retrievers, by contrast with the Terriers, are last in the league in three- pointers made, as they are knocking down only 3.7 shots per contest from behind the arc.

The winner of the first-round game between Hartford and Maine will take on top-seeded Binghamton in the quarterfinal round. The Bearcats won a share of the regular season title for the first time in their 63 years of existence, a tremendous accomplishment for the program. The club is 20-8 overall and posted a 13-3 mark against AEC opposition, including wins in all four of its matchups with Hartford and Maine. D.J. Rivera is a gifted scorer who leads the conference with 20.2 ppg. Rivera's squad doesn't lead the AEC in an major statistical category, surprising for a top seed, but the Bearcats do most things well and simply know how to win.

The fourth and final matchup of the quarterfinal round pits the fourth-seeded New Hampshire Wildcats against the fifth-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves. New Hampshire did win both regular season matchups with Stony Brook, the most recent of which was decided by one point in overtime last week. The Wildcats are second in the conference in scoring defense but second to last in scoring offense. They are last in free throw percentage, a stat that is definitely concerning since this quarterfinal game figures to be close. As for Stony Brook, it is tops in the league in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 60.4 ppg. The Seawolves also lead the AEC in steals and turnover margin, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to generate enough offense to defeat the Wildcats.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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