The bracket for the 2007 America East Men's Basketball Championship continued to sort itself out on Thursday night as Boston University (8-6) clinched the third seed for the upcoming tournament was determined.
The host Terriers gave top-seeded Vermont (14-1) all they could handle on Thursday night, losing 57-55 at Case Gymnasium, but it was shortcomings by Hartford (6-9) and Maine (6-9) that sealed the deal for Boston University as the No. 3 seed.
Binghamton (6-10) needed a three-pointer by Mike Gordon in the closing moments to defeat the Hawks at the Events Center, 55-53, while UMBC (7-8) snuck past Maine in Baltimore, 80-77.
The Terriers could still finish the regular season tied with UMBC with identical 8-8 league marks, but Boston U. holds the tie-breaker by virtue of its two-game sweep of Maine. The Retrievers have continued their climb up the conference standings and currently sit all alone in fourth.
The middle of the standings continue to be a log jam as it has all season. Hartford and Maine are deadlocked for fifth, with Binghamton a half-game back in seventh.
New Hampshire (5-10 America East) and Stony Brook (4-11)
Sunday Scenarios
Seeds four through nine will be solidified on Sunday as the 2006-07 regular season comes to a close. Below is a breakdown of possible finishes for each team.
- UMBC can be seeded fourth through sixth.
- Maine can be seeded fourth through sixth.
- Hartford can be seeded fourth through eighth.
- Binghamton can be seeded fifth through seventh.
- New Hampshire can be seeded seventh through ninth.
- Stony Brook can be seeded eighth or ninth.
Sunday's Schedule
Boston University at Albany, 12:30 p.m. (AETV: NESN/TW3)
UMBC at New Hampshire, 1 p.m.
Stony Brook at Maine, 1 p.m.
Hartford at Vermont, 1 p.m.
Championship Seeding Tie-Breaking Procedures
Teams tied for first place will be deemed “co-champions.” Ties for chamionship seeding will be broken in the following manner:
a. Ties shall be broken from the top of the standings down.
b. In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the tie shall be broken using the following criteria in order.
c. The record in regular-season Conference play of the tied teams shall be determined against the other team(s) with which it is tied. The team with the highest winning percentage based on the results of their in-season head-to-head competition shall gain the advantage.
d. Record versus other Conference opponents in descending rank order. In the event of arriving at another pair of tied teams when comparing records, each team’s record against the combined tied teams is used rather than the performance against individual tied teams.
e. Conference record in road games. In the event a game was played on a neutral floor, the home team shall be considered to be the team which was originally awarded the home game when the Conference schedule was issued.
f. RPI ranking as determined by the College RPI Report (www.rpiratings.com) through the end of the regular season. The team with the highest ranking shall gain the advantage.
g. If the tie is not resolved, then the tie shall be broken by a coin flip or draw conducted by the Commissioner or his designee.
h. In the event of a tie between more than two teams, once the tie is broken and a team is awarded the highest seed among the tied teams, return to (a.) above.
Please note these scenarios are subject to change.