The bracket for the 2007 America East Women's Basketball Championship continued to sort itself out on Wednesday night, but there will be a lot on the line on Saturday during the final day of the regular season.
The top two teams have solidified themselves with Hartford earning the top seed and Stony Brook seeded second. In addition, we now know Albany and New Hampshire will meet in the opening-round game of the tournament on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The Great Danes and Wildcats will finish eighth and ninth, but the final day will determine seeding between the two.
- If Albany wins and UNH loses - Albany would be 8th seed and UNH 8th.
- If Albany loses and UNH wins - UNH would be 8th seed and Albany 9th.
- If both teams lose - Albany would be the 8th seed and UNH 9th by virtue of Albany's win over Vermont.
- However if both teams, Saturday's results from around the league will be needed to determine tie-breakers.
On the other hand five teams are in a major log-jam in the middle of the conference standing. Currently, Vermont (17-11, 7-8 America East) and Maine (13-13, 7-8 America East) are tied for third place. on Saturday, the Black Bears close out the regular season at Stony Brook, while Vermont plays host to Albany.
Boston University (15-14, 7-9) has closed out the regular season and sits fifth in the standings.
UMBC (13-15, 6-9 America East) and Binghamton (10-18, 6-9 America East) are currently tied for sixth place. The Retrievers will host Hartford, while Binghamton entertains New Hampshire.
There is a potential five-way tie for third place where five teams could have matching 7-9 records.
Check back in tomorrow for more scenarios.
Saturday's Schedule
Saturday, March 3
*Maine at Stony Brook, 4 p.m.
*New Hampshire at Binghamton, 1 p.m.
*Albany at Vermont. 1 p.m.
*Hartford at UMBC, 7 p.m.
* America East Conference game
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.