Coming Off Historic Season, 2018-19 #AEHoops Schedules Unveiled
BOSTON — Coming off one of the most competitive seasons in conference history during which UMBC spurned the greatest upset win in NCAA men's basketball tournament history, the America East Conference announced its 2018-19 league basketball schedules on Thursday morning. The slate will consist of 144 games as teams vie for positioning ahead of the #AEPlayoffs.
The men’s and women’s seasons will be made up of 72 regular-season contests each with all games taking place over a nine-week stretch in January, February and March. For the 14th season in a row, each team will play a 16-game, double round-robin schedule, which prioritizes television opportunities, competitive equity and reduction of missed class time for student-athletes.
Highlights
- Over 30 players who have earned All-Conference, All-Rookie or All-Academic honors in the past return in 2018-19.
- The women’s conference schedule begins on Wednesday, Jan. 2 while the men’s kicks off on Sat., Jan. 5 with four first-year coaches in action: Richard Barron (Maine men), Tom Garrick (UMass Lowell women), Bethann Shapiro Ord (Binghamton women) and Alisa Kresge (Vermont women).
- Where teams finish in the regular-season standings will prove crucial as for the first time since 1995, the higher seed will host each round of both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
- It will be the fifth-straight year of the America East Men’s Basketball Playoffs with all games played at home sites. Host teams are 24-4 (.857) in the #AEPlayoffs with the #1 seed winning three titles and the #2 seed winning one.
- The women's tournament, the America East Women’s Basketball Playoffs, will take each round to campus sites for the first time since 1997.
- The women's regular season concludes on March 2 while the men end on March 5.
- The top eight teams in the standings will qualify for the #AEPlayoffs on both the men's and women's side.
- The women's playoff dates are: Quarterfinals: Wednesday, March 6; Semifinals: Sunday, March 10; Final: Friday, March 15.
- The men's playoff dates are: Quarterfinals: Saturday, March 9; Semifinals: Tuesday, March 12; Final: Saturday, March 16.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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