New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

Conference champions, national champions and NCAA Tournament bids. What a weekend!

The University of Vermont was championship central on Saturday with the men’s basketball team winning the America East title and Catamount ski team winning a national title.

Things got even more exciting on Sunday night in Burlington as the hoops team gathered at the Upper Deck Pub to find out its NCAA tourney fate. The Cats drew a No. 16 seed and they will face Lamar as part of the ‘First Four’ in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday. Channel 3 and Channel 5 set up shop at the Upper Deck to get all the sights and sounds from the evening.

John Fantino of the Burlington Free Press also took in the scene and put together a preview of the Lamar-Vermont battle in Dayton.

That game will air on truTV at 6:30 p.m. and the winner earns a shot at No. 1 North Carolina on Friday, in Greensboro, N.C.

Meanwhile, the Albany women, after winning the program’s first America East Championship, will find out their NCAA Tournament opponent this evening. You can watch the selection show tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN. In the meantime, though, take a look at Tim Wilkin’s article from the Times Union about the Great Dane women.

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