CTC Day Five Preview: Tipoff in the MAAC

This year’s MAAC tournament should be another fantastic tournament for a real up-and-coming league.  There is one team (Iona) with a national presence and an actual at-large case to be made if they don’t win this tournament.  There is another team (Loyola) that was under the radar all year, until they beat Iona on a Friday night in early February, only to have a meltdown right after, losing three straight, including an embarrassing 18-point loss to lowly Marist.  Another team (Manhattan) was a program nearly left for dead until they brought in a new coach, who changed everything.  And, then there is the defending regular season champs (Fairfield), who may enjoy playing the role of underdog for a change, since the role of favorite has been tough for them in recent years.

Championship Picks
10 for #1 Iona
5 for #2 Loyola (MD) (Alexi, KA, Primm, Scoot, Teddy)
2 for #3 Manhattan (Mac, RDoc)
1 for #4 Fairfield (Dave)

Biggest Upsets
R1 – #10 Canisius (KA, Teddy)
QF – #8 Marist (KA)
SF – #6 Siena (Doogan, Lynch)

Previous CTC Champions
2011 – Primm
2010 – Bry*
2009 – Bry
2008 – J

#7 Niagara vs. #10 Canisius
Niagara has the talent to compete in this league and might just do so when this team gets a little experience under their belts.  For now, they can just play the sleeper role until their kids “grow up.”  Canisius is kinda terrible.  The winner will get the #2-seeded Loyola Greyhounds.  KA and Teddy went for the upset points here.  Neither has them beating Loyola.  Bry, J, and RDoc all have Niagara upsetting Loyola in the quarters, so they need them to win here first.

#8 Marist vs #9 St. Peter’s
Marist rose up and beat some people this year – which is an upgrade – but they’re not really all that good.  On the other side of this one is St. Peter’s.  This was an important year for the Peacocks program.  They caught lightning in a bottle last year and had a spirited run to the NCAA tournament.  Now, they were supposed to use that momentum to catapult the program up a level or so in an emerging conference.  But, something happened on the way, and the Peacocks were downright terrible this year.  They now have one last chance to make something of this season, but it will take a near miracle.  But, never say never and that run has to start tonight against the Red Foxes.  The winner here will play #1 Iona in the quarters.  Bry, Lil Lohse, and Primm have the mild upset pick of St. Peter’s.  KA is the only one to have either of these teams beating the Gaels next round, as she took Marist to reach the semis.