The MAAC is a good league, with six out of their 10 teams having a winning record and a seventh having a .500 record in conference. The three remaining teams though have records with at least twice as many losses as wins. The overall winning record has a different story, as only the top four teams have winning records. What does that prove? That the MAAC is pretty much like any mid-major conference-one dominant team, a bunch of worthy competitors, and some pretty bad teams.
Marist leads the conference with a 14-4 record and an overall record of 23-7. They had a great game against Siena on February 24 to clinch their first ever regular season conference title. The Red Foxes have won their last eight games in conference heading into tournament play. Out of 13 players, nine of them are have seen action in 20+ games, and this is not because there have been blowouts because Marist has had several nail biters. They are in the top of the league in all major statistical categories, leading in assist.
Niagara finished second this year with a record of 13-5. They have five players who average points in the double digits and out of 12 players have only two who haven’t seen game action in at least 15 games. They have had a very uninspiring out-of-conference schedule playing, among others, Valparaiso, Buffalo, and St. John’s whom they lost to. Like Marist, they are in the top of the league in all major statistical categories.
Siena finished third, but could have forced a three-way tie among themselves, Marist, and Niagara if they had beaten Marist the last game of the year. Before their last game, Siena had a six-game winning streak. Although they played Maryland, they also played New Jersey Tech. Their record in conference is 12-6 and overall is 18-11. Someone please tell me who NJ Tech is. Like the two teams ahead of them in the standings, they are tops in the league with all the major statistical categories. Michael Haddix is fourth in the conference in rebounding and field-goal shooting. They have eight players that have played in all 29 games this season.
Loyola (MD) is the last team in the conference with a winning overall record, coming in at 17-12. They are 12-6 in conference, only two games behind Marist. Out of conference they have played Michigan State and Northwestern, both of whom they lost to. Loyola tops the league in three-point shooting and come up second in field-goal shooting. Gerald Brown leads all players in scoring, averaging 22.1 point per game.
Manhattan (10-8, 13-16), Fairfield (10-8, 13-18), Rider (9-9, 15-14), Canisius (6-12, 11-18), Saint Peter’s (3-15, 5-24), and Iona (1-17, 2-27) finishes up the conference. The Top 5 teams all got a bye to begin the MAAC Championship, which starts on Friday. I know I’ve been going chalk so far, but I deviate from that now. I think Siena is going to win. Why Siena and not Marist or Niagara? Because the Saints have already beaten Niagara twice this season and probably would have won against Marist if it wasn’t on the Red Foxes home floor. Hopefully Siena won’t make me look stupid.
MAAC All-Hot Team*
Chuck Harris-G, Canisius 6’3”, 188 lbs. (Senior)
Geoff Middleton-F, Fairfield 6’9”, 230 lbs. (Junior)
James Carr-C, Siena 6’10”, 243 lbs. (Freshmen)
Lorenzo Miles-G, Niagara 5’11”, 185 lbs. (Senior)
Greg Noel-F, Niagara 6’7”, 230 lbs. (Senior)
*This is a relatively loose term for this conference. Where are all the hotties?
Ladies... 
The Marist Red (Not) Foxes.
Not a fan of Marist extrapolater?
this was an interesting post, i’ll be sure to implement some fo what i read.