Northeast conference

One of the division 1 basketball conferences I follow pretty closely is the Northeast conference, with 12 teams located as far north as Smithfield, RI (Bryant University the newest member) to Coropolis, PA (Robert Morris), but 8 of the 12 teams are located within a 110 mile vacinity of New York City. It is usually a conference that finishies in the bottom 17 of conference RPI, so the NEC tournament winner is the only team that gains entrance to the NCAA tournament, and that team is usually used as fodder for a Big East, ACC or Big 10 school in the first round. Most year's there's a couple of decent to good teams at the top and the bottom, and the rest are average. This year looks to have the most depth at the top I've seen in 12 years, and any of these 4 or 5 teams listed could win the conference tournament and possibly win a game in the NCAA tournament.

1) Robert Morris (last made NCAA tournament 2010). Ever since old coach Mark Schmidt took over at St. Bonaventure to revive that program after the conclusion of the 06-07 season, Robert Morris has been one of the most consistant teams in the league. In the 4 years since then, RMU has compiled a 101-48 (including 10-3 this year) record, and has made it to the NEC semifinals all 4 years, The NEC championship game 3 straight years (winning twice), and to NCAA postseason twice (2 NCAA tournament appearances, 1 NIT). Robert Morris is off to one of their best starts ever in their programs history, and looks to have the deepest team in the league.
2) Wagner (last made NCAA tournament 2003). Danny Hurley, the son of legendary high school coach Bob Hurley, along with his brother, former Duke guard Bobby Hurley have turned around a Wagner program that finished 5-26 in 09-10. Last year they improved to 13-17, and this year they are 8-3 including a win against nationally ranked Pittsburgh 59-54 right before Christmas. They continue to improve as they have signed three top 100 recruits for next season.
3) Central Connecticut state (last made NCAA tournament 2007). Howie Dickeman is one of the best coaches in the conference, and consistantly gets more out of less of his teams than anyone else in the conference, especially in the second half of the season. Central doesn't have the best team, but they have the best player in Ken Horton who can go for 25 points and 10 rebounds every time out.
4) Quinnipiac (never made NCAA tournament). Tom Moore is young coach on the rise, and the Bobcats lead the country in rebounding margin.
5) Long Island (last made NCAA tournament 2011). Head coach Jim Ferry has really recruited Texas well. His best player is from San Antonio, and 2 of his starting 5 are from the state. This team really puts up a lot of points, however, they give up a lot of points too which could be their downfall.

Most teams have already played 1 or 2 conference games, and conference play resumes in earnest January 5.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone, and safe travels for all the people in college going back to school today.