Day 1 Reactionary Look: AEC, A-Sun and ACC

America East
The UMBC Retrievers have been a Division I program for 22 seasons. They had never once reached the NCAA Tournament, until this 2008 season. UMBC glided to their first America East conference championship with a 15-3 conference record and a 23-9 overall record. They were defeated by Georgetown in the first round of the tournament. The Retrievers won the league due to an incredible job at taking care of the basketball. They led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.62 per game. The Retrievers lose three of their top four performers, but this senior laden team ran the AEC all season long. The America East unfortunately had nothing to speak of in the nonconference. Normally one which gives some Big East and ACC schools fits, the AEC managed no wins over a BCS-conference school all season. A lackluster non-con, and a balanced league did not make for much excitement in the New England area this past winter. UMBC was picked to finish fifth in the conference, and Boston U was picked to win the league. The Terriers finished sixth in the final standings. The surprise of the year was most definitely Hartford. The Hawks had nine players in their first or second season and quickly exceeded all expectations by going 10-6 in the conference and making it all the way to the AEC title game. The Hawks look to be the preseason favorite for next year.

America East 2007-2008 Grade: D
Normally a decent mid-major league, the AEC had nothing exciting to speak of. UMBC was thought to hang in with some of the big time schools, but to no avail. The America East has not shown well against the majors since Albany played Connecticut close in the 2006 first round. Wihout any superstars, and no signs of rising stars in this league with the exception of Hartford, an all around disappointing year in the America East.

Atlantic Sun
The Atlanic Sun is Gone 'Til November...What an opening month for the A-Sun. The league opened the season on November 7th with Gardner-Webb defeating Kentucky, the biggest win for the Atlantic Sun conference ever. Just three days later, Mercer, picked to finish seventh in the league travels out to L.A. and beats USC in OJ Mayo's first game as a collegian. Making waves in the early going was the A Sun, but things quickly tapered off with the exception of Belmont. The Bruins were truly the only consistent team the entire docket in the conference as they seized their third straight A Sun tourney title, and nearly clipped Duke in the first round of the Dance. The Bruins were picked to finish second behind East Tennessee State in the preseason poll. Belmont senior guard Justin Hare was named to the all-conference team for the third time and won his third consecutive tournament MVP. Head coach Rick Byrd and the Bruins must replace alot after this season's run, but they seem to be building a quiet little dynasty in Nashville. The A Sun is in the process of reconstruction, as they add four new Division I programs to their fraternity: Kennesaw State, North Florida, South Carolina Upstate and Florida Gulf Coast. There were really no surprises in the Atlantic Sun, but ETSU was a bit of a disappointment. Led by player of the year candidate Courtney Pigrim, the Bucs never held it together as they did in 2006-2007 when they captured the regular season title.

2007-2008 Atlantic Sun Grade: B+
For a mid-major conference there are three essential requirements to being considered relevant: good non-con performance, superstars and good postseason performance. The A Sun managed to accomplish all three this season. Great early season wins over BCS schools, and superstars Hare and Pigrim were in a player of the year battle all season. It ended up going to Gardner-Webb senior Thomas Sanders who averaged 17.9 PPG for the season. Belmont had the nation sitting on the edge of their seats as they nearly demolished the Blue Devils in the first round. The Atlantic Sun has a really bright future and it all could have began with an excellent campaign this time around

Atlantic Coast
The North Carolina Tar Heels went 36-3 and had the number one national ranking heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Duke Blue Devils went 28-6, rebounded from last years disappointment and captured a 2 seed in the tournament. The Clemson Tigers went 24-10, went to the tournament had a 20 point lead and then got bounced in the first round to Villanova. The Virginia Cavaliers had a player of the year candidate in Sean Singletary and went 17-16. The Maryland Terrapins beat the number one team in the country and proceeded to go 17-15 being one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation. The common theme is...(drumroll) DISAPPOINTMENT! The ACC is widely renowned as the single best conference in America every season. Things are not so kosher on Tobacco Road as usual this April month, as they featured only four teams in the tournament, and one past the Sweet 16. Tyler Hansbrough won national player of the year and the Tar Heels could be national chumps...er champs, if it were not for that first half against "that team Roy used to coach." My opinion is that UNC did have a tremendous season; anytime you go unbeaten on the road whether its the ACC or the CYO its an impressive feat. Hansbrough was the nation's MVP (not MOP) and he deserved to be recognized. The ACC did not quite measure up from to bottom this season however. Really after UNC and Duke there was a severe dropoff which did not feature another team with a signature win. Here is an amazing statistic. The ACC's top two signature wins were by Duke and Clemson in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge; they beat Purdue and Wisconsin. The ACC defeated just one team that was in the top ten at the time of their victory.

2007-2008 Atlantic Coast Grade: C-
A terrible season for ACC standards. You can make a legit argument that it was not in the top eight conferences from top to bottom, but that is for another time and place. Regardless, the grade would be an F it were not for the 'Heels making it to the Riverwalk. This just continues to show that on the Eastern seaboard, Dick Vitale has got us all snowed. We all believe the ACC is this amazing conference year in and year out, and it just ain't that darn good. A team like Baylor would have finished third in the ACC, but rather they finish sixth in the Big 12. Thats how bad the ACC was. The future promises to look brighter for the ACC, but not so much at the top of Hansbrough looks to return.