Canisius

As usual, the 2012 college basketball off-season features a never-ending parade of coaching changes. Some moves make sense, others are questionable, while others are simply head-scratchers. Thanks to collegesportsinfo.com, where a lot of this info was gleaned from. Also, apologies if all the colors give you a headache!

In their first-ever game as a ranked team, the Harvard Crimson drew the task of playing the Connecticut Huskies at Gampel Pavilion, a building in which the Huskies have been near unbeatable for non-conference opponents. UConn had won 36 straight non-conference games at Gampel, and under Jim Calhoun the Huskies were 115-4 against New England non-conference opponents. Feel free to add another win to those marks, as the Huskies proved to be too much for Harvard in their 67-53 win.

Springfield, Mass. - Iona College senior forward Mike Glover has been named the 2011-2012 MAAC Men's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, as selected by the league's 10 head coaches.

Glover is joined on the first team by Fairfield University junior guard Derek Needham and senior center Ryan Olander, Iona senior guard Scott Machado and Rider University senior guard/forward Novar Gadson.

Springfield, Mass. - Iona College, the runner-up in last year's title game, is the preseason favorite to win the 2012 MAAC Men's Basketball Championship, according to the MAAC Pre- season Coaches' Poll.

Iona received eight of the first-place votes and 97 points, followed by last season's preseason pick Fairfield University,which received two first-place votes and 92 points. Loyola University (Maryland) finished in third with 76 points.

In the most recent installment in his "Forgotten Legends" interview series, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with Loyola (MD) great Andy O'Donnell. A guard who helped lead the Greyhounds to three NAIA Tournament appearances, O'Donnell remains just one of two Loyola (MD) alums to have played in the NBA. Mike Morrison (1990) was the other Greyhound to have reached the NBA.

Jon Teitel: Why did you decide to go to Loyola?

The big game on Monday night is a rematch between Texas (18-3, 6-0) and Texas A&M (17-3, 4-2), with the latter needing a win in order to remain a serious factor in the Big 12 race. Texas controlled the first meeting back on January 19th, winning by the final score of 81-60 behind 27 points and eight rebounds from Jordan Hamilton. The presence of Hamilton underlined the issue for Texas A&M but on the other side of the floor: who's their perimeter bell cow to put points on the board in key situations?

The MAAC race should be quite exciting with Niagara, Rider, and Siena all legitimately pushing for the conference title. Expect all three to consistently appear in mid-major rankings.

Fairfield

Niagara

Rider

Siena

Other (Iona, Manhattan, SPC, etc)

 

A full slate in the MAAC on tap tonight, with a showdown for first place being the marquee event. A week after Fairfield went to Albany and failed to take down the defending chanmps, 3-0 Rider gets their shot at the Times Union Center in a rematch of last year's MAAC Tournament final. Of course two of the main characters in that chapter are gone (Rider's Jason Thompson and Siena's Tay Fisher) but both teams stand to be a factor in the title chase until the end of the regular season.