MAAC changes format for 2016 basketball championships

Having celebrated their second straight MAAC championship this past March, Manhattan, or whomever cuts down nets in Albany next year, will have gone about it differently after conference changed tournament format. (Photo courtesy of Jaden Daly)

Following a season in which Manhattan College overcame a 2-7 start and numerous injuries to emerge with a successful Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship defense, the Jaspers will now have to traverse the minefield differently this coming season, as will the other ten MAAC schools, in the wake of the conference announcing a format change to the men's and women's basketball championship tournaments this afternoon. The new setup, initially reported on Wednesday by Josh Newman of the Asbury Park Press, became official in a near-unanimous ratification by MAAC members.

Gone is the off day in between first round and quarterfinal matchups for the men, and between quarterfinal and semifinal games on the women's side. The three play-in games will remain unchanged on Thursday of championship weekend, but the top two seeds will now take the floor at the Times Union Center against two play-in game winners in quarterfinal matchups on Friday, a day previously reserved for all four women's quarterfinals. Saturday, traditionally home to each of the four men's quarterfinal meetings, will now see the No. 3 and 4 seeds in both the men's and women's brackets in quarterfinals instead. Semifinal sessions on Sunday and both championship games on Monday remain intact as well.

"The vote for the revised format was 9-1-1," MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor stated, "with Manhattan opposed and Quinnipiac abstaining. The format change has been accepted by the Times Union Center, which is hosting the 2016 and 2017 championships under a current three-year contract." 

The alteration to the tournament structure was proposed at last month's league meetings in Orlando, with the objective being to reward the top two seeds in both the men's and women's tournaments with a day off in between quarterfinal and semifinal dates.

"Ultimately, it was decided by the member schools that the 22-team format of the combined championships did not lend itself to such a resolution if reasonable game times and recovery periods were to be provided to the advancing teams," said Ensor. "The championship format has been adjusted any number of times. The newly agreed format is similar in nature, designed to protect the top seeds to some degree, reward in-season play, and may have the added benefit of increased attendance from two nights of prime time men's basketball on Friday and Saturday."

"The efforts of the administrators and coaches to adjust the format to provide an advantage to the top two seeds was prompted by a general recognition by the MAAC membership that not enough reward was being assessed to regular season success by the previous format," the commissioner continued. "There was a vigorous league debate about various format options, and within the coaches' groups, some sentiment that a format that had the championship contested over four consecutive days would be optimum."

One of those coaches, Rider's Kevin Baggett, is a proponent of the new format, perhaps after being eliminated as the No. 2 seed twice in his first three years at the helm by a team that had already won a play-in game before facing the Broncs.

"The old format wasn't an advantage, it was a disadvantage for the higher seeds," Baggett, the reigning MAAC Coach of the Year, told The Trentonian's Kyle Franko. "The play-in team shouldn't be rewarded with a bye. They finished near the bottom of the league. They have an advantage of having played a game in the arena, getting a feel for the atmosphere."

One of Baggett's in-state rivals admitted he was fine with the change, which arose partially from the MAAC's 20-game conference schedule, but is not yet casting an opinion as to whether or not it will be advantageous to teams in the top two.

"There was talk about not having so many league games," Saint Peter's head coach John Dunne revealed, "but after a discussion, we wanted to keep it at 20. Since we have so many league games, the league put it up for a vote to change the format so the No. 1 and 2 seeds could get a slight advantage going into the semis if they win their first game. The vote passed."

"The idea is to reward the top seeds after a grueling league season," Dunne expounded. "I am okay with the change to try and reward the top seeds, but I am not necessarily positive that it definitely gives an advantage. Time will tell."

The 2016 MAAC Championships begin on Thursday, March 3, and continue through the championship games on Monday, March 7.