The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, better known as the MAAC, is one that usually doesn't get much hype in college basketball. The MAAC usually sends one team to the NCAA tournament, and that team rarely makes any sort of noise. This year though, the conference was in the spotlight a whole lot more than usual.
The main reason for the attention the conference has gotten is Monmouth University, which has had an outstanding season. The Monmouth Hawks played in their conference tournament championship game on Monday night against their rivals, the Iona Gaels. These two teams had split their regular season meetings and came to blows after one of the games, so there is no love lost between the two programs.
Iona came into the game knowing it needed to win to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years, and that is exactly what it did. It was a very hard fought game throughout, but in the end Iona won by three, 79-76, and punched its ticket to the big dance.
The loss in the championship game leaves Monmouth at the mercy of the committee. The Hawks have a very good résumé, especially for a mid-major, and will likely be under consideration for an at-large bid, but it is hard to know whether or not they will get in. ESPN broadcaster Jay Bilas said during the championship game on Monday night that he felt they were in regardless of whether they won or lost, and he is not the only one that feels that way.
Monmouth did everything it could this year to ensure it would be under consideration for an at-large bid, in case it didn't win the conference tournament. Now we will wait and see if it is enough. Non-conference wins over UCLA, USC, Notre Dame and Georgetown highlight their résumé and all of those wins came either on the road or at a neutral site.
The Hawks do have some bad losses, but that comes with the territory of being in a conference like the MAAC. The positive way to spin those bad losses is that they all came on the road. Overall, Monmouth has an extremely compelling case for inclusion in the tournament and it would seem like it certainly deserves to be there. The Hawks had such a great season, but they will now have to sweat it out until Selection Sunday when it will likely come down to a very good mid-major versus a decent team from a major conference.
