It's a toss-up

Expect a nail-biter when Hartford plays at Maryland Baltimore County for the America East title today.

The winner gets an automatic bid into the NCAA field. Hartford, led by Joe Zeglinski looks like a No. 16 seed if it makes the field. The Hawks are just 18-15 heading into today’s game and just 4-12 on the road.
But, finishing 10-6 in the conference Hartford earned the No. 2 seed. Hartford lost at Quinnipiac and defeated Yale in West Hartford earlier in the year. The two teams met twice during the season with both teams winning at home by one point.
Zeglinski leads the Hawks at 16.2 ppg. He is an explosive scorer and just a sophomore with a bright future in the conference. Warren McLendon has played well since moving to the bench for Hartford and is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg.
Maryland Baltimore County won the regular season title at 23-8 overall and 13-3 in the conference. The Retrievers are led by Ray Barbosa at 16.8 ppg. but two other starters average nearly 15 points.

Hartford has an RPI of 181 while the Retrievers are 89th.

NCAA spot?

It’s all speculation at this point but Hartford could be forced to play in the dreaded 64-65 NCAA playdown game on Tuesday. Their opponent could be Mount St. Mary’s which has an RPI of 159 but rolled to the NEC title defeating state teams Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart as well as winning at Robert Morris.
The winner of that game would most likely face North Carolina.
Enjoy the ride Hawk fans.