A Super Sunday!

It is a great day to be a fan of UVM basketball. First, UVM dominated Stony Brook, 65-42, for their seventh straight win. During the game, Evan Fjeld scored his 1,000 career point for Vermont, a great achievement for Vermont's senior captain. After all that was done, Maine got beaten at home by... UMBC? The same UMBC team that has won 5 games all year (though, to give them credit, they have won 4 out of 7. I'm not exactly looking forward to Vermont's trip down there Wednesday). Vermont now holds a 1.5 game edge over Maine in the America East standings, with Boston University lingering 2.5 games back.

UVM rode 19 points from Brandon Bald and 10 assists from Brian Voelkel to the victory. According to UVMbasketball.com, at one point, Voelkel had 1 assist and 5 turnovers. He finished with 10 assists and 5 turnovers.

It was the third straight game Vermont held its opponent to less than 50 points. The defense seems to be firing on all cylinders, something you gotta love as a Cats fan.

One thing is becoming very clear in America East: the top seed will be a more coveted spot than usual heading into the conference tournament. Here is why: the first two rounds of the tournament are played at a neutral site, this year in Hartford. There are clearly three good teams in America East (UVM, Maine, and BU), while the rest seem decidedly mediocre. The top seed would play the #8 seed, and if they won, would play the winner of the #4 seed vs. the #5 seed. So if the standings held up, Vermont would play UMBC in the first round and Albany in the second round. Maine and BU would have to play each other in the semifinals, and Vermont would host the winner the following Saturday.

While it's a long way away, you see how important it is to land the top seed, considering that the top three teams are the biggest threats in the conference. Vermont could avoid playing Maine or BU until the conference championship, which would be at their place to boot.

Enjoy the Super Bowl. My pick: Packers 31-Steelers 24 (but only because I could never pick the Steelers to win).