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Tuesday, November 7
Northeast Conference Breakdown

ESPN.com

HOW THEY'LL STACK UP

CENTRAL CONN. ST.: Only Dickenman didn't vote his Blue Devils No. 1.

ST. FRANCIS (N.Y.): Can Red Flash fans take another disappointing ending?

FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON: A top-four team now; NCAA team by March?

MARYLAND-B.C.: Last year's drop off shouldn't carry over.

QUINNIPIAC: "Other" Connecticut school in NEC is quickly climbing.

MONMOUTH: Plenty of upside on a team getting better under Calloway.

WAGNER: "Next year," is the rallying cry on Staten Island.

MOUNT ST. MARY'S Hey, they got into the NEC tourney last season!

ST. FRANCIS (PA.): Another club with potential to be good at tourney time.

LONG ISLAND: The whole Cheikh situation makes Blackbirds unpredictable.

ROBERT MORRIS: Nee refuses to call this a "rebuilding year."

SACRED HEART: Will be better then inaugural season, but not much.

Tuesday, Nov. 7
The league got better with the addition of Danny Nee at Robert Morris. Nee was fired at Nebraska, but is still one of the better game coaches and he'll breath new life into Robert Morris.

But the league still goes through New Britain, where Central Connecticut was the darlings in the state a year ago. The Blue Devils gave Iowa State a legit run in the NCAA Tournament first round. They're not as strong this season, but still should be tough to stop at home and have one of the top recruiting classes in the school's history.

ESPN.com All-Northeast

Guard: Steven Howard
Senior, 6-3, St. Francis (N.Y.)

Guard: Terence Ward
Senior, 6-1, Maryland Baltimore County

Guard: John Tice
Senior, 6-5, John Tice, Sr., Central Connecticut St.

Forward: Chris Ekwe
Senior, 6-8, Fairleigh Dickinson

Center: Corsley Edwards
Junior, 6-9, Central Connecticut St.

Player of Year ...
John Tice, G, Central Connecticut State
Hey, we gotta go with the "home" team on this one. And Tice could very easily follow former teammate Rick Mickens, who kept Tice from truly taking over a game. Tice still managed 15 points a night and 5.1 rebounds.

Introducing ...
Peter Mulligan, G, Maryland-Baltimore County
When you are New York's Mr. Basketball, you come in with impressive resumé. Mulligan's includes 21.3 ppg., 7.4 rpg. and starring on the nation's No. 7 ranked prep team last year -- St. Raymond's High School. Some of the names you might recognize that Mulligan beat out for the honor ... Omar Cook (St. John's), Andre Barrett (Seton Hall), Taliek Brown (UConn)

Best backcourt ...
St. Francis (N.Y.): Greg Nunn and Steven Howard. Nunn led the league with 184 assists last season, while Howard stepped in last season as a juco transfer and average 17.6 points, 4.2 rebounds. Jason Morgan, another transfer from Kemper Military Academy, will back up Howard after averaging 18 points and six assists last season. Nunn's backup is only a JC honorable mention All-American, Karl Sanders, out of Monroe (N.Y.) Community College.

Best frontcourt ...
Central Connecticut State: Dean Walker, Harvey VanStein and Corsley Edwards. These are the starters up front, but the Blue Devils have size up and down the lineup. Edwards, 6-6, 270-pounds, takes up the most space and scores the most down low. If he stays out of foul trouble, he could be much better than the 12.2 points and 7.5 rebounds he averaged last season. Walker is 6-5 and can fill in at either forward slots, while VanStein will provide a defensive presence inside the paint.

Team on way up ...
Maryland-Baltimore County: With four starters returning, the Retrievers could challenge for the regular-season crown in just their third season in the NEC. But that's nothing new for a team that broke into the league with 15 straight wins. UMBC has speed, depth and versatility throughout its deep bench.

Team on way down ...
Sacred Heart: It's not that the Pioneers are falling, it's just they can't get up from the bottom of the NEC. But they should win more than two conference games. Hey, it's something.

Tournament tough ...
NCAA: Central Connecticut State.

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