Vermont's win over BU could hurt Stony Brook

Stony Brook’s 82-48 thrashing of Binghamton coupled with Vermont’s 68-67 win over Boston University on Wednesday night made a lot of people happy. The Seawolves (14-7, 9-1 America East) took a two-game lead over Boston University in the conference standings.

So everything’s perfect, right? Not really.

Vermont’s win over the Terriers could actually come back to haunt the Seawolves. Why? The Catamounts (14-10, 8-2) are in sole possession of second place after beating the Terriers (11-13, 7-3).

If Vermont and Stony Brook end the season tied for first place, the first tiebreaker is each team’s record against the third-place team in the conference. If Boston University ends up third, Vermont wins the tie-breaker because it swept the season series. This is all assuming Stony Brook and Vermont split their season series and finish with the same record.

Stony Brook split its season with Boston University, which means it loses the tie-breaker if the Seawolves finished tied with Vermont. So yes, Vermont’s win over Boston University was significant, but for all the wrong reasons.

Of course the roles could be reversed if Albany finishes third. Stony Brook swept its season series with Albany, while Vermont, which beat the Great Danes, has to play them one more time. If Vermont loses to Albany and the Great Danes finish in third place. Stony Brook would get the nod because it swept Albany.

Again, this is all assuming Stony Brook splits the season series with Vermont and both teams finish tied for first.

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS

1. Stony Brook                   9-1
2. Vermont                         8-2
3. Albany                             7-3
4. Boston University         7-3