Men's Basketball Tournament Quick Facts

Posted: Feb 20, 2012

Bracket

The 2011-2012 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Basketball Playoff field has been set, with eight teams battling for a chance to win the postseason conference championship and earn the SUNYAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. The playoffs begin Tuesday February 21, with the top four seeds hosting the quarterfinals.

Tuesday Feb. 21 - 7pm
#1 Oswego v #8 New Paltz : Live Stats, Live Video, Live Audio
#2 Cortland v #7 Plattsburgh: Live Stats, Live Audio
#4 Brockport v #5 Buffalo State: Live Stats, Live Audio

Tuesday, Feb. 21 - 8 pm
#3 Geneseo v #6 Fredonia: Live Stats, Live Video, Live Audio

The highest remaining seed will host the semifinals and final, which are to run Friday through Saturday, Feb. 24-25. The two semifinal winners will meet Saturday in the championship game.

Before the action begins, here are the top 25 quick facts you should know about the conference tournament.

1. The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) will employ an eight team tournament format (non-divisional) for the 14^th straight year. Divisional play was used from 1979-80 to 1997-98. 1980 was the first year a tournament was held.
*For the purpose of the countdown quick facts 1-18 will be based on the current tournament format years 1999-2012.

2. Six of the eight teams that qualified for the 2011 SUNYAC Tournament return again this season. Oneonta and Potsdam have been replaced by Fredonia and Geneseo.

3. Only one SUNYAC Tournament - 2010 - has gone exactly according to seeding.

4. 2012 marks the second time Oswego will serve as the number one seed. The Lakers were a top four seed, seven straight years from 2003-2009 but never the #1 seed prior to 2011.

5. Since the league scrapped a divisional format in 1998-99, the #1 seed is 11-2 in their opening game of the SUNYAC Tournament. #2 seed (10-3), #3 seed (9-4), #4 seed (8-5).

6. Oswego, the No. 1 seed for the second straight year, is the league’s hottest team entering the SUNYAC Tournament with a perfect 18-0 conference record. The Lakers have won 13 straight games – the longest streak in the conference this season.

7. Geneseo, who missed the tournament the last two years, has made the biggest jump in the standings earning a No. 3 seed for 2012.

8. Cortland also made a big jump in the standings, moving from No.7 in 2011 up to No. 2 in 2012.

9. Buffalo State, the defending champions, is the No. 5 seed in the 2012 SUNYAC Tournament and had lost four of its last five regular season games.

10. Cortland is making its 23rd SUNYAC tournament appearance in the last 24 years. The Red Dragons won the league crown in 2000 and finished second in 1997, 1999 and 2001.

11. Plattsburgh has won four of the last six SUNYAC Championships (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010). However a No. 7 seed is the lowest they have been since the 2004 tournament.

12. New Paltz last advanced to the semifinals in 2003, when they posted an upset over the #1 seed. Will 2012 be a repeat of that year with #8 defeating #1? The #8 seed also beat the #1 seed in 2009.

13. Brockport is making its 13^th straight tournament appearance, winning back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 before posting the biggest upset in tournament history winning the title in 2009 as the #8 seed.

14. The Hawks are making their third straight tournament appearance but haven’t advanced past the quarterfinals all three years. The last New Paltz win in the tournament was in 2003.

15. A top four seed has won the championship title eleven times. Brockport was the lowest seed (#8) to win the title in 2009. #6 Plattsburgh won in 2006.

16. All top four seeds have advanced to the semifinals five times (2001, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011)

17. The #1 seed has advanced to the finals nine times in the past 13 years, winning the championship five times.

18. The No. 2 seed has won the championship three times in four trips to the finals (most recently last year when Buffalo State won); No. 3 is 3-2 in the finals. The No. 4 and No 5. seeds have only advanced to the finals once.

*Quick Facts 19 - 25 are based on all time-tournament information from 1980-2011.

19. Below is a Chart providing all-time SUNYAC tournament information.

School	All-time tournament record	W/L record in finals
Brockport	26-16	4-4
Buffalo State	38-18	12-3
Cortland	18-21	1-3
Fredonia	12-18	1-2
Geneseo	15-18	2-1
New Paltz	6-10	0-2
Oneonta	6-16	0-2
Oswego	14-17	0-4
Plattsburgh	16-12	4-1
Potsdam	24-19	5-4

** Note that Albany, Buffalo Univ, Binghamton, Utica/Rome were a part of the conference at difference points overtime.

20. Oswego and New Paltz have never met in the SUNYAC tournament.

21. Cortland and Plattsburgh have met twice in the post-season; 1995 semifinals and 1999 quarterfinals, splitting the matchups 1-1. The Red Dragons swept the regular season series.

22. Tuesday’s quarterfinal will mark the sixth SUNYAC postseason tip-off between Geneseo and Fredonia. The Knights and Blue Devils last met up in the SUNYAC tournament during the 1999-2000 season, with Fredonia emerging as the victor, 79-75. The Geneseo is 3-2 vs. Fredonia in the SUNYAC tournament overall while the two teams have met four times in the quarterfinals and Geneseo has won three of the meetings.

23. Brockport and Buffalo State are 2-2 against each other in the SUNYAC postseason. The two teams met last season in the SUNYAC Championship as the Bengals edged the Golden Eagles with a 67-50 victory. Brockport won both meetings this season, prevailing 94-70 at home on Jan. 13, and then completed the regular-season sweep with a 79-70 victory in Buffalo on Feb. 11.

24. On the season, the four teams hosting quarterfinal games - Oswego (13-0), Cortland (10-3), Geneseo (7-3) and Brockport (8-2) - are a combined 38-8 (.826) at home.

25. Championship titles both those teams competing in the 2012 tournament: Brockport (4), Buffalo State (12), Cortland (1), Fredonia (1), Geneseo (2), New Paltz (0), Oswego (0), Plattsburgh (4).