I'm not into college basketball. I think part of it comes from having attended Wagner College, a small liberal arts school in Staten Island with a lovely campus. Wagner is a member of the Northeast Conference, located in Divison I. No NEC team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The most notable win in the conference's history can be tracked to this year's National Invitational Tournament (yes, that's still a thing), where Robert Morris shocked Kentucky in the first round, 59-57, at the Colonials' home court in Moon Township, Pa. The Wildcats would've hosted the game, but Rupp Arena was playing host to -- irony!!! -- two rounds of "The Big Dance." If not for a impressive crop of incoming freshmen for the 2013-14 season, I'm convinced head coach John Calipari would've committed hara-kiri at midcourt.
It's not that basketball isn't a big deal in the NEC. I actually went to the title game in 2003, when Wagner earned their first trip to the tournament, and on their home court to boot. It was thrilling to see the Seahawks get to cut down the net off the rim, one player at a time, one snip at a time. About a week later, Pittsburgh pounded on the fifteenth-seeded Seahawks, 87-61. In the history of the NEC going back to 1982, teams that have won the conference tourney and gone to the NCAA tournament have gone 3-32. And all three wins have come in humiliating "play-in" games, where small conference teams and squads with mediocre regular season records fight, with the winner getting fed to a hungry no. 1 seed. In contrast, Florida Gulf Coast University was founded in 1991, started playing basketball in 2002, became a transitory Division I team in 2007, became a full Divsion I team in 2011, won their Atlantic Sun Conference title in March, and followed that up by becoming the first fifteenth-seeded team to make the "Sweet Sixteen" by shocking Georgetown and San Diego State.
With the help of Wikipedia, boredom and free time, I've built a table on the NEC's "March Madness" history. It features each year's NEC representive, the opponents that usually stomped on them, and the opponents' ultimate fate in the tournament. In this day and age, information becomes really easy to compile . . . so don't judge me too harshly, okay?
Year
|
Team
|
Seed
|
Region
|
Opponent
|
W/L
|
Score
|
Opponent’s
Final Result
|
1982
|
Robert Morris
|
12
|
Mideast
|
Indiana
|
L
|
94-62
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1983
|
Robert Morris
|
12*
|
Mideast
|
Georgia Southern
|
W
|
64-54
|
-
|
12
|
Purdue
|
L
|
55-53
|
Lost in Second Round
| |||
1984
|
Long Island U.
|
11*
|
East
|
Northeastern
|
L
|
90-87
|
Lost in First Round
|
1985
|
FDU
|
16
|
Southeast
|
Michigan
|
L
|
59-53
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1986
|
Marist
|
15
|
Southeast
|
Georgia Tech
|
L
|
68-53
|
Lost in Regional Semis
|
1987
|
Marist
|
14
|
West
|
Pittsburgh
|
L
|
93-68
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1988
|
FDU
|
16
|
Midwest
|
Purdue
|
L
|
94-79
|
Lost in Regional Semis
|
1989
|
Robert Morris
|
16
|
West
|
Arizona
|
L
|
94-60
|
Lost in Regional Semis
|
1990
|
Robert Morris
|
15
|
East
|
Kansas
|
L
|
79-71
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1991
|
St. Francis-PA
|
15
|
West
|
Arizona
|
L
|
93-80
|
Lost in Regional Semis
|
1992
|
Robert Morris
|
16
|
West
|
UCLA
|
L
|
73-53
|
Lost Regional Final
|
1993
|
Rider
|
16
|
Southeast
|
Kentucky
|
L
|
96-52
|
Lost In National Semifinal
|
1994
|
Rider
|
15
|
East
|
Connecticut
|
L
|
64-46
|
Lost in Regional Semi
|
1995
|
Mount St. Mary’s
|
16
|
Southeast
|
Kentucky
|
L
|
113-67
|
Lost Regional Final
|
1996
|
Monmouth
|
13
|
East
|
Marquette
|
L
|
68-44
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1997
|
Long Island U.
|
13
|
East
|
Villanova
|
L
|
101-91
|
Lost in Second Round
|
1998
|
FDU
|
15
|
East
|
Connecticut
|
L
|
93-85
|
Lost Regional Final
|
1999
|
Mount St. Mary’s
|
16
|
Midwest
|
Michigan State
|
L
|
76-53
|
Lost in National Semifinal
|
2000
|
Central Connecticut State
|
15
|
Midwest
|
Iowa State
|
L
|
88-78
|
Lost Regional Final
|
2001
|
Monmouth
|
16
|
East
|
Duke
|
L
|
95-52
|
Won Championship
|
2002
|
Central Connecticut State
|
14
|
South
|
Pittsburgh
|
L
|
71-54
|
Lost in Regional Semi
|
2003
|
Wagner College
|
15
|
Midwest
|
Pittsburgh
|
L
|
87-61
|
Lost in Regional Semi
|
2004
|
Monmouth∆
|
15
|
Atlanta
|
Mississippi State
|
L
|
85-52
|
Lost in Second Round
|
2005
|
FDU
|
16
|
Chicago
|
Illinois
|
L
|
67-55
|
Lost National Final
|
2006
|
Monmouth
|
16*
|
Minneapolis
|
Hampton
|
W
|
71-49
|
-
|
16
|
Villanova
|
L
|
58-45
|
Lost Regional Final
| |||
2007
|
Central Connecticut State
|
16
|
South
|
Ohio State
|
L
|
78-57
|
Lost National Final
|
2008
|
Mount St. Mary’s
|
16*
|
East
|
Coppin State
|
W
|
69-60
|
-
|
16
|
UNLV
|
L
|
113-74
|
Lost National Semifinal
| |||
2009
|
Robert Morris
|
15
|
Midwest
|
Michigan State
|
L
|
77-62
|
Lost National Final
|
2010
|
Robert Morris
|
15
|
South
|
Villanova
|
L
|
73-70†
|
Lost in Second Round
|
2011
|
Long Island U.
|
15
|
East
|
North Carolina
|
L
|
102-87
|
Lost Regional Final
|
2012
|
Long Island U.
|
16
|
West
|
Michigan State
|
L
|
89-67
|
Lost in Regional Semi
|
2013
|
Long Island U.
|
16*
|
East
|
James Madison
|
L
|
68-55
|
Lost in Second Round††
|
FDU: Farleigh Dickinson University
Boldface indicated NEC Regular Season Champion
* “Play-In” Game
† Overtime
†† “Second Round” = “Round of 64”
∆ Tied for Regular Season Championship
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