Pitino back in the NCAA Tournament with MAAC champs Iona apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Can Siena cap off a strong season with a tournament berth? Can Monmouth finally end a streak of heartbreak? Or will Iona write the same old story even with an unusual season and a new coach and qualify for the big dance yet again?
All seem like viable possibilities in a season that saw almost every MAAC team significantly affected by COVID. Though Siena crossed the regular season finish line with the best record, neither they nor any team appears dominant enough to be a lock for the tourney crown.
The MAAC chose a different path than most in choosing to seed by total wins instead of by win percentage or even metric-adjusted win percentage. In doing so, a team like Iona, who owns a share of the second best winning percentage. is vastly under-seeded, perhaps, due to a couple of large COVID delays that notably caused its coach to call for the postponement of the season. They could face teams like Siena earlier than they would under normal circumst
By BRIAN MAHONEYMarch 7, 2021 GMT
FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2019, file photo Panathinaikos coach Rick Pitino looks on during a Euroleague basketball match between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in Piraeus near Athens. The coronavirus was already in town by the time Pitino arrived. It never fully let go of its grip around Iona. Forced to pause four times this season because of the virus, once for nearly two months, the Gaels need to win their conference tournament this week to make the NCAA Tournament. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2019, file photo Panathinaikos coach Rick Pitino looks on during a Euroleague basketball match between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in Piraeus near Athens. The coronavirus was already in town by the time Pitino arrived. It never fully let go of its grip around Iona. Forced to pause four times this season because of the virus, once for nearly two months, the Gaels need to win their conference tournament this week to make the NCAA
March Madness? Pitino s whole 1st season at Iona maddening washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.