The America East conference championships: it’s deja vu all over again.

This year the first-seeded Albany Great Danes will host the AE tournament and take on fourth-seeded Stony Brook University. Binghamton is entering the tournament as the second-seeded team and is pitted against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This same dynamic was in place last year when the Bearcats took it all.

All of the teams are incredibly driven to prove their worth. Both Stony Brook and Albany are looking to avenge last year, as Albany lost in the first round to Stony Brook after its star hitter, Shelby Goldman, went down with an ankle injury, and Stony Brook fell just short of champion status when it lost to Binghamton in the final round.

The Bearcats will be out to prove that last year’s win was no fluke, and the Retrievers want to show that, despite their youth, they deserve to be in the finals.

All of these teams have exchanged wins and losses this year, proving that the championship title truly is up for the taking. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Though it may be unclear who will walk out of Albany’s University Gym the victor, one thing is clear: the playoffs will be an utter dog fight because, as they say, any given team can win on any given Sunday.