1. Vermont

Despite everything looking different about college basketball this season, one thing has remained the same: the University of Vermont men’s basketball program is still the top dog in the America East (AE). The Catamounts once again finished first in the AE preseason coaches’ poll for a record fifth-straight year and are coming off a regular season conference championship amid a 26-win season. Vermont returns with its head coach John Becker, who has won five AE Coach of the Year awards. He will have to fill the void left by the departure of forward Anthony Lamb, who spent four years as the team’s star player and was named AE Player of the Year his junior and senior seasons. The offense is projected to run through senior guard Stef Smith, who is a preseason first-team all-conference selection and is coming off a solid junior year, averaging 14.2 points per game and shooting a conference-leading 42 percent from downtown and 49.4 percent in conference play — the best 3-point percentage in the conference. Smith also led the team with 85 assists and 35 steals. UVM is also returning last year’s AE Defensive Player of the Year, redshirt senior guard Ben Shungu. He will lead a defense that was the best in the conference last year, allowing just 59.7 points a game in conference play. The team will also return the reigning AE Sixth Man of the Year, junior forward Ryan Davis. Although Vermont is more vulnerable this year than last, it is still the team to beat in the AE.

2. UMBC

UMBC has firmly established itself as an AE contender, as the team has made the conference semifinals three years in a row and earned a second-place preseason coaches’ poll pick for a second year. The Retrievers return six out of the top seven minute-earners from a season ago and four out of five starters, including junior guard R.J. Eytle-Rock, who was second on the team in scoring last season. Eytle-Rock ended the season with three straight double-digit scoring games, including a 31-point outing in the semifinal loss to Vermont. UMBC hopes Eytle-Rock will carry that hot streak into this year. Eytle-Rock will be paired with senior guard Darnell Rogers in the backcourt. Rogers averaged 14 points per game before an injury ended his season just seven games in. The other three returning starters are senior forward Brandon Horvath (11 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game), junior guard L.J. Owens (9.5 points per game and 2.4 rebounds per game) and senior forward Daniel Akin (5.6 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game). The Retrievers will have seven new players suit up for them. One of those newcomers to watch this year is freshman guard Thomas Reid, who is coming off a high school senior year where he averaged 19.8 points per game at the powerhouse Oak Hill Academy. UMBC is looking to improve on its 16-17 record in the AE last year and fourth-place regular season finish. UMBC hopes to live up to expectations in the preseason and challenge Vermont for the AE crown.

3. New Hampshire

The biggest change between last year’s preseason poll and this year’s poll is the placement of the UNH Wildcats. The team that was picked to finish last a year ago now earns a top-three spot in the coaches’ poll. UNH brings back an experienced roster full of talented juniors and seniors. Coming off a breakout year, preseason first-team all-conference selection junior forward Nick Guadarrama will lead the Wildcats this season along with senior guard Sean Sutherlin. Guadarrama showed his versatility last year, averaging 12.9 points and 7.1 rebounds a game along with 2.4 assists. Sutherlin put up a similar stat line, averaging 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game. Sutherlin led the conference in double-doubles and was second in rebounds per game last season. Both Sutherlin and Guadarrama were selected to the all-conference third team a year ago, and both have the potential to average a double-double. UNH is also bringing back graduate student forward Chris Lester, who was selected as a member of the all-defensive team last season. In addition to those three, the Wildcats are returning the other two members of the starting five last year with junior guard Marque Maultsby and senior guard Josh Hopkins rounding out the core. The Wildcats will hope that they can rebound as well as they did last season, where they averaged 41.3 boards a game as a team, good enough for first in the AE. In a year where uncertainty will run rampant through the season, New Hampshire hopes that having an experienced team that knows how to play together will provide an extra advantage. UNH shocked the AE last year — this year no one is going to take them lightly.

4. Albany

This is a pivotal year for the Albany Great Danes. The young core group that broke out as freshmen are now entering their junior season, and Albany hopes that they can take the next step to bring the Great Danes back to the top of the AE. The star of this team is junior guard Cameron Healy, who is entering the season as a preseason all-conference selection for the second straight year. Healy averaged 14.2 points a year ago, including a school-record 41 points against UMass Lowell. The Great Danes return their second, third and fourth leading scorers from last season with Healy, junior guard Antonio Rizzuto (7.7 points per game) and all-rookie team selection sophomore guard Trey Hutcheson (6.7 points per game) all coming back. The Great Danes hope that Healy, Rizzuto and Hutcheson will make up for the key loss of guard Ahmad Clark, who was the leading scorer of the team and captain a year ago. The top of Albany’s roster is experienced, but it has eight new faces this season — it will be on the junior class to lead the team.

5. Stony Brook

For the second year in a row, Stony Brook lost in the AE playoffs as the second seed, losing to Hartford in last year’s semifinal. This season, the Seawolves will have a new look. They will be without two all-conference selections from last season, as guard Elijah Olaniyi (first team) and forward Andrew Garcia (second team) have moved on from the program, as well as all-defensive team member Jeff Otchere. Without all three of their double-digit scorers from a year ago, it will likely be on senior forward Mouhamadou Gueye to provide tough baskets and stops on defense for the Seawolves. Last year, Gueye averaged just under two blocks a game and will look to protect the paint again this year. A new transfer to keep an eye on is junior guard Juan Felix Rodriguez. The JUCO Monroe College transfer was a two-time JUCO All-American and earned second-team honors his sophomore season. The junior forward averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game last season and recorded a triple-double once as well. Head coach Geno Ford will have to work hard to get these players to connect on the court in time for the season.

6. Hartford

Hartford is coming off a surprise AE conference championship berth and looking to build on that this year. Despite losing their top-six scorers heading into last season, the Hawks finished third in the regular season and took down Stony Brook in the semifinals. Four of the starters from a year ago are back, as are several key bench contributors. All but one of the players that saw the court in the semifinal last year are back this season as well. Unfortunately for the Hawks, that one player was first-team all-conference selection Malik Ellison, but the guard depth that Hartford has is as strong as any in the AE, which should help in replacing Ellison’s production. All-rookie team member sophomore guard Moses Flowers (10.4 points per game) will look to take the next step, as will third-team all-conference selection graduate student guard Traci Carter (9.7 points per game, 4.9 assists per game, 4.9 rebounds per game). The Hawks will look to shoot from downtown like they did last season as they led the AE in 3-point percentage. Hartford was also apt at guarding the three on the other end, as they allowed the lowest 3-point percentage against them (27.5 percent). Junior forward Hunter Marks (10.8 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game) and sophomore forward Miroslav Stafl (8.8 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game) round out the returning starters. Hartford will also look to its perimeter defense to create easy buckets, as they led the AE in steals last season. Head coach John Gallagher had this group playing its best basketball at the end of last season, and he hopes that will carry over to a hot start in 2020-21.

7. UMass Lowell

Over the past five seasons, UMass Lowell has been one of the top-two scoring teams in the AE. However, it has also been one of the two worst defensive teams over that same five-year period, and their fast-paced style of play will likely put them in the same spot in the 2020-21 season. Star guard Christian Lutete has moved on from the program, meaning that UMass Lowell has lost the second-highest scorer in the conference last year. Luckily, the River Hawks have a member of last year’s first-team all-conference still around, as senior guard Obadiah Noel is returning after a stellar junior season, averaging 18.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Noel will lead an offense that hopes to move the ball as well, as it has the last two seasons where they have averaged the most assists in the AE. Sophomore forward Connor Withers also returns to the River Hawks after making the all-rookie team a season ago. A team that plays fast like UMass Lowell relies on forcing turnovers, and it will be interesting to see if they can force as many without Lutete’s quick hands in the passing lane. A new face to keep an eye on is freshman guard Richie Greaves, who was a McDonald’s All-America nominee his senior season of high school.

8. NJIT

There’s a new team in the AE for the first time since 2013. The 10th member of the conference is the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders, who come from the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). NJIT hopes to make an impression on the league and finish higher than it did in its previous conference, which was eighth out of nine teams. The new member is bringing a star with them to the conference, as senior guard Zach Cooks was one of the players selected to the preseason all-conference team. Cooks made second-team all-ASUN last season and led the conference in scoring (19.7 per game, the second-highest single-season average in program history) and steals. Bearcat fans may remember that Binghamton has played NJIT the last two seasons, and Cooks posted 35 points in one of those matchups against the Bearcats. The two other captains for the Highlanders are senior forward San Antonio Brinson, who was a double-digit scorer a year ago (11.0 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game), and junior forward Souleymane Diakite who lead the team in both rebounds (8.5 per game) and blocks (2.0 per game) last season. Brinson flashed brilliance last year, as he set the program’s single game points record with 37 versus North Florida. NJIT has a talented-enough team to make some noise in its debut in the conference, and head coach Brian Kennedy hopes that a successful first season will lay the groundwork for recruiting down the road.

9. Maine

Maine saw improvement last year and earned some big wins versus Hartford and UMBC at the end of the regular season. The Black Bears were third in the AE in assists and second in both blocks and steals. They often found themselves in contention in the second halves of games, yet too many times they couldn’t make the big plays to close out games. Coming off an eighth-place finish, the Black Bears were struggling to replace their top scorers from a year ago when their top returning scorer and captain Nedeljko Prijovic forwent his senior season and decided to play professionally in Serbia to support his family. This loss is especially tough because he was one of the team’s sharpshooters, an area where Maine has struggled. Last year, they shot just 28.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line, hurting them down the stretch. Maine also had the worst turnover margin in the conference last season. The two remaining captains are redshirt junior forward Solomon Iluyomade and redshirt sophomore guard Stephane Ingo. A freshman to watch on Maine is forward Matthew Fleming, who is the younger brother of Andrew Fleming, a former all-conference pick from Maine. Head coach Richard Barron will look to keep improving his team in 2020.

10. Binghamton

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