Back To The Future For America East Hoops Tourney

The America East Conference is going back to the future in changing its format for the women's basketball tournament.

Starting next year, no more neutral site tournament games. The top eight team will play quarterfinals, semi-finals and the conference title game at campus sites of the higher seed. It's been 20 years since America East went with this format.

The past two years, the first two rounds were held at the Cross Arena in Portland with the highest seed hosting the championship game. UMaine hosted and won that title game at the Cross Center in Bangor.

“This is an exciting time for women’s basketball in our conference,” said America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. “While we’ve had successful single-site championships in the past, including the last two years in Portland, this format has been widely successful on the men’s side for the last four years and will afford more of our campuses the chance to experience the thrill of postseason basketball and create great atmospheres. It will also benefit our strongest teams and give them the best opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament with the highest seed possible.” - AE Press Release

The format mirrors the men's playoff format.