As has been advertised on the UMBC homepage, the basketball season tips off this afternoon and evening.

The women’s game is already in progress at George Wasington down in D.C., but the men hit the home hardwood tonight at 7 p.m.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know that the Retrievers made school history by earning their first-ever America East Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth last season. Gone are leading scorers Ray Barbosa and Brian Hodges, along with the super-athletic center/forward Cavell Johnson, but reigning AEC Tournament MVP Jay Greene and All-Conference forward Darryl Proctor are capable of leading this team.

The black-and-gold haven’t gotten much love in preseason media polls. Sports Illustrated picked Vermont and reigning AEC Player of the Year Marqus Blakely to capture the AEC’s automatic bid to the Big Dance. UMBC’s success between the lines will depend largely on the ability of veteran returners Matt Spadafora and Justin Fry to replace the 40+ points per game lost with the departure of Barbosa, Hodges and Johnson.

The road to a repeat (can’t believe I’m actually able to type that) begins tonight versus Stevenson.