The Stony Brook Men’s Basketball 2017-18 schedule is taking form with the announcement of America East conference schedules by the league Tuesday morning.

After a tough slate of non-conference games in November and December, Stony Brook will start conference play with a home game on Jan. 3 against Maine, who the Seawolves beat twice last year. Five of the team’s next six will be on the road as it travels to Hartford, Albany, Vermont, New Hampshire and UMass Lowell.

In total, the Seawolves will play 16 games against all eight America East teams, logging a home-and-home series with each conference opponent.

“The America East Conference should be as strong as it has ever been,” Seawolves head coach Jeff Boals said in a press release on Tuesday. “But the strength of competition in our non-conference schedule will prepare us for our pursuit of winning a championship.”

While the non-conference schedule has yet to be announced by Stony Brook, 12 games have been confirmed by comments from Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron and schedule releases from opponents. A road game at projected top-five Michigan State and the season opener against Maryland at Nassau Coliseum highlight the first half of the season.

Stony Brook ends the regular season at Vermont on Feb. 24, last season’s America East champions. The America East playoffs begin with quarterfinals on March 3, semifinals on March 6 and end with the championship game on March 10. Albany, who beat Stony Brook in the America East semifinals last season, will return to Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Jan. 27.

Vermont, a 13-seed in last season’s NCAA tournament, will be the fifth opponent Stony Brook will play who have been selected to the NCAA tournament in years prior. Maryland, Michigan State, Providence and Bucknell are the other four.

The most recent ESPN bracket for the NCAA tournament next March includes Vermont as a 12-seed and the only America East team, projecting they will win the conference championship again and receive an automatic bid.

In the 2016-17 season, Stony Brook Men’s Basketball had a 12-4 conference record prior to the playoffs. Other than the two losses to Vermont, UMBC and Binghamton each beat Stony Brook on their home courts.

A partial schedule for the 2017-18 Stony Brook men’s basketball team is below. Twelve non-conference games were confirmed in a previous article. Since then, Columbia released their schedule confirming the exact date they will play the Seawolves. More games may be announced in the coming days.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Nov. 10 vs. Maryland (at Nassau Coliseum)

Nov. 14 or 15 at UConn

Nov. 19 at Michigan State

Nov. 26 at Bucknell

Dec. 2 vs. Saint Francis University

Dec. 7 vs. Columbia

Dec. 12 vs. Hofstra

Dec. 22 at Rutgers

Dec. 30 vs. Norfolk State

TBA vs. Brown

TBA at Ball State

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Jan. 3 vs. Maine

Jan. 6 at Hartford

Jan. 10 at Albany

Jan. 13 at Vermont

Jan. 18 vs. Binghamton

Jan. 21 at New Hampshire

Jan. 24 at UMass Lowell

Jan. 27 vs. Albany

Jan. 31 vs. UMBC

Feb. 3 vs. Hartford

Feb. 8 vs. UMass Lowell

Feb. 11 at Maine

Feb. 15 at Binghamton

Feb. 18 vs. New Hampshire

Feb. 21 at UMBC

Feb. 24 vs. Vermont

March 3 TBD (America East Quarterfinals)

March 6 TBD (America East Semifinals)

March 10 TBD (America East Finals)