Sports Feature

Length: 0:02:19

A cool breeze sweeps through the stands of LaValle Stadium as the Stony Brook men's lacrosse team takes the field against the Albany Great Danes. The winner goes on to play for the America East Championship, the loser goes home. Fans fill the stands with their red shirts to show off their swagger (one of the catch phrases Stony Brook promotes) and cheer on their team.

For this week's question, some of the Independent's savviest baseball minds answer which team -- the Mets or Red Sox -- is more likely to make the playoffs. While they differ in their answers, they all seem to agree on one thing- this is only a hypothetical, and neither of these teams will be playing in October.

During the Independent's inaugural "Question of the Week" column, we play a little over/under and debate our whether or not Roy Halladay's move to the National League will result in more or less than 23.5 wins.

Two of the Independent's wannabe NBA experts break down the first round of this year's playoffs.

Michael Kelly breaks down the Eastern Conference's first round series, telling you how each team can win and advance.

Raimundo Ortiz breaks down the Western Conference's first round series, telling you how each team can win and advance.

Back in the fall, we wrote a pretty epic NBA preview that contained more information and analysis than anyone really cared to read. Well, we are back. Buckle up.

Six of the Independent's sports writers break down the MLB season for you, telling you who will finish where and who to watch out for.

The Philadelphia Phillies won this division by six games last season and represented the National League in the World Series. With the addition of Roy Halladay during the offseason, the Phillies look poised to win the division again. The Braves, Marlins, Mets and Nationals will try to compete with the Phillies, but all of those teams will find themselves hard-pressed to overtake the Phillies for the division crown.

Anyone who has a favorite team in the American League Central in the last few years has sat through some pretty amazing ballgames over the last two seasons. The division that ended the 2008 and 2009 seasons with a game 163 could possess another close call come September. With a restocked White Sox roster, pitching and offensive rich Tigers, and the small ball Twins, the AL Central has three contenders for a single spot.

In 2010, the NL West will be the best division in the National League. Some of the best, young talent in the entire game is here and four out of the five teams have realistic chances of postseason baseball. The Dodgers are the two-time defending champs and are expecting their budding stars to make the next step and to challenge for a pennant. The Rockies may not have many household names, but a late season push gave them the wild card in 2009 and are as deep as anyone in the division.

Raimundo Ortiz breaks down the NL Central.

Chances are if you rooted for an AL West team not named the Angels these past few years, you were a seriously depressed baseball fan. You certainly did not care if the Angels were stationed in Anaheim or Los Angeles, but rather would have rather preferred them to leave the west coast entirely. However, with competition bolstered after big name additions, the AL West will be one of most interesting—if not the most interesting division—in MLB this season.

In front of a packed crowd, Stony Brook was almost able to pull off the upset against the Illinois Fighting Illini, falling 76-66. While the Seawolves’ dream season came to an end, it was not before putting a major scare into their Big Ten-reared foe and earning some respect along the way.

Stony Brook will play host to Illinois of the Big Ten in their NIT matchup. Muhammad El-Amin, the America East player of the year, will try and lead the upstart Seawolves past the NCAA Tournament-snubbed Fighting Illini in front of what is expected to be a sold-out crowd in the Stony Brook Arena. Tip is set for Wednesday at 9 P.M.