The teams which were expected to finish on top of the conference weren't even close. The top two seeds in the conference tournament were ousted in the semifinals in games that, for the most part, weren't even close. And a team that nobody picked to finish higher than seventh at the beginning of the season won the whole thing.

Welcome to the crazy 1999-2000 Colonial Athletic Association season.

In a year which the word "parity" was thrown around more often than any basketball, UNC-Wilmington earned the right to represent the CAA in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its history after being picked in preseason polls to finish seventh.

The Seahawks did it by beating No.3 seed Richmond 57-47 in the finals of the CAA Tournament -- the first title game in league history not to feature the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds.

Those two seeds were George Mason and James Madison, each of which lost in the semifinals. UNCW shut down CAA player of the year George Evans, allowing the scoring champion just seven points while rookie of the year Brett Blizzard exploded for 25 points to lead the Seahawks to victory.

James Madison was hardly even competitive against Richmond, falling 80-65. Senior Jabari Outtz was the only bright spot for the Dukes in the semifinals as he scored a tournament-high 27 points in the quarterfinals against William & Mary and was named to the all-tournament team.

But what happened to East Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth? Both teams were picked in preseason polls to finish among the conference leaders, but the Rams finished fifth -- and only thanks to a late-season spurt coupled with an Old Dominion collapse -- and ECU dropped to ninth after losing preseason all-CAA forward Evaldas Jocys in late January.

Conference champion

UNC-Wilmington shocked the CAA by putting on a dominant burst through the CAA tournament and taking the championship, winning no game by fewer than nine points. It put a cap on a season in which nobody could tell if UNCW was a potential champion or just a wannabe.

Boasting one of the nation's top defensive units, which yielded 57.6 points per game, the Seahawks were unbeatable at home (11-1), but were just 1-7 in conference road games and finished 8-8 in the CAA, the worst conference mark in coach Jerry Wainwright's six years at the school.

But the Seahawks came alive in the tournament, bringing their home intensity to the neutral court in the Richmond Coliseum to break through the roughest championship ride in the league. To win the tournament, the Seahawks had to beat both Richmond teams (Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond) with their home crowds far out-numbering the Seahawks' fans, and then beat No.1-seed George Mason.

Biggest Disappointment

It wasn't just that East Carolina never materialized into a conference champion and slumped to last place. And it wasn't that Evaldas Jocys, one of the best players in the CAA a year ago, played flat all season before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in one knee.

It was simply that nothing went right for the Pirates.

Many coaches and media voted ECU to either win the regular-season title or finish among the top three because of the combination of Jocys' versatility (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Garrett Blackwelder's shooting (46 3-pointers, 11.8 ppg) and Neil Punt's strong inside presence (4.9 rpg) the year before.

But Jocys dislocated his finger in the season's first 30 seconds, Punt played inconsistently and Blackwelder proved ineffective without the other two. Together, it turned the optimism that accompanied coach Bill Herrion's arrival after a successful run at Drexel into a nightmare.

The frustration didn't end with the season as Herrion became embroiled in a controversy surrounding a fight between players late in the season. Some accused Herrion of instigating the disruption, though the school has released a statement supporting the coach.

Biggest Surprise

James Madison's year was nothing short of remarkable. The Dukes were 13-2 in games decided by seven-or-fewer points or in overtime, winning multiple games on last-second shots and posting an undefeated year in the JMU Convocation center.

But while Madison fans were practically packing for the NCAAs before the CAA Tournament started, a lack of defensive discipline led to an embarrassing rout at the hands of Richmond.

Player of the Year

Three players had unbelievable years, and their teams would have been helpless without them.

Take freshman Brett Blizzard at UNCW, who led the CAA with 93 3-pointers and averaged 15.6 points a game. Without him, the Seahawks wouldn't be conference champions.

Or Richmond's Greg Stevenson, who averaged 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds this year, his first season of eligibility with the Spiders since transferring from Penn State. Without Stevenson, Richmond would have been young and punchless on offense.

But the player of the year has to be George Evans of George Mason. The 29-year-old junior was simply mature on a different level from his competition, both mentally and physically. His 18.5 points per game and 8.4 rebounds once again earned him CAA player of the year honors. And there's no doubting that Evans is the glue that binds the very different talents of Keith Holdan and Erik Herring into a powerful squad that won the CAA regular-season title for the second straight year.

Unfortunately for Evans, he ran into the only team that's been able to stop him in the CAA Tournament: UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks have held Evans to single-digit scoring figures in five of their last six meetings.

Newcomer of the Year

UNC-Wilmington freshman Brett Blizzard appears headed for CAA superstardom.

Blizzard averaged 15.6 points and hit 93 3-pointers -- setting UNCW's school record and the CAA's freshman record -- and became the first freshman in conference history to earn First Team All-CAA honors (something the NBA's David Robinson didn't accomplish while at Navy), was the first Seahawk to win rookie of the year and is also the first freshman to earn most valuable player honors at the CAA Tournament.

And in his first year, Blizzard already took the Seahawks to the NCAA Tournament. So what does he have left to accomplish in the next three years?

Coach of the Year

Third-year Richmond coach John Beilein improved his CAA ledger to 37-15 and came one game short of winning the regular-season title.

But even more impressive is Beilein's ability to develop talents. In his first year, Jarod Stevenson exploded from just an above-average player to CAA player of the year. Last year, Charles Stephens took rookie of the year honors after averaging 17 points and 8.3 rebounds. And this season, Greg Stevenson finished as runner-up for player of the year and freshman Reggie Brown made the all-freshman and all-tournament teams.

The Future

A shake-up will take place in the CAA before the tip-off of the 2000-2001 season. It could result in a major step forward are several back.

The move toward expansion started in October when East Carolina accepted full membership in Conference USA and announced it would leave the CAA after next season. That started expansion talks that were rumored to involve two or four new teams.

But Richmond dropped a bomb on the conference at the CAA tournament, when word leaked out that the Spiders were engaged in serious talks with the Atlantic 10 Conference, where Richmond already plays Division I-AA football, about becoming a full member. To make matters worse, American was rumored to be looking at a move to the Patriot League. So before the CAA even finalizes its expansion, it could be down to six teams.

But the good news is the league won't graduate a majority of its stars for the first time in several years. George Evans will be a senior and presumably playing at the top of his game. Greg Stevenson will also be a senior, Virginia Commonwealth's dynamic duo of LaMar Taylor and Bo Jones will enter their final years and only time will tell how good Brett Blizzard could become.

UNC-Wilmington could follow up its NCAA Tournament berth with a golden era after luring top-10 junior college recruit Ed Williams -- an athlete the likes of which UNCW has never fielded -- and top-100 recruit Brandon Clifford, who Seahawks coach Jerry Wainwright has described as Brett Blizzard in a 6-foot-10 frame. Recruiting expert Bob Gibbons ranked UNCW's recruiting class 32nd in the nation.

Parity could once again be the name heard most around the CAA. But it could be more competitive from top to bottom than ever before.