It's 58 degrees out here in Central New Jersey, baseball season is wrapping up, the annual basketball preview magazines are out, Midnight Madness is less than a month away, and it's about time we wrapped up the MAAC Madness series, which started in late July and kept The Blog running through the dog days of summer. 

To kick off the series,  The Blog e-mailed a few questions to MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor, who promptly gave us some interesting answers about the future of the conference tournament. Before that Q&A, I hadn't considered the possibility of the tournament being in Baltimore, but the commish mentioned that the Inner Harbor and 1st Mariner Arena  would be on a list of possible "destination" venues, along with Mohegan Sun and Atlantic City. 

Here's the rundown: 

Arena: 1st Mariner Arena

Attendance in past tournaments: NA

"Host" school: Loyola 

"Host" school's 2007-08 men's home attendance: 1,479 (eighth in the MAAC)

Local newspaper (circulation): Baltimore Sun (232,360 daily, 372,970 Sunday)

Driving distance from league schools: 

423 miles (seven hours, 30 minutes) from Niagara 

404 miles (seven hours, nine minutes) from Canisius

340 miles (five hours, 38 minutes) from Siena

271 miles (four hours, 45 minutes) from Marist

248 miles (four hours, 19 minutes) from Fairfield

214 miles (three hours, 42 minutes) from Iona

204 miles (three hours, 29 minutes) from Manhattan

186 miles (three hours, 12 minutes) from Saint Peter's 

145 miles (two hours, 28 minutes) from Rider

Average driving distance: 271 miles (four hours, 39 minutes) 

The Skinny: There's no question it's a long shot, and there are a number of reasons that it'd be a bad idea, starting with the distance and the lack of a large Loyola fan base.  I'd be very, very surprised if it pans out. 

But here are a few reasons not to rule it out: First, it's not THAT far away (much closer to most MAAC schools than Buffalo), and it's easy to get to, since it's a straight shot down 95 from New York without any detours through one-lane roads. And my $0.02 is that the Inner Harbor, which has an abundance of lodging options and is minutes away from Ist Mariner, is a major attraction.

I'll admit that my obsession with Camden Yards had something to do with it (I stopped by the Orioles souvenire store, which is open year-around, and bought a hoodie), but when I drove down to Baltimore last year to cover the Rider-Loyola game, I went four hours early and walked around the Inner Harbor before making the 20-minute drive to Loyola. 

 Is the area a big enough drawing card to hold the tournament there? Probably not, but I wouldn't rule it out completely, especially if, in spite of the Hounds likely being in for a rebuilding year, Jimmy Patsos can get more folks down there interested.