AP Photo. George Beamon is healthy for Manhattan.

Welcome Back!

College basketball season is upon us, which means another year of trying to predict the unpredictable. Still, I’ll give it a shot with this rundown of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (last year’s record in parentheses):

1. Manhattan (14-18, 9-9): Steve Masiello’s Jaspers came on strong down the stretch a year ago, winning eight of their last 11 to reach the MAAC championship game. They played without leading scorer George Beamon (19 ppg in 2011-12) for all but four games early in the season and point guard Mike Alvarado was banged up too. Both are back plus the addition of Maryland transfer Ashton Pankey (17 starts for the Terps in 11-12) make them the preseason favorite.

2. Canisius (20-14, 11-7): Billy Baron (17.2 ppg) is the best player in the league, but has plenty of help around him with the Heath brothers — Jordan and Josiah — and tough guy Chris Manhertz (8.7 rebounds per game). The addition of Chris Perez — a transfer from Stetson who averaged 15.1 points per game last season — will help take some of the scoring load off Baron.

3. Iona (20-14, 11-7): Tim Cluess did what he does best and dipped into the transfer market landing Rutgers’ Mike Poole (4.4 ppg in 12 starts at RU) in the aftermath of the Mike Rice scandal. Poole isn’t on the same level as the departed Lamont Jones, but he’ll be an impact player for the defending tournament champion. Long-range sniper Sean Armand (16.6 ppg, 40.9 percent from 3) is still around and so is 6-foot-9 forward David Laury (13.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg).

4. Rider (19-15, 12-6): Kevin Baggett’s debut campaign went swimmingly — a second-place finish in the regular season — until an ugly loss to Fairfield in the conference tournament. Seniors Anthony Myles (12.4 ppg) and Danny Stewart (10.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg) are the go-to players, but freshman Kahlil Thomas has Rookie of the Year potential.

5. Siena (8-24, 5-14): Call it the Jimmy Factor. It’s a joy to still have Jimmy Patsos in the league after his move from Loyola. The Saints were bad last year and double-double machine O.D. Anosike has moved on, but Patsos built Loyola into a contender and Siena will surprise some people with a bounce-back season.

6. Fairfield (19-16, 9-9): Sydney Johnson is a good coach, but boy are his teams tough to watch. The Stags looked in midseason form with a 63-59 loss to Bridgeport in an exhibition. They led the league in defense a year ago, allowing 59.2 points per game, yet only scored 60.6 per contest. The Gilbert brothers — Malcom (a Pitt transfer) and Marcus — are solid players.

7. Niagara (19-14, 13-5): Coach Joe Mihalich, Juan’ya Green and Ameen Tankley are all at Hofstra after a tumultuous offseason in upstate New York. The good news is leading scorer Antoine Mason (18.7 ppg) remains a Purple Eagle, but it’s hard to see Chris Casey repeating the team’s regular-season championship in his first season.

8. Marist (10-21, 6-12): Jeff Bower inherits some nice pieces in shooting guard Chavaughn Lewis (16.7 ppg) and big man Adam Kemp (10.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg). There is potential for the Red Foxes to move up the standings (but we’ve heard that song and dance before).

9. Quinnipiac (15-16, 11-7 NEC): It’s hard to judge just where the two new members will stack up, but the Bobcats are the better of the two. Leading scorers Ike Azotam (13.6 ppg) and Zaid Hearst (10.8 ppg) both return for coach Tom Moore.

10. Saint Peter’s (9-21, 3-15): John Dunne has the toughest job in the league at the Jersey City school. Junior guard Desi Washington (14.6 ppg) is coming off a solid season and the addition of Fairfield transfer Jamel Fields will help. Local products Chazz Patterson and Markese Tucker (both TCA) are in the plans for the Peacocks.

11. Monmouth (10-21, 5-13 NEC): King Rice’s squad finished 10th in the NEC a year ago and the MAAC is by all accounts a tougher league. Leading scorer Andrew Nicholas (13.9 ppg) returns for the Hawks, who are 22-41 in two seasons under Rice, and still very much in rebuilding mode.