2025 America East Conference Tournament

Eight of the nine America East Conference members will play in the postseason tournament, as NJIT finished in last place. One bid to the NCAA Tournament will be up for grabs here in a conference that has been dominated by Vermont, as the Catamounts have won five of the last seven AEC Tournaments and each of the last three. 

But, this is the first time since 2016 that Vermont has not had at least a share of the regular season championship and just the second time since then (2021) that they are not the No. 1 seed. Vermont’s path to a four-peat goes through top-seeded Bryant, who is the odds-on favorite to go dancing for just the second time at the Division I level.

 

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How to Watch the America East Conference Tournament

When: March 8, 11, 15

Where: Campus sites (higher-seeded team is at home)

Format: No byes; conference re-seeds for Semifinals

Watch: ESPN+ & ESPN2; Championship Game on ESPN2 on March 15 at 11 a.m. ET

College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings

America East Tournament Bracket

America East Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Bryant (-150)

2. Vermont (+230)

3. Maine (+750)

4. Albany (+2000)

5. Binghamton (+5000)

6. UMass Lowell (+2200)

7. New Hampshire (+18000)

8. UMBC (+12000)

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win America East Conference Tournament

It feels weird to see anybody other than Vermont favored, but Bryant is the top dog (pun intended) in this conference. The Bulldogs are about 70 spots higher than any other America East team in KenPom’s rankings and more than 100 spots in Erik Haslam’s rankings at Haslametrics. Bart Torvik has a much smaller gap of under 50 spots. KenPom and Haslam also have Maine as the second-best team and Vermont third. Torvik has Vermont a clear second.

Bryant plays at one of the fastest tempos in the nation, but spends a ton of effort on defense, as the Bulldogs rank in the top 40 in eFG% defense per Torvik, while being in the top 60 in 2P% and top 70 in 3P%. They’re a solid, but not great, offensive team, but they are far and away the top offensive rebounding team in the conference. Bryant leads the AEC in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, among other categories.

America East Conference Tournament Darkhorse

Bryant’s conference losses came at home to Albany and on the road at Vermont, with a couple close wins over UMBC and one against UMass Lowell. Vermont lost to Bryant, UMBC, and Binghamton, including a 17-point loss to the Retrievers. UMBC was the conference’s worst defensive team per the efficiency metrics, but ranked third on offense. Unfortunately, they have to play Bryant right out of the gate on Saturday.

This conference tournament does re-seed, so Bryant, in theory, should end up with the easier path and Vermont the tougher one. I don’t think either top seed is invincible, but it is tough to find a worthy contender to come from off the pace at a decent number. Maine lost six conference games and all four to Bryant/Vermont. UMass Lowell was 0-6 vs. Bryant/Vermont/Maine.

Truth be told, even though they start with Bryant, UMBC fits the bill as a fast-paced team that led the conference in eFG% offense and was first in 2P% and second in 3P%. I won’t be totally stunned if they beat Bryant, even with a heavy double-digit spread.

Players to Watch in America East Conference Tournament

Bryant will rely heavily on Rafael Pinzon (18.6 PPG) and Earl Timberlake (15.2 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 4.6 APG). Pinzon is the leading scorer in the tournament, as NJIT’s Tariq Francis won’t be playing because his team didn’t qualify. UMBC also has two top 10 scorers and actually two guys in the top five in Bryce Johnson (16.7 PPG) and Marcus Banks Jr. (16.4 PPG). Banks is actually a 41% 3-point shooter.

UMass Lowell also has two top-10 guys in Quinton Mincey (16.6 PPG, 6.4 RPG) and Max Brooks (15.6 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.7 BPG). We’ll see how long Binghamton’s run is in the tournament, but Gavin Walsh is their stat sheet stuffer with 11.5 PPG and 11 RPG. There are a lot of good players in this league with 31 that average double figures.

Betting Pick to Win The America East Conference Tournament

I don’t think that this is a great version of Vermont, but maybe John Becker has figured it all out. The Catamounts have won nine in a row, including a win over Bryant and two wins over Maine and Albany. They may have to go on the road to face Bryant in the title game, where they were +3.5 and as high as +150 on the moneyline on Jan. 11. I think they’re the pick here at +230, as I think they win Game 3 if that’s what it comes to and I think Bryant’s offensive efficiency metric is skewed a bit by their really low TO%. They’re not a great shooting team and don’t get to the line much.

Pick: Vermont +230

Makinen Power Ratings for America East

  • Double-digit road underdogs in the quarterfinal round of the America East tourney are on a 9-4-1 ATS (69.2%) surge
  • Small favorites of -4.5 points or less are 15-4 SU and 14-5 ATS (73.7%) in the America East tournament since 2015.
  • Eight of the last 10 (77.8%) America East championship games went Under the total

More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.

Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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