2025 Northeast Conference Tournament

The 2025 Northeast Conference Tournament will determine the conference’s lone NCAA Tournament bid. This is one of those spread-out tournaments due to travel, as games are played on campus sites, with the higher seed hosting the game. There are no byes, as only eight of the nine conference members will participate, with Mercyhurst left out due to their transitional status.

Stonehill and Le Moyne are eligible for the conference tournament, but not the NCAA Tournament. If one makes the championship game, their opponent will be awarded the automatic bid no matter what. If both make the championship game, the NEC will stage an automatic qualifier game between the two non-advancing semifinalists.

 

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Everybody plays on Wednesday March 5 in the Quarterfinals to get things started, with the Semifinals on Saturday March 8 in the afternoon. This tournament does re-seed after the Quarterfinals. The winners from Saturday will play in the title game on Tuesday.

How to Watch the Northeast Conference Tournament

When: March 5, 8, 11

Where: Campus sites (higher seed hosts game)

Format: The tournament starts in the Quarterfinals; there are no byes; tournament re-seeds after Quarterfinals

Watch: NEC Front Row, YES, NESN+, ESPN+ and ESPN2; Championship Game on ESPN2 on Mar. 11 at 7 p.m. ET

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

Northeast Conference Tournament Bracket

Coming soon.

Northeast Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Central Connecticut (-270)

2. LIU (+370)

3. Saint Francis (+1200)

4. Fairleigh Dickinson (+1200)

5. Stonehill (+3500)

6. Wagner (+8000)

7. Chicago State (+40000)

8. Le Moyne (+20000)

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win Northeast Conference Tournament

Central Connecticut is the clear favorite here, followed by LIU. The other six seeds to qualify for the conference tournament went 8-8 or worse. CCSU was 14-2 and LIU was 12-4. LIU was responsible for one of the Blue Devils’ two conference losses (Wagner was the other), but Central Connecticut has won 12 straight games after the 2-2 start.

The Blue Devils are ranked 91 spots higher than the Sharks for Bart Torvik, 109 spots higher for KenPom, and 85 spots higher for Erik Haslam of Haslametrics. Central Connecticut is actually a top-100 team in adjusted defensive efficiency for both Torvik and KenPom, even though they rank second in the NEC over conference play to LIU. 

Northeast Conference Tournament Darkhorse

Given that outside of Central Connecticut and LIU, every team ranks in the 300s for Torvik and KenPom, it is extremely hard to find a long shot that can contend in this conference tourney. Mercyhurst could have been a fun one with how they were playing late in the year, but they weren’t eligible.

Saint Francis makes the most sense, as they split with LIU in what is very likely to be one of the Semifinal matchups. Central Connecticut is so much better than everybody else in this league that I can’t see them losing before the title game, so I’d stay away from that side of the bracket for a long shot. I actually think Fairleigh Dickinson is a terrible price, given that they could lose the 4/5 game and Central Connecticut beat them by double digits twice, including a 21-point home win on Feb. 6.

Players to Watch in Northeast Conference Tournament

While FDU probably isn’t a good bet, they do have the conference’s leading scorer in Terrence Brown, who was the only player with more than 17.1 PPG. Brown’s 20.6 PPG were easily tops and he’s also in the top 10 in rebounding and assists.

Malachi Davis was the player with 17.1 PPG, as the leading scorer for LIU. Interestingly, Central Connecticut only has three players in double figures with Jordan Jones (14.4 PPG), Devin Haid (13.7 PPG), and Jayden Brown (10.5 PPG). Scoring is depressed in this conference, as there are only 20 players that averaged at least 10 points per game. As such, Wagner’s Javier Ezquerra was the leading passer with 4.6 assists per game.

Betting Pick to Win The Northeast Conference Tournament

Central Connecticut State should win this conference tournament. If there is an upset in the Quarters, they would have an even easier path to the championship game. They have home court throughout and exacted road revenge on LIU for the home loss. CCSU was -8 at home against LIU back on Jan. 12 and -4 on the road on Jan. 30. Expect them to be around -350 in the championship game, which makes -270 worth it.

Pick: Central Connecticut -270

Makinen Power Ratings for Northeast Conference

Coming soon.

  • Overall favorites of 4.5 points or less are just 6-14 ATS (30%) in their last 20 Northeast Conference tourney games
  • Fifteen of the last 20 quarterfinal games in the Northeast Conference tourney went Under the total (75%), including all four games a year ago.
  • Underdogs in the Northeast Conference tourney championship game are on a 15-3 ATS (83.3%) run, including 12 outright upsets. In the 2024 title game, Wagner (+8) upset Merrimack, 54-47.

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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