The regular season is in the books across the America East, and now everything shifts to the conference tournament.
America East tournament ready to begin as teams chase conference title
Eight teams remain in the race for the league championship, and for one of them, the reward will be a trip to the NCAA tournament. The path begins on March 7 with the quarterfinal round before the field is cut to four teams for the semifinals on March 10. The championship game will then be played on March 14.
One thing that makes the America East tournament a little different from others is the format. Instead of a neutral site, every game is played on campus. The higher seed hosts each matchup, which means teams that had strong regular seasons get the benefit of playing in front of their home crowd.
UMBC enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed after putting together a solid 21-8 season. The Retrievers will begin their postseason run at home against New Hampshire.
Vermont, the No. 2 seed, is another team that expects to be in the mix. The Catamounts have built a reputation as one of the most consistent programs in the conference and once again find themselves in position to make a run.
With only three wins needed to capture the championship, the road to March Madness can come together quickly. A team just needs to catch momentum at the right time.
Here is how the bracket and schedule look heading into the tournament.
America East tournament schedule
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 7
No. 8 New Hampshire at No. 1 UMBC — 1:00 PM ET
No. 5 Albany at No. 4 UMass Lowell — 1:00 PM ET
No. 7 Bryant at No. 2 Vermont — 2:00 PM ET
No. 6 Maine at No. 3 NJIT — 4:00 PM ET
Semifinals – Tuesday, March 10
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed — Time TBD
Second lowest remaining seed at second highest remaining seed — Time TBD
The tournament is reseeded after the quarterfinals, so the highest remaining seed always faces the lowest remaining seed.
America East championship game – Saturday, March 14
Championship Game — 11:00 AM ET (ESPN2)
The game will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.
Teams that could make a run
UMBC enters the tournament with the top seed and home court advantage throughout the bracket if it keeps winning. That alone makes the Retrievers one of the favorites heading into the postseason.
Vermont is never an easy team to eliminate in March and once again sits near the top of the standings after another strong season. The Catamounts have plenty of experience in this tournament setting.
NJIT and UMass Lowell also earned home games in the quarterfinals and will look to take advantage of that opportunity.
Further down the bracket, Albany, Maine, Bryant, and New Hampshire will try to pull off an upset. Conference tournaments often produce a surprise team that gets hot for a few days.
America East tournament seeds
- UMBC (21-8)
- Vermont (20-11)
- NJIT (15-16)
- UMass Lowell (14-17)
- Albany (11-20)
- Maine (8-23)
- Bryant (9-21)
- New Hampshire (9-20)
By the time the championship game arrives on March 14, one team will be celebrating a conference title and heading to the NCAA tournament.
For the rest, the season will come to an end. That pressure is what makes conference tournament week so compelling. Every possession matters, and every game suddenly feels a little bigger.