The America East basketball tournament will be the second conference tourney to commence. Nine teams will battle for the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament over the course of the next three weekends. Can Vermont represent the league again? Or will top seed UMBC return to March Madness for the first time since pulling off the first-ever 16-over-1 upset? Let’s take a look at the America East Tournament bracket and schedule, then preview what we can expect to see.

America East Conference Standings

TeamConference RecordOverall RecordTournament Outlook
UMBC10-414-51 seed
Vermont10-410-42 seed
New Hampshire9-610-83 seed
Hartford8-611-84 seed
Albany6-66-85 seed
UMass-Lowell7-88-116 seed
Stony Brook7-99-137 seed
NJIT6-107-118 seed
Binghamton4-104-139 seed
Maine2-62-7N/A

America East Tournament Schedule

Dates: February 27-28, March 6, 13
TV: ESPN2, ESPN+
Site: Campus Sites (New Hampshire and Hartford host all first and second-round games; higher seeds host semifinals and championship)
Byes: Top three get single bye; top two get double bye
Most Recent Champion: Vermont

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

America East Tournament Bracket

First Round

  • (4) Hartford 77, (9) Binghamton 60
  • (5) Albany 76, (8) NJIT 66
  • (6) UMass Lowell 64, (7) Stony Brook 62

Second Round

  • (6) UMass Lowell 72, (3) New Hampshire 64
  • (4) Hartford 83, (5) Albany 77

Semifinals

  • (6) UMass Lowell 79, (1) UMBC 77
  • (4) Hartford 71, (2) Vermont 65

Championship

  • (4) Hartford 64, (6) UMass Lowell 58

Hartford advances to NCAA Tournament

America East Conference Breakdown

UMBC and Vermont have combined to win each of the last three America East Tournament championships. The Catamounts won in both 2017 and 2019 while the Retrievers got over the hump in 2018. There was no 2020 winner as the college basketball world was shut down prior to America East basketball crowing a tournament champion. Vermont and UMBC both finished 10-4 in regular-season league play and split their two head-to-head matchups. Both teams will receive a double-bye into the semifinals putting them in position to make another title run.

While they won’t have a double-bye all the way to the semis, New Hampshire does receive a single bye as the 3-seed. The Wildcats finished third in conference play despite ranking just fifth in scoring (67.4 points per game). The preseason America East basketball poll correctly predicted the top three finishers, albeit flipping UMBC and Vermont in the top two spots. The poll was fairly accurate overall. The top overachiever was four-seed Hartford who was projected to finish sixth. The greatest underachiever was Stony Brook, who finished seventh after being picked to finish fifth.

Where the America East basketball tournament gets interesting stems from the decisions of a team who won’t even participate. The conference added a new member this season in the NJIT, bringing the total number of America East teams to ten. But with the decision of Maine to cancel their season, only nine teams will play in the tournament. The result is the obscure format that we will see play out over the coming weeks.

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Henry’s passion for sports dates all the way back to childhood and has ultimately led to a full-fledged career as an analyst and content creator. After getting his start penning fantasy football articles, he forrayed into the betting side of the business in early 2019. His love for sports and statistics proved to be an ideal match with the dedicated research and strategy that handicapping requires. Henry currently specializes in betting analysis and picks for college football, college basketball and NASCAR. He counts the NFL, the WNBA, and NBA player props as additional leagues/markets of interest. Henry graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2021 with a Communication Studies degree and a Psychology minor. A native of the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York, he and his pup, Harold, have since relocated to Laramie, Wyoming. Thanks to his professional goals within the sports betting industry, there has been a whole lot of steam on the odds for a move to Las Vegas in 2023! Most of Henry’s free time is spent on outdoor adventures, playing chess, snowboarding, or reading a good book. He is also a competitive powerlifter and aspires to qualify for the USAPL Nationals meet within the next 2-3 years.

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