The America East Conference Tournament is officially known by its government name, the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Men’s Basketball Playoffs. I’ll stick with AEC Tournament going forward, as one No. 15 or No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament is out there for the teams in this conference. Games will be played on campus sites and the field is re-seeded for the semifinals in hopes of getting the best team possible into the field of 68.

Eight of the nine conference members qualified for the America East Tournament, with Binghamton the odd man out. This is a very top-heavy conference. Not quite to the degree of the Southland with Stephen F. Austin and McNeese, but close with UMBC and Vermont.

How to Watch the America East Conference Tournament

When: March 7, 10, 14

Where:Campus sites – higher-seeded team hosts game

Format: There are no byes, everybody plays in the quarterfinals; teams are re-seeded for the semifinals

Watch: ESPN+; Championship Game on ESPN2 on Mar. 14 at 2 p.m. ET

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America East Conference Tournament Bracket

Coming soon.

America East Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

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1. UMBC (-270)

2. Vermont (+265)

3. NJIT (+1600)

4. UMass Lowell (+2000)

5. Albany (+4500)

6. Maine (+13000)

7. Bryant (+20000)

8. New Hampshire (+15000)

Current Odds

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win America East Conference Tournament

Betting action pushed High Point into a huge odds-on favorite in the Big South Tournament, but UMBC at -270 is the biggest favorite in this early round of conference tournaments. At time of writing, KenPom had UMBC ranked 38 spots ahead of Vermont, while Torvik had the Retrievers a whopping 68 spots higher than the Catamounts.

In terms of conference rankings, there are a lot of 1s for UMBC. They were tops in both adjusted offensive and defensive deficiency, eFG% offense and defense, TO% on offense, FT% on offense, and FT Rate on defense. Only Binghamton shot 3s at a higher success rate and only Albany and Vermont converted more 2-point shots. It’s also worth noting that UMBC’s adjusted efficiency numbers were 4.8 points higher on offense than anybody else and 4.8 points higher than anybody on defense. The price might surprise some people, but they were the class of the conference.

UMBC split with Vermont and their other loss was in overtime against Bryant in mid-January. Vermont lost to UMBC, Albany, NJIT, and Maine, with three of the four defeats on the road.

America East Conference Tournament Darkhorse

UMass Lowell has been a team that I’ve been following very closely late in the season, as head coach Pat Duquette has the River Hawks going in the right direction. Unfortunately, they did lose to both Vermont and UMBC in the final week of conference play. The Vermont loss was by only two points on the road, but they were hammered at home by UMBC two days later.

The question for the River Hawks is the status of second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Austin Green, who has missed six of the last 10 games and missed the final two regular season games. They went 3-3 without him, and I think he was rested to err on the side of caution in the finale against Maine, but we’ll see. If Green is healthy enough to play, this is the best rebounding team in the conference, though the quarterfinal matchup with Albany is a tricky one. The Great Danes at +4500 have a lot more line equity than UMass Lowell at +2000 in what could be a 55/45 type of game.

Betting Pick to Win The America East Conference Tournament

We’re tracking towards a Vermont at UMBC finale, where the Retrievers were actually a home underdog (+1.5) back on Feb. 19, showing about even money on the moneyline. And now they’re a -270 favorite in the conference tournament? That seems like an aggressive adjustment. Albany lost both games to UMBC, but by 3 and 4 points. UMass Lowell was blown out twice. But, I don’t think that the 1 vs. 4 or 1 vs. 5 game is a cakewalk for the Retrievers. Or Vermont for that matter, but this price on UMBC is steep. Vermont star Gus Yalden battled an injury in the middle of the season, but has scored at least 16 points in seven straight games, so it seems like he’s doing better. I think Vermont is the price play here.

Pick: Vermont (+265)

Makinen Power Ratings for America East Conference

Coming soon.

  • Double-digit road underdogs in the quarterfinal round of the America East tourney are on an 11-4-1 ATS (73.3%) surge
  • Small favorites of -4.5 points or less are 16-5 SU and 15-6 ATS (71.4%) in the America East tournament since 2015.
  • Nine of the last 11 (81.8%) America East championship games went Under the total

Check out the other previews in our 2026 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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