Should The Fairfield Stags Be Favorites To Win The MAAC?
We Disagree With The 2024 MAAC Odds This Year

Multiple tickets have been punched into the NCAA Tournament, with teams earning automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
The MAAC is another conference that will only have one bid. It’ll also come from whoever wins the MAAC Tournament. The entire field and bracket will occur in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Each game will be played on the same exact court. No team has a legitimate home-court advantage heading into this tournament.
Although Quinnipiac is the No. 1 seed heading into Tournament play in the MAAC, Fairfield has the best odds to win, sitting at +300 odds.
Take a look at the 2024 MAAC odds below.
Team | Odds |
---|---|
Fairfield | +300 |
Quinnipiac | +375 |
Saint Peter’s | +450 |
Marist | +675 |
Rider | +700 |
Iona | +800 |
Mount St. Mary’s | +1000 |
Niagara | +1200 |
Canisius | +10000 |
Manhattan | +10000 |
Siena | +10000 |
MAAC Bracket Format
The MAAC Tournament bracket has 11 teams. The first five teams in the bracket have a bye game and will have to wait until March 13 to play the first game. Check out the full schedule via MAACSports.com. We’ll break down the 2024 MAAC odds below.
Round | Game | Matchup | Date |
Opening Round | Game 1 | No. 8 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 9 Canisius | March 12 |
Opening Round | Game 2 | No. 7 Iona vs. No. 10 Manhattan | March 12 |
Opening Round | Game 3 | No. 6Â Niagara vs. No. 11 Siena | March 12 |
Quarterfinal | Game 4 | No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. Winner Game 1 | March 13 |
Quarterfinal | Game 5 | No. 2 Fairfield vs. Winner Game 2 | March 13 |
Quarterfinal | Game 6 | No. 3 Marist vs. Winner Game 3 | March 14 |
Quarterfinal | Game 7 | No. 4 Rider vs. No. 5 Saint Peter’s | March 14 |
Semifinal | Game 8 | Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 7 | March 15 |
Semifinal | Game 9 | Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 | March 15 |
Championship | Game 10 | Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 | March 16 |
After the opening round, No. 1 seed Quinnipiac will play the winner of Game 1. Fairfield would play the winner of Game 2, and Marist would take on the winner of Game 3. Meanwhile, the fourth and final Quarterfinal game is already set between Rider and St. Peter’s.
That game won’t be played until March 14, anyway.
Best Value On The Board
Quinnipiac Bobcats (+375)
The Quinnipiac Bobcats are the most balanced team in the MAAC.
The Bobcats finished third in MAAC play in offensive and defensive efficiency. They finished conference play with a 107.7 offensive efficiency and added a 100.6 defensive efficiency this season.
The team just signed head coach Tom Pecora to a four-year extension after he helped Quinnipiac rise to the top of the conference.
The Bobcats would have to face Mt. Saint Mary‘s or Canisius in the first round. They lost to Mount St. Mary’s in the most recent matchup against them but beat Canisius, 88-63, with ease in early February.
Quinnipiac hit a road bump in mid-February and lost four consecutive games. But this team is genuinely streaky, and that’s not a bad thing in a tournament-style format.
The Bobcats won ten straight games in MAAC play. After that, they lost four straight, and then recently, Quinnipiac has added four consecutive wins. They’re back to their winning ways, led by one of the best MAAC players in Matt Balanc. He’s scored 18.5 points per game with 4.8 rebounds in 32.8 minutes a night.
Rider Broncs (+700)
The Rider Broncs finished fourth in the conference this season. However, if you haven’t paid attention, the Broncos have won seven consecutive games heading into the Tournament.
Rider added a win against Quinnipiac in that seven-game finish of the regular season.
They’re led by one of the best players in the MAAC, Mervin James. If anything, James has a chance to win the MAAC Player of the Year for his accomplishments this year.
He scored 19 points and added six rebounds a night, shooting 52.5% from the field. They’ll take on St. Peter’s in the first game of the Tournament.
Although St. Peter’s is dynamic defensively, it’s unlikely St. Peter’s can match Rider’s offensive output.
Rider already knocked off the Peacocks twice this season, including on March 7, to finish the regular season.
From there, they’d likely have to play Quinnipiac. But again, Rider added an 88-78 win over Quinnipiac the last time they played. Rider’s just as hot as Quinnipiac.
Fairfield Stags (+300)
The Fairfield Stags are most likely to win the MAAC this year. They finished the season 20-11 and 14-6 in conference play.
To finish out the season, the Stags went 19-5 after losing their first six games against D1 opponents.
Fairfield led the MAAC in offensive efficiency by a lot. The Stags had an offensive efficiency of 114.2 in MAAC play. Rider was second with a 108 number. That’s how great Fairfield was offensively.
The Stags are led by Jalen Leach, a senior guard who scored 16.4 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.88 assists. He also added nearly two steals per game.
Anyway, Leach and the offense shot 40.7% from downtown and hit an effective field goal percentage of 55% in league play. They also nailed 50.5% from inside the arc and turned the ball over just 15.3% of the time against other MAAC opponents.
The risk with Fairfield is its defense.
Against MAAC opponents, the defensive efficiency was third-to-last. Fairfield rarely blocks shots and allowed 54% from inside the arc in the MAAC. That’s not ideal. If Fairfield starts to struggle from downtown in any game, the defense won’t keep them in it.
Ultimately, our opinion is Quinnipiac should be ahead in the NCAAB odds for the MAAC. You don’t want to get caught betting on a team with poor defense in any tournament.
Either way, the NCAA basketball schedule is about to be nuts with all of these conference tournaments beginning.
Check the NCAA men’s basketball scores daily at Point Spreads Sports Magazine to stay up to date with what’s happening in each tournament.
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