Favored Vermont Eyes A 3-Peat in the America East Tourney
The 2024 America East Conference Odds Favor Defending Champion Vermont
Can Anybody Derail Vermont’s Bid for Another America East title?
Vermont looks to become the first team to win three straight American East tournament titles since Albany (+8000) accomplished the feat from 2013-15. The Catamounts won the regular-season title by four games with Bryant and UMass-Lowell finishing tied for second.
The 2024 America East conference odds favor Vermont to win the America East title for a record 10th time.
The tournament begins on Saturday with the four quarterfinals. All the games will be played at the site of the higher seed so Vermont will play at home for as long as the Catamounts are in the tournament.
When looking at the college basketball futures odds, things went pretty much according to plan in the America East. Vermont began the season at -150 in the odds of winning the conference followed by UMass Lowell at +300 and Bryant at +850.
Maine led the conference with a record of 18-12 against the college basketball lines during the regular season followed by UMBC (+8000) at 17-13. Keep that in mind when making the best college basketball bets today.
Keep on reading for more on the America East tournament that will conclude with Tuesday’s championship game.
Catamounts Will be Tough to Beat
The only thing that kept Vermont from a perfect run through the America East portion of the NCAAB schedule was a loss to New Jersey Tech on Feb. 8. However, New Jersey Tech is not in this tournament.
There have been more dominant Vermont teams in recent years with three of the last seven games played by the Catamounts being decided by single digits.
Vermont’s only loss at home came to Colgate in a non-conference matchup on Dec. 9 so taking out the Catamounts in Burlington will be no easy task.
Vermont has a balanced offense with junior guard TJ Long averaging a team-leading 12 points per game. That is something to consider when analyzing the 2024 America East conference odds. Vermont is the favorite at -250 to win another America East title.
A Look At the Other Contenders
Bryant and UMass Lowell join Vermont as the only other teams to post a winning record in America East play this season. Both teams were 10-3 at home.
UMass Lowell won the two meetings in the regular season against Bryant, topping Bryant 86-77 on the road and taking the rematch at home 89-67 three weeks later. Keep that in mind if they meet in the semifinals.
Bryant won its final two regular-season games while UMass Lowell dropped its final two games as the NCAAB teams finished tied for second place.
The 2024 America East Conference Odds have UMass Lowell at +300 to win the tournament for the first time while Bryant is priced at +850 in the championship odds. There is a pretty significant drop off after the top three teams with New Hampshire next at +3500 in the America East tournament odds.
A Look At the Schedule
The America East tournament begins on Saturday with the four quarterfinals, all at the site of the higher-seeded team.
Top-seeded Vermont welcomes Albany to town. No. 2 UMass Lowell meets Maryland Baltimore County, No. 3 Bryant is home against Maine (+4500) while Binghamton (+5500) plays at New Hampshire. That might be the most compelling of Saturday’s games considering that Binghamton and New Hampshire both finished 7-9 in conference play.
The field will be reseeded after the quarterfinals. If Vermont wins on Saturday, the Catamounts will host the semifinals on Tuesday against the lowest remaining seed.
The title game will be at 11 a.m. ET on Mar. 16 and it will be televised on ESPN2. The home team has won seven of the last eight America East title games.
A One-Bid League Once Again
The America East is in the middle of the pack in the conference RPI ratings with the conference ahead of Conference USA, the Sun Belt, and the Mid-American Conference, among others.
That won’t change the fact that the only team from the America East in the March Madness bracket being the conference champion.
Vermont is 100th in the NCAA NET rankings with 15 of the 23 wins coming against Quad 4 teams. The Catamounts are 0-2 in Quad 1 games. Vermont is showing up on some projected brackets as a No. 14 seed.
If somebody else wins the America East title, look for that team among the contenders for a No. 16 seed.
The next America East team in the NCAA NET rankings is No. 139 UMass Lowell followed by Bryant at No. 166.
When looking at the past March Madness results, Vermont was a No. 15 seed in last year’s tournament before losing to Marquette 78-61 as a 10-point underdog.
Vermont nearly pulled off a first-round upset in 2022 before the 13th-seeded Catamounts lost to Arkansas 75-71.
The last time a team from the America East won a game in the NCAA tournament came in 2018 when UMBC, a No. 16 seed, pulled off a stunning 74-54 win over No. 1 seed Virginia before falling 50-43 to Kansas State in the second round. Keep that in mind when it comes to the March Madness odds.
For NCAAB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
