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2020 America East Tournament Opening Odds Favor Vermont by a Huge Margin

John Perrotto

by John Perrotto in College Basketball

Updated Mar 30, 2021 · 8:23 AM PDT

UMBC's Arkel Lamar guards Virginia's Nigel Johnson
Arkel Lamar (R) and UMBC pulled off the biggest upset in March Madness history by beating Nigel Johnson (L) and #1 Virginia in the Round of 64. Photo by William Howard/Icon Sportswire.
  • The America East conference tournament takes place from March 7-14 at on-campus sites
  • Vermont, the top seed and regular-season champion, is a heavy betting favorite
  • See the odds for the full field and the best pick to earn the NCAA Tournament bid

It stands to reason that Vermont is a prohibitive favorite to win the America East Conference Tournament.

The Catamounts rolled to the regular-season title with a 14-2 record, their fourth in a row. They also finished four games ahead of second-place Stony Brook and are the only team in the America East to reach 20 wins.

The conference tournament odds tell you everything you need to know about the quality of the Catamounts compared to the rest of the league.

Odds to Win America East Conference Tournament

Teams Odds
Vermont -500
Stony Brook +475
Hartford +1400
UMBC +2500
New Hampshire +4000
UMass-Lowell +5000
Albany +7000
Maine +9000

Odds as of March 4.

The entire tournament will be played at on-campus sites with the higher-seeded team getting home-court advantage in each game.

The quarterfinals will be played Saturday (March 7) and Vermont (24-7 overall, 11-3 home) will host eighth-seeded Maine (9-21 overall, 3-14 road).

In other quarterfinal matchups, it will be No. 2 seed Stony Brook (19-12 overall, 9-4 home) hosting No. 7 Albany (14-17 overall, 5-10 road, No. 6 UMass-Lowell (13-18 overall, 5-9 road) visiting No. 3 Hartford (16-15 overall, 8-8 home) and No. 4 Maryland-Baltimore County (15-16 overall, 10-5 home) at home against No. 5 New Hampshire (15-14 overall, 5-11 road).

The teams will be reseeded for the semifinals on March 10. The championship game is scheduled for March 14.

Vermont Rolls Into Postseason

Vermont has won 14 of its last 15 games following a 10-6 start. The only loss in that span was a stunner, coming at home as a 16.5-point favorite to Maryland-Baltimore County, 66-64 on Feb. 22.

The Catamounts also were the winning side against the spread in seven of their last nine regular-season games.

Vermont has two of the top players in the America East in senior forward Anthony Lamb and junior guard Stef Smith.

Lamb is averaging 16.5 points and 7.3 rebounds a game while making 81 percent of his free throws. Smith has a 14.2 scoring average and is knocking down 44 percent of his 3-point attempts.

YouTube video

The Catamounts wear teams out with their depth. Coach John Becker’s squad has 11 players who average at least 10 minutes a game.

Stony Brook, Hartford Stumbling

While Stony Brook is the No. 2 seed, the Seawolves don’t inspire much confidence coming into the tourney. They are just 3-4 in their last seven games.

Junior guards Elijah Olaniyi and Makale Foreman give Stony Brook strong backcourt scoring. Olaniyi is averaging 18.2 points a game and Foreman is scoring at a 15.5-point clip.

The Seawolves, though, did win at Vermont in January.

The No. 3 seed, Hartford, also stumbled down the stretch of the regular season with five losses in their last eight games.

The Hawks do have Malik Ellison. The junior swingman is one of the conference’s most dynamic players as he is averaging double figures in both scoring (18.9) and rebounding (10.3).

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A Pair of Sleepers

UMBC and New Hampshire are worth keeping an eye on.

The Retrievers did win at Vermont two weeks ago in the biggest upset of the season in the America East then knocked off Stony Brook 75-67 at home on Tuesday (March 3) in the regular-season finale to assure themselves of a quarterfinal game at home.

UMass Lowell has played much better in recent weeks, winning four of its last six games, including a 63-54 road victory at New Hampshire on Tuesday (March 3).

Yet Vermont is clearly the class of the America East again and have the advantage of playing all their tourney games at home in Burlington. According to KenPom.com, the Catamounts also have the conference’s best adjusted offensive (106.9) and defensive (95.7) efficiency

Vermont captured the tournament in 2017 and again last year. There is little reason to believe the Catamounts won’t make it three titles in four years.

The pick: Vermont (-500)

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