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2020 MAAC Tournament Opening Odds

Ryan Sura

by Ryan Sura in College Basketball

Updated Apr 13, 2020 · 2:18 PM PDT

Boardwalk Hall
The MAAC Tournament shifts to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this season. Photo from Farraguts (Wiki Commons).
  • The 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Championship takes place Mar. 10th to 14th in Atlantic City
  • Siena holds the one seed in a league that should be wide open for any team to potentially steal the automatic NCAA Tournament berth
  • Check out our prediction on who will be crowned the 2020 MAAC Conference Champion

The MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship will take place from March 10th to 14th at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The top-five ranked teams receive a bye in the first round, while seeds #7-#11 will tip-off on March 10th.

Siena (19-10, 15-5 MAAC) finished the regular season and conference play on a nine-game winning streak to claim the number-one seed heading into the tournament.

Saint Peter’s (17-12, 14-6 MAAC) finished second in the conference, with Rider (18-12, 12-8 MAAC) narrowly behind them in the third seed. Does Saint Peter’s, Rider or any team have what it takes to knock off the top-seeded Siena Saints?

2020 MAAC Conference Tournament Odds

Team Odds
Siena (#1) +180
Rider (#3) +280
Saint Peter’s (#2) +390
Monmouth (#4) +500
Quinnipiac (#5) +1500
Iona (#7) +1500
Canisius (#10) +3000
Manhattan (#9) +3500
Fairfield (#8) +4200
Niagara (#6) +4500
Marist (#11) +6000

Odds taken March 9th.

MAAC Tournament Bracket

The MAAC Tournament moves to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this season.

All Hail the Saints

Siena is looking to win their first conference championship since 2010, and come into the tournament on a nine game win streak.

YouTube video

The Saints have the top offense in the MAAC, scoring 72.6 points per game. They’ve also scored 75-plus points in three of their final four regular-season games.

Siena’s offense is led by a three-headed monster in Jalen Pickett (15.3 PPG), Elijah Burns (14.6 PPG), and Manny Camper (13.6 PPG). Pickett is the main facilitator of the offense as he averages 6.0 assists per game.

The sophomore out of Rochester, New York is not only a great passer, but comes up clutch in big moments:

First-year head coach Carmen Maciarello is one of the main reason’s for Siena’s success this season. Of the 61 new head coaches, he is the only coach to win his conference’s regular-season title outright.

Moreover, he is the first Siena head coach to win the MAAC regular-season title in his first season. As an assistant coach just last year at Siena, Maciarello has clearly built a solid relationship with his players.

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Who Can Knock off Siena?

Saint Peter’s or Rider will only get a chance to take down the number-one seed if they make it to the final game. Siena will play the winner of #8 Fairfield (12-19, 8-12 MAAC) against #9 Manhattan (12-17, 8-12 MAAC) in the quarterfinals.

If they win their quarterfinal game, the Saints will take on the winner of #4 Monmouth (18-13, 12-8 MAAC) against #5 Quinnipiac (15-15, 10-10 MAAC). Will any of these teams be able to halt Siena from making it to the finals?

The Hawks scored the ball well this season averaging 71.3 points per game. They also took care of the ball well, leading the MAAC with a +3.45 turnover margin.

They lost both their regular season matchups against Siena, so leading-scorer Deion Hammond and the rest of the team will have to step up to complete the upset.

Saint Peter’s plays a different style of basketball compared to Siena. The Peacocks have been locked in defensively all year. They are allowing just 64.5 points per game and held opponents to 40.4 percent from the field.

Saint Peter’s is led by a trio of freshman in Aaron Estrada (8.0 PPG), Daryl Banks III (7.9 PPG), Doug Edert (7.7 PPG). They did split the season series with Siena, however, their offense has struggled this season. The Peacocks do not have a single player who averages double-digit points.

Best Bet

With how well Siena is playing coming into the tournament, it is hard not to pick them to win. Although, Rider possesses an interesting play with a decent amount of value.

Rider beat Siena earlier in the season 85-77 but did lose on the road in mid-February 73-64. The Broncs have the offensive talent to compete with the Saints and they closed out the regular season with three straight wins. At +280, Rider has a good value to make a small play on.

Despite Rider’s upset capabilities, Siena is still the best bet to make in this tournament. The Saints have all the momentum in the world, and they’ve shown enough adversity this season to clinch their seventh NCAA Tournament bid in school history.

Best Bet: Siena +180

SBD’s NCAA conference tournament coverage:

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