What You Need To Know: MAAC Tournament Returns to Atlantic City, NJ

For the fourth straight year, Atlantic City will be the home of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's and Women's College Basketball Tournaments. The winners of each Tournament are automatically qualified for the NCAA Tournament, the annual College Basketball Tournament that decides who is the National Champion for that season.

The 2024 MAAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments are returning to Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall with games played from March 12th to March 16th. The top four teams in the conference receive a first-round bye and wait to find out who their Quarterfinal Opponents will be after the Opening-Round games.

2024 MAAC Tournament Basketball Games Schedule

*Tuesday, March 12th
-Women's Opening Round Games scheduled for 1030 AM, 1245 PM, and 3 PM
-Men's Opening Round Games scheduled for 515 PM, 730 PM, and 945 PM
*Wednesday, March 13th
-Women's Quarterfinal Games scheduled for 1 PM and 330 PM
-Men's Quarterfinal Games scheduled for 630 PM and 9:00 PM
*Thursday, March 14th
-Women's Quarterfinal Games scheduled for 1 PM and 330 PM
-Men's Quarterfinal Games scheduled for 630 PM and 9:00 PM
*Friday, March 15th
-Women's Semifinal Games scheduled for 11 AM and 130 PM
-Men's Semifinal Games scheduled for 630 pm and 9 PM
*Saturday, March 16th
-Women's Championship Game scheduled for 330 PM
-Men's Championship Game scheduled for 730 PM

All of the 2024 Men's and Women's MAAC Tournament Opening Round and Quarterfinal Games will be broadcast on the ESPN+ streaming platform. The Women's Semifinals will be streaming on ESPN+ while the Men's Semifinal games will be on ESPNews Channel along with streaming. Both the Women's and Men's Championship games will be broadcast live on ESPNU and streaming on the ESPN+ platform.

Who Are The Top Teams in the 2024 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament?

The top four Men's teams who earn first-round byes and will play in the Quarterfinals in Atlantic City, New Jersey are Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Saint Peter's, and Rider.

*The 2024 MAAC Men's Basketball Regular Season Champion is the Quinnipiac Bobcats.  Despite a four-game losing streak in February, Quinnipiac has a 14-5 Conference record and 22-8 Overall Record heading into their final regular season game on Saturday. The Bobcats are averaging 78.1 Points Per Game on offense but they have needed to outscore their opponents this season because their defense is 196th in the country in Points Per Game Allowed (72.3).

*The Fairfield Stags started the College Basketball season 1-6 but are now 19-11 overall and 13-6 versus MAAC Conference opponents heading into their final regular season game on Saturday. Fairfield is the 14th-best 3-Point Shooting Team in College Basketball (38%) but they are also one of the worst Rebounding Teams averaging 33.6 per game, which is 279th in the country.

*Two years since their Cinderella Run in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Saint Peter's has bounced back with a 16-11 overall record and 12-7 Conference record Record heading into their final regular season game on Saturday. The Saint Peter's Peacocks have one of the best defenses in College Basketball, allowing 63.2 Points Per Game (11th lowest in the country) but their offense is one of the worst, scoring just 65.6 Points Per game (343rd in the country).

*After starting the season with an 8-16 record, the Rider Broncs have won seven straight games to earn their first-round bye in the 2024 MAAC Tournament. Rider's Mervin James is the scoring leader in the MAAC this season, averaging 19 Points Per Game. But his team has only six of their 15 wins this season on the road but Atlantic City is a 90-minute drive from the Rider University campus.

Who Are The Top Teams in the 2024 MAAC Women's Basketball Tournament?

The top four Women's teams who earn first-round byes and will play in the Quarterfinals in Atlantic City, New Jersey are Fairfield, Niagra, Siena, and Canisius.

*The 2024 MAAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Champion is the Fairfield Stags.  Ranked 25th in the country in the AP Poll, Fairfield has 27-1 overall record and 19-0 Conference record heading into their final regular season game on Saturday.  Fairfield's Meghan Anderson is Top Five in the MAAC in Scoring (15.8 Points Per Game) and the Stags' Janelle Brown is one of the best defensive guards in College Basketball averaging 2.5 Steals Per Game.

*The Niagra Purple Eagles have won 11 of their last 12 games to earn their first-round bye in the 2024 Women's MAAC Tournament. Niagra has losses to some of the best teams in Women's College Basketball this season including LSU, UCLA, and West Virginia while the Lady Purple Eagles Team leads the country in Steals Per Game (15.1)

*After starting the season with a 6-8 record, the Siena Saints won 11 of their last 14 games to lock in their first-round bye in the 2024 Women's MAAC Tournament. Siena's Teresa Seppala is top ten in the MAAC in Scoring (13.8 Points Per Game) and Rebounds (6.9).

*The Canisius Golden Griffins have a 16-12 overall record and an 11-8 Conference record heading into their final regular season game on Saturday.  The Canisius Women are the best 3-Point Shooting Team in the MAAC this season (34.5%) and Sisi Eleko is the leading scorer in the Conference this season (16 Points Per Game).

For more information about the 2024 MAAC Men's and Women's Tournaments at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City along with purchasing tickets, you can visit the website here.