2026 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
The MAAC Tournament returns to its historic early-Championship-Fortnight schedule for 2026 after five seasons of concluding on Selection Eve. It’s still a traditional bracket with split quarterfinal doubleheaders. Thursday’s winners will play the top two seeds in Friday’s set, with seeds 3 through 6 taking the court on Saturday. The semifinals are on Sunday, with a day off before Tuesday night’s final.
Site
The MAAC Tournament is set for Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. for the sixth consecutive
year.
Participants
With only the top 10 qualifying, Niagara (8-22, 5-15, 11th), Canisius (10-21, 5-15, 12th), and Rider (4-25, 3-17, 13th) won’t be playing in Atlantic City.
Schedule
Downloadable PDF Bracket
TV/Streaming Info
ESPN+ ($) will stream all games before the championship.
First Round (Thurs. 3/5)
Gm. 1: (9) Sacred Heart (13-18, 9-11) vs. (8) Iona (18-13, 10-10), 6
The Gaels won 81-69 (away) on 12/7.
Gm. 2: (10) Manhattan (12-19, 8-12) vs. (7) Fairfield (19-12, 11-9), 8:30*
Home split: Jaspers 70-66 on 12/5 and Stags 98-62 on 1/14.
Quarterfinals (Fri. 3/6)
Gm. 3: Gm. 1 winner vs. (1) Merrimack (21-10, 17-3), 6
Gm. 4: Gm. 2 winner vs. (2) Saint Peter’s (17-11, 14-6), 8:30*
Quarterfinals (Sat. 3/7)
Gm. 5: (5) Marist (18-11, 12-8) vs. (4), Quinnipiac (19-12, 12-8), 6
Home split: Bobcats 64-58 on 12/29 and Red Foxes 71-64 on 1/24.
Gm. 6: (6) Mount St. Mary’s (15-16, 11-9) vs. (3) Siena (20-11, 13-7), 8:30*
The Saints won 67-50 (away) on 1/11.
Semifinals (Sun. 3/8)
Gm. 7: Gm. 3 winner vs. Gm. 5 winner, 6
Gm. 8: Gm. 4 winner vs. Gm. 6 winner, 8:30
Championship (Tues. 3/10)
Gm. 9: Semifinal winners, 9 (ESPN2)
Mayhem Potential
Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.
Since 2011, one of the MAAC’s top two seeds has won the title six times, with the No. 2 having a far higher success rate than the No. 1. Note that Iona won as a 9 seed in 2021, despite the Gaels’ 6-3 mark in conference play, since the league ranked teams based on raw wins and not winning percentage during the COVID-impacted season.
- 2 seed (4): 2012, 2014, 2016, 2022
- 4 seed (3): 2011, 2013, 2018
- 1 seed (2): 2019, 2023
- 3 seed (2): 2015, 2017
- 5 seed (1): 2024
- 6 seed (1): 2025
- 9 seed (1): 2021
NCAA Seeding Record In The 68-Team Era
Years with an NCAA win are in bold.
- 13 seed (3); 2014, 2016, 2023
- 14 seed (3): 2011, 2012 (at-large), 2017
- 15 seed (6): 2012 (automatic), 2013, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024
- 16 seed (3): 2015, 2019, 2025 (First Four)
2022’s MAAC rep, Saint Peter’s, recorded the conference’s first three tournament wins since the field expanded to 68, including Iona’s at-large in 2012. Mount St. Mary’s picked up another in 2025, but that was in Dayton.
Fifth-seeded Marist has the MAAC’s top NET ranking at the moment at 183, two spots ahead of No. 1 seed Merrimack. Third-seeded Siena is the only other team in the Top 200, checking in at 191. Everyone else is ranked 200th or worse, though only Manhattan (329th) is outside the Top 300. The MAAC champ has consistently found itself bouncing between a 16 and 15 in my projections this season. Expect any team other than Merrimack to end up on seed line 16—with a second straight trip to Dayton not out of the question.
Last NCAA Tournament Appearances
Mount St. Mary’s: 2025 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Saint Peter’s: 2024 (15 seed, 1st Round)
Iona: 2023 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Manhattan: 2015 (16 seed, First Four)
Siena: 2010 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Fairfield: 1997 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Marist: 1987 (14 seed, 1st Round, ECAC Metro (NEC) member)
The two members who joined from the NEC in 2024-25, Merrimack and Sacred Heart, have never qualified for the D1 NCAA Tournament, neither has Quinnipiac. Of course, the Warriors won 2023 NEC Tournament and didn’t get to go to the Big Dance because of the NCAA’s reclassification rules. (Remember what that Fairleigh Dickinson team did in their place.) Making matters worse, Merrimack ended up losing the 2024 NEC final at home to Wagner.
Canisius: 1996 (13 seed, 1st Round), Niagara: 2007 (16 seed, 1st Round), and Rider: 1994 (15 seed, 1st Round, NEC member) will need to wait until 2027 to end their respective NCAA droughts.
