The first three teams to punch their 2025 NCAA tournament tickets—SIU Edwardsville, Omaha and High Point—are all dancing for the first time in program history. There is a solid chance of new tournament blood coming out of the MAAC as well, as No. 1-seeded Quinnipiac and No. 2-seeded Merrimack have never made the NCAA tournament. Will one of these teams get the MAAC's sole bid to March Madness or will there be a surprise winner for this conference tournament? 

The 10-team MAAC tournament is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. The first round begins on Tuesday, March 11 with two contests, followed by two quarterfinal matchups each day on Wednesday, March 12 and Thursday, March 13.

Below is a look at the entire conference tournament schedule, which wraps up with the final on Saturday, March 15.

MAAC Tournament Schedule

First Round (March 11)

FR1: No. 9 Siena vs. No. 8 Rider
FR2: No. 10 Fairfield vs. No. 7 Sacred Heart

Quarterfinals (March 12)

QF1: Winner of FR1 vs. No. 1 Quinnipiac
QF2: Winner of FR2 vs. No. 2 Merrimack

Quarterfinals (March 13)

QF3: No. 5 Manhattan vs. No. 4 Iona
QF4: No. 6 Mount St. Mary's vs. No. 3 Marist

Semifinals (March 14)

SF1: QF1 winner vs. QF3 winner
SF2: QF2 winner vs. QF4 winner

Final (March 15)

SF1 winner vs. SF2 winner

While Quinnipiac (15-5) finished a game ahead of Merrimack (14-6) in the MAAC standings, it's the second-seeded Warriors that are the betting favorites for the MAAC tournament at +225 at Caesars Sportsbook. Merrimack is led by star guard Adam "Budd" Clark, who led the conference in scoring (20.2 points per game) and steals (2.7 per game) as well as ranking third in assists (5.8 per game). 

Clark is Merrimack's lone double-digit scorer, whereas Quinnipiac (second at +300 odds) has four players putting up at least 10.0 points per game—Amarri Monroe (17.7), Paul Otieno (13.4), Jaden Zimmerman (10.9) and Khaden Bennett (10.4). In the two Quinnipiac-Merrimack meetings, which the teams split, Otieno scored the most points of any player with 42.

There are four other teams with odds shorter than +1000 to win the MAAC tournament: No. 5 Manhattan at +625, No. 4 Iona at +625, No. 6 Mount St. Mary's at +850 and No. 3 Marist at +900. Rounding out the rest of the teams in the field are No. 7 Sacred Heart at +1400, No. 9 Siena at +1600, No. 8 Rider at +2500 and No. 10 Fairfield at +5000. 

So which team should you back to come out of the MAAC? SportsLine expert Thomas Casale is taking No. 3 Marist at +900, as he thinks there's value with the Red Foxes after they ended their regular season by losing four in a row. But which teams are the experts backing in all the other conference tournaments? You can get the best bets for each tournament at SportsLine. You can also find the SportsLine Projection Model's simulations for every game.