Bridgewater, NJ -- Fifty-seven days after it all began, the NEC men's basketball regular season has reached the finish line.
While the drama stretched to the final day for some, Central Connecticut took the suspense out of the race early, clinching its second straight NEC regular season title and fifth overall last Saturday. The Blue Devils will enter the tournament as the #1 seed for the second straight year and fifth time in program history.
The 44th annual NEC Basketball Tournament features an eight-team field, with each game hosted by the higher-seeded team.
The NEC Tournament commences on Wednesday, March 5 with quarterfinal action. All games will air on
NEC Front Row. Winners will be reseeded and move on to the semifinals on Saturday, March 8. Both NEC semifinal games will air live on ESPN+, YES Network, SportNet Pittsburgh and NEC Front Row. NESN+ will air the 12:00 pm game and NESN Nation the 2:00 pm game. The championship game, to be televised by ESPN2, will be contested on Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm.
If a reclassifying institution wins the NEC Tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will advance to the NCAA Tournament as the NEC’s automatic qualifier as per current policy. In instances where two reclassifying members reach an NEC final, the NEC will stage an “AQ Qualifier” game between the two non-advancing semifinal teams. This will serve as a decisive game to determine the team that will secure the NEC’s spot in the NCAA Tournament.
CCSU (23-6, 14-2 NEC) delivered on the preseason buzz, capturing back-to-back NEC regular season titles for the first time in program history and locking in the No. 1 seed for the NEC Tournament. Winners of 12 straight - the longest active streak in the nation and their best run since 2002 - the Blue Devils have been road warriors, leading the country with 12 road wins while riding a nine-game road win streak. But from here on out, it’s all about defending their home court. With consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in their DI era, CCSU now shifts its focus to capturing its first NEC Tournament crown since 2007 and fourth overall. Head coach Pat Sellers, who was on the CCSU staff for title runs in 2000 and 2002, will look to bring his alma mater back to the top.
NEC Tournament-bound for the 16th time in 18 years,
LIU (16-15, 12-4 NEC) enters as the No. 2 seed, its highest since 2017. The Sharks roll into the postseason red-hot, closing out conference play the same way they started: with six straight wins. A program with championship pedigree, LIU remains the only school to win three consecutive NEC Tournament titles (2011-13) and owns six league crowns, tied for the most among current NEC programs.
Saint Francis U (13-17, 8-8 NEC) fought its way into the NEC Tournament’s top four, locking up the No. 3 seed on the final day of the regular season after closing with three straight overtime wins. Under head coach Rob Krimmel, the Red Flash are making their 11th NEC Tournament appearance in 12 seasons. With two NEC finals trips (2017, 2019) and six semifinal runs since 2014, SFU is looking to make history and add a long-awaited second championship banner, the program's first since 1991.
Two years after its magical March run,
FDU (12-19, 8-8 NEC) is eyeing another shot at the Big Dance under second-year head coach Jack Castleberry. Led by electrifying sophomore guard Terrence Brown - one of the nation’s leading scorers - the fourth-seeded Knights are chasing a seventh conference title, having last claimed the championship in 2019. FDU will be making its ninth NEC Tournament appearance in the last 10 years and will host a quarterfinal game at the Bogota Savings Bank Center as the Knights look to continue building on their hoops legacy.
Stonehill (15-16, 7-9 NEC) is set to make its NEC Tournament debut, just two years into its postseason eligibility. The fifth-seeded Skyhawks wasted no time making noise in their NEC arrival, finishing 10-6 and tying for second place in 2022-23, though they were ineligible for the tournament. Now, with their shot at history, Stonehill looks to become just the third team to win the NEC Tournament in its first appearance.
Wagner (14-15, 6-10 NEC) returns to the NEC Tournament for the 14th time in the past 15 years in its quest for a third NEC title. The Seahawks made history last season as the first team in NEC history to win three road games en route to the championship, while matching the 1999 Mount St. Mary’s squad as the lowest-seeded team (#6) to capture the crown. Now, seeded sixth for the second straight year, Wagner looks to recapture that magic. The defensive-minded Seahawks, who rank in the top-10 nationally in scoring defense, have advanced to the NEC semis in nine of the last 13 seasons and reached the NEC final four times since 2016.
Chicago State (4-27, 4-12 NEC) is looking to make history as just the second team to win the NEC Tournament in its debut season, a feat last accomplished by Rider in 1993. Led by first-year head coach Scott Spinelli, the Cougars are back in conference tournament play for the first time since 2022, when they competed in the WAC first round against Utah Valley.
After turning heads in its NEC Tournament debut last March, eighth-seeded
Le Moyne (9-22, 4-12 NEC) will hope for a historic encore in its opening-round clash with CCSU. Under head coach Nate Champion, the Dolphins pulled off a statement win over FDU in the 2024 quarterfinals, a defining moment in their first DI season. However, history isn’t on their side. No. 8 or lower seeds are 0-40 all-time against No. 1 seeds in NEC Tournament play.
2024-25 Head-To-Head Meetings
#1 CCSU vs. #8 Le Moyne
Jan. 24: CCSU 93, Le Moyne 70
Feb. 27: CCSU 84, Le Moyne 75
#2 LIU vs. #7 Chicago State
Jan. 5: LIU 53, Chicago State 39
Feb. 1: Chicago State 73, LIU 67 (OT)
#3 Saint Francis U vs. #6 Wagner
Jan. 20: Wagner 70, SFU 68 (2OT)
Jan. 26: Wagner 68, SFU 66
#4 FDU vs. #5 Stonehill
Jan. 26: FDU 65, Stonehill 54
Feb. 27: FDU 82, Stonehill 69
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 44th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Chicago (#3), Boston (#8). Hartford/New Haven (#32) and Syracuse (#87). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 25 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC full member institutions include Central Connecticut, Chicago State, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Mercyhurst, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (
www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (
www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.