2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2020. Conference play began in December and concluded with the 2021 America East men's basketball tournament. The America East expanded from 9 teams to 10 with the arrival of NJIT on July 1, 2020.^[1]

2020-21 America East Conference Men's Basketball Season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN3, Regional Networks
2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Season champions	UMBC, Vermont
Season MVP	Ryan Davis, Vermont
America East Conference tournament
Champions	Hartford
Runners-up	UMass Lowell
Finals MVP	Austin Williams, Hartford

2020–21 America East Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UMBC	10	–	4		.714			14	–	6		.700
Vermont	10	–	4		.714			10	–	5		.667
New Hampshire	9	–	6		.600			10	–	9		.526
Hartford †	8	–	6		.571			15	–	9		.625
Albany	6	–	6		.500			7	–	9		.438
UMass Lowell	7	–	8		.467			11	–	12		.478
Stony Brook	7	–	9		.438			9	–	14		.391
NJIT	6	–	10		.375			7	–	12		.368
Binghamton	4	–	10		.286			4	–	14		.222
Maine	2	–	6		.250			2	–	7		.222
Maine suspended its season on February 13, 2021.
† 2021 AmEast tournament winner

Preseason

The America East announced its preseason honors and polls on November 11, 2020.^[2]

Preseason Poll

Rank	Team	Points
1	Vermont	80 (8)
2	UMBC	72 (2)
3	New Hampshire	66
4	Albany	51
5	Stony Brook	44
6	Hartford	43
7	UMass Lowell	38
8	NJIT	28
T9	Binghamton	14
T9	Maine	14
(first place votes in parentheses)

Preseason All-Conference Team

Award	Recipients
All-Conference Team	Zach Cooks (NJIT) Nick Guadarrama (New Hampshire) Cam Healy (Albany) Obadiah Noel (UMass Lowell) Stef Smith (Vermont)

Regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team is scheduled to play all other conference teams twice.^[3]

	Albany	Binghamton	Hartford	Maine	New Hampshire	NJIT	Stony Brook	UMass Lowell	UMBC	Vermont
vs. Albany	–	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1
vs. Binghamton	0–0	–	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0
vs. Hartford	0–0	0–2	–	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0
vs. Maine	0–0	0–0	2–0	–	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–0
vs. New Hampshire	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	–	0–0	0–2	1–2	2–0	0–0
vs. NJIT	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	–	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1
vs. Stony Brook	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	–	0–2	2–0	2–0
vs. UMass Lowell	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	–	0–0	1–1
vs. UMBC	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–0	–	1–1
vs. Vermont	1–1	0–2	0–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	–
Total	6–6	4–10	8–6	2–6	9–6	6–10	7–9	7–8	10–4	10–4

Postseason

America East tournament

The 2021 America East men's basketball tournament took place following the end of the conference regular season.^[3]

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Seed	Region	School	First Four	1st Round	2nd Round	Sweet 16	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship
16	South	Hartford	N/A	defeated by (1) Baylor

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 2021 National Invitation Tournament

Seed	Bracket	School	1st Round	2nd Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship

References

1. "NJIT Welcomed as 10th America East Member Institution". America East Conference. americaeast.com. June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
2. "Vermont Once Again Tabbed Men's #AEHoops Favorites". America East Conference. americaeast.com. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
3. "2020-21 #AEHoops Schedules Unveiled". America East Conference. americaeast.com. November 2, 2020. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.