MAAC basketball tournament 2016: Bracket, schedule and scores

Internet darling Monmouth probably needs to win the MAAC Tournament to make March Madness.

Everyone loves Monmouth, the band of celebrating merry men who took down Georgetown, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC in the non-conference portion of their schedule. The Hawks might not make the NCAA Tournament, though, unless they take care of business in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Hawks should be slight favorites to win the MAAC Tournament and stand to benefit from a scheduling format that will give them a day off between quarterfinal action and a semifinal game if they win their first contest. Iona is almost as good as Monmouth on a per-possession basis, however, and the Gaels did get a 110-102 win over the Hawks in the regular season.

Oh, and there's Siena, which was swept by Monmouth but beat Iona on the road, but also has losses to Marist and Fairfield on its ledger. The MAAC's public face may be Monmouth's grin, but it's no lock that the Hawks won't be facing premature rigor mortis in Albany.

And with Monmouth's at-large candidacy not quite good enough for the Hawks to be locked into the NCAA Tournament field, it would behoove them to just go win an automatic bid.

The format

While the MAAC Tournament takes place at a neutral site in Albany, meaning that there's no true home-court advantage at play, there are still significant advantages afforded to the top seeds, especially the top three. All of those teams can face no higher than the No. 6 seed in their first game.

The advantage is more profound for the top two seeds, though, as they could enjoy Saturday as a rest day between a quarterfinal victory and a semifinal appearance. Monmouth, for instance, wouldn't have to play for almost 48 hours between a quarterfinal win and its semifinal, while its opponent (either St. Peter's or Fairfield) would be playing its second game in just 19 hours.

The teams

1. Monmouth


2. Iona


3. Siena


4. St. Peter's


5. Fairfield


6. Manhattan


7. Canisius


8. Rider


9. Quinnipiac


10. Niagara


11. Marist

Bracket

You can see the full bracket here.

Schedule and Results (all times Eastern)

Thursday, March 3 (First Round)

Game 1: No. 8 Rider 60, No. 9 Quinnipiac 57
Game 2: No. 7 Canisius 102, No. 10 Niagara 97 (3OT)
Game 3: No. 6 Manhattan 81, No. 11 Marist  63

Friday, March 4 (Quarterfinals)

Game 4: No. 1 Monmouth 59, No. 8 Rider 48
Game 5: No. 2 Iona 73, No. 7 Canisius 55

Saturday, March 5 (Quarterfinals)

Game 6: No. 3 Siena vs. No. 6 Manhattan (7 p.m., ESPN3)
Game 7: No. 4 St. Peter's vs. No. 5 Fairfield (9:30 p.m., ESPN3)

Sunday, March 6 (Semifinals)

Game 8: No. 1 Monmouth vs. Game 7 winner (4:30 p.m., ESPN3)
Game 9: No. 2 Iona vs. Game 6 winner (7 p.m., ESPN3)

Monday, March 8 (Final)

Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner (7 p.m., ESPN)