Men's Basketball

Vermont Earns #13 Seed In NCAA Tournament; UMBC Earns Postseason Bid

Once again, Vermont is playing in the NCAA Tournament.

The Catamounts earned a No. 13 seed in the West Region and will face No. 4 Arkansas in the First Round in Buffalo on Thursday. Game time is 9:20 p.m. and will be nationally televised on TNT.

Vermont (28-5) is a No. 13 seed for the third time since 2017. Overall America East teams have earned a 13 seed four times since 2016, the best stretch of any mid major confrence in the Northeast. The Catamounts were a 13 seed when it upset Syracuse in 2004.

The Catamounts ran through the America East Championship, winning its three games by a combined 110 points. First-team All-Conference standouts Ben Shungu and Ryan Davis, also the league's Player of the Year, combined for 39 of UVM's 82 points en route to an 82-43 win over UMBC in the America East Championship on Saturday. UVM has won eight straight and 22 of its last 23 games.

UMBC (18-14) also earned a postseason bid, its third in six seasons. The Retrievers will face Merrimack in the first round of The Basketball Classic on Wednesday at home. It will air on ESPN+. UMBC famously upset Virginia as a No. 16 seed in 2018, becoming the first 16 seed to upset a 1 in men's tournament history.