The Wagner Seahawks (15-15) and Merrimack Warriors (21-11) meet in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship Game Tuesday at Hammel Court in North Andover, Mass. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Wagner vs. Merrimack odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
Sixth-seeded Wagner finished the regular season 2 games under .500 at 13-15, but the Seahawks posted NEC Tourney wins over Sacred Heart (60-57 in a Wednesday quarterfinal) and Central Connecticut State (66-56 in a Saturday semifinal) to get to the title game. Wagner won both games as an underdog, +6 in the quarterfinal and +6.5 in the semi, while cashing the Under in both outings. As a matter of fact, Wagner is on a 5-0 Under run.
Second-seeded Merrimack won the NEC Tournament last season, but was unable to get an NCAA Tournament bid due to transition rules. Fairleigh Dickinson took its spot, and made history winning as a 16-seed over Purdue.
In this NEC Tourney, the Warriors topped Long Island 72-66 in a Wednesday quarterfinal and Le Moyne 61-51 in a Saturday semifinal to get to the championship game. They split against the spread (ATS), failing to cover as 15-point favorites vs. LIU and covering as 7-point favorites vs. Le Moyne while cashing the Under in both outings. Merrimack is 4-1 O/U in its last 5 games and 6-2 O/U in the last 8.