American vs. Mount St. Mary’s: 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview & Predictions

by BettingPros Staff |
Mar 16, 2025

The 2025 NCAA Tournament is officially here! The March Madness Bracket is set, and first-round NCAA Tournament matchups are in place. It’s time to make your picks and predictions for the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first-round 2025 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our NCAA Tournament previews and predictions for American vs. Mount St. Mary’s.

2025 NCAA Tournament Preview & Predictions: American vs. Mount St. Mary’s

Here are the odds for this opening-round matchup of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Let’s dive into our preview and predictions for this First Four NCAA Tournament matchup.

American 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

American University enters the NCAA Tournament as a 22-12 squad that overcame significant challenges to win the Patriot League’s automatic bid despite ranking 254th nationally in Haslametrics ratings. Second-year coach Duane Simpkins has maintained much of the Princeton-style offensive principles. Their entire identity revolves around star big man Matt Rogers, an efficient offensive force who posted an impressive 113 offensive rating despite a heavy 30% usage rate. Rogers operates as the hub in the post, either scoring himself with a 64% true shooting percentage or finding open teammates on the perimeter, like Greg Jones who shoots at a 46% percent clip from deep. Defensively, American struggles mightily at defending the rim, but they press the ball and force opponents into long possessions, keeping them from consistent transition scoring. While their solid defensive rebounding provides some hope if they get an off-shooting night from their opponents, the Eagles will need some wicked luck to make any serious noise in the tournament.

Mount St. Mary’s 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

Mount St. Mary’s begins the NCAA Tournament with a deceptive 21-12 record that masks significant challenges. First-year head coach Donny Lind faces an uphill battle with a team that struggles on both ends of the floor, ranking outside the top 175 offensively and defensively.

The Mountaineers’ offensive woes stem from careless ball-handling and poor offensive rebounding, generating few second-chance points even when they do haul in offensive boards. Their pick-and-roll heavy offense will rely on the guard play of Dallas Hobbs and Xavier Lipscomb, though both have struggled with efficiency in ball-screen situations. The team’s greatest strength comes from its experienced frontcourt of Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilla, with Adebayo standing out as a versatile 6-8 forward who has a combo block-steal danger to him.

While the Mountaineers face long odds, their physical frontcourt and Lind’s defensive principles learned under Mike Jones could make them a pesky first-round opponent before likely succumbing to superior competition.

Check out all of our 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket & Betting Coverage >>

2025 NCAA Tournament Game Previews

March Madness is officially here! The 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket has been announced, and the teams are lining up for the Big Dance. Let's take a look at the early odds, previews, and predictions for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

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