The 2023–24 Northeast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2023, followed by the start of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 6. Conference play will start in early January and end in early March 2024. This is the 43rd season of Northeast Conference men's basketball. Merrimack is the defending regular-season and conference tournament champion. Due to Merrimack's ineligibility as a team transitioning from Division II, Fairleigh Dickinson represented the conference in the 2023 NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round. 
 The NEC tournament will be held in March with the higher-seeded team hosting each game.
 This is the final season for two NEC members. Merrimack and Sacred Heart will leave the conference after the 2023–24 school year to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. At the same time, Chicago State will join the NEC after two seasons as a Division I independent.
 At the conclusion of the previous season, St. Francis Brooklyn, a charter member of the NEC, discontinued its entire athletic program.
 On March 21, 2023, Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson was named the head coach at Iona, replacing Rick Pitino who had departed for the head coaching position at St. John's. Anderson's assistant, Jack Castleberry, was immediately promoted to Fairleigh Dickinson's head coaching position.
 Le Moyne College joined the Northeast Conference from the Division II Northeast-10 Conference effective July 1, 2023. Le Moyne is not eligible for the NCAA tournament until the 2027–28 season, when its four-year reclassification period ends.
 Effective for the 2023–24 academic year, NEC teams transitioning from Division II are eligible for the NEC tournament during the entirety of their transition periods. If a reclassifying institution wins the NEC tournament championship, the tournament runner-up will be awarded the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If two reclassifying teams reach the final of the NEC tournament, the conference will stage an automatic qualifier game between the two non-advancing semifinalists. The rule change results in Stonehill and Le Moyne being eligible for the 2024 NEC tournament, since Stonehill is in its second transition year, and Le Moyne is in its first.
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 The table below shows the preseason rankings of NEC teams based on a poll of the conference's coaches as well as each team's preseason Pomeroy ranking among the 362 Division I teams.
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 On November 6, 2023, the season's opening night, Fairleigh Dickinson returned to action following their historic upset and run in the 2023 NCAA tournament in the head coaching debut of Jack Castleberry. Jo'el Emanuel recorded his first career double-double, which included career highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds, to lead the Knights to a 92–86 road win at Buffalo.
 The following night, Le Moyne made its debut as an NEC member and a Division I program. Darrick Jones Jr. hit a three-pointer from the top of the key early in the game at Georgetown for the Dolphins' first points scored as a Division I program. Ball State transfer Kaiyem Cleary led Le Moyne with 11 points, all in the second half, and seven rebounds, but it was not enough as the Dolphins fell to the Hoyas, 94–57.
 Max Zegarowski matched his career high with six three-pointers and scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Stonehill to a 57–44 victory over Army West Point in the Skyhawks' home opener on November 9.
 Le Moyne used first-half runs of 16–2 and 20–2 to build a 47–15 lead and never looked back on their way to a 105–46 victory, their first as a Division I program, over Division III SUNY Canton in their home opener on November 13. Five Dolphins had double-figure scoring games led by Kaiyem Cleary with 21 points, Nate McClure with 16, Darrick Jones Jr. with 13 and freshman AJ Dancler with 12. Redshirt freshman Nate Fouts made his collegiate debut and scored 11 points with three assists and two blocked shots. Cleary shot 8-for-10 from the field, while adding seven rebounds and two steals in just 16 minutes. McClure hit six of his seven shots, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Dancler grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. The Dolphins shot 32-for-37 on two-point field goals for the game, including 15-for-16 in the first half.
 In a November 15 game dubbed the Battle of the Bracket Busters, Fairleigh Dickinson hosted Saint Peter's, a team which made an unexpected run of its own to the Elite Eight at the 2022 NCAA tournament, upsetting both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in their region along the way. The matchup between the North Jersey neighbors was the first to be broadcast on YES as part of the Knights' new local television contract. Fairleigh Dickinson shot 7-for-13 on three-pointers in the first half and built a 43–34 lead at the break. The Peacocks used a 9–0 run to cut the Knights' lead from 13 down to four with 2:39 to play. Nursing a two-point lead in the final minute, Fairleigh Dickinson failed to score, and a three-pointer by Michael Houge gave Saint Peter's a 70–69 lead with nine seconds on the clock. Knights head coach Jack Castleberry elected not to call time-out. DeVante Jamison, who finished with 11 points, five assists and three steals, took the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled up the floor and was fouled in the act of shooting with 2.3 seconds remaining. Jamison hit both free throws, and the Knights held on for a 71–70 victory. Ansley Almonor led Fairleigh Dickinson with a game-high 21 points, and Jo'el Emanuel scored 16 on 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
 Nico Galette came off the bench to score 21 points, including the 1,000th of his career, on 9-for-11 shooting and pull down six rebounds to lead Sacred Heart to an 89–75 home win over Binghamton on November 21. Tanner Thomas added 16 points and six rebounds for the Pioneers.
 Later that evening, Le Moyne recorded its first victory over a Division I opponent as a Division I program, an 80–70 win at Cal State Northridge in the Dolphins' opening game of the Golden State Hoops Jam, a multi-team event sponsored by Pacific. Luke Sutherland led the Dolphins with 24 points and five rebounds. Le Moyne started five graduate students for the first time in the program's history, and they responded by sprinting to an 11–4 lead to start the game, getting early scoring from Sutherland, Nate McClure (12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the game) and Isaiah Salter. After Le Moyne fell behind, 15–12, Mike DePersia (eight points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals for the game) sparked a 19–2 run with a pull-up jump shot. The Matadors got no closer than three points behind the rest of the way. The Dolphins closed out the game with strong free-throw shooting, finishing the game 31-for-34 from the charity stripe.
 Saint Francis used an 8–0 run to close out its 62–61 win at Lehigh and give head coach Rob Krimmel his 150th career victory on November 29. Trailing, 61–54, with under two minutes remaining, the Red Flash defense forced two turnovers and three missed shots to shut out the Mountain Hawks the rest of the way. Saint Francis was also helped by two missed free throws by Lehigh. Cam Gregory was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer with 10.2 seconds remaining and hit all three free throws to erase Lehigh's two-point lead and provide the winning margin. The Red Flash were led by freshmen Aaron "Ace" Talbert (12 points in 32 minutes off the bench) and Aidan Harris, who secured 15 boards, including the rebound on Lehigh's attempted game-winner in the closing seconds.
 That same evening, Central Connecticut registered the largest margin of victory by an NEC team in a road game in nearly two years, when they won, 79–51, at Army West Point. Kellen Amos led the Blue Devils with 17 points and added three blocked shots. Jordan Jones scored 15 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the floor, and added five rebounds and three steals for Central Connecticut.
 On December 2, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis and Wagner all overcame double-digit deficits to record road victories. Joe Munden Jr. scored 19 points and had three steals to help Fairleigh Dickinson overcome NJIT's 12-point lead and earn a 71–68 victory. DeVante Jamison added 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Jo'el Emanuel had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Knights.
 Bobby Rosenberger III had 19 points and three steals to help Saint Francis erase a 20-point lead, which was still at 14 points with less than eight minutes to play, and defeat American, 75–73. Cam Gregory scored 14 points and added three steals for the Red Flash.
 Wagner got 13 points each from Melvin Council Jr. and Javier Esqueera and overcame a 16-point Stony Brook lead to earn a 60–59 victory. The Seahawks used a 10–0 run in the early stages of the second half to cut the Seawolves' lead to 43–42 and took their first lead of the game at 48–47, when Council scored with 8:55 to play. Stony Brook regained the lead at 59–58, but two free throws by Tyje Kelton with 1:19 remaining put Wagner back on top. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
 Wagner made two defensive stands in the closing minute to secure a 62–59 victory at Coppin State on November 6. Leading by one point, the Seahawks forced the Eagles into an off-balance shot with 25 seconds remaining. A layup by Zaire Williams, who finished with a game-high 21 points, extended the Wagner lead to three with 12 seconds to play. Melvin Council Jr. (13 points) and Keyontae Lewis (11 points) then crowded Camaren Sparrow at the three-point line on Coppin State's final possession and forced an air ball.
 DeVante Jamison's driving layup with 1:16 to go gave Fairleigh Dickinson a 72–69 lead at Manhattan on November 8. The Knights hit their free throws down the stretch to secure a 76–71 victory in a game the Jaspers led by 12 points with 8:39 to play. Ansley Almonor led the Knights with 24 points and added eight rebounds. Jamison finished with 12 points, eight assists and three steals.
 Luke Sutherland scored an NEC season-high 35 points in the inaugural Battle of the Interstate at Binghamton, but it was not enough as Le Moyne fell, 91–79. Sutherland was 12-for-17 from the field, including 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, and hit all six of his free throws. His 35 points were the most by a Le Moyne player since the Dolphins' current head coach, Nate Champion, scored 35 in a November 2013 game that went to overtime. Sutherland also had three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. The Bearcats were presented a newly-minted trophy to commemorate their victory in front of Binghamton's largest home crowd in nearly two years.
 Le Moyne hosted a Division I opponent for the first time since an 88–75 loss to Siena in 1991, and for the first time since becoming a Division I program on December 16, when they faced Dartmouth. With the Big Green leading, 8–7, the Dolphins went on a 15–6 run to open an eight-point lead with nine minutes to go in the first half. Kaiyem Cleary had the first eight of the 15 points, and Luke Sutherland scored the final seven during the run. A Trent Mosquera three-pointer stretched Le Moyne's lead to nine points at 32–23 with 4:15 left in the half. However, Dartmouth closed the half with a 13–4 run that tied the score at 36 at the break. The game remained tight in the opening stages of the second half, but the Dolphins closed the game with a 32–9 run over the final 13:12, which included a stretch of 15 straight points scored by Le Moyne. Sutherland had 11 of the 15 points, including three three-pointers and a layup. The Dolphins held the Big Green scoreless over the final 2:51 to secure an 80–54 victory, their first win over an Ivy League opponent. Sutherland finished the game with 24 points, while shooting 10-for-15 from the field and 4-for-8 from behind the arc, and added four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Cleary contributed 19 points, shooting 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from three-point range, while collecting six rebounds. Nate McClure had 12 rebounds for the Dolphins.
 Later that day, Central Connecticut snapped Division I's second longest (20-game) home winning streak, when they won, 57–54, at UMass Lowell. Following a timeout with 6.2 seconds remaining in a tie game, Joe Ostrowsky found Jordan Jones, who had been freed up by a Tre Breland III screen, in the corner, and Jones buried a three-pointer with three seconds to go to give the Blue Devils a 57–54 lead. The River Hawks' three-point attempt at the buzzer was unsuccessful. Jones shot 7-for-14 to earn a game-high 15 points and added five rebounds. Breland scored 11 points off the bench and shot 3-for-4 from three-point range.
 The table below shows the rankings of NEC teams among the 362 Division I teams throughout the season. The preseason ranking is the Pomeroy rating. The remaining rankings are the NET rankings reported by the NCAA beginning with the initial release at the start of week 5.
 Throughout the regular season, the Northeast Conference names player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.
  
 Regular Season
 Postseason
  
 This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference regular-season play.
 At the conclusion of the regular season, the conference selects outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches. Below are the results.
 Games will be played on March 6, 9, and 12, 2024, at campus sites. The top eight teams in the conference regular-season standings will qualify.
 The NEC will have one of its teams automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament.
 SNY will televise select LIU and Sacred Heart home games. YES will televise six Fairleigh Dickinson home games. The conference tournament semifinal games will be streamed by ESPN+. The conference tournament final will be televsed by ESPN2. All home games of NEC teams, other than the conference tournament final, will be streamed by NEC Front Row, the conference's streaming platform.