ESPN Announces January 23 MAAC Wildcard Games
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. – ESPN has announced the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball wildcard matchups for Jan. 23. Set to be telecast on ESPNU, the defending MAAC Champions, Manhattan College, hit the road to face Quinnipiac in Hamden, Connecticut, at 7pm. The Siena Saints welcome Marist College to the Times Union Center for a 7pm tip on ESPN3.
Both matchups mark the first meetings of the campaign between each set of schools.
The meeting between the Jaspers and Bobcats will be a rematch of the 2014 MAAC Championship Semifinal in which Manhattan came away with an 87-68 victory, en route to its fourth-ever league title. The semifinal win by the Jaspers marked the squad’s lone victory over Quinnipiac during the 2013-14 campaign, as the Bobcats swept both regular season contests.
Last year, the Saints and Red Foxes split their regular season meetings. Siena topped Marist, 67-58, in Albany, New York, on Jan.10, while the Red Foxes earned a thrilling come-from-behind win over the visiting Saints, 65-64, at McCann Arena just over a month later (Feb. 14).
A total of 47 games will be nationally televised on the ESPN networks during the 2014-15 campaign, which includes 37 regular season contests and 10 contests at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
This season’s MAAC television schedule features an all-time high of 11 wildcard games. The wildcard format allows ESPN to pick any game on schedule for the selected date to be air on the designated platform (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3). ESPN announces which game it selects for the wildcard telecast 21 days out. The format enables the MAAC and ESPN flexibility to showcase the best possible matchups.
The 2015 season culminates at the 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York March 5-9. Tickets for the championships are available online at ticketmaster.com.
For the full men’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.