ESPN Announces First Pair of MAAC Wildcard Games for 2015-16 Season
MAAC Sports
EDISON, NJ – ESPN has announced the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball wildcard matchups for January 15. Set to be telecast on ESPNU, Iona College welcomes Monmouth University to the Hynes Center at 9:00 p.m., while Quinnipiac University hosts Siena College on ESPN3 at the TD Bank Sports Center with the tip time to be announced at a later date.
The meetings between the two pairs of schools will be the first of the year. Iona currently sits in a tie for first place with a 2-0 MAAC record, while Monmouth, Quinnipiac, and Siena all hold 1-1 league marks. Monmouth however, has posted the best overall record thus far in the season at 9-3 and received 11 votes in the most recent AP Top 25 poll. Siena sits just behind the Hawks with an 8-4 overall record and has won its last 8 of 10 games.
The MAAC’s first telecast of the season takes place on Monday, January 4 with Manhattan hosting Siena on ESPN3 at 7:00 p.m.
The MAAC telecast schedule features an all-time high of 13 wildcard games during the 2015-16 season. The wildcard format allows ESPN to pick any game on schedule for the selected date to air on the designated platform (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN3). ESPN will announce which game has been selected for the wildcard telecast 21 days out. The format enables the MAAC and ESPN flexibility to showcase the best possible matchups.
The 2015-16 MAAC season culminates at the 2016 MAAC Basketball Championships, March 3-7, at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. The 2016 MAAC Championship title game will take place on Monday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. and will air live on ESPN with the winner earning the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
For more information on MAAC men’s basketball, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on social media using #MAACHoops and #MAAC35.