NEC RELEASE
WAGNER SCHEDULE W/BROADCAST INFORMATION

Somerset, NJ - The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced its 2011-12 basketball television package this afternoon, highlighted by the league's inaugural HD broadcasts and an expanded national package. The Wagner Seahawks were a prime beneficiary of the league's television slate and along with Central Connecticut State (CCSU) are the only conference schools slated to host two televised games at home. Additionally, the Green & White will be on the NEC TV package a total of three times, matching Long Island (LIU), Robert Morris and the CCSU for the most appearances by a school in the league.

Wagner will play at Monmouth on Saturday, January 7, at 12:00 pm on MSG+ before hosting defending NEC Champion LIU on Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 pm on ESPNU. The game with the Blackbirds will be the Seahawks' first-ever home game on the ESPN family of networks.The last time Green & White had a home game on ESPN was on March 12, 2003 when Wagner defeated St. Francis (NY) 78-61 in the NEC Championship Game. The Seahawks' final appearance on the league's television plan will be on Thursday, February 2 at 7:00 pm when the Green & White play host to Robert Morris on MSG.

Additionally, Wagner's home-opener on Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30 pm will be broadcast live locally on Time Warner Cable at 7:00 pm. The Seahawks are also slated to play on their local cable network against Delaware State (11/26; 4:00 pm), Hofstra (12/6; 7:00 pm), Monmouth (2/16; 7:00 pm) and Fairleigh Dickinson (2/18; 7:00 pm) as seven of the Green & White's 13 home games will be broadcast on television. Wagner's first regional television appearance of the year will be at No. 4 UConn on Monday, November 14 at 7:30 pm on SNY before the Seahawks play at preseason No. 10 Pitt on Friday, December 23 at 8:00 pm in a game to be shown nationally on ESPNU. 

The 2011-12 package is comprised of 18 men's games and five women's contests, including four men/women doubleheaders.  The Conference will receive ten prime time exposures and four NEC Tournament games are on tap in March.

Most notably, there are five national broadcasts scheduled on the ESPN family of networks, including the NEC Men's and Women's Championship games.  ESPNU is also slated to air a pair of marquee regular season contests.  The first is the aforementioned Wagner-LIU tilt.  On the final day of the regular season (February 25th), Quinnipiac hosts Robert Morris, two teams that have had classic NEC playoff battles the last two years.  Tipoff is at 11:00 am.

The NEC will also partner with ESPN3, the network's broadband network for live and on-demand sports programming.  ESPN3 will exclusively broadcast the Robert Morris-Quinnipiac women's matchup on February 25th at 1:30 pm, and pick up a number of games over the course of the regular season and playoffs.  These games may also air on the ESPN Full Court package.

The lineup also features 18 regionally produced games, of which 16 will air in high-definition.  Longtime partner Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) will serve as the NEC's flagship network, with games also airing on Fox College Sports (FCS), Root Sports (Pittsburgh), Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Cox Sports (CT/RI) and WWCP Fox 8 (Altoona/Johnstown).

“We are thrilled to announce the 2011-12 television package, which includes an expanded number of games for both our men's and women's basketball programs,” said Noreen Morris, NEC Commissioner.  “In addition to a comprehensive regional package, we are excited to increase our exposure on the ESPN family of networks and offer NEC basketball fans live broadcasts in HD.  The 2011-12 NEC basketball season is expected to be extremely exciting and competitive, and we thank our television partners for enabling us to celebrate our programs at the regional and national levels.”

MSG/MSG+ plan to televise 13 games this season starting with the first game of the package on Thursday, December 1 when  Bryant takes on Central Connecticut State in Smithfield, RI.  Perhaps the most anticipated game of the package is a prime-time rematch of the 2011 NEC title game as Long Island travels to Robert Morris on January 26th.

Come the postseason, MSG will air both NEC men's semifinal playoff games on March 4th at 12 and 6:00 pm.  Additional regional networks may also broadcast the semifinals pending the matchups.  As part of the network's Championship Week coverage, the NEC men's title game runs live on ESPN2 for the 25th straight year on Wednesday, March 7th at 7:00 pm.  For the fifth year running, ESPNU is set to air the NEC Women's Championship game on Sunday, March 11th at 3:00 pm.

NEC Rivalry Week will be prominently featured within the package with four games airing in five days from February 8-12.  Rivalry Week tips off on February 8th with the Garden State Rivalry Series as Fairleigh Dickinson hosts Monmouth on FCS, and follows with an MSG tripleheader on February 12th.  Leading off the day will be the Connecticut Collision as Quinnipiac visits  Central Connecticut State at noon, followed by a Battle of Brooklyn doubleheader pitting Long Island and St. Francis (NY) at the WRAC in Brooklyn.  The women tip at 2:00 pm and the men at 4:30 pm.

The NEC will once again partner with Fox College Sports to air five games on its Atlantic, Central or Pacific regional channels.  FCS games are also picked up on DirecTV.

Root Sports, formerly FSN-Pittsburgh, is set to broadcast six games live or on delay, including the aforementioned LIU-Robert Morris clash on January 26th.  MASN will pick up a pair of Mount St. Mary's games, Cox Sports has scheduled five NEC games involving Bryant or Central Connecticut State and WWCP Fox 8 (Johnstown/Altoona) plans to televise Saint Francis (PA)'s doubleheader with Sacred Heart on February 25th.

Now in his 12th season, Dave Popkin will serve as the primary play-by-play announcer on men's broadcasts, with Paul Dottino (13th year) and Matt Harmon (third year) filling in.  Tim Capstraw (13th year), Terry O'Connor (tenth year) and Joe DeSantis (fifth year) will split color analyst duties.  Dottino and John Schmeelk (second year) are set to handle sideline duties during men's games.

Dottino will once again serve as the play-by-play voice of women's telecasts.  Pam Roecker, now in her tenth season, and former Seton Hall coach Phyllis Mangina will serve as analysts for women's broadcasts.

Eric Singer is the longtime Producer of NEC basketball telecasts.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 31st year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 12 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states.  Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 23 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic or play-in access to 14 different NCAA Championships.  NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner.  Bryant will become the NEC's 12th member upon completion of the NCAA Division I reclassification process in 2012. For more information on the NEC, visit www.northeastconference.org.