The MAAC’s television schedule was released on Thursday, and it is time to look at the most intriguing matchups as we head towards the 2014-15 season. While every team is guaranteed to be on the ESPN family of networks at least three times, there will be some great matchups and story lines featured in the ESPN games this season.
Iona at Manhattan, February 13 on ESPNU, February 27 (wild card) – Barring some sort of collapse, there’s very little chance this series is not on the ESPN family of networks for both games this season. The two schools, who have met six times in the last two seasons, figure to both be in the mix again for a conference championship.
Siena at Iona, February 6 (wild card) – It’s hard not to believe that this game will be selected as a wild card considering it might feature two of the three best teams in the conference by February. Siena returns all but 11 points from last season’s team and figures to be in the mix for the conference championship. This will be the final of their two meetings, which means it could have tiebreaker implications after their January 4 meeting at Siena.
Marist at Fairfield, January 16 (wild card) – This will be the first time the Red Foxes meet the Stags, which means it will also be the first time Marist head coach Mike Maker meets a friend in Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson. Maker acknowledged that he talked to Johnson prior to taking the Marist job and that the former Princeton coach’s blessing meant a lot to Maker. Now they could meet for the first time on an ESPN game. “We certainly wish him the very best of luck in every other game, but the game that we play against them, I make no bones about it, it’s going to be difficult just because of how much I think of him,” Maker said.
Quinnipiac at Manhattan, March 1 (ESPN3) – The Bobcats were the only team to sweep the Jaspers last season during the regular season. This game could have implications for seeding should the Bobcats be able to keep their momentum they built from an excellent first season in the MAAC.
Ryan Restivo wrote the America East conference preview for the 2014-15 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the America East conference and Hofstra for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
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