CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ? For the first time in history, the ESPN family of networks will broadcast at least four games involving America East teams, including a men’s regular-season conference contest on ESPNU and a women’s non-conference tilt between University of Hartford and Marist on ESPN2 The games highlight the America East Television schedule, which will include more than 40 games on national or regional sports networks in 2008-09.
For the second straight season, ESPNU will broadcast a regular-season conference game when Boston University travels to Chase Family Arena to take on Hartford on Saturday, January 31 at 1 p.m. in a rematch on the 2008 America East Championship semifinals.
The Hawks, coming of their second NCAA Tournament victory in three years, will become the fiarst America East women’s squad to appear on national television during the regular season. Hartford will host defending MAAC champion Marist on February 15 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2 as part of the WBCA’s “Pink Zone” week to promote breast cancer awareness. It is the only non-BCS conference game slated to be televised that week.
The America East Men’s Basketball Championship game will be shown live on March 14 at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN2. It marks the 22nd straight year the conference championship has been nationally televised. The semifinals will air on Comcast Sports Net New England on March 8.
The America East Women’s Championship game will be televised on New England Sports Network on March 15 at 7 p.m. The semifinals will also air on NESN on March 14.
Opening round and quarterfinal action for both tournaments will be streamed live and available for purchase in the AmericaEast Zone at AmericaEast.com.
During the regular season, America East, in partnership with ESPN Regional Television, will produce 15 games, with each men’s team appearing at least twice. Those games will be distributed among regional sports networks and local carriers. Eric Frede returns as the play-by-play announcer for America East basketball. Frank Sullivan, who coached in the ranks for 33 years, returns for his second season as men’s basketball color analyst. Leah Secondo, a veteran of America East television productions, is the color analyst for women’s basketball games.
The conference television schedule begins January 5 when Stony Brook battles Binghamton on MSG Network. The top two teams in the preseason coaches’ poll, Boston University and Vermont, will square off on January 14 and February 11 on NESN. Other highlights include UMBC hosting Boston U. on February 2 and Vermont on February 17, and New York rivals Albany and Binghamton squaring off in Vestal on February 9.
In women’s action, Vermont will play Hartford on January 27 on NESN. In a rematch of the 2008 championship game, Hartford will host Boston U. on February 24 on CSN.
A total of 12 games involving America East teams will appear on NESN, seven games on Comcast Sports Net, seven on Time Warner Cable in Central New York, three games on MASN in the Mid-Atlantic region, three on MSG Network throughout New York state and two games on CN8.
Among the out-of-conference highlights are Albany at Kansas (ESPNU) on December 30, Vermont at ACC power Maryland (CSN) on November 30, UMBC at defending Big East champion Pittsburgh on December 13 on MASN and Hartford taking on UConn in a women’s game on Connecticut Public Television on New Year’s Eve. In addition, four America East schools - Boston University, Hartford, UMBC and Vermont - are included in the pool of teams for the ESPNU BracketBusters event in February. The ESPN family of networks will televise 16 games in that event.
Each of the conference-produced games will be streamed and available in the AmericaEastZone at AmericaEast.com. Those games and the enhanced streaming games will be archived at the AmericaEastZone for “on demand” viewing at any time following the broadcast.
America East will also produce five episodes of America East On Campus, a 30-minute magazine show devoted to the conference’s student-athletes. The fourth-year show, which will air on regional sports networks including NESN beginning in January, is hosted by Frede, who produces the show along with his Cod Rock Media Productions partner, Dan Hannigan.