Somerset, NJ -- Northeast Conference (NEC) basketball fans across the nation will have plenty of opportunities to watch their favorite teams this season.  Every broadcast in the NEC’s 2013-14 television package will be distributed nationally, half of which will also air via the league’s growing network of regional partners.

The NEC will enjoy its broadest reach to date in the 29-game package. 

Among the highlights:
  

 
“The NEC’s commitment to promoting its marquee sport of basketball is clearly evident in this year’s television and digital packages,” said Noreen Morris, NEC Commissioner.  “Not only have we enhanced our official collaboration with ESPN through increased exposures on ESPN3, but we have secured national distribution of all 29 television games including one with CBS Sports Network.  To complement the national broadcasts, fans can access all other NEC home basketball games free of charge on NEC Front Row.”

Most notably, up to 17 games are scheduled on ESPN networks, highlighted by the NEC men’s and women’s championship games in March.  ESPNU is also slated to air a pair of marquee regular season men’s contests.  The first pits Bryant at Robert Morris on January 30 at 8:00 pm.  The two teams tied for second in the NEC preseason poll and figure to be in the hunt for the conference title.  One week later on February 6, the Colonials visit three-time defending NEC champion LIU Brooklyn in a 7:00 pm start.  The two teams met last year on ESPNU with RMU prevailing, 60-57, in an instant classic that went down to the final horn.

The NEC has enhanced its relationship with ESPN3, ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Xbox and Apple TV.  ESPN3 will be the home to NEC women’s basketball this winter with seven games set to be delivered, a record number for the Conference.  The NEC plans to ring in the new year on January 4 when perennial NEC women’s powers Sacred Heart and Saint Francis U square off in Fairfield, CT.  The opener of the entire NEC-TV package tips off at 2:00 pm.  

This year’s NEC-TV slate features the return of the “wildcard” game.  On the final Thursday of the regular season (February 27), one of the following men’s matchups with playoff implications will be carried at 7:00 pm on ESPN3: Bryant-St. Francis Brooklyn, CCSU-LIU Brooklyn, FDU-Robert Morris, Mount St. Mary’s-Sacred Heart or Saint Francis U-Wagner.

On February 16, the NEC makes its first appearance on CBSSN, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports.  Bryant visits Wagner for a noon start at the Spiro Center.

The NEC will once again team up with Fox College Sports (FCS) to broadcast 13 games nationally on its Atlantic, Central or Pacific regional channels.  FCS games are typically picked up on DirecTV as well.

The 2013-14 lineup features 14 regionally produced games.  Longtime partner Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) will serve as the NEC’s flagship network, with select games regionally syndicated on Root Sports (Pittsburgh), Cox Sports (CT/RI), Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and for the first time, Comcast SportsNet New England (CSNNE).  

MSG has 11 NEC games on tap this year beginning with LIU Brooklyn at Bryant on January 23 at 7:00 pm.  In the latest installment of the league’s most compelling rivalry, MSG will air the annual “Battle of Brooklyn” game between LIU and St. Francis Brooklyn on February 16.  This year’s event takes place at Barclays Center and will tipoff at 4:00 pm.  On March 1, the final day of the regular season, Robert Morris visits preseason NEC favorite Wagner at 6:00 pm in one of the most anticipated games on the schedule.

Root Sports Pittsburgh will broadcast three NEC regular season games involving Robert Morris or Saint Francis U.  Cox Sports has scheduled three league games featuring Bryant or Central Connecticut State, while MASN is on board to carry Mount St. Mary’s contests.  Joining the list of NEC regional networks, CSNNE will pick up Sacred Heart at Saint Francis U on January 25 at noon, and Fairleigh Dickinson at CCSU on February 8 at 11:30 am.  The addition of CSNNE gives the NEC further penetration into New England markets with its six-state footprint.

ESPN3 will also pick up three NEC regional games, the first being Wagner’s bout with Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg on January 16 at 7:00 pm.  These games may also air on the ESPN Full Court package.

Come the postseason, MSG+2, FCS and Root Sports (Pittsburgh) have agreed to carry an NEC men’s quarterfinal game on March 5, and MSG+ and FCS will televise both men’s semifinals games on March 8.  The NEC women’s semifinals are tentatively slated to air on ESPN3 on March 12 at 7:00 pm.

As part of the network’s Championship Week coverage, the NEC men’s title game runs live on ESPN or ESPN2 for the 27th straight year on Tuesday, March 11th at 7:00 pm.  For the seventh year running, ESPNU is the home to the NEC Women’s Championship game.  This year’s title game is scheduled for Sunday, March 16th at 3:00 pm.  

Now in his 14th season, Dave Popkin will serve as the primary play-by-play announcer on men’s broadcasts, with Paul Dottino (15th year) filling in.  Tim Capstraw (15th year), Terry O’Connor (12th year) and Joe DeSantis (seventh year) will split color analyst duties.  Dottino and John Schmeelk (third year) are the NEC’s sideline reporters.

Dottino will once again serve as the play-by-play voice of women’s telecasts.  Former St. Francis Brooklyn head coach Brenda Milano joins the women’s broadcast team as a color analyst, joining Pam Roecker, now in her 12th year with the league.

Eric Singer is the longtime producer of NEC basketball telecasts.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 33rd year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 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 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.