By Nick Veronica

The Canisius-Niagara basketball games on Dec. 6 and Feb. 24 will be available on ESPN3, the MAAC announced today.

The Griffs’ game at Fairfield on Thursday, Jan. 22 will also be shown on ESPN3, which can only be found online.

Neither Canisius nor Niagara is currently set to appear on national television this year, though both have the possibility of being selected for a few “wild card” games, which can put them on either ESPNU or ESPN3, similar to the NFL’s flex scheduling. At least one school will have its Feb. 6 game picked up.

The only men’s games already set for national TV are Iona at Manhattan (Friday, Feb. 13) and Iona at Marist (Friday, Feb. 20). For what it’s worth, reigning MAAC champion Manhattan only has one other game set for ESPN3 right now, while preseason favorite Iona has two other games set.

Potential wild card dates for ESPNU/ESPN3 are as follows:

Canisius: Jan. 16 vs. Siena, Jan. 30 vs. Quinnipiac, Feb. 6 at Manhattan, Feb. 27 vs. Fairfield.

Niagara: Jan. 16 vs. Iona, Jan. 23 at Monmouth, Jan. 30 vs. Marist, Feb. 6 at Marist and March 1 vs. Fairfield.

Friday, Feb. 27 would be ideal for Canisius because the options for that day are ESPN2 and ESPNU (as opposed to ESPNU or ESPN3). My early guess though is Manhattan at Iona will go on ESPN2 and Siena at Quinnipiac will go on ESPNU.

All MAAC tournament games will be on ESPN3, and the championship will either be on ESPN or ESPN2.

Last season, Canisius ended up with five regular-season games on ESPNU: at Notre Dame, at Iona, Manhattan, at Niagara and at Rider (they went 3-2 in those games). Additionally, games against Rutgers, Manhattan and MAAC tournament games were broadcast online on ESPN3/WatchESPN. Niagara was 0-1 on ESPNU (Canisius), had three games on ESPN3 and one on Fox Sports 2.

The Niagara women’s team will be on ESPN3 on Jan. 29, the Canisius women’s team will be on ESPN3 on Feb. 13, and the Canisius-Niagara women’s game ahead of the men’s game on Feb. 24 will be on ESPN3.

Overall, the MAAC has 47 games on the ESPN networks (33 men’s, 14 women’s), with 36 on ESPN3, nine on ESPNU, one regular season game on ESPN2, and the men’s championship game on either ESPN or ESPN2.

Full MAAC ESPN schedule, with wild cards

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Sat., Dec. 6 Canisius at Niagara ESPN3 3 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 15 Fairfield at Quinnipiac (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 15 Rider at Quinnipiac ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 16 Wildcard* ESPNU 7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 16 Wildcard* ESPN3 7 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 22 Rider at Fairfield (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 22 Canisius at Fairfield ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 23 Wildcard* ESPNU 7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 23 Wildcard* ESPN3 7 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 29 Niagara at St. Peter’s (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 29 Rider at Saint Peter’s ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 30 Wildcard* ESPN3 7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 30 Wildcard* ESPNU 8 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 31 Marist at Iona (Women) ESPN3 4 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 31 Saint Peter’s at Iona ESPN3 7 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 5 Siena at Rider (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 5 Fairfield at Rider ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 6 Wildcard* ESPNU 7 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 6 Wildcard* ESPN3 7 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 12 Quinnipiac at Marist (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 12 Siena at Marist ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 13 Canisius at Fairfield (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 13 Quinnipiac at Fairfield ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 13 Iona at Manhattan ESPNU 10 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 19 Monmouth at Saint Peter’s ESPN3 7 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 20 Iona at Marist (Women) ESPNU 5 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 20 Iona at Marist ESPNU 9 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 22 Quinnipiac at Iona (Women) ESPN3 1 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 22 Monmouth at Iona ESPN3 4 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 24 Niagara at Canisius (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Tue., Feb. 24 Niagara at Canisius ESPN3 8 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 26 Manhattan at Monmouth (Women) ESPN3 5 p.m.
Thu., Feb. 26 Rider at Monmouth ESPN3 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 27 Wildcard* ESPNU 6 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 27 Wildcard* ESPN2 7 p.m.
Sun., March 1 Quinnipiac at Manhattan ESPN3 2 p.m.
Sun., March 1 Wildcard* ESPN3 4 p.m.

MAAC Tournament

Sat., March 7 Men’s Quarterfinal # 1 ESPN3 noon
Sat., March 7 Men’s Quarterfinal # 2 ESPN3 2:30 p.m.
Sat., March 7 Men’s Quarterfinal # 3 ESPN3 5:30 p.m.
Sat., March 7 Men’s Quarterfinal # 4 ESPN3 8 p.m.
Sun., March 8 Women’s Semifinal # 1 ESPN3 11am
Sun., March 8 Women’s Semifinal # 2 ESPN3 1:30 p.m.
Sun., March 8 Men’s Semifinal # 1 ESPN3 4:30 p.m.
Sun., March 8 Men’s Semifinal # 2 ESPN3 7 p.m.
Mon., March 9 Women’s Championship Final ESPNU 4:30 p.m.
Mon., March 9 Men’s Championship Final ESPN or ESPN2 9 p.m.
*-Matchups selected for the broadcast will be announced no later than 21 days prior to the game.

List of wildcard options by date:

Fri., Jan. 16 options (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Iona at Niagara
Manhattan at Saint Peter’s
Marist at Fairfield
Siena at Canisius

Fri., Jan. 23 options (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Manhattan at Quinnipiac
Marist at Siena
Niagara at Monmouth

Fri., Jan. 30 options (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Marist at Niagara
Monmouth at Fairfield
Quinnipiac at Canisius
Siena at Manhattan

Fri., Feb. 6 options (ESPNU, ESPN3)
Canisius at Manhattan
Niagara at Marist
Siena at Iona

Fri., Feb. 27 (ESPN2, ESPNU)
Fairfield at Canisius
Manhattan at Iona
Saint Peter’s at Marist
Siena at Quinnipiac

Sun., March 1 (ESPN3)
Fairfield at Niagara
Iona at Saint Peter’s
Marist at Rider
Siena at Monmouth

Games selected for the flex scheduling will be announced no later than three weeks prior to the game.