MAAC_Program_2025_V4_Pages

THE MAAC STORY

appearance against South Carolina. In 2015, Siena's Women's Basketball team became the first MAAC Women's Basketball program to make it to a postseason championship game. The Saints advanced all the way to the title contest of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) where Siena fell to Louisiana-Lafayette. In 2007, the Marist Women's Basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion, Tennessee. The Red Foxes have recorded an additional five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. The Saint Peter's Men's Basketball team claimed the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) title, to become the first MAAC program to win a national postseason championship since Siena's Men's Basketball team in 2014. The Saints earned the league's first basketball postseason championship in its history by winning the 2014 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). In 2013, the MAAC had a record six Men's Basketball programs participate in postseason play – Iona (NCAA Championship), Niagara (NIT), Canisius, Fairfield, Loyola, and Rider (CIT). Canisius and Loyola both advanced to the Quarterfinal Round, while Rider reached the second round. In 2012, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship for the first time in 16 years, with Loyola earning the league's automatic bid and Iona garnering an at-large bid. In baseball in 2021, the MAAC received its first at-large selection to a NCAA regional in conference history when Fairfield Baseball earned the third-seed in the Austin Regional. The Stags made it all the way to the Austin Regional Final, defeating fourth-seeded Southern and second-seeded Arizona State. Fairfield began the regular season 28-0 in conference play and finished 39-5 overall. During the spring of 2024, the MAAC earned its first-ever NCAA at-large in women's lacrosse when Fairfield received a bid into the NCAA Tournament field following a 16-2 (9-0 MAAC) season and #22 national ranking. The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology, expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In 2017, the league reached a conference wide agreement with SIDEARM Sports (extended in 2020), to design and host the MAAC web page. MAACSports.com has been a great success, providing fans with fresh content, up-to-date results, live and on-demand video, and an online merchandise store. The site was redesigned in the fall of 2021. In September 2011, the conference announced the launch of MAAC.TV, the league's first broadband network. Eight schools (Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Rider, and Saint Peter's) were part of the original network. In May 2014, the MAAC continued to grow its partnership with ESPN by announcing the launch of the MAAC Branded ESPN+/3 Channel. All MAAC and school produced digital contact can be viewed through this channel. In the 2017-18 academic year the MAAC entered into a new eight-year agreement with ESPN and produced a total of 325 events on the ESPN family of networks. The first MAAC events on ESPN+ were men's & women's lacrosse games produced by Monmouth University. The 2018 Baseball Championship was the first MAAC championship to air entirely on ESPN+. As a part of the current MAAC-ESPN partnership ESPN+ will become home to hundreds of MAAC games, championships, and shows that are easily accessible to MAAC fans throughout the country. Under the ESPN agreement, 2019-20 marked the first year that all MAAC institutions will have school production facilities and by the end of 2024-25 the conference and schools will produce over 700 collegiate athletic events and shows on the ESPN family of networks. The MAAC President for the 2024-25 academic year is Judy D. Olian, PhD, President of Quinnipiac University. The Vice-President is Mark R. Nemec, PhD, Commissioner Travis Tellitocci serves as the league's Secretary/Treasurer, John D'Argenio, Vice President/Director of Athletics at Siena College, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration, and Jamie Fogarty, Senior Associate AD/ Senior Woman Administrator at Iona University, will serve as Vice Chair.

The MAAC Council of Presidents approved bylaws to launch an Esports League and Championships in 2020. The presidents approved Esports as an official MAAC co-ed club sport. The decision came after two years of evaluation and co-sponsorship of events with the ECAC, including the highly successful HV Gamer Con 2019 in Albany, NY. In 2022, the MAAC held its first in-person Esports Championships at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City. Team champions were Iona (Rocket League), Marist (Overwatch and League of Legends), and Quinnipiac (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). Marist was named 2022 Program of the Year. Esports returns to the Showboat Hotel in 2023 as the sports continues to grow at member schools. Academics and Athletics The MAAC prides itself on the accomplishments of its student-athletes in the classroom, as well as on the field, Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman the Year Award. In the fall of 1998, Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona Women's Rowing team, was awarded one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership. MAAC student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom at high rates. The NCAA announced the latest four-year Academic Progress Rates (APR) and 40 MAAC teams achieved perfect APR scores (1,000) – 28 women's and 12 men's, while 5 league sports saw an increase in their average rate from the 2020-21 report, while 10 MAAC sports posted rates above or equal to the national average. According to the 2021-22 data, the MAAC was led by a trio of institutions which all had six teams earning a perfect mark. The three schools included Fairfield University, Marist University, and Siena College. Quinnipiac University followed with five teams recording perfect scores. Three conference programs recorded three flawless scores and they included Manhattan College, Mount St. Mary's University, and Niagara University. Iona University and Rider University registered two teams with a score of 1,000, while Canisius College had one squad with a perfect tally. A trio of associate member teams achieved perfect scores additionally, which featured Jacksonville University (Women's Rowing), Loyola University Chicago (Women's Golf), and Villanova University (Women's Water Polo). Women's lacrosse had the highest MAAC multiyear average at 994. The largest improvement on the men's side was tennis (+9), while women's swimming (+1) and women's volleyball (+1) had the highest jump on the women's side. Overall, the MAAC's four-year average improved from last year's report, jumping to 984, which ranked tied for ninth nationally amongst the other 32 Division I conferences. First-class facilities are the standard within the MAAC, as teams regularly play in top-notch arenas, such as Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, MassMutual Center, KeyBank Center, MVP Arena (former Times Union Center), Webster Bank Arena, Mohegan Sun Arena, and Sun National Bank Center. In October of 2022, the MAAC announced three-year partnerships with Clover Stadium for the MAAC Baseball Championship and SPIRE Academy for the MAAC Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships. The Clover Stadium agreement made Pomona, NY the home of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 MAAC Baseball Championships. The SPIRE partnership made Geneva, OH the host site for the MAAC Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships for 2024, 2025, and 2026. In the past several years, several the MAAC schools have enjoyed success in national postseason play. Saint Peter's Men's Basketball made March Madness history in 2022 when they became the first ever 15-seed and MAAC Men's Basketball program to reach the Elite Eight. The Peacocks defeated second-seeded Kentucky, seventh-seeded Murray State, and third-seeded Purdue on their historic run. In 2018, Quinnipiac Women's Basketball picked up its third NCAA Tournament win in the last two years. The Bobcats defeated Miami in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 UConn in the Second Round. In 2017, Quinnipiac won its first NCAA Championship game in program history and became the first MAAC women's basketball program to advance to the Sweet 16 since Marist in 2007. The Bobcats defeated Marquette and Miami en route to their Sweet 16

2025 | HERCULES TIRES MAAC MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 13