Sept. 4, 2008

Somerset, N.J. -- The Northeast Conference revealed its plans to televise two league football games during its 13th season on the gridiron.

The annual television package kicks off in grand fashion when the first-year member Duquesne Dukes take on the five-time NEC champion Robert Morris Colonials in a battle for Pittsburgh's Division I FCS bragging rights. Head coach Jerry Schmitt, who leads Duquesne into its inaugural NEC season after the program captured 11 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crowns, and the Dukes will make the short trip to Robert Morris' Joe Walton Stadium on Saturday, October 11. FSN-Pittsburgh will begin its live broadcast at 12:00 pm with Fox College Sports-Pacific also airing the live feed.

The other featured game will unfold on Halloween night under the newly-installed lights at Sacred Heart's Campus Field. Long-time Wagner head coach Walt Hameline puts his Seahawks up against Paul Gorham's Pioneers on Friday, October 31 at 7:00 pm on both MSG-Plus and Fox College Sports-Atlantic.

FCS-Atlantic and FCS-Pacific are available to both digital cable and satellite subscribers. Altogether, these games will reach over 12 million households in the Northeast, plus those satellite subscribers nationally with multi-sport packages.

"We are pleased to televise what should be exciting football games," said NEC Commissioner Brenda Weare. "This year's package is unique as it features the league's first televised Friday night game and the all-Pittsburgh rivalry between Robert Morris and Duquesne."

The 2008 season marks the sixth straight that the NEC has aired football games as part of its extensive regional sports package. This coming winter, the league will air over 20 men's and women's basketball games.

Paul Dottino enters his sixth season as the play-by-play voice of NEC football. He is also a member of the NEC basketball broadcast team and the New York Giants beat reporter for 1050 ESPN Radio in New York and for Sirius' NFL Radio Channel. Steve Jackson - one of Hofstra's all-time leading receiver - will provide color analysis. Eric Singer is the Producer of NEC football telecasts.

In addition to the two featured NEC match-ups, viewers will have the opportunity to twice see defending league champion Albany on the tube this season. The preseason favorite Great Danes are televising two home dates against conference foes. In a grudge match of last year's NEC title game, the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils visit Albany's University Field on October 11 for a 4:00 pm kickoff on Time Warner Cable 3 (TW3). Two weeks later on October 25, TW3 will broadcast the Great Danes match-up with the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash beginning at 4:00 pm.

Now in its 28th season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 11 institutions of higher learning located throughout five states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#24), and Hartford/New Haven (#29). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 21 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic or play-in access to 13 different NCAA Championships. NEC core member institutions include Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner. Bryant University will become a core member of the conference in 2012 upon completion of the five-year NCAA Division I reclassification period.

2008 Northeast Conference Football Television Schedule
Date            Matchup                              Time      TV Outlet
Sat., Oct. 11   Duquesne at Robert Morris            12:00 pm  FSN-Pittsburgh,
                                                               FCS-Pacific
Sat., Oct. 11   Central Connecticut State at Albany  4:00 pm   Time Warner Cable 3
Sat., Oct. 25   Saint Francis (PA) at Albany         4:00 pm   Time Warner Cable 3
Fri., Oct. 31   Wagner at Sacred Heart               7:00 pm   MSG-Plus,
                                                               FCS-Atlantic