MAAC athletic directors have recommended conference championship continue to be held at Times Union Center from 2018-20. Presidents must now approve vote at end of May. (Photo courtesy of Siena College)
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ -- The athletic directors of the eleven Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference institutions have recommended that the men's and women's basketball championships remain in Albany for the next three-year bid cycle, commissioner Rich Ensor said Monday afternoon.
The Times Union Center, which is entering the second year of its current cycle, submitted a bid for the MAAC Tournament, as did Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, and Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, the home court of Fairfield University.
Ensor also revealed that the presidents of each MAAC school must approve the recommendation made by the athletic directors at last weekend's NCAA convention in San Antonio. The presidential vote is expected to take place at the end of May, and is not necessarily just a "rubber stamp" of approval. The vote among athletic directors, according to Mark Singelais of the Albany Times Union, was 8-2-1, with Monmouth and Iona voting against the matter, and Fairfield abstaining from the vote.
Last season marked a return to the Times Union Center for the first time since 2010, with Bridgeport hosting in 2011 and Springfield's MassMutual Center having the honors from 2012-2014. The league saw a significant attendance increase, by far the most attractive reason to stay in the Capital Region through the next cycle, which runs from 2018-2020.
In order to make sure that Siena will not have an unfair advantage by hosting the conf tourney on its home court every year, Ensor ruled that Siena will be designated the visiting team for every conf tourney game at the TUC.
ReplyDeleteEnsor is like King Solomon.