March Madness: How to watch and listen to Jersey Schools

Sports Media, Basketball, College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Featured, Monmouth University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Saint Peter's University, Seton Hall University

March 14, 2023

by David Tratner

As March Madness begins this week, keep an eye on the New Jersey men’s and women’s squads competing in the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament.

TUESDAY

The official beginning of the NCAA Tournament with the first two First Four games, but the Jersey spotlight is on the NIT.

7 PM ESPNU: Rutgers, one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, earned the No. 1 seed in the Upper Right Men’s NIT bracket. The Scarlet Knights host Hofstra at 7 pm on ESPNU with Connor Onion and former Coach Tim Welsh on the call. The game can also be heard on the radio on WCBS 880, with Hazlet’s Jerry Recco (part of the Boomer and Gio Morning Show on WFAN) and Rutgers alum Austin Johnson bringing listeners the action.

11 PM ESPN2: After a late dinner break, your Jersey Men’s NIT night continues at 11 pm, as Seton Hall plays at Colorado, the Upper Right No. 2 seed. The game can be seen on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Princeton, NJ native and former Princeton University forward Noah Savage broadcasting. Savage, a graduate of the Hun School, is also a stand-up comic. If you want to listen to the home Seton Hall voices, Mets TV broadcaster Gary Cohen and veteran NJ sportscaster Dave Popkin can be heard on the SHU Pirates Mobile App or SHUPirates.com.

WEDNESDAY

6:30 PM TruTV: Fairleigh Dickinson University-Teaneck takes on Texas Southern in Dayton, OH in the NCAA Men’s Tournament First Four at 6:30 pm on TruTV. Tom McCarthy, Avery Johnson and Jon Rothstein will call that game on TruTV. McCarthy, the voice of the Phillies and a veteran NFL broadcaster, lives in Allentown, NJ, grew up in Brick, NJ and graduated from TCNJ when it was still called Trenton State. If you are in the car, you can catch the Westwood One radio feed on satellite radio featuring the voices of Ted Emrich and Pitman, NJ High School basketball legend Jon Crispin.

FDU lost a one-point game to top-seed Merrimack in the Northeast Conference final but was awarded the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because Merrimack is not yet eligible due to the transition rules from Division II to Division I.

THURSDAY

7 PM Radio-only: The Seton Hall women’s team was chosen as an automatic qualifier to host a first-round NIT game. The Pirates tip-off against St. Joseph’s at 7 pm at Walsh Gym. The game should be available on 89.5 FM WSOU.

9 PM ESPN2: The main draw of the men’s NCAA bracket tips off and so does the women’s First Four. At 9 pm on ESPN2, Monmouth University will play Tennessee Tech in a battle of 16 seeds in Bloomington, IN for the right to play the top-seeded Hoosiers. Brenda VanLengen and Holly Warlick will be on the broadcast. Monmouth qualified for the tournament in their first year in the CAA by defeating Towson in the conference tournament final.

FRIDAY

Both Princeton teams are in action at the NCAA Tournament, and both have been asked to travel across the country.

4:10 PM TNT: The 15th-seeded Princeton men head to Sacramento, CA hoping to repeat the first-round success of last year’s New Jersey-based Cinderella St. Peters when they take on Arizona on TNT at 4:10 pm. Brad Nessler, Brendan Heywood and Dana Jacobson are on the call.

6:45 PM TNT: If the FDU men win on Wednesday, they will move East from Dayton to Columbus in Ohio to face top seed Purdue at 6:45 pm. Millburn HS graduate Andrew Catalon will handle play-by-play at the Columbus site, working with coach Steve Lappas and Jamie Erdahl, who has become familiar to NFL fans as the host of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.

10 PM ESPN2: The 10th-seeded Princeton women’s team will travel to Salt Lake City to play seventh-seeded North Carolina State at 10 p.m. ET. Elise Woodward and Dan Hughes will broadcast the game on ESPN2.