No. 9 Seed Quinnipiac Battles No. 8 Seed Miami in NCAA Tournament First Round Saturday
No. 9 Seed Quinnipiac University vs. No. 8 Seed University of Miami
2018 NCAA Tournament First Round
Gampel Pavilion
Storrs, Connecticut
Watch (ESPN2) | Stats | MAAC Notes | Quinnipiac Notes
BACK-TO-BACK
No. 1 seed Quinnipiac University repeated as MAAC Champions by beating No. 2 seed Marist College 67-58 in the final of the MAAC Championship. It was the Bobcats third title since joining the MAAC before the 2013-14 campaign. The Bobcats became the first team to repeat as champions since Marist won nine championships from 2006-2014. It was the third time in the last four years that number seed won the title.
IT IS A REMATCH!
For the second-straight season, Quinnipiac will take on the University of Miami in the NCAA Tournament. The Bobcats calmed the Hurricanes in the second round last season, 85-78, to advance to the Sweet 16 on Miami's home court down in Coral Gables, Florida.
SINGLE-DIGIT SEED
Quinnipiac is a nine-seed in the Albany Regional, which marks the first time since the 2008 NCAA Tournament that the MAAC Champion has been a single-digit seed. Marist was a seven seed in 2008 and beat No. 10 seed DePaul University in the first round before falling to No. 2 seed LSU down in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Those are the only two times that a MAAC school has secured a single-digit seed in the 64-team era (since 1994). The MAAC had single-digit seeds in 1989 (48-team field), 1988 (40 teams), 1985 (32 teams), and 1982 (32 teams).
ALL-TIME SERIES
Quinnipiac and Miami will battle for the fourth time on Saturday. The Hurricanes are 2-1 in the previous three meetings. Prior meetings; March 20, 2017, Quinnipiac W, 85-78 ... December 28, 2010, Miami W, 93-48 ... November 29, 2002, Miami W, 87-56
MAAC WBB IN THE NCAA
The MAAC is 8-38 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Quinnipiac is 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament; both wins coming last season. Marist has the most wins with five of its 10 trips to the Big Dance. Marist and Quinnipiac are the only conference schools to win multiple games in the NCAAs--both overall and in a single tournament.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 37
th year of competition during the 2017-18 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.