The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team opens its 2006-07 season on Tuesday, November 14 against Big East foe Providence at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI. The game can be heard live via webcast on www.wfdu.fm with Paul Dottino and John Schmeelk calling the action. The play-by-play can also be followed via gametracker on www.friars.com.

The men's basketball team will have at least eight games broadcast on webcast/WFDU 89.1 and three games televised. The three televised games will happen within a week, as the Knights host Monmouth on MSG on Feb. 5, host St. Francis NY in a doubleheader with the women's team on FSN-NY on Feb. 9 and then play at Monmouth on Feb. 12, also to be televised on MSG.

The Knights will look to continue their streak of postseason participation in 2006-07 after reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2004-05 and the NIT in 2005-06.

The trio of players that the Knights lost- unanimous NEC Player of the Year Chad Timberlake (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht), All-Conference player Gordon Klaiber (Greenbelt, MD/National Christian Academy) and Andrea Crosariol (Abano T., Italy/Long Island Lutheran)-combined to contribute 52.3 percent of the Knights' scoring last season and combined for 3,671 career points and 1,637 rebounds.

The Knights will be back in action against another Big East opponent when they travel to Continental Airlines Arena to play Seton Hall on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 p.m.

The Knights and Friars have met only once before, with the Knights walking away with a 55-53 win on Dec. 19, 1984.

In 2005-06, the NEC sent two teams to the postseason for the first time since 2001-02 when Monmouth represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament and regular seson champion Fairleigh Dickinson was awarded a spot in the Posteason NIT. Monmouth would go on to win the NCAA play-in game over Hampton, 71-49, before falling to Villanova in the first round, 58-45. Fairleigh Dickinson came up just short in its opening round NIT game, falling at Manhtattan, 80-77.

In 2005-06, Knights posted their second-straight 20-win season, notching a program-high 14 Northeast Conference wins en route to winning the NEC Regular Season Title.

Fairleigh Dickinson's back-to-back 20-win seasons are the first for the conference since Long Island won 21 in 1996-97 and came back to register 21 victories again in 1997-98. In the history of the NEC, there have been just six back-to-back 20-win campaigns: Robert Morris (20 in 1988-89, 22 in 1989-90), Fairleigh Dickinson (21 in 1984-85, 22 in 1985-86) and Long Island (20 in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84).

The win against Robert Morris (3/5/06) gave the Knights their eighth 20-win season and seventh under Head Coach Tom Green. The Knights posted their second consecutive 20-win season, as the NEC Tournament Championship victory over Wagner (3/9/05) gave the Knights 20 in 2004-05.

The last time the Knights had won 20 was in 1997-98 when they finished 23-7 and made their last NCAA Tournament appearance.

A look at each of the 11 NEC school's success rate in reaching the conference tournament over the last five years:

All 5 Years: Central Connecticut, Monmouth

4 years: FDU, Robert Morris, St. Francis (NY), Wagner

3 Years: Long Island, Quinnipiac, St. Francis (PA)

2 Years: Mount St. Mary's, Sacred Heart

The NEC finished 26th in the final NCAA RPI rankings in 2005-06, a three-spot improvement from the previous year. The NEC fared well against its peer conferences in the Northeast last year, posting a 25-22 combined record against America East (11-3), Ivy (7-7), Patriot (4-4), MEAC (1-1) and MAAC (2-7).

Fairleigh Dickinson established a new NEC record with 203 blocked shots last season, eclipsing the former record of 200 set by St. Francis (NY) in 1982-83. The Knights' 6.34 blocks per game rank second on the league's all-time chart behind the Terriers, who recorded 7.1 bpg in their 1982-83 campaign.

Andrea Crosariol (Abano T., Italy/Long Island Lutheran) ranked 11th in the nation with 3.0 blocks per game. In the team categories, Fairleigh Dickinson ranked twice. The Knights were ninth in blocks with 6.3 blocks per game and they were also 37th with 15.8 team assists per game. In single-game highs, Bernell Murray ranked 16th in three-point field goal percentage with his 7-for-9 (.778) performance against Monmouth on Feb. 20, 2006. As a team, the Knights had the ninth-best single-game three-point field goal performance going 13-for-19 (.684) against Long Island on Feb. 9, 2006.

Fairleigh Dickinson head coach Tom Green,who won his record fourth NEC title in 2005 and led the Knights to be the NEC regular season champions last year, is set to embark upon his 24th season a the helm of the program. Green has guided the Knights to NEC crowns in 1985, 1988, 1998 and 2005, as well as regular season championship in 1985-86, 1987-88 and 2005-06. With a 20-12 mark last season, the Knights became the first NEC program to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns in eight years.

The dean of NEC coaches, Green is the all-time NEC leader in the league (244) and tournament (26) victories. The most tenured coach in the state of New Jersey, Green is also FDU's all-time leader in wins (378) and games coached (670), and has seven 20+ win campaigns under his belt. The Knights have appeared in nine NEC Championship games and have reached the NEC semifinals in 16 of 23 seasons. The 2004-05 Metropolitan Basketball Writer's Association Coach of the Year, Green is also a two-time NEC Coach of the Year, a two-time New Jersey Sports writers Coach of the Year and a three-time New Jersey Coaches Association Coach of the Year award recipient.

Coach Green is one of only three league coaches who have NEC championships under their belt and leads that group with four titles. FDU has now qualified for the NEC Tournament in 24 of the 25 years the league has been in existence.

Fairleigh Dickinson has taken the home court advantage to another level in the last four seasons. In that time span, the Knights have compiled a 44-11 (.800) record at the Rothman Center, never losing more than three games on their own hardwood in a single year.

Fairleigh Dickinson was the first defending NEC champion to reach the title game the following season since Long Island did it in 1997 and 1998.

The Knights limited their NEC Tournament opponents to just 35.6 percent shooting from the floor.

Fairleigh Dickinson's 18 consecutive NEC Tournament apearances is the longest in NEC history (1984-2001).

As has become characteristic over the past few years, Coach Green and his staff have compiled a tough non-conference schedule to prepare the Knights for league competition. "I think it's a quality schedule," said Green. "It's got a good blend of road games along with some good home opponents." The Knights face Big East opponents Providence and Seton Hall, MAAC opponents Canisius, St. Peter's and Rider and will compete at the College of Charleston Tournament, along with IUPUI, Radford and host Charleston.

The defending Northeast Conference regular season champion Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team was chosen to finish seventh in the league preseason coaches poll, as released by the NEC on Tuesday, October 31. Defending tournament champion Monmouth was tabbed as the 2006-07 NEC men's basketball preseason favorite. The preseason rankings, along with the league's preseason all-conference team, were announced during a media teleconference with coaches this afternoon as a prelude to the NEC's 26th season.

Monmouth earned six first place votes from league head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. The Hawks narrowly edged out Robert Morris, which received the remaining five first place votes. With all five starters back, Long Island was chosen third, followed by Central Connecticut State and Quinnipiac tied for fourth. Wagner was picked sixth, while defending NEC regular season champion Fairleigh Dickinson landed in seventh. Rounding out the poll were St. Francis (NY) in eighth, followed in order by Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (PA).

Conducted annually, NEC coaches have failed to correctly forecast the eventual league champion since selecting Mount St. Mary's to win it all in 1998-99, and have proven inaccurate in 17 of the last 19 years. After its 1999 tourney win, Mount St. Mary's was the choice to repeat the following season, but Central Connecticut State, tabbed third, captured the championship. CCSU was then installed as the favorite in 2000-01, but the title went to Monmouth, picked sixth in the preseason. Monmouth received the nod in 2001-02, but it was CCSU, predicted fourth, which went on to win its second title in three years. In 2002-03, NEC coaches continued their trend of selecting the previous year's champion as preseason favorite when they went with CCSU, only to have Wagner earn its first-ever NEC Tournament crown. Three years ago, it was Quinnipiac that was placed on the preseason perch, but the Bobcats struggled all season and finished in 10th place. Monmouth garnered its third league crown that season after being selected third in the preseason. In 2004-05, the Hawks were the logical choice to repeat, and even won the conference regular season title, but were eliminated in the NEC semifinals as Fairleigh Dickinson went on to claim the championship. Fairleigh Dickinson was then installed as the 2005-06 favorite, but dropped a one-point decision to Monmouth in the title contest.