With the winter season approaching, both Quinnipiac hockey & basketball teams now have an idea of what its seasons will look like. 

According to a memo obtained by College Hockey News and reported by Mike McMahon, ECAC Hockey plans to split the league into two divisions, with no inter-division games until the ECAC Hockey Championships. The move comes as a precaution to protect players from the COVID-19 pandemic while still holding a hockey season. 

Quinnipiac would be placed in the New England Division along with Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. 

Due to an Ivy League rule stating that no teams would play until January 1, the league hopes to begin a 20-game season with each team playing other division opponents four times starting on January 2.

The winners of each division would be crowned co-regular season champions. The top two teams from each division will receive byes in the first round of the playoffs, with the winner of the New England and the New York bracket ultimately meeting in the conference championship. All playoff matchups will be a one-game series. 

The decision to split the conference allows for easier travel, especially since many schools may have restrictions on where students can go. This is not official yet and all subject to change due to the ongoing pandemic, but schools are hopeful to begin full practices in December. 

Following up – spoke to an ECAC official who said this is one of the scheduling plans, but league admins haven’t voted on anything yet. https://t.co/VkQWR0mYJn

— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) September 25, 2020

On the court, the men’s basketball team is slated to tip-off its conference schedule on December 8 against Manhattan College, a team they lost to twice last season. 

Notably, their second matchup will be against basketball coaching legend Rick Pitino at Iona. 

Quinnipiac will be returning both Tyrese Williams and Jacob Rigoni, who combined for over 120 3-pointers a season ago. Leading scorer Rich Kelly and Kevin Marfo, the Division I leading rebounder a season ago, have both transferred away. 

The men’s team is relatively young, featuring nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster.  

Quinnipiac will play 20 regular-season games before wrapping up its regular season on March 6. 

According to a scheduling model released by the MAAC, the teams can host non-conference games between November 25th and December 6th. Due to travel restrictions, non-conference opponents will most likely be local teams. 

The NCAA also has provided guidelines to protect the players. Those guidelines include testing players three times per week on non-consecutive days throughout the season. 

The women’s team will begin their season on December 9 against Monmouth. They will then play their next three games on the road, taking on Niagara, Canisius, and Iona.

The Bobcats will end their regular season on March 6 against Siena. 

This season, the Bobcats are led by Shaq Edwards, who transferred from Hartford before last season. Edwards averaged 12.5 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 40.3% from the field. Last year’s leading rebounder Paige Warfel and second-leading scorer Taylor Herd have graduated.