Under The Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, November 8th

Sacred Heart (0-0) at Hartford (0-0) – 7:00 PM ET (Watch at HartfordHawks.com)

Election Day was originally intended to be a complete day off in the NCAA – not just no games but no practices, but there are a handful of games taking place tonight. Sacred Heart comes into tonight’s game being picked to finish 2nd in the Northeast Conference. However, since Merrimack (who is in their 4th and final transitional season) was picked first, this would make the Pioneers the de facto favorite to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division I level. SHU finished 6th last year and lost to Long Island in the NEC Tournament. Transfers like Brendan McGuire, Aidan Carpenter and Raheem Solomon should give the Pioneers a boost.

What should have been a storybook appearance in the 2021 NCAA Tournament has turned into a Rachel Phelps-like nightmare for Hartford. Their administration inexplicably announced that their athletics programs would transition down to NCAA Division III and would begin their transition this season as a D1 independent program before completely entering Division III next season. In a stunning development yesterday, head coach John Gallagher abruptly resigned yesterday, mainly over reports that Hartford refused to send a trainer for a closed scrimmage with Dartmouth. When a Hartford player turned out to be injured in the scrimmage, it was the final straw for Gallagher.

As it is, Hartford was already looking to replace their top six scorers from last season where they finished 12-20 and in 5th place in the America East Conference. Next year, they will be joining the Commonwealth Coast Conference in Division III.