Hartford to Play Florida Gulf Coast in ESPN Tip-Off

Just about everyone knows who Florida Gulf Coast is due to its storm through March Madness. The 15-seed made its way to the Sweet 16, defeating 2-seeded Georgetown and 7-seeded San Diego State, only to fall to the Florida Gators in the Elite 8.

An impressive feat by any means. Everyone wanted a piece of the Cinderella Story and for the ESPN tip-off, the Eagles are about to face one of the rising teams in the America East conference.

Last season, Hartford grabbed its first postseason berth in its history at the Division 1 level. The Hawks were invited to the CollegeInsider.com tournament where they lost to Rider in the opening round, 63-54.

For the coming season, the almost entirely underclassmen squad of last year has grown up, and has quite a few players as juniors and one senior. While they may not have won the America East title, or even made it to the conference championship game, the Hartford Hawks have vastly improved since their 0-12 start of the 2011-12 season, going 17-14 overall for 2012-13.

The College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon game will take place on November 12, 2013 at 7 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, so grab some coffee and enjoy the early morning tip-off.