Some teams will do anything to play on national television. Any doubts? Look at what two New Jersey schools - St. Peter's and Monmouth - are doing Tuesday morning - emphasis on morning. How about a 6 a.m. tipoff? That's when the Peacocks (0-1) and Hawks (1-0) will take the court for a game that's part of ESPN's "24 Hours of College Basketball" event. "We actually campaigned for it," said John Dunne, in his fourth season as St. Peter's coach. "Niagara was already put in the 8 a.m. slot and the 6 a.m. slot was available. I honestly thought it was a good time slot." Most coaches would cringe at playing at such an hour, but Dunne sees another side. "It's great for us to get that kind of exposure," he said. "When you think of people in fitness centers working out in the morning or others getting ready for work, they'll turn on ESPN and see us. I thought it was a good opportunity to get us on ESPN regardless of the time. Monmouth was also supportive of it." Monmouth was originally set to make the 45-minute drive up the New Jersey Turnpike to play at St. Peter's on Thursday, but agreed to push the game up two days - and a few hours - to play on national TV. "When John first told me that we were moving the game up to 6, I had no problems with it," Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said. "But I had no idea it was 6 a.m. There might have been two negatives, the starting time and the gimmick of it. But I realized there are a lot of other teams involved in it and we've scrimmaged at 8 a.m. before, so it's not that bad." Dunne has prepared his team for the dawn game. "Sunday morning, we may practice at 8 a.m.," Dunne said. "We don't want to wear them down, but we want them to get them ready early enough. We won't do our regular pre-game routine and meal and probably won't have them come up to the gym to warm up until 20 minutes before. As the game goes on, we're hoping that the intensity picks up." Dunne also said it's a one-shot deal. "It might be a problem if we did it consistently," said Dunne, whose team lost to Seton Hall 53-51 on a last-second shot on Friday night. "We don't play again until (the following) Saturday, so we'll have a day off and the hoopla will then die down and it will be back to business." Calloway's team will be playing its third game in a span of five days, having already defeated Florida International, then hosting Seton Hall on Sunday before facing the Peacocks. "I'm not worried about fatigue," Calloway said. "I think we'll be ready to go. The time might be a little bit of a concern, but we'll find out right away how they respond." Calloway said that he plans to leave West Long Branch with the team bus around 3 a.m. "We'll load up the bus with food and fruit, get there and be ready to play," Calloway said. It's still a very novel approach and one that is gaining interest by the day. "I think it's brought some excitement, with the students, with the alumni," Dunne said. "The campus is already making plans to be there before class. It's a good thing." When the players were told, some were stunned. "When I first heard it, I asked, 'How in the world are we going to be able to get up and play at 6 a.m.?" St. Peter's junior guard Wesley Jenkins said. "I think the earliest I ever played before was like 9 a.m. When I heard it, I didn't think it was true. "I mean, 6 a.m.? But when you get a chance like this, you can't pass it up. I think it should be exciting, even though it's that early," he added. "Every kid always dreams about playing on ESPN. We'll play any time we have to. We can't change that."
