At long last, greetings from Albany.

I'm court-side at the Times Union Center, where the seventh-seeded Rider women will tip off against 10th-seeded Niagara at noon.

That game will be the first in the Full-Court Press blogathon, which will (technology permitting) carry every women's and men's game of the tournament, from this one to the men's title game Monday night.

A couple of things to get to on this first day of MAAC Madness:

1. I'm pleased to announce the second annual Full-Court Press bracket challenge. If anyone is interested in picking women's games, let me know, and if there's sufficient interest we'll give it a shot next year. For now, though, we'll just do the men's tournament. The prize will be a MAAC sweatshirt. To enter, simply send me your picks one of three ways:

A) E-mail your picks for each game to bdoody@trentonian.com. Just write which teams will still be standing in each round. So if you think all the favorites are going to win, just e-mail me the following:

Quarters: Iona, Loyola, teams with byes
Semis: Siena, Niagara, Rider, Manhattan
Finals: Siena, Niagara
Champion: Siena

B) Get a bracket from the MAAC web site, fill it out, scan it and e-mail it, or ...

C) Fill out a bracket, track me down at the Times Union Center, and hand it to me.

The deadline for submission is 7 p.m. Friday, a half hour before the Loyola-Canisius tip. Include your first and last name with your picks.

2. The MAAC awards ceremony is tonight. The media votes on the all-tournament teams, but the coaches vote on the all-MAAC teams and other regular season awards. So I don't have a ballot, but if I did, it would look like this.

Player of the Year:
1. Kenny Hasbrouck, Siena
2. Ryan Thompson, Rider
3. Edwin Ubiles, Siena

Rookie of the Year:
1. Novar Gadson, Rider
2. Scott Machado, Iona
3. R.J. Hall, Marist

Defensive Player of the Year:
1. Bilal Benn, Niagara
2. Tyrone Lewis, Niagara
3. Ryan Rossiter, Siena

Coach of the Year:
1. Joe Mihalich, Niagara
2. Fran McCaffery, Siena
3. John Dunne, Saint Peter's