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The Great Northwest Athletic Conference and FSN Northwest have jointly announced a new partnership that will include a nine-game television package for the 2010-11 college basketball season.

FSN will televise eight GNAC regular-season games along with the GNAC Men's Conference championship game on Friday, Mar. 4 at 5 p.m. Pacific. The winner of that game qualifies for the NCAA Division II West Regionals that begin Friday, Mar. 11.

The series will feature seven men's games and one women's game during the regular-season and will tip off with the Jan. 5 contest featuring the Montana State Billings' men playing at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

The series will continue each Wednesday throughout the regular-season (except for one Tuesday game on Jan. 11 when Western Oregon men visit Saint Martin's).

Other men's games will feature Simon Fraser at Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 19, Western Washington at Seattle Pacific on Jan. 26, Seattle Pacific at Central Washington on Feb. 9. Central Washington at Western Washington on Feb. 16 and Alaska Fairbanks at Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 23.

The women's game will match Seattle Pacific at Western Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 2.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is a NCAA Division II Conference and includes 10 schools in five Northwest states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska) and one Canadian province (British Columbia). FSN Northwest's regional territory services the same U.S. footprint as the GNAC, providing a tremendous opportunity for both the conference and the network.

In the conference's nine-year history, three GNAC men's teams and three GNAC women's teams have qualified for the semifinals at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight national tournament.

"We are very excited about working with FSN Northwest to bring an exciting brand of college basketball to the network's 3.4 million viewers across five states," GNAC Commissioner Richard Hannan said. "Over the past nine years, the GNAC has proven itself to be one of the most competitive Division II conferences in the country and this promises to another exciting season."

"FSN Northwest provides an exceptional platform for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and its schools, and this partnership offers the network an opportunity to strengthen our already extensive local event schedule with new and exciting programming," explained Mark Jorgensen, Senior Vice President/General Manager for FSN Northwest. "The GNAC has proven that they are dedicated to the participants and supporters of each of their programs and we look forward to now showcasing them to a new audience across the Northwest."

The schedule (All Times Pacific):

• Wednesday, Jan. 5 (Men) - Montana State Billings at Alaska Anchorage, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 11 (Men) - Western Oregon at Saint Martin's, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 19 (Men) - Simon Fraser at Northwest Nazarene, 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 26 (Men) - Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 2 (Women) - Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 9 (Men) - Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 16 (Men) - Central Washington at Western Washington, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 23 (Men) - Alaska Fairbanks at Alaska Anchorage, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, Mar. 4 (Men) - GNAC Tournament Championship game, 5 p.m.

FSN Northwest is the cable home of the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks, Portland Beavers, Portland Timbers, Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars, Oregon State Beavers and Gonzaga Bulldogs. The network delivers more than 350 live events each year - all of which are also available in high definition on FSN HD - to more than 3.4 million cable and satellite homes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. FSN Northwest is based in Bellevue, WA, and is a subsidiary of DIRECTV Sports Networks, which also operates the regional sports networks FSN Pittsburgh and FSN Rocky Mountain (and sub-region FSN Utah). The three networks combined reach more than 8.5 million viewers across 17 states and own exclusive programming and distribution partnerships with more than 25 teams and conferences. DIRECTV Sports Networks is a controlled subsidiary of DIRECTV, the world's most popular television service.