ESPN College Sports Update

Editor

November 29, 2011

November 29, 2011

On the

Basketball, football, soccer and band – we’ve got the whole college campus covered this week on ESPNU. Wednesday (11:30 p.m.) – ESPNU All-Access: EA SPORTS Maui Invitational takes you behind-the-scenes with No. 14 Kansas, No. 21 Memphis, Georgetown and UCLA basketball teams during the Maui Invitational, including Kansas’ loss in the final match to No. 4 Duke.

Thursday (6:30 p.m.) – The Battle Presented by AT&T follows Grambling State band members as they prepare for their homecoming game while coping with the loss of Vickie Dunn, the band department secretary for 25 years, who recently passed away.Thursday (11 p.m.) –The Play That Changed College Football, the second film in the SEC “Storied” series, debuts, chronicling the inaugural SEC Championship 20 years ago between Florida and Alabama.

Sunday (1 p.m.) – NCAA Women’s College Cup Finalfeatures two of these top programs – Duke, Florida State, Stanford and Wake Forest, who will compete in the women’s soccer semifinals on Friday night.

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College GameDay Notebook

ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will originate from the SEC Championship in Atlanta on Saturday, Dec. 3, in advance of the title game between No. 12 Georgia and No. 1 LSU. GameDay will be based in Centennial Olympic Park and airs from 9-10 a.m. on ESPNU and 10 a.m.-noon on ESPN. GameDay will be visiting the SEC Championship for the fourth time, and the third time in the last four years. LSU takes part for the fourth time this season and the 18th time overall, while Georgia will be appearing for the 12th time.

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Spotlight:
Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research

The fifth annual Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research – a week-long initiative featuring special content across ESPN platforms and programs to drive awareness of and donations to The V Foundation for Cancer Research – will begin Wednesday, Nov. 30, and conclude Tuesday, Dec. 6. Last year, the Jimmy V Week initiative raised a record $1,238,799 in net proceeds for cancer research, nearing a total of $4 million ($3,868,799) in the first four years. The V Foundation awards 100% of donations directly to cancer research. Throughout the week, ESPN will showcase special content and specific messages across ESPN U.S. platforms to raise awareness of the need to fund cancer research and to spotlight research successes.

Full Jimmy V Week Release
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On the Move with Mowins

ESPN play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins is a busy woman, in the midst of an 18-day work road trip. She’s going to be calling four college sports — football, women’s soccer and basketball, and the women’s volleyball selection show — from various spots around the country. Mowins is inviting everybody on her trip through her dispatches from the road. Early mornings, planes, rental cars, hotels, changing weather and late nights will be involved.

Follow Beth’s blog on espnW
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Coming Soon….

The Home Depot College Football Awards
(Thursday, Dec. 8, at 9 p.m., ESPN)

Heisman Trophy Presentation Presented by Nissan
(Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m., ESPN)

Bowl Mania
(Sunday, Dec. 11, at 8:30 p.m., ESPN)

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Weekly Highlights

This week’s football schedule is highlighted by games with BCS implications, including conference title tilts and final regular-season contests to determine conference champions:

No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 3 Oklahoma State (Saturday at 8 p.m., ABC) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe

Winner clinches the Big 12 Conference/BCS bid
Oklahoma has won eight straight games against Oklahoma State (last OSU victory was in 2002)
Oklahoma has won seven Big 12 titles since 2000, while Oklahoma State is seeking its first BCS game

Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game
No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 20 Clemson (Saturday at 8 p.m., ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN 3D & ESPN Radio)
ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, Danny Kanell & Joe Schad

Winner receives automatic BCS bid
Clemson handed Virginia Tech its only loss this season with a 23-3 victory on October 1
Virginia Tech has won three of the past four ACC titles, while Clemson seeks its first since 1991

Conference USA Championship Game
No. 24 Southern Miss at No. 6 Houston (Saturday at noon, ABC) Mike Patrick, Craig James & Lisa Salters

Houston is seeking its first outright conference title since 2006 and Southern Miss its first since 2003
A rematch of the 2006 Conference USA title game, won by Houston 34-20
Southern Miss won the last meeting against Houston 59-41 in 2010
With a victory, Houston will become the firstConference USA team to win 13 games in a season

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ESPN & ESPN3 will offer the two games that will determine the BIG EAST champion and automatic BCS bid:

No. 23 West Virginia at South Florida (Thursday at 8 p.m.) Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer & Jenn Brown; Connecticut at Cincinnati (Saturday at noon) Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich

Cincinnati will clinch the bid with a victory over Connecticut and a West Virginia loss to South Florida
West Virginia will represent the BIG EAST in the BCS with a win over South Florida, a Cincinnati victory over Connecticut and if it is ranked higher than Cincinnati and Louisville in the final BCS Standings
Louisville will receive the automatic bid with a Cincinnati loss to Connecticut

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ESPN’s non-conference basketball schedule this week is highlighted by top matchups as part of the 13th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods and the inaugural HTC BIG EAST/SEC Challenge. Three of the games pit teams ranked in the top nine against each other:

Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Tuesday & Wednesday)

A 12-game two-day event featuring several of the sport’s best programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioner’s Cup
The Big Ten has won the past two Challenges, while the ACC won the previous 10
ESPN will televise two matchups between top seven teams on consecutive days (both at 9:30 p.m.): No. 4 Duke at No. 2 Ohio State (Tuesday) and No. 7 Wisconsin at No. 5 North Carolina (Wednesday)

(Thursday-Saturday)

BIG EAST/SEC Challenge

The inaugural 12-game three-day event matching 12 teams from each of the premier conferences
An ESPN & ESPN3 doubleheader on Friday spotlights two games between ranked teams: No. 9 Florida at No. 3 Syracuse (7 p.m.) followed by No. 19 Vanderbilt at No. 6 Louisville (9 p.m.)
ESPN2 & ESPN3 will offer a doubleheader featuring ranked teams on Thursday: No. 1 Kentucky hosting St. John’s (7:30 p.m.) followed by No. 12 Alabama against Georgetown (9:30 p.m.)

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Two women’s hoops games will be part of Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research – featuring two top-25 matchups:

No. 16 Purdue at No. 6 Duke (Thursday at 7 p.m., ESPN3) Cara Capuano & Abby Waner

Jimmy V Women’s Classic
No. 4 Texas A&M at No. 2 Connecticut (Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., ESPN2 & ESPN3)
Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke & Rebecca Lobo