ESPN College Sports Update

Editor

December 6, 2011

December 6, 2011

On the

Lights, camera, football awards. This week ESPNU is taking a look back at the best moments from this year’s college football season and recognizing the athletes who performed at the highest levels.

Thursday (5 p.m.) – The Home Depot College Football Awards Roundtable Special hosts a discussion between ESPN analysts on the Heisman finalists and the entire year in college football.

Thursday (7 p.m.) – Palmer & Pollack’s debut season wraps up with a special encore show when Jesse Palmer and David Pollack setup shop for their first road show, taking place at Walt Disney World. The hosts will hand out a few of their own season-best accolades, including “MANimal of the Year,” and #TeamPalmer offensive and #TeamPollack defensive player awards live from the red carpet.

Thursday (8 p.m. & 11 p.m.) – The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show will be hosted by Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi and Dari Nowkhah from the Disney Boardwalk just moments before the award show kicks off on ESPN and then again at the conclusion of the show.

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BCS Goes Bowling

ESPN’s extensive college football postseason action includes exclusive coverage of 33 bowl games, highlighted by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the Allstate BCS National Championship on Monday, Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. It marks the second straight year the entire BCS will be available on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio.

Overall, ESPN platforms will televise 23 of the 25 teams in the BCS Standings, concluding with the national title match pitting No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama on ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio. An ESPN tripleheader kicks off the bowl season Saturday, Dec. 17, beginning at 2 p.m. with the Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Temple vs. Wyoming).

Full Bowl Schedule

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ESPN.com’s College Football Corner
Significant Growth on ESPN.com and ESPN3

During September and October, the college football content on ESPN.com averaged more than 15 million unique visitors and more than 282 million minutes, translating to an average minute audience of 6,545 viewers, a 30 percent increase over last year. (Source: comScore) Also, during the same time period, total minutes consumed of college football games on ESPN3 increased by 18 percent compared to 2010. (Source: Omniture)

ESPN Mobile’s new ESPN Bowl Bound 2011 app for iPhone and Android devices is the fan’s ultimate companion throughout the college football and bowl season. The free app features GameCast and redirects to live games via the WatchESPN app to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider; exclusive video highlights, analysis and interviews; weekly bowl projection picks and analysis from ESPN experts Brad Edwards and Mark Schlabach; and personalization to follow favorite teams via Team Clubhouses.

ESPN.com’s College Bowl Mania pick ‘em game returns for the 2011-12 bowl season, along with its annual ESPN special on Sunday, Dec. 11 (8:30 p.m.). The free game, which kicks off with the start of the first bowl game on Saturday, Dec. 17, requires players to pick the winner of all 35 games and rank them in order of confidence. There is also the option to make picks without assigning confidence points. The first place finisher will be awarded a $2,000 Best Buy gift card.

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Spotlight: College Football Award Season

ESPN analysts discuss the accomplishments of the nation’s most-talented athletes on a daily basis and every year in December those individuals bask on a national stage, and without grass under their feet.

Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN) – The finalists will be standing under the bright lights of a red carpet with no field goals in sight but plenty of familiar faces at The Home Depot College Football Awards on the Boardwalk of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Full details on this year’s presenters, the 27 finalists and special programming.

Saturday (8 p.m., ESPN) – The 77th annual Heisman Trophy Presentation Presented by Nissan will include the 2011 finalists: Monte Ball, Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Tyrann Mathieu and Trent Richardson.

Full details on the network’s 16th year televising the Heisman presentation.
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Weekly Highlights

The 2011 NCAA FCS Championship moves onto the quarterfinals this Friday and Saturday, and ESPN will have live coverage of all four games:

No. 5 Northern Iowa at No. 4 Montana
(Friday at 8 p.m., ESPN & ESPN3)
Justin Kutcher & Tom Luginbill

Montana State at No. 1 Sam Houston State
(Saturday at noon, ESPN & ESPN3)
Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano

Maine at No. 3 Georgia Southern
(Saturday at 2 p.m., ESPN3)
John Sadak & John Bunting

Lehigh at No. 2 North Dakota State
(Saturday at 4 p.m., ESPN3)
Trey Bender & Jay Taylor

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ESPN’s non-conference men’s basketball schedule this week is highlighted by key storylines and top teams in action, including:

No. 24 Harvard at No. 9 Connecticut
(Thursday at 7 p.m., ESPN2 & ESPN3)
Bob Wischusen, Doug Gottlieb & Andy Katz

Harvard, ranked for the first time in school history, is one of 15 remaining unbeaten teams with an 8-0 record, its best start since the 1984-85 season.
Defending National Champion Connecticut is 14-2 all-time against Harvard, including an 81-52 win in 2010

No. 1 Kentucky at Indiana
(Saturday at 5:15 p.m., ESPN & ESPN3)
Dan Shulman & Dick Vitale

Showdown between undefeated squads
Kentucky has won the last three games against Indiana, including an 81-62 victory in 2010

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Three women’s hoops games highlight the schedule, including three top 25 teams at the Maggie Dixon Classic from Madison Square Garden on Sunday (ESPNU). Both games will be called by Bob Picozzi & Brooke Weisbrod starting at 11 a.m.:

St. John’s vs. No. 1 Baylor (11 a.m.)

The Lady Bears are 45-4 over their last 49 games, and looked to stay undefeated on the season

No. 21 DePaul vs. No. 8 Tennesse (1 p.m.)

DePaul is searching for its first-ever win against the Lady Vols, as the Blue Demons trail 18-0 in the series

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The NCAA Championship fall season swings into high gear this weekend with the Men’s Soccer College Cup and the Women’s Volleyball Championship:

NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship (Schedule)

12 regional championship games airing this week (ESPNU & ESPN3)
The national semifinals and finals on Thursday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 17, respectively (ESPN2 & ESPN3)

NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup (Friday at 6 & 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU & ESPN3)
Rob Stone, Taylor Twellman & Cat Whitehill

Four teams – No. 2 seed Creighton vs. unseeded Charlotte and No. 1 seed UNC vs. No. 13 UCLA – will compete for the national title at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.

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A Peek Inside Women’s Basketball on ESPN

To put on any event for television is a major task – from setting the actual matchup months ahead of time, to the production elements in the truck, to the behind-the-scenes setup or the research done by the onair commentators – this women’s basketball game featuring No. 5 Stanford at No. 4 Connecticut was no different. The game, held at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., aired Monday, Nov. 21, on ESPNU as the first women’s college game on the ESPN networks this season. See More