ESPN College Sports Update

January 31, 2012

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College Basketball GameDay Corner

ESPN’s College GameDay Covered by State Farm heads to a first-time site for the second-straight week – visiting the campus of the University of Missouri – Saturday, Feb. 4 (10 a.m., ESPNU; 11 a.m. & 8 p.m., ESPN). The weekly show originates from the site of ESPN’s Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV telecast – this week showcasing No. 8 Kansas

at No. 4 Missouri at (9p.m., ESPN & ESPN3).For the eighth year, Rece Davis serves as point guard for the College GameDay desk, and is joined by analysts Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis. Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Holly Rowe will have the call of the primetime game. This week’s special College GameDay segment will highlight Missouri’s Kim English. Tune in to the 11 a.m. hour of GameDay on ESPN for the full feature.

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Spotlight:

ESPNU National Signing Day Special

On Wednesday beginning at 9 a.m., ESPNU will feature the most comprehensive coverage of National Signing Day with 10-hours of live multi-platform coverage, ESPN reporters at 13 college campuses and more than 10 uncommitted recruits announcing their college decisions.

Hosts Rece Davis and Dari Nowkhah will interview more than 30 of the nation’s top coaches in addition to sharing analysis from an ESPN team of experts in scouting, recruiting, playing and coaching college football.

A fleet of ESPN production trucks will be rolling throughout the country as ESPN reporters are live from 2012 BCS National Champion Alabama and BCS participants LSU, Michigan and Clemson, as well as Florida State, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, Oregon and Notre Dame.

In anticipation of the big day, ESPNU will televise a preview special tonight from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Plus, ESPN Front Row gives readers an inside glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes with senior coordinating producer Shawn Murphy, who is featured in a Front & Center Podcast.

ESPNU National Signing Day Special coverage

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National Signing Day on Longhorn Network

Longhorn Network’s coverage of National Signing Day will include a one-hour special at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. CT) on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Longhorn Network anchor Lowell Galindo will sit down with Texas head coach Mack Brown to review and breakdown the day’s recruiting news. Tom Luginbill, national recruiting director for ESPN, and Carter Strickland, writer for ESPN.com, will also join Galindo to analyze what is expected to be an elite recruiting class by the Longhorns. The interview will take place in the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center.

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Weekly Highlights

Caution: Road Test Ahead

Saturday’s ESPN quintuple-header will showcase five of the nation’s top eight men’s basketball teams in road games, including two of them playing a ranked foe:

No. 2 Syracuse at St. John’s (noon)
Dave Pasch & Doris Burke

No. 3 Ohio State at No. 20 Wisconsin (2 p.m.)
Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich

No. 6 North Carolina at Maryland (4 p.m.)
Mike Patrick & Len Elmore

No. 1 Kentucky at South Carolina (6 p.m.)
Brad Nessler & Jimmy Dykes

No. 8 Kansas at No. 4 Missouri (9 p.m.)
Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Holly Rowe

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Women’s basketball on ESPN includes the top two teams in the nation — No. 1 Baylor and No. 2 Notre Dame. In addition, ESPN3 has seven exclusive games.

Highlights:

• ESPN2’s Big Monday Presented by Bud Light series will showcase doubleheaders for the remainder of February, starting Monday with No. 24 North Carolina vs. No. 6 Duke (7 p.m.) and Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Baylor (9 p.m.)

• ESPN3 will have three exclusive games Saturday starting with Marist at Manhattan (4:30 p.m.)

• No. 2 Notre Dame hosts No. 23 DePaul on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPNU.)

Schedules & Announcers
Studio | Men’s Basketball |Women’s Basketball

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10th Annual ESPN
Sears BracketBusters Field Announced

Pairings for the 10th annual Sears BracketBusters – a two-day men’s college basketball event pitting NCAA Championship hopefuls Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 – were announced live on ESPNU’s 2012 Sears BracketBusters Selection Show Monday evening. The field features No. 9 Murray State, the only undefeated team in the nation, against No. 16 Saint Mary’s, with a 21-2 record. The lineup also included No. 12 Creighton and three additional teams receiving votes (Nevada, Wichita State and Long Beach State) in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll. Sears BracketBusters will feature 13 nationally televised games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 selected from 142 eligible teams – the largest pool in the event’s history. ESPNU will air five games; ESPN2 and ESPN3 each have two exclusive; and four flex options to be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 (determined approximately one week before the game).

Full Release

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ESPN College Football Ties to Past Super Bowls

With this week’s Super Bowl XLVI just days away, ESPN highlights it college football analysts that have collected a Super Bowl Championship: David Diaz-Infante (two-time), Brian Griese, Desmond Howard (also a Super Bowl MVP), Mark May (two-time) and Matt Millen (four-time)
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College Sports Media Kit
ESPN MediaZone’s Home for Everything College Sports

Media contact: Rachel Margolis at 860-766-2798 or rachel.l.margolis@espn.com; All times are Eastern