ESPN College Basketball (Nov. 14 – 20) – TV Schedule, 2014-15 Commentators, Tip-Off Marathon and More

Thursday, November 13, 2014

• ESPN’s Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Seasons Tips-Off Friday Night
• Men’s College Basketball: All-Star Commentator Lineup on ESPN’s Extensive 2014-15 Coverage
• Women’s College Basketball: Experienced Core of Commentators & New Faces Enhance Coverage
• Seventh Annual Tip-Off Marathon Showcases 29 Straight Hours of College Hoops November 17-18
• Florida, Kentucky Doubleheader Tips Off the Basketball Season on SEC Network Friday
• ESPN3 Sets New Record with More than 1,000 Exclusive College Basketball Games in 2014-15
• ESPN Radio: Early-Season Men’s College Basketball Schedule Tips Off Friday
• Video: #Hashtag: Bilas, Battier, and more hoop analysts have fun with labels
• Armed Forces Classic means more than a game to military personnel, base visitors

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ESPN’s Men’s and Women’s College Basketball Seasons Tips-Off Friday Night
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@ESPN.com

The men’s game action will begin on Friday, and feature the third annual Armed Forces Classic matching Minnesota, coached by Richard Pitino, against Louisville, led by Richard’s father Rick, from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, a SEC Network doubleheader, marking the first live regular-season college basketball games on the first-year network, and four matchups on ESPNU, including Hampden-Sydney versus the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, also at the U.S. Coast Guard base, at 1 p.m. Men’s Full Schedule

The women’s game action also tips off on Friday – home to 19 contents on ESPN3 and SEC Network +, including defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Connecticut playing at UC Davis at 10 p.m. on ESPN3. No. 4 Tennessee will host national contender Penn State at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network +. Women’s Full Schedule

Full Schedule: https://es.pn/1sIODs4

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Men’s College Basketball: All-Star Commentator Lineup on ESPN’s Extensive 2014-15 Coverage
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@ESPN.com

Commentator Highlights

• Analyst Jay Bilas, entering his 21^st season at ESPN, will be paired with Dan Shulman and reporter Shannon Spake on the Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV game that host’s that day’s College GameDay Covered by State Farm.
• Bilas and Basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale, who enters his 36^th season calling games for the network, will each call key ESPN weekday matchups across multiple conferences. Vitale will also work a marquee game each Saturday.
• College GameDay gets a fresh look in its 11^th season as host Rece Davis and Bilas are joined by first-year GameDay analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams. The foursome will help carry out a new flexible schedule that will give the Saturday morning show more ability to react to storylines as the season develops to better ensure visits to top games on ESPN networks each week, beginning on the road Saturday, Jan. 17.
• Davis will also call a Thursday Night Showcase game involving Big Ten teams.
• Shane Battier, fresh off a lengthy and successful NBA career, will join play-by-play veteran Sean McDonough and reporter Allison Williams on the ACC Big Monday
• The trio of Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe return to work the second half of the Big Monday doubleheader featuring Big 12 programs.
• Mike Tirico, one of ESPN’s most versatile commentators and the voice of Monday Night Football, pairs again with analyst Dan Dakich and reporter Samantha Ponder for the weekly Big Ten Super Tuesday Dakich will also call a Saturday Big Ten contest with Bob Wischusen.
• ESPN’s weekly Super Tuesday SEC telecast, will see the return of Brad Nessler and Spake, and adds analyst Sean Farnham. Farnham will join Joe Tessitore on the Thursday SEC telecast.
• Kara Lawson will work with Mark Jones to call the Saturday SEC window.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton will again have the call of Pac-12 games on Wednesday and Thursday nights with Dave Pasch.
• ACC games will also be covered by Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke (Saturday), as well as Bob Wischusen and LaPhonso Ellis (Wednesday).
• Big 12 Tuesdays will be called by Dave Flemming and Miles Simon, in addition to the league’s Saturday games called by Jon Sciambi and Fraschilla.
• American games will see Mike Patrick on Thursdays and Saturdays with Len Elmore and Bob Knight, in addition to O’Brien and Burke working select AAC Thursday games.
• Several analysts return to ESPN and ESPN’s studio coverage – with a consistent presence from Battier, Greenberg and Williams.
• Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame member and former UConn head coach Jim Calhoun joins ESPN provide insight and analysis, including studio programming, joining select game telecasts and conducting sit-down interviews with top figures in the game.
• New faces on ESPNU include former coaches Craig Robinson and Stan Heath, and former college and pro standout Brad Daugherty, who returns to work ESPN games after several years as a NASCAR analyst. He will call select ACC college basketball games, including the ESPNU ACC Sunday Night Basketball series with Adam Amin.
• SEC Network will televise 118 men’s games in its inaugural season and will include analysts Dane Bradshaw, Barry Booker, Joe Dean, Jr., Tony Delk, Daymeon Fishback, Darrin Horn, Jon Sundvold and Will Perdue, as well as play-by-play commentators Dave Neal, Tom Hart and Dave Baker.
• Longhorn Network will surround the network’s 10 exclusive Texas men’s basketball games with studio programming that includes a simulcast of Coach Rick Barnes weekly radio show and original content such as LHN All-Access. Paul Sunderland and Lowell Galindo will call play-by-play for the network with analysts Lance Blanks and Reid Gettys.

Full Release:   https://es.pn/1tMHmGZ

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Women’s Basketball: Experience Core of Commentators & New Faces Enhance Coverage
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@ESPN.com

ESPN’s 2014-15 women’s college basketball regular-season schedule – featuring a record-high exclusive games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, SEC Network and Longhorn Network – will be supported by a field of experienced and dedicated commentators.

Highlights

• Sue Bird, WNBA star and former All-American at UConn, has joined ESPN for the 2014-15 season and will call games on ESPN2, ESPNU and Longhorn Network this season.
• The Final Four announcing team of Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke will reunite for marquee games throughout the season, beginning with the UConn-Stanford Tip-Off Marathon Presented by Dish telecast on Monday, Dec. 17, as well as the Jimmy V Women’s Classic Presented by Corona featuring top-ranked UConn at No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday, Dec. 6.
• Host Kevin Negandhi joins analysts Kara Lawson and Rebecca Lobo for numerous top regular-season games from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios.
• Veteran analyst Carolyn Peck and play-by-play commentator Pam Ward will be pulling double-duty this season, calling games across all ESPN networks, with the majority on ESPN2 and SEC Network.
• SEC Network will air more than 60 games this season, and the network added former coaches Gail Goestenkors and Carol Ross to its lineup of analysts.
  • Also making appearances on the SEC Network will be analysts Debbie Antonelli, Nell Fortner and Steffi Sorenson, as well as play-by-play commentators Cara Capuano, Paul Sunderland and Brenda VanLengen.
• Beth Mowins, a multi-sport play-by-play voice, will team with Stephanie White for most of the Big Monday series, beginning in January 19.
• Familiar names returning to the analyst chair are LaChina Robinson and Brooke Weisbrod.
• Katie Smith, the most-decorated player in Ohio State women’s basketball history and former WNBA standout, will call games on ESPN2, ESPNU and Longhorn Network.
• Longhorn legends Fran Harris and Nell Fortner, former coach at Auburn and ESPN analyst, will call LHN’s 14 exclusive women’s games.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1v9eb7u

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Seventh Annual Tip-Off Marathon Showcases 29 Straight Hours of College Hoops November 17-18
contact: Michael.C.Humes@espn.com

ESPN will mark the opening of the 2014-15 college basketball season with nearly 29 consecutive hours of men’s and women’s game and studio programming as part of its seventh annual Tip-Off Marathon Presented by Dish Monday, Nov. 17 through Tuesday, Nov. 18.

The Marathon – 22 games and a special edition of College GameDay Covered by State Farm across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network – will tip off Monday at 7 p.m. ET with the first telecasts of a women’s doubleheader on ESPN2 and a men’s tripleheader on ESPNU.

Following the women’s telecasts, ESPN2 will televise seven consecutive men’s matchups beginning at 11 p.m. ESPN’s schedule of five straight men’s matchups will begin at noon on Tuesday and conclude with the fourth annual State Farm Champions Classic doubleheader – No. 18 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Duke at 7 p.m. followed by No. 5 Kansas vs. No. 1 Kentucky at 9 p.m. – from Indianapolis. ESPN will televise a special edition of College GameDay – with analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams joining the show alongside the retuning duo of host Rece Davis and analyst Jay Bilas – from the Champions Classic at 6 p.m.

Game Highlights

• Four of the top seven – and 13 of the top 25 – teams in the Associated Press preseason men’s poll, highlighted by four games between ranked teams on ESPN.
  • 22 SMU at No. 13 Gonzaga (Monday at 11 p.m.), No. 25 Utah at No. 16 San Diego State (Tuesday at 4 p.m.), No. 18 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Duke (Tuesday at 7 p.m.) and No. 5 Kansas vs. No. 1 Kentucky (Tuesday at 9 p.m.).
• ESPN2 will open the Marathon on Monday with a women’s doubleheader matching four teams in the Associated Press preseason poll: two-time defending national champion No. 1 Connecticut will travel to 2014 Final Four participant No. 6 Stanford at 9 p.m., while No. 8 Baylor will face No. 11 Kentucky at 7 p.m.
• Twenty-one conferences will be represented: Atlantic Coast Conference, America East, American, Atlantic 10, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Pac-12, Southeastern Conference, Southern, Southland, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.

A complete schedule of games on ESPN platforms for Monday, Nov. 17 through Wednesday, Nov. 19: men’s schedule and women’s schedule.

Full Release: https://es.pn/111UVLV

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Florida, Kentucky Doubleheader Trips Off the Basketball Season on SEC Network Friday
contact: Gracie.Blackburn@espn.com

On Friday, Nov. 14, SEC Network will tip off its first night of men’s regular-season basketball with two teams from last year’s NCAA Championships Final Four – Kentucky and Florida. ESPN’s Dave O’Brien and Sean Farnham will call   William & Mary vs. Florida at 6 p.m., followed by Grand Canyon vs. Kentucky at 8 p.m. with Dave Baker and analyst Darrin Horn.

Live action continues on Sunday, Nov. 16, with SEC men’s and women’s teams playing back-to-back. The Missouri men’s team will play at 6 p.m., followed by Alabama’s women’s team at 8 p.m.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1yCYHGG

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ESPN3 Sets New Record with More than 1,000 Exclusive College Basketball Games in 2014-15  
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@ESPN.com

ESPN3 will offer more than 1,000 exclusive men’s and women’s college basketball games during the 2014-15 season, doubling last year’s recording-setting schedule. The 1,000 ESPN3 games are part of over 2,700 contests across ESPN platforms this season. Teams in the preseason men’s and women’s Associated Press poll will have more than 200 ESPN3 appearances throughout the season.

ESPN3 coverage will begin on Friday, Nov. 14, with 38 opening-weekend men’s games highlighted by the following ranked teams: UC Santa Barbara at No. 5 Kansas; Kennesaw State at No. 23 Syracuse; Bryant at No. 17 Connecticut; Fairfield at No. 4 Duke and Norfolk St. at No. 9 Virginia. On the women’s side, two-time defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Connecticut plays at UC-Davis, also on Friday – one of 12 opening-weekend games.

Full Release:   https://es.pn/1v8UE7h

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ESPN Radio: Early-Season Men’s College Basketball Schedule Tips Off Friday
contact: tara.c.chozet@espn.com

ESPN Radio will tip off the 2014-15 NCAA men’s college basketball season with 11 games from early-season classics or tournaments beginning with the Armed Forces Classic on Friday, Nov. 14. Preseason No. 8 Louisville and Minnesota will face off in the third installment of the Armed Forces Classic from the United States Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Coverage of the showdown between Louisville coach Rick Pitino and his son, Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino, begins at 7 p.m. on ESPN Radio. Marc Kestecher and Bob Valvano will call the game.

Other highlights include the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, which will showcase four preseason Top-25 teams including No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Kansas and the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 9, which will be highlighted by No. 8 Louisville and No. 12 Villanova.

Full Release: https://es.pn/1v6XASw

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Video: #Hashtag This: Bilas, Battier and more ESPN hoops analysts have fun with labels
contact: Rachel.M.Siegal@ESPN.com

If you had a hashtag to describe yourself, what would it be?

Full Video: https://es.pn/113Br9O

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Armed Forces Classic means more than a game to military personnel, base visitor
By Andy Katz

Full article: https://es.pn/1qFMFb6

The public sees a game between two college basketball teams on a base.

What you don’t see, what can’t be measured, is how one game, one visit, can make a difference to break up the monotony of daily life for the enlisted men and women and their families, as well as the civilian staff.

At Landstuhl, the main military hospital at Camp Ramstein in Germany, we toured the floors of the hospital with Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo and a few of his players. The halls were quiet, the visitors non-existent.

We met with a woman who had broken her back from falling out of her bed in either Afghanistan or Iraq. There was a leader of a platoon who had injured his knee and desperately wanted to be back with his unit. We visited with a civilian contractor who had sustained injuries as well.

They were all so far from home. Visitors mattered.

The children on the base might have had plenty of services on this massive facility or in the neighboring German town, but until this visit they didn’t get a chance to have a clinic with players from Michigan State and UConn, some of whom they would one day see playing in the NBA. The enthusiasm and smiles on the children was precious to behold.

A year later, in South Korea, during an autograph session with Georgetown and Oregon, an Army soldier’s wife mentioned she had just come from a parent-teacher conference. She wasn’t sugar-coating the experience.

There was one school. The education can depend on the quality of teachers in a particular year who have volunteered to come and teach. This was no romantic story.

Life can be repetitive and at times the military personnel can feel like they are in a bubble, unable or not interested in venturing too far out into the general population where language is a barrier.

But the games offer a break, a few days to have a taste of American sporting culture come to them and for the soldiers, officers and families to feel like they are at home. That’s what the Armed Forces Classic has delivered — in each year so far — always more than a game.