BasketballCollege Basketball - Women's
Women’s College Basketball: We Back Pat, First NCAA Top-16 Seed Reveal and Big Monday Highlight Schedule
The first of three NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee top-16 reveals will take place Thursday, Jan. 18, during halftime of this week’s Thursday Showcase game on ESPN – featuring No. 6 Tennessee at No. 5 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET.
ESPN will once again support the SEC’s We Back Pat initiative honoring the late Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt. The day-long programming on Sunday, Jan. 21, across ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network tips off with reigning national champion South Carolina taking on Kentucky (noon, ESPNU), and continues with No. 1 UConn at Temple (1 p.m., ESPN2), Ole Miss at Florida (1 p.m., SEC Network), Tulsa at Tulane (2 p.m., ESPNU), No. 3 Mississippi State at No. 6 Tennessee (3 p.m., ESPN2), No. 12 Florida State at No. 2 Louisville (5 p.m., ESPN2), and Arkansas at No. 11 Missouri (5 p.m., SEC Network).
Big Monday presented by Jos. A. Bank will feature No. 8 Ohio State against No. 14 Maryland (7 p.m., ESPN2).
Other ranked teams playing across ESPN networks include No. 11 Missouri, No. 15 Duke, No. 16 Texas A&M and No. 23 Green Bay.
espnW
espnW’s national player of the week is Louisville’s Asia Durr, after her 36-point game against then-No. 2 Notre Dame during last week’s Thursday Showcase matchup on ESPN.
This week’s content includes:
- The Mountaineers surprised most folks by upsetting Texas and Baylor last season to win the Big 12 tournament. And with much of their team back for 2017-18, they had high aspirations. But injuries, particularly to Tynice Martin, the MVP of last year’s Big 12 tournament, have had an impact. Still, West Virginia is 15-2 overall and who has really stepped forward for the Mountaineers? Teana Muldrow. The senior has played every position but point guard for West Virginia, and she’s averaging 20.6 points and 9.5 rebounds. (Mechelle Voepel)
- Three mid-major teams are probably locks for NCAA tournament at-large bid should they fail to win their league’s automatic berth, but there are a few more that should be considered for the field of 64 (Charlie Creme)
- Bracketology (Charlie Creme)
- Reaction to NCAA Top-16 seed reveal
- With two rookies in the starting lineup, the Lady Vols are trying to accelerate growth on the court with freshmen, but Rennia Davis already did so off the court. As part of an accelerated high school program, she entered Tennessee with an associate of arts degree. (Graham Hays)
- Live coverage from Mississippi State at Tennessee as part of We Back Pat (Mechelle Voepel)
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup/Commentators | Network |
| Wed, Jan 17 | 7 p.m. | Grace College at Indiana Wesleyan | ESPN3 |
| East Tennessee State at Furman | ESPN3 | ||
| Ball State at Toledo | ESPN3 | ||
| Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan | ESPN3 | ||
| Kent State at Bowling Green | ESPN3 | ||
| Buffalo at Ohio | ESPN3 | ||
| Central Michigan at Northern Illinois | ESPN3 | ||
| Akron at Miami (Ohio) | ESPN3 | ||
| 8 p.m. | South Florida at Memphis | ESPN3 | |
| Oklahoma at Kansas State | ESPN3 | ||
| Texas Tech at Kansas | ESPN3 | ||
| Incarnate Word at Lamar | ESPN3 | ||
| Abilene Christian at Stephen F. Austin | ESPN3 | ||
| Thu, Jan 18 | 1 p.m. | Western Carolina at Samford | ESPN3 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Park at Missouri Baptist | ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | Louisiana at UT Arlington | ESPN3 | |
| Appalachian State at Troy | ESPN3 | ||
| Lake Superior State at Grand Valley State | ESPN3 | ||
| Chattanooga at Wofford | ESPN3 | ||
| 7 p.m. | Thursday Night Showcase No. 6 Tennessee at No. 5 Notre Dame Adam Amin, Kara Lawson/Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe |
ESPN | |
| Florida at Arkansas Courtney Lyle, Tamika Catchings |
SEC Network | ||
| Syracuse at Miami | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Boston College at Clemson | ACC Network Extra | ||
| NC State at North Carolina | ACC Network Extra | ||
| No. 2 Louisville at Pittsburgh | ACC Network Extra | ||
| No. 15 Duke at Virginia Tech | ACC Network Extra | ||
| No. 12 Florida State at Wake Forest | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Tulsa at Connecticut | ESPN3 | ||
| Albany at UMass Lowell | ESPN3 | ||
| Maine at Hartford | ESPN3 | ||
| New Hampshire at Vermont | ESPN3 | ||
| Stony Brook at Binghamton | ESPN3 | ||
| Louisiana Tech at Florida International | ESPN3 | ||
| Marshall at Old Dominion | ESPN3 | ||
| Milwaukee at Oakland | ESPN3 | ||
| No. 23 Green Bay at Detroit | ESPN3 | ||
| UNC Greensboro at Mercer | ESPN3 | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | North Texas at Middle Tennessee | ESPN3 | |
| 8 p.m. | Auburn at LSU | SEC Network + | |
| No. 10 South Carolina at Vanderbilt | SEC Network + | ||
| No. 16 Texas A&M at Alabama | SEC Network + | ||
| 9 p.m. | No. 11 Missouri at Ole Miss | SEC Network | |
| Fri, Jan 19 | 7 p.m. | Bradley at Indiana State | ESPN3 |
| Loyola-Chicago at Southern Illinois | ESPN3 | ||
| UIC at Wright State | ESPN3 | ||
| IUPUI at Northern Kentucky | ESPN3 | ||
| 8 p.m. | Northern Iowa at Drake | ESPN3 | |
| Illinois State at Evansville | ESPN3 | ||
| Valparaiso at Missouri State | ESPN3 | ||
| Sat, Jan 20 | Noon | Georgia Southern at Georgia State | ESPN3 |
| 1 p.m. | Jacksonville at NJIT | ESPN3 | |
| Siena at Iona | ESPN3 | ||
| Milwaukee at Detroit | ESPN3 | ||
| Youngstown State at Cleveland State | ESPN3 | ||
| Ohio at Bowling Green | ESPN3 | ||
| 2 p.m. | Florida Gulf Coast at Kennesaw State | ESPN3 | |
| Fort Wayne at North Dakota State | ESPN3 | ||
| Omaha at South Dakota | ESPN3 | ||
| Abilene Christian at Central Arkansas | ESPN3 | ||
| Fairfield at Quinnipiac | ESPN3 | ||
| Canisius at Monmouth | ESPN3 | ||
| Southern Miss at Middle Tennessee | ESPN3 | ||
| Chattanooga at Furman | ESPN3 | ||
| Western Carolina at Mercer | ESPN3 | ||
| East Tennessee State at Wofford | ESPN3 | ||
| Ball State at Kent State | ESPN3 | ||
| Miami (Ohio) at Western Michigan | ESPN3 | ||
| Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois | ESPN3 | ||
| Toledo at Buffalo | ESPN3 | ||
| 2:30 p.m. | Stetson at Lipscomb | ESPN3 | |
| 3 p.m. | UL Monroe at UT Arlington | ESPN3 | |
| Coastal Carolina at Troy | ESPN3 | ||
| Sam Houston State at Lamar | ESPN3 | ||
| Texas A&M Commerce at West Texas A&M | ESPN3 | ||
| No. 23 Green Bay at Oakland | ESPN3 | ||
| UNC Greensboro at Samford | ESPN3 | ||
| 4:30 p.m. | North Florida at South Carolina Upstate | ESPN3 | |
| 5 p.m. | Incarnate Word at New Orleans | ESPN3 | |
| Central Michigan at Akron | ESPN3 | ||
| 6 p.m. | Dartmouth at Harvard | ESPN3 | |
| Ferris State (Mich.) at Grand Valley State | ESPN3 | ||
| 10 p.m. | UC Riverside at Cal State Northridge | ESPN3 | |
| Sun, Jan 21 | Noon | We Back Pat No. 10 South Carolina at Kentucky Roy Philpott, Brooke Weisbrod |
ESPNU |
| Noon | Binghamton at UMass Lowell | ESPN3 | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Virginia Tech at Virginia | ACC Network Extra | |
| Valparaiso at Southern Illinois | ESPN3 | ||
| 1 p.m. | We Back Pat No. 1 UConn at Temple Tiffany Greene, Sue Bird |
ESPN2 | |
| We Back Pat Ole Miss at Florida Jenn Hildreth, Steffi Sorensen |
SEC Network | ||
| Miami at Boston College | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Clemson at No. 5 Notre Dame | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Albany at UMBC | ESPN3 | ||
| UIC at Northern Kentucky | ESPN3 | ||
| 2 p.m. | We Back Pat Tulsa at Tulane Eric Frede, Christy Thomaskutty |
ESPNU | |
| Wake Forest at Georgia Tech | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Pittsburgh at Syracuse | ACC Network Extra | ||
| Hartford at Vermont | ESPN3 | ||
| New Hampshire at Stony Brook | ESPN3 | ||
| Rider at Marist | ESPN3 | ||
| Illinois State at Indiana State | ESPN3 | ||
| Bradley at Evansville | ESPN3 | ||
| IUPUI at Wright State | ESPN3 | ||
| 2:30 p.m. | No. 14 Duke at North Carolina | ACC Network Extra | |
| 3 p.m. | We Back Pat No. 3 Mississippi State at No. 6 Tennessee Paul Sunderland, Kara Lawson |
ESPN2 | |
| Auburn at Georgia Brenda VanLengen, Andraya Carter |
SEC Network | ||
| Vanderbilt at Alabama | SEC Network + | ||
| Loyola-Chicago at Missouri State | ESPN3 | ||
| 5 p.m. | We Back Pat No. 12 Florida State at No. 2 Louisville Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors |
ESPN2 | |
| We Back Pat Arkansas at No. 11 Missouri Courtney Lyle, Tamika Catchings |
SEC Network | ||
| Mon, Jan 22 | 7 p.m. | Big Monday presented by Jos. A. Bank as part of We Back Pat No. 8 Ohio State at No. 14 Maryland Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli |
ESPN2 |
| LSU at No. 16 Texas A&M Brenda VanLengen, Carol Ross |
SEC Network | ||
| Stetson at Kennesaw State | ESPN3 | ||
| North Florida at NJIT | ESPN3 | ||
| Jacksonville at South Carolina Upstate | ESPN3 | ||
| Iona at Monmouth | ESPN3 | ||
| Converse at Furman | ESPN3 | ||
| 7:30 p.m. | Florida Gulf Coast at Lipscomb | ESPN3 |
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