ESPN to Present More Than 3,400 Games During 2021-22 Men’s College Basketball Season

• Unrivaled Schedule Includes the Sport’s Marquee Matchups and Top Conferences
• Season Tips Off on Tuesday, Nov. 9 Headlined by State Farm Champions Classic Doubleheader at Madison Square Garden – Michigan State vs No. 3 Kansas and No. 9 Duke vs No. 10 Kentucky
• Every Duke Basketball Game Will be Featured on an ESPN Network During Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Final Season

ESPN networks will present more than 3,400 men’s college basketball games during the 2021-22 season. ESPN is poised to bring the best players, matchups and stories to viewers across upwards of 800 games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ABC, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, ACC Network (ACCN), Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and Longhorn Network (LHN). An additional 2,600 games will be available on ESPN3, SEC Network +, ACCNX and ESPN+ – including more than 2,100 on ESPN+ alone. With a combined schedule totaling more than 6,000 men’s and women’s college basketball matchups throughout the season, ESPN networks will provide top-tier and unprecedented coverage of the sport to fans everywhere.

• State Farm Champions Classic will tip off ESPN’s season-long coverage with Michigan State vs No. 3 Kansas and No. 9 Duke vs No. 10 Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 9, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Now in its 11th year, the event features programs that have combined to win 18 national championships and have made 58 appearances in the Final Four.
• Early Season Events and High-Profile Matchups: ESPN networks will feature early season marquee matchups throughout November and December, including No. 1 Gonzaga vs No. 2 UCLA (Tuesday, Nov. 23, 10 p.m., ESPN – Empire Classic ), No. 24 UConn vs No. 22 Auburn (Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2:30 p.m. – Battle 4 Atlantis), No. 12 Memphis vs Virginia Tech (Nov. 24, 9:30, ESPN2 – NIT Season Tipoff), and Texas Tech vs No. 18 Tennessee (Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m., ESPN) and No. 4 Villanova vs Syracuse (Dec. 7, 9 p.m., ESPN) in the Jimmy V Classic. In addition to these games and complete coverage of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, The Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis and previously announced ESPN owned and operated events, ESPN networks will also televise early-season top-5 matchups with No. 5 Texas traveling to top-ranked Gonzaga on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 10:30 p.m., No. 4 Villanova playing at No. 2 UCLA on Friday, Nov. 12 at 11:30 p.m., and No. 9 Duke vs the Bulldogs on Friday, Nov. 26 at 10:30 p.m., from Las Vegas.
• College Hoops on ABC: Seven games will air on ABC this season – Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Championship Game (Sun, Nov. 21, 1 p.m.), No. 4 Villanova at No. 8 and defending NCAA Champion Baylor (Sun, Dec. 12, 3 p.m.), No. 5 Texas vs Stanford (Sun, Dec. 19, 3 p.m.), Cincinnati at No. 12 Memphis (Sun, Jan. 9, 3:30 p.m.), Virginia Tech at No. 20 Florida State (Sat, Jan. 29, 3 p.m.), No. 12 Memphis at No. 15 Houston (Sat, Feb. 12, 3:30 p.m.) and Texas Tech at No. 5 Texas (Sat, Feb. 19, 12:30 p.m.).
• Blockbuster Basketball: ESPN’s Champions Classic games – Duke/Kentucky and Michigan State/Kansas lead off ESPN’s Sonic Blockbuster franchise programming highlighting marquee matchups throughout the season.
• Coach K’s Final Season: ESPN networks will celebrate legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski who is set to retire at the end of the 2021-22 season. All of the Blue Devils games will be available on ESPN networks with appearances on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ACCN, beginning with Duke’s top-10 matchup against Kentucky in the Champions Classic on Nov. 9.
• Challenge Accepted: The Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Nov. 29 – Dec. 1) and Big 12/SEC Challenge (Sat, Jan. 29) return for the 23rd and 10th year, respectively.
• Every Division I conference will be represented, as teams from each conference will be featured on one of ESPN’s networks.

SEC Network

SEC Network will present more than 100 men’s basketball games in the 2021-22 season. Regular season action tips off Tuesday, Nov. 9 with an SECN doubleheader featuring Tennessee and Alabama. More than 30 non-conference contests are slated for SECN before conference play begins Wednesday, Dec. 29 with an SEC tripleheader. The network’s signature Saturday SEC quadruple-headers return Jan. 8 and continue through the end of regular season on March 5. SEC Network will also feature live studio and event programming from the 2022 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Tampa, with the early rounds on SEC Network and SEC Now providing wall-to-wall Champ Week coverage. For more info, click here.

ACC Network

ACC Network, the 24/7 home for ACC sports, will carry more than 100 men’s basketball games, including 60 conference matchups. ACCN will be on hand for Hubert Davis’ head coaching debut at North Carolina on opening night, Nov. 9 (vs Loyola (Md.), 7 p.m.) and for Coach K’s final home opener against Army on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. Conference play opens Fri, Dec. 3 with an evening doubleheader – Notre Dame at Boston College at 6 p.m., followed by Pitt at Virginia at 8 p.m. Sat, Dec. 4 features a tripleheader beginning at noon – Clemson at Miami, Wake Forest at Virginia Tech (2 p.m.) and Syracuse at Florida State (4 p.m.). Additionally, ACCN will have live event and studio programming for the 2022 New York Life ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Brooklyn. Additional details will be shared in the coming weeks. For more info, click here.

Big 12 Now on ESPN+

In addition to more than 70 Big 12 Conference games across ESPN networks, Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will carry 75 men’s college basketball games this season, with all ten Big 12 schools making multiple appearances on the platform during the season. 

Longhorn Network

Longhorn Network

Longhorn Network, ESPN’s 24-hour network devoted to the University of Texas, will televise 12 men’s basketball matchups during the 2021-22 basketball season. Three conference contests will be featured on LHN this season and 29 total Texas games will air on ABC and ESPN networks. The No. 5 Longhorns’ season opener against Houston Baptist on LHN (Nov. 9, 8 p.m.) marks the beginning of the Chris Beard era at Texas. For more info, click here.

ESPN+

In addition to Big 12 Now on ESPN+ games, 123 American Athletic Conference games will be featured along with 2,000 other men’s college basketball games from over 20 conferences, including the America East, Atlantic 10, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West Horizon, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southern, Southland, WAC and the Ivy League. Additionally, for the first time, games exclusive to SECN+ and ACCNX will be simulcast on ESPN+.

About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 14.9 million subscribers.

Fans sign up to ESPN+ for just $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for $13.99/month (Hulu w/ads) or $19.99/month (Hulu w/o ads).

Additional men’s college basketball updates will be forthcoming, and the schedule is subject to change. Please continue to check @ESPNPR and ESPN Press Room for more information.

The full schedule grid can be found here.