Fang's Bites

Complete List of Winners for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards

Let’s go over the entire list of those who won hardware in the 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards. The awards were handed out at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in New York.

Overall, NBC Sports Group has reason to crow with 23 Emmys, the most of any sports media group. Turner Sports was next with 7 followed by HBO with 6. The ESPN Family of Networks received five awards and MLB Network had three. The CBS consortium, Fox Sports Media Group and NFL Network won two and YouTube got one Emmy.

The entire list is below. It’s a long list so I give a jump break on the main page. Get ready to scroll for a while.

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ESPN Beats Its Chest Over Five Sports Emmy Awards

ESPN took home five Sports Emmy Awards during Tuesday’s ceremonies. The Alleged Worldwide Leader won for E:60, Outside the Lines and one for ESPN 3D as well.

We take a look at what ESPN is saying about its awards.

ESPN Wins Five Sports Emmy Awards

ESPN won five Sports Emmy Awards, presented for the 34th year by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences tonight in New York. ESPN was honored for journalism, technical and creative excellence and marketing.

The prime-time magazine show E:60 received the Sports Emmy in the Journalism category for a story on the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team and its infamous fans. Reporter Jeremy Schaap and a crew travelled to Israel to document the rabid and racist nature of the team’s fan base and its behavior at games. It was the show’s fifth Sports Emmy in four years.

Outside the Lines won in the area of Camerawork for “Breaking the Silence,” the 15^th Sports Emmy in the show’s history. Host Bob Ley and reporter Tom Rinaldi told the story of Monika Korra of Norway who was raped by three men while a member of the SMU cross-country team. She went on to help find and convict the three. She also returned to the team and speaks publicly against violence.

ESPN’s “It’s not crazy, it’s sports” promotional campaign took the Sports Emmy for best Promo-Institutional.  One of the spots included in the submission told the humorous tale of a man in Chicago named Michael Jordan. (He is not a former basketball player.)

ESPN 3D – the only all-sports 3D network – defended its Sports Emmy of a year ago by again winning in the Technical Team Remote category for the Winter X Games.

In the New Approaches – Short Format category, Sport Science won its third Sports Emmy in as many years.

ESPN has now won 153 Sports Emmy Awards in 26 years of eligibility.

ESPN’s Sports Emmy Awards:

(all are ESPN, except as noted)

Journalism — E:60 – Beitar Jerusalem (ESPN2)
Technical Team Remote — Winter X Games (ESPN 3D)
New Approaches – Short Format    Sport Science
Camerawork — Outside the Lines – Breaking the Silence
Promo – Institutional — “It’s not crazy, it’s sports.”

And I’ll post more Sports Emmy Award press releases if more arrive in the Fang’s Bites inbox.

34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards Winners

The 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards were handed out tonight in New York at Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center.

Thanks to Josh Krulewitz, ESPN public relations maven, I can list the individual winners. I’ll have a full list from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tomorrow and I’ll post it when it becomes available.

First, no surprises in the talent categories. The usual suspects won, Costas, Collinsworth, Barkley and Al Michaels is back for play-by-play, his sixth Emmy.

If you want to see the nominations in full, you can go here.

I’ll go in the order the awards were handed out.

The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award – Games of the XXX Olympiad: The Multi-Screen Olympics, NBC/Bravo/CNBC/MSNBC/NBC Sports Network/NBCOlympics.com/Telemundo

Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound – NASCAR on Fox, Fox

Outstanding Production Design/Art Direction – NCAA March Madness: Brackets Everywhere, truTV

Outstanding Studio Show Weekly – Inside the NFL, Showtime/CBS Sports/NFL Films

Outstanding Long Feature – Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Steve Gleason: Tragic Hero, HBO

Outstanding Editing – 24/7: Pacquaio-Marquez 4, HBO

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement, Episodic – A Football Live: Life Story, NFL Network/NFL Films

Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Reporter – (TIE) Pierre McGuire, NBC (why?) and Tom Verducci, MLB Network/TBS

Outstanding Graphic Design – MLB Network Division Series: The Scrapbook, MLB Network

Outstanding Sports Documentary – Namath, HBO

Outstanding Technical Team Studio – Games of the XXX Olympiad, NBC/Bravo/MSNBC/NBC Sports Network/Telemundo

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming Short Format – Sport Science, ESPN/Base Productions

Outstanding Playoff Coverage – (TIE) National League Championship Series: Cardinals vs. Giants, Fox and NBA Playoffs, TNT

Outstanding Camera Work – Outside the Lines: Breaking the Silence, ESPN

Outstanding Edited Sports Special – One Heartbeat, CBS Sports Network/CBS Sports

Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics – Namath, HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement, Institutional – (TIE) It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports: Shake On It, The Name, Born Into It — ESPN/Wieden & Kennedy and NCAA March Madness: Brackets Everywhere, TBS/CBS/TNT/truTV

Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play – Al Michaels, NBC

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Event Coverage – Red Bull Stratos: Space Jump, YouTube/Red Bull Media House

Outstanding Open/Tease – NBA on TNT: All-Star Game Tease, TNT

Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins, HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Event Analyst – Cris Collinsworth, NBC

The Dick Schaap Writing Award – Games of the XXX Olympiad: Measure & Motion, NBC

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming – Games of the XXX Olympiad: Countdown to London, NBCOlympics.com

Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology – Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO

Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Analyst – Charles Barkley, TNT

Outstanding Sports Journalism – E:60: Beitar Jerusalem, ESPN2

Outstanding Technical Team Remote – Winter X Games 2012, ESPN 3D

Outstanding Short Feature – NFL GameDay Morning: Immaculate Remembrance, NFL Network

Outstanding Live Sports Series – Sunday Night Football, NBC

Outstanding Studio Show, Daily – MLB Tonight, MLB Network

Outstanding Live Event Turnaround – Games of the XXX Olympiad, NBC

Outstanding Live Sports Special – Super Bowl XLVI, NBC

Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Host – Bob Costas (who else?), NBC/NBC Sports Network

The network press releases crowing about their Sports Emmy wins are trickling in. I’ll post them in order of their arrival into the Fang’s Bites inbox.

ESPN/ESPN2 Combine for Four Games 6 on Friday

Thanks to six series in the NBA Playoffs extending to six games, there’s the potential for some of them heading to the full seven games. But before that happens, ESPN and ESPN2 have a rare harmonic convergence of airing four of the NBA Conference Quarterfinals series on Friday night. Both networks will have games at 7 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN will carry New York at Boston then Oklahoma City at Houston.

ESPN2 will air Indiana at Atlanta and Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis.

Below, we have the schedules and the announcing assignments for the four games. Paulsen at Sports Media Watch tweets that this is the first time there have been four Games 6 in one night since 2003 when TBS/TNT had four game telecasts between them.

Here’s the ESPN press release.

NBA Playoffs: ESPN, ESPN2 Combine to Televise Four Game 6?s Friday

ABC to Broadcast Two Games Sunday

The NBA Playoffs will continue on ESPN and ESPN2 this Friday, May 3, with four quarterfinal round Game 6 telecasts. ESPN will televise a doubleheader, beginning with the Boston Celtics hosting the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. ET, with Mike Breen, analyst Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Heather Cox providing commentary. At 9:30 p.m., the Oklahoma City Thunder will visit the Houston Rockets with Mike Tirico, analyst Hubie Brown and reporter Holly Rowe calling the action.

ESPN2 will televise a doubleheader simultaneously, beginning with the Atlanta Hawks hosting the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. with Mark Jones, analyst Doris Burke and reporter Chris Broussard providing commentary. At 9:30 p.m. the Los Angeles Clippers will visit the Memphis Grizzlies with commentary from Dave Pasch and analyst Jon Barry.

Additionally, ABC will broadcast two games on Sunday, May 5, at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.  The games will be a combination of quarterfinal Games 7 and/or semifinal Games 1. NBA Countdown will tip off Sunday’s coverage at 12:30 p.m. with Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jalen Rose, Bill Simmons and Michael Wilbon previewing the doubleheader.

NBA Playoffs on ESPN, ESPN2 – Friday, May 3

Time (ET)	Game 6	Commentators	Network(s)
7 p.m.	New York Knicks at Boston Celtics	Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Heather Cox	ESPN, WatchESPN
7 p.m.	Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks	Mark Jones, Doris Burke, Chris Broussard	ESPN2, WatchESPN
9:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets	Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Holly Rowe	ESPN, WatchESPN
9:30 p.m.	Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies	Dave Pasch, Jon Barry	ESPN2, WatchESPN

NBA Playoffs on ABC – Sunday, May 5

Time (ET)	Game	Commentators
12:30 p.m.	NBA Countdown	Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jalen Rose, Bill Simmons, Michael Wilbon
1 p.m.	TBD	TBD
3:30 p.m.	TBD	TBD

That’s all.

NBA on ESPN Back on the Case with Seven Playoff Games This Weekend

The ESPN family of networks will be back with seven NBA Playoff games starting this Friday through Sunday. In addition, several commentators will work multiple games during that three day stretch.

ESPN and ESPN2 will combine for three games on Friday, then ESPN has a Saturday night doubleheader to be followed with a Sunday afternoon double dip on ABC.

The announcing teams of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Heather Cox along with Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and Chris Broussard will work games on Friday and Saturday. Dave Pasch and Jon Barry will work on Friday and Saturday with Holly Rowe on Friday and Samantha Ponder on Saturday.

Here’s the schedule for the NBA on ESPN.

NBA Playoffs Continue with Seven Games on ABC & ESPN This Weekend

Three ESPN Commentator Teams to Call Multiple Games

The NBA Playoffs will continue on ABC and ESPN this weekend with seven games across the networks, beginning with three ESPN telecasts Friday and a concluding with a blockbuster ABC doubleheader Sunday. The updated commentator assignments for ABC, ESPN, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes – including three commentator teams calling multiple games – are listed below.

Highlights

• Mike Breen, analyst Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Heather Cox to call both New York Knicks-Boston Celtics games.
• Mike Tirico, analyst Hubie Brown and reporter Chris Broussard to call San Antonio Spurs-Los Angeles Lakers Friday and Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks Sunday.
• Dave Pasch, analyst Jon Barry and reporter Holly Rowe will call two games in less than 24 hours – Denver Nuggets-Golden State Warriors Friday and Oklahoma City Thunder-Houston Rockets Saturday.

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Networks
Fri, Apr 26	8 p.m.	New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (Gm. 3) ESPN: Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Marc Kestecher, Dr. Jack Ramsay	ESPN, ESPN Radio, WatchESPN
	10:30 p.m.	San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Lakers (Gm. 3) ESPN: Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Chris Broussard ESPN Deportes: Alvaro Martin, Carlos Morales	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes
	10:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors (Gm. 3) ESPN: Dave Pasch, Jon Barry, Holly Rowe	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Sat, Apr 27	7 p.m.	Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks (Gm. 3) ESPN: Mark Jones, Doris Burke, Holly Rowe	ESPN, WatchESPN
	9:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets (Gm. 3) ESPN: Dave Pasch, Jon Barry, Samantha Ponder ESPN Radio: Kevin Calabro, Chris Mullin ESPN Deportes: Alvaro Martin, Carlos Morales	ESPN, ESPN Radio, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes
Sun, Apr 28	12:30 p.m.	NBA Countdown Magic Johnson, Bill Simmons, Jalen Rose, Michael Wilbon	ABC
	1 p.m.	New York Knicks at Boston Celtics (Gm. 4) ESPN: Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Marc Kestecher, Dr. Jack Ramsay	ABC, ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Miami Heat at Milwaukee Bucks (Gm. 4) ESPN: Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Chris Broussard ESPN Deportes: Alvaro Martin, Carlos Morales	ABC, ESPN Deportes

There you have it.

MLB Opening Week Includes 22 Teams on National Television

This from Major League Baseball, we learn that combined through the ESPN family of networks, Fox Sports, MLB Network and TBS, a total of 22 teams will get their fun in the sun so to speak on national television.

This includes the Opening Night game tomorrow when the Texas Rangers take on the Houston Astros in the ‘stros first game as an American League team.

In addition, ESPN/ESPN2 will have seven games over a four day span. MLB Network will have the bulk of the games, 14 overall. Fox and TBS also join in the fun with games next weekend.

We have the official press release from Major League Baseball.

22 CLUBS FEATURED ON NATIONAL TV DURING MLB OPENING WEEK

Astros Officially Join AL on Sunday Night vs. Rangers on ESPN;
ESPN Opening Day Coverage Features Classic Rivalries
FOX & TBS Open Next Weekend With Postseason Rematches
MLB Network Airing 14 Games in First Week of Season

Major League Baseball is officially back, with 22 different MLB Clubs set to be featured on national television during MLB Opening Week. The action starts this Sunday night on ESPN as the Astros officially join the American League and face the Rangers, their new in-state, AL West rivals.  ESPN also will present a full slate of games on Opening Day on Monday as well as a doubleheader on Wednesday night, featuring top rivalries including Yankees vs. Red Sox and Giants vs. Dodgers. FOX opens with a tripleheader next Saturday featuring Postseason rematches including Cardinals vs. Giants and Yankees vs. Tigers. TBS returns next Sunday also featuring Yankees vs. Tigers. MLB Network will air 14 games throughout the week, anchored by the Giants vs. Dodgers on Tuesday night on MLB Network Showcase, ensuring baseball is on national TV every single night of the week.

Sunday, March 31
Rangers vs. Astros — 8:05 p.m., ESPN

Monday, April 1
Red Sox vs. Yankees — 1:05 p.m., ESPN
Giants vs. Dodgers — 4:10 p.m., ESPN
Phillies vs. Braves — 7:10 p.m., ESPN2
Cardinals vs. D-backs — 10:10 p.m., ESPN2

Tuesday, April 2
Orioles vs. Rays — 3:10 p.m., MLBN
Cardinals vs. D-backs — 9:40 p.m., MLBN
Giants vs. Dodgers — 10:10 p.m., MLBN

Wednesday, April 3
Red Sox vs. Yankees — 7:05 p.m., ESPN2
Giants vs. Dodgers — 10:10 p.m., ESPN2

Thursday, April 4
Angels vs. Reds — 12:35 p.m., MLBN
Padres vs. Mets — 1:10 p.m., MLBN
Red Sox vs. Yankees — 7:05 p.m., MLBN
Phillies vs. Braves — 7:10 p.m.., MLBN

Friday, April 5
Yankees v. Tigers — 1:05 p.m., MLBN
Padres vs. Rockies — 4:10 p.m, MLBN
Cardinals vs. Giants — 4:35 p.m, MLBN
Cubs vs. Braves — 7:30 p.m., MLBN
A’s vs. Astros — 8:10 p.m., MLBN

Saturday, April 6
Cardinals vs. Giants — 4:05 p.m, FOX
Yankees vs. Tigers — 4:05 p.m., FOX
Angels vs. Rangers — 4:05 p.m., FOX
Royals vs. Phillies — 7:05 p.m., MLBN
Indians vs. Rays — 7:10 p.m., MLBN

Sunday, April 7
Yankees vs. Tigers — 1:05 p.m., TBS
Angels vs. Rangers — 8:05 p.m., ESPN2

*All Times ET; includes regional coverage, select game blacked out in home markets

That will do it.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/30 & 03/31/2013, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 30

Men’s

Pregame & Studio Shows
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 2:30 p.m.
NCAA Basketball Tournament Press Conference — Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
NCAA March Madness 360 — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
Big Ten Basketball & Beyond: Tournament Edition — Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 12:30 a.m. (Sunday)
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

NCAA Tournament
Regional Finals

East Region, Washington, DC
Syracuse vs. Marquette — CBS, 4:30 p.m. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nichols)

West Region, Los Angeles, CA
Wichita State vs. Ohio State — CBS, 7:05 p.m. (Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson)

NCAA Division II Tournament, Louisville, KY
Semifinals
Metro State vs. West Liberty — CBS Sports Network, noon (Brad Johansen/Dan Bonner)
Western Washington vs. Drury — CBS Sports Network, 2:30 p.m. (Brad Johansen/Dan Bonner)

Women’s

NCAA Tournament
Regional Semifinals

Bridgeport Region, Bridgeport, CT
Delaware vs. Kentucky — ESPN, noon (Beth Mowins/Doris Burke//Holly Rowe)
Maryland vs. UConn — ESPN, 2:30 p.m. (Beth Mowins/Doris Burke//Holly Rowe)

Spokane Region, Spokane, WA
Georgia vs. Stanford — ESPN, 9 p.m. (Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli//LaChina Robinson)
LSU vs. Cal — ESPN, 11:30 p.m. (Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli//LaChina Robinson)

Sunday, March 31

Men’s

Pregame & Studio Shows
Knight and Auriemma: A Coaches Conversation — ESPNU, 10:30 a.m.
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 2 p.m.
NCAA March Madness 360 — CBS Sports Network, 2:30 p.m.
NCAA Basketball Tournament Press Conference: Elite Eight Postgame — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
Big Ten Basketball & Beyond: Tournament Edition — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, 9 p.m.

NCAA Tournament
Regional Finals

South Regional, Arlington, TX
CBS, 2:20 p.m. (Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager)

Midwest Regional, Indianapolis, IN
CBS, 4:55 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson)

Women’s

NCAA Tournament
Regional Semifinals

Norfolk Regional, Norfolk, VA
Kansas vs. Notre Dame — ESPN, noon (Dave O’Brien/Stephanie White//Jeannine Edwards)
Nebraska vs. Duke — ESPN, 2:30 p.m. (Dave O’Brien/Stephanie White//Jeannine Edwards)

Oklahoma City Regional, Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma vs. Tennessee — ESPN, 4:30 p.m. (Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo//Maria Taylor)
Louisville vs. Baylor — ESPN, 7 p.m. (Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo//Maria Taylor)

ESPN All Over MLB Opening Week

Next week is Opening Week for Major League Baseball. ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to air seven games over a four day span.

ESPN will have the Opening Night Game this Sunday night between new American League West Division rivals Texas and Houston. The new Sunday Night Baseball announcing crew of Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and John Kruk will call that game as well as the San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers contest at Dodger Stadium less than 24 hours later.

The new Monday Night Baseball crew of Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe and Aaron Boone along with insider Tim Kurkjian will call the blood rivalry of Yankees-Red Sox at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, April 1.

ESPN’s new Wednesday Night Baseball concept will have various play-by-play announcers including Sean McDonough with analysts who have a connection to the teams playing that night like Curt Schilling doing a Red Sox or Doug Glanville on a Phillies game.

We have the ESPN announcement.

New ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Crew to Call Two MLB Season-Opening Games in Less Than 24 Hours

New Monday Night Baseball Booth & Wednesday Night Baseball Rotating Booth to Debut Opening Day
ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning at MLB Fan Cave; First Take at NYC’s Hard Rock Cafe

ESPN’s new Sunday Night Baseball team – Dan Shulman, John Kruk and Orel Hershiser with reporter Buster Olney – will debut on the exclusive national telecast of MLB Opening Night on Sunday, March 31, at 8 p.m. ET when the Texas Rangers visit the Astros, in Houston’s American League debut. Immediately following the game, the ESPN crew will travel to Los Angeles to call their second game in less than 24 hours – the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Monday, April 1, at 4 p.m. ET

New Monday Night Baseball Booth

ESPN’s new Monday Night Baseball crew – Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe and Aaron Boone with reporter Tim Kurkjian – will make their season debut Monday, April 1, when the New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox at 1 p.m. on ESPN. The Monday Night Baseball crew will also provide commentary Wednesday, April 3, for the second game of the Red Sox-Yankees season-opening series on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.

New Wednesday Night Baseball Rotating Booth

This season, ESPN will debut a new rotating Wednesday Night Baseball commentator lineup led by Sean McDonough, which will include a variety of play-by-play announcers and analysts from ESPN’s deep roster of MLB personalities. Commentators will be assigned to Wednesday Night Baseball telecasts based on a relevant connection to the game. On Opening day, McDonough will team with analyst Mark Mulder and reporter Doug Glanville to call the Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

SportsCenter’s Steve Levy will provide play-by-play commentary for the St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day game, April 1, at 10 p.m. on ESPN2. Levy will be joined by analyst Nomar Garciaparra and reporter Pedro Gomez.

On Opening Day, Mike & Mike in the Morning will air live on ESPN Radio and ESPN2 from the MLB Fan Cave in New York from 6-10 a.m. The popular morning program will also visit the Omni Dallas on Friday, April 5, and the Cubby Bear in Chicago on Monday, April 8, as part of an MLB Opening Day Tour.

First Take will emanate from the Hard Rock Café in New York City on Opening Day beginning at 10 a.m. on ESPN2.

Baseball Tonight

On Sunday, March 31, ESPN will air a special two-hour Baseball Tonight at 6 p.m. leading into Opening Night. Baseball Tonight airs at 12 p.m. on ESPN and again at 1 a.m. on ESPN2 on Opening Day. New Baseball Tonight commentators Alex Cora and Manny Acta will join Barry Larkin, Curt Schilling, Aaron Boone, Doug Glanville, Tim Kurkjian and Karl Ravech throughout the week.

“Who’s on First?”

On Sunday, SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight will present a piece recognizing the 75^th anniversary of Abbott & Costello’s “Who’s on First?” skit featuring Late Night host Jimmy Fallon and several Major League players acting out their own versions of the classic.

ESPN MLB season-opening schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Networks
Sun, Mar 31	6 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Karl Ravech, Alex Cora, Barry Larkin, Curt Schilling, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN, WatchESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Beisbol Esta Noche Candy Maldonado, Carolina Guillen, Manny Acta	ESPN Deportes
	8 p.m.	Opening Night Baseball on ESPN: Texas Rangers at Houston Astros ESPN: Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Orel Hershiser, Buster Olney ESPN Radio: Jon Sciambi, Chris Singleton ESPN Deportes: Ernesto Jerez, Luis Alfredo Alvarez ESPN Deportes Radio: Renato Bermudez, Jose Francisco Rivera	ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes Radio, WatchESPN
Mon, Apr 1	12 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Karl Ravech, Barry Larkin, Curt Schilling	ESPN, WatchESPN
	1 p.m.	Opening Day Baseball on ESPN: Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe, Aaron Boone, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN, WatchESPN
	4 p.m.	Opening Day Baseball on ESPN: San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers ESPN: Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Orel Hershiser, Buster Olney ESPN Radio: Jon Sciambi, Chris Singleton	ESPN, ESPN Radio WatchESPN
	7 p.m.	Opening Day Baseball on ESPN: Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves Sean McDonough, Mark Mulder, Doug Glanville	ESPN2, WatchESPN
	10 p.m.	Opening Day Baseball on ESPN: St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks Steve Levy, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Gomez	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Tue, Apr 2	1 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Karl Ravech, Aaron Boone, Alex Cora	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Wed, Apr 3	12:30 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Adnan Virk, Manny Acta, Doug Glanville	ESPN2, WatchESPN
	7 p.m.	Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe, Aaron Boone, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN2, WatchESPN
	10 p.m.	San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers Jon Sciambi, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Gomez	ESPN2, WatchESPN

That’s going to do it.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/23 & 03/24/2013, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 23

Pregame & Studio Shows
NCAA March Madness 360 — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 1 a.m. (Sunday)

Men’s
NCAA Tournament
3rd Round
East Region
Lexington, KY
Butler vs. Marquette — CBS, 7:45 p.m. (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce)

San Jose, CA
Cal vs. Syracuse — TBS, 9:40 p.m. (Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider)

Midwest Region
Auburn Hills, MI
Memphis vs. Michigan State — CBS, 2:45 p.m. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nichols)

Lexington, KY
Colorado State vs. Louisville — CBS, 5:15 p.m. (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce)

San Jose, CA
Oregon vs. Saint Louis — TBS, 7:10 p.m. (Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider)

South Region
Auburn Hills, MI
Virginia Commonwealth vs. Michigan — CBS, 12:15 p.m. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nicols)

Salt Lake City, UT
Harvard vs. Arizona — TNT, 6:10 p.m. (Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio!!!)
Wichita State vs. Gonzaga — TNT, 8:40 p.m. (Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio!!!)

National Invitation Tournament
2nd RoundStanford at Alabama — ESPN, 11 a.m. (Rich Hollenberg/Miles Simon)

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
1st Round

11 a.m
All Games on ESPN2
Quinnipiac vs. Maryland (Mark Kestecher/LaChina Robinson)
Central Michigan vs. Oklahoma (Clay Matvick/Swin Cash)
Creighton vs. Syracuse (Bob Wischusen/Nell Fortner)St. Joseph’s vs. Vanderbilt (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)

1:30 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
Marist vs. Michigan State (Mark Kestecher/LaChina Robinson)
Stetson vs. UCLA (Clay Matvick/Swin Cash)
Oral Roberts vs. Tennessee (Bob Wischusen/Nell Fortner)
Idaho vs. UConn (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)

4 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
South Dakota State vs. South Carolina (Mark Jones/Fran Fraschilla)
Wichita State vs. Texas A&M (Carter Blackburn/Maria Taylor)
Fresno State vs. Cal (Cara Capuano/Stephen Bardo)
Gonzaga vs. Iowa State (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

6:30 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
Kansas vs. Colorado (Mark Jones/Fran Fraschilla)
Chattanooga vs. Nebraska (Carter Blackburn/Maria Taylor)
South Florida vs. Texas (Cara Capuano/Stephen Bardo)
Montana vs. Georgia (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

Sunday, March 24

Pregame & Studio Shows
NCAA March Madness 360 — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
NCAA Basketball Tournament Press Conferences — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
NCAA March Madness 360 — CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 12:30 a.m. (Monday)

Men’s
NCAA Tournament
3rd Round
East Region
Dayton, OH
Temple vs. Indiana — CBS, 2:45 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson)

Austin, TX
Illinois vs. Miami — TNT, 8:40 p.m. (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston)

Midwest Region
Philadelphia, PA
Creighton vs. Duke — TBS, 9:40 p.m. (Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson)

South Region
Kansas City, MO
North Carolina vs. Kansas — CBS, 5:15 p.m. (Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager)

Austin, TX
Minnesota vs. Florida — TNT, 6:10 p.m. (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston)

Philadelphia, PA
Florida Gulf Coast vs. San Diego State — TBS (Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson)

West Region
Dayton, OH
Iowa State vs. Ohio State — CBS, 12:15 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson)

Kansas City, MO
La Salle vs. Mississippi — truTV, 7:45 p.m. (Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager)

National Invitation Tournament
2nd Round
St. John’s at Virginia — ESPN, noon (Mike Crispino/Derek Whittenberg)

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
1st Round

Noon
All Games on ESPN2
West Virginia vs. Delaware (Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo)
Hampton vs. Duke (Joe Davis/Debbie Antonelli)
Liberty vs. Purdue (Melissa Lee/Brooke Weisbrod)
Navy vs. Kentucky (Bob Picozzi/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude) (also on ESPNU)

2:30 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
Albany vs. North Carolina (Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo)
DePaul vs. Oklahoma State (Joe Davis/Debbie Antonelli)
Middle Tennessee vs. Louisville (Melissa Lee/Brooke Weisbrod)
St. John’s vs. Dayton (Bob Picozzi/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude)

5 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
Cal Poly vs. Penn State (Tom Hart/Krista Blunk)
Tennessee-Martin vs. Notre Dame (Holly Rowe/Brenda VanLengen)
Tulsa vs. Stanford (Dave Pasch/Mary Murphy)
Princeton vs. Florida State (Beth Mowins/Stephanie White)

7:30 p.m.
All Games on ESPN2
Green Bay vs. LSU (Tom Hart/Krista Blunk)
Iowa vs. Miami (FL) (Holly Rowe/Brenda VanLengen)
Villanova vs. Michigan (Dave Pasch/Mary Murphy)
Prairie View A&M vs. Baylor (Beth Mowins/Stephanie White)

ESPN, Inc. Pounds Its Chest Over 43 Sports Emmy Nominations

The ESPN Family of Networks received 43 Sports Emmy nominations. Some of the major nods include Mike Breen for Play-by-Play, Jon Gruden for Event Sports Analyst, College GameDay for Weekly Studio Show, Pardon the Interruption in Daily Studio Show, the Indy 500 for Live Sports Special, Monday Night Football in Live Sports Series, 30 for 30 in Edited Sports Series/Anthology, E:60 for Sports Journalism and even Grantland got three nominations giving Bill Simmons another ego blast.

Here’s what ESPN is saying about their Sports Emmy nominations.

ESPN, Inc. – 41 Sports Emmy Nominations

Outside the Lines, E:60 Lead the Way; First Three Nominations for Grantland.com

ESPN, Inc. received 41 Sports Emmy Award nominations for 2012 across its platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN 3D, ABC, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and Grantland.com), it was announced today by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  The winners will be announced Monday, May 6, in New York.

The company’s initiatives in enterprise journalism and storytelling led the way – five nods for E:60, four for Outside the Lines, ESPN Films earned four nominations including two for 30 for 30 documentaries, and three for Grantland.com, the site’s first nominations. OTL has won 14 Sports Emmy Awards in history, including three last year.  Grantland.com gained two nominations in New Approaches – Sports Programming with “The Arnold Palmer” and “Royce White Battles Anxiety on Draft Day” as well as one in New Approaches – Short Format for “Story Time with Jalen Rose.”

Monday Night Football, the most-watched series in cable television, was nominated in Live Series and its analyst Jon Gruden was nominated for the fourth consecutive year and reporter Lisa Salters received her first-ever nod.  In technical categories, ESPN 3D garnered a pair of nominations, including in Technical Team Remote for the Winter X Games for which the network won in 2012.  Also, last summer’s UEFA Euro 2012 month-long tournament received nominations in Technical Team Studio and in Graphic Design.

Overall, ESPN has won 148 Sports Emmy Awards in 25 years of eligibility.  ABC Sports won 160 from 1980 – 2008.

ESPN’s nominations by category (all are ESPN, except as noted):

Live Special                                   Indianapolis 500 (ABC)
Live Series                                     Monday Night Football
Edited Special                                Outside the Lines – Believe
Sports Documentary                      26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story (ESPN2)
The Announcement
Edited Series                                 30 for 30
Studio Show/weekly                       College GameDay
Studio Show/daily                          NFL Live (ESPN2)
Pardon the Interruption
Journalism                                     E:60 – Beitar Jerusalem (ESPN2)
                                                      E:60 – Busted Coverage (ESPN2)
Short Feature                                 College GameDay – Fist Bump: A Brotherly Bond
E:60 – Perfect (ESPN2)
SportsCenter – Kick of Hope
SportsCenter – Run with Me
Long Feature                                  E:60 – Mike Powell: In Relentless Pursuit (ESPN2)
New Approaches –                         Unite (ESPNU)
Sports Programming                     Royce White Battles Anxiety on Draft Day (Grantland.com)
The Arnold Palmer (Grantland.com)
New Approaches – Short Format    ESPNU Unite Social Highlight (ESPNU)
Story Time with Jalen Rose (Grantland.com)
Numbers Never Lie Whiteboard (ESPN2)
Play by Play                                   Mike Breen (ABC)
Event Analyst                                 Jon Gruden
Reporter                                         Lisa Salters
Technical Team Remote                 The Masters (ESPN 3D with CBS)
Winter X Games (ESPN 3D)
Technical Team Studio                  UEFA Euro 2012
Camerawork                                   E:60 – Remember Bluffton (ESPN2)
Outside the Lines – Breaking the Silence
Editing                                           Grand Slam Tennis (ESPN2
Outside the Lines – Breaking the Silence
Writing                                           The Open Championship – Old
The Open Championship – Essays
30 for 30 – Ghosts of Ole Miss
Graphic Design                              UEFA Euro 2012
                                                      Sport Science (ESPN-ESPN2-ESPNEWS)
Prod.Design/Art Direction              Outside the Lines – Defiance: The Story of FC Start
Promo – Institutional                     “It’s not crazy, it’s sports.”
“Nothing Beats First Place”

That’s going to do it.

34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards Nominations Announced

Just received this from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the full press release of the nominations for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards.

NBC Sports Group received the most nominations with 58 followed by ESPN with 43 and Turner in third with 27.

Bob Costas was nominated yet again for Outstanding Studio Host along with Dan Patrick, James Brown, Ernie Johnson and Rich Eisen.

There were only four nominees for Outstanding Play-by-play, Mike Breen, Mike Emrick, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz.

Cris Collinsworth received another nomination for Outstanding Event Analyst. He’s joined by Ato Boldon of NBC Olympics, Jon Gruden, Jim Kaat and Mike Mayock.

Studio Analyst was full with Charles Barkley of TNT, Tony Dungy of NBC’s Football Night in America, CBS’ Boomer Esiason, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds, Bill Ripken also from MLB Network and Kurt Warner of NFL Network.

Let us take a look at the full list. We need a jump break in here as well. Let’s go. Lots of things to read through. Get ready to scroll.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 34th ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS

Winners to be Honored During the May 7th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center

New York, NY – March 20, 2013 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.

More than 170 nominees were announced in 34 categories including Outstanding Live Sports Special, Live Series, Sports Documentary, Studio Show, Promotional Announcements, Play-by-Play Personality and Studio Analyst. The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 in New York City.

“What a world we live in,” said Malachy Wienges, Chair, NATAS. “The Olympics, NASCAR, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the World Series, The Stanley Cup, The NBA, the US Open, the Masters…it just goes on and on! This is another outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmy Awards illustrate the high-water mark of quality each of us gets to enjoy every time we turn on our favorite program. With so much talent vying for the prestigious Emmy Award and with many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities, and television professionals in attendance, it promises to be an exciting evening.”

The networks of NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, & Telemundo) lead the nomination totals with 58, ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN3D, ESPNU & ESPNews), garnered 43, and Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NCAA.com & truTV) garnered 27. A complete list of all Networks and individual show nominations follows below.

A complete list of all nominees is attached and also available at www.emmyonline.tv/sports

34th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group
Network or Network Group Nominations

NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel, nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, Telemundo) — 58
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPNU, ESPNews) — 43
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, truTV, NCAA.com) — 27
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED, FOX Soccer Channel) — 17
HBO Sports — 17
NFL Network (NFL Network, NFL Media, NFL.com) — 16
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBS Sports Network) — 15
MLB Network — 9
DIRECTV — 1
YouTube — 1

34th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network

NETWORK — NOMINATIONS

NBC — 36
ESPN — 23
HBO Sports — 17
FOX — 13
NFL Network — 13
TNT — 13
CBS — 10
ESPN2 — 10
MLB Network — 9
NBC Sports Network — 9
TBS — 5
NBA TV — 4
Showtime — 4
truTV — 4
grantland.com — 3
NBCOlympics.com — 3
Speed — 3
ABC — 2
Bravo — 2
ESPN3D — 2
ESPNU — 2
Golf Channel — 2
MSNBC — 2
NFL Media — 2
Telemundo — 2
CBS Sports Network — 1
CNBC — 1
DIRECTV — 1
ESPNews — 1
FOX Soccer Channel — 1
nbcsports.com — 1
NCAA.com — 1
NFL.com — 1
YouTube — 1

BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM — SERIES NOMINATIONS

Program/Network/Nominations
Games of the XXX Olympiad (NBC/Bravo/CNBC/MSNBC/NBC SportsNetwork/NBCOlympics.com/Telemundo) — 14
NBA on TNT (TNT) — 6
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (TNT) — 6
E:60 (ESPN2) — 5
24/7 (HBO) — 4
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins (HBO) — 4
MLB on FOX (FOX) — 4
Outside the Lines (ESPN) — 4
Sunday Night Football (NBC) — 4
NASCAR on FOX (FOX) — 3
NFL Films Presents (NFL Network) — 3
30 for 30 (ESPN) — 2
A Football Life (NFL Network) — 2
College Gameday (ESPN) — 2
The Dream Team (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NBA (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NFL (Showtime) –2
MLB Network Division Series (MLB Network) — 2
MLB Tonight (MLB Network) — 2
Namath (HBO) — 2
NCAA March Madness (TBS) — 2
NFL on FOX (FOX) — 2
SportsCenter (ESPN) — 2
Sport Science (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNews) — 2
UEFA Euro 2012 (ESPN) — 2

The nominations are coming after a jump break.
(continue reading…)

Bill Walton is a Verbal Acid Trip: NIT Stephen F. Austin-Stanford Edition

Bill Walton was back on the ESPN Family of Networks on Tuesday, calling the NIT First Round game between Stephen F. Austin and Stanford with Dave Flemming.

He was on for the entire game. Here’s the quotage.

Courtesy Matt Yoder, Awful Announcing

(About mixing up players and schools)
“I want to apologize right off the bat, because I know I’m going to make a mistake tonight and say ‘Taylor Swift’ instead of ‘Taylor Smith.’ It’s not intentional. I’m also going to say ‘Stephen A. Smith’ instead of ‘Stephen F. Austin.’ so please bear with me.”

(On Stanford’s substituting all five players)
“Mark this down in NCAA history! Five substitutions at once!”

(On Taylor Smith of Stephen F. Austin)
“Taylor Smith’s anticipation. He’s not a tall guy. Maybe 6’6″. Got really long arms. Got really powerful broad shoulders. Fabulous footwork … But that posture he has, that regal center, yeah! ‘I’m Paul Bunyon! I’m coming to California to chop these trees down!’”

(On few fouls called)
Dave Flemming: “We’ve had very few whistles in this first half.”
Bill Walton: “Good! Let them play!”
Dave Flemming: “Free flowing game.”
Bill Walton: “But you can’t just push a guy out of the way!”

(On Stanford and California)
Walton: “Why would you ever want to leave Stanford? Oh my gosh! Driving through the campus today with the light rain coming down. Everyone on their bikes, it’s just absolutely fantastic. All the new buildings, the new construction.”
Flemming: “Smell the eucalyptus groves.”
Walton: “Ah… I remember wandering through the forest here at Stanford. Those of us who live in California, what a day it was before the rain came in! Flying up over Big Sur, Monterrey, Carmel, and on 17. Boy, everybody on the plane flying Southwest, just grinning broadly! California, meet me on the burning shore!”

(On the college basketball postseason)
“What a perfect time of year, basketball all day, everyday!”

(After an offensive foul by Stanford)
“You have the treat the opposition even if they are from Texas with a little more respect”

(After a Stanford run)
“Timeout on the court here. The Lumberjacks are to sharpen those teeth on the chainsaws.”

(On the 5 second rule, the shot clock and other rules)
Walton: “A rule that must be done away with when they finally get around to modernizing and logicalizing and rationalizing the rules! But the shot clock…”
Flemming: “Let’s start with the shot clock.”
Walton: “The shot clock should be 30.”
Flemming: “Should be 30.”
Walton: “You shouldn’t be able to score and commit an offensive foul at the same time! You shouldn’t be able to call time out when the other team has the ball!”
Flemming: “We’ve got some work to do, Bill.”

(At halftime)
“We’ve got a game here! The Lumberjacks have cut down the trees in the first half! Oh my gosh! The Pac-12 had better wake up! Washington has already gone down tonight! A lot of tough games! Time for the locals to shine here in California through the rain!”

(On Stephen F. Austin)
“All the way from Texas, they have come here to take down the California tree and it has worked magnificently!”

(On Stanford)
Walton: “They’re Stanford University! They have a $17 billion endowment! You know how much is Stephen F. Austin’s?
Flemming: “I don’t.”
Walton: “$18 million!”

(On the Apple Store in Palo Alto, CA)
Walton: “University Avenue here in Palo Alto? What more can you ask for? The new Apple Store! Have you seen it?
Flemming: “It’s pretty slick.”
Walton: “All glass! Palo Alto Cycles just up the road as well!”

(On Robert Morris upsetting Kentucky in the NIT)
“Robert Morris standing tall. Walking like a giant signing the Declaration of Independence taking down the Kentucky Wildcats.”

(On storming the court)
“That should also be outlawed! It’s so dangerous! For those of you at home… Do not storm the court! Big mistake!”

(On a Stephen F. Austin dunk)
“Throw it down, big man! Big time! Chop it down!”

(On Taylor Smith)
“The Paul Bunyon out there, Taylor Smith”

(About SFA coach Danny Kaspar and a First Take reference)
“I want Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless to give Danny Kaspar some love tomorrow.”

(On Nacogdoches, Texas where Stephen F. Austin is located)
“So much going on there in Nacogdoches! Oh my gosh! Don Henley! Started his dream right there so many years ago! Don Henley, one of the most brilliant songwriters, musicians, performers ever! Now with The Eagles, along with Joe Walsh, Glenn Frye, Timothy Schmidt! They have a fabulous documentary on them right now, ‘The History of The Eagles.’ The Eagles are playing this Saturday night, the 23rd at the MGM Grand where we just were for the Pac-12 Conference. The Age of Innocence is over! Oh my gosh! Hotel California! Thank you, Don Henley! Thank you, Glen, Joe, Timothy! Incredible contribution here!”

(A Sierra Club reference)
“The Sierra Club has to be breathing a little easier, worried about the trees just being cut down here in California.”

(Giving the Pac-12 some love)
“The Pac-12, the world’s greatest conference!”

(As Stephen F. Austin kept the ball game close)
“This is where dreams come true, where legends are made!”

(Giving SFA coach Danny Kaspar love)
“Thank heaven for Danny Kaspar. He’s saving the game of basketball.”

(On a Stanford timeout)
“Stanford’s calling timeout??? They’re in control!! The other team’s in desperate straits!”

(After Stanford wins following an SFA miss)
“One more pass to a wide open guy! Oh my gosh! What a game! What a finish! Tough! Fierce! Competitive! Intense! Tenacious! All the things you love about basketball!”

(Concluding the game)
“We’re the luckiest people on earth!”

(Finally)
“Dave, you’re a genius! Thanks for your patience.”

Tremendous stuff as usual.

NIT Returns to ESPN on Tuesday; Bill Walton Assigned to Stanford

The National Invitation Tournament is back to allow 32 teams that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament an opportunity to have some postseason play.

The ESPN family of networks will air the entire tournament culminating with the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden on April 2 and April 4, respectively. Bob Wischusen will call the games at MSG. He’ll be joined by Bill Raftery for the semis and Bob Knight on the final.

In addition, we have more Bill Walton. His assignments for ESPN are not done yet. He’ll work the Stephen F. Austin-Stanford game with Dave Flemming on Tuesday for ESPN2.

Let’s take a look at what we have for the first round of the NIT on the ESPN family.

Alabama, Kentucky, Southern Mississippi and Virginia among 32 to Play in NIT across ESPN Networks

Exclusive coverage of the entire 76^th National Invitation Tournament (NIT) begins on Tuesday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, and continues across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 with coverage of all 31 games. In addition to 5 exclusive ESPN3 games during the first round, every game will be available on WatchESPN.

The NIT Semifinal games from Madison Square Garden will air on ESPN2, Tuesday, April 2,beginning at 7 p.m., and The NIT Championship will follow on Thursday, April 4 at 9 p.m. on ESPN. Play by play commentator Bob Wischusen will be joined by analysts Bill Raftery for the semifinals and Bob Knight for the final game of the tournament.

The 32-team field for the oldest tournament in college basketball was announced Sunday, March 17, during the ESPNU NIT Selection Show and includes teams representing 22 conferences, led by the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC with three selections each. First Round action airs from campus sites with the No.1 seeds Alabama, Southern Mississippi and Virginia competing at home. Defending National Champions, Kentucky, also joins the field as a No. 1 seed, but will play on the road at Robert Morris in Pittsburgh – Coach Calipari’s hometown – due to the unavailability of Rupp Arena.

Seven teams in the 2013 field played in the 2012 tournament, including the defending NIT Champions, Stanford. Three teams are making their first appearance in the tournament – Charleston Southern, Mercer and Norfolk State. St. John’s is making its 29^th appearance, the most all time. Eight teams in this year’s field have previously won an NIT title, including St. John’s, which has won a record six championships. Stanford has a chance to join St. John’s (1943, 1944) and South Carolina (2005, 2006) as the only teams to repeat.

2013 NIT First Round Schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Tue, March 19	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Niagara at Maryland Mike Patrick & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: St. John’s at Saint Joseph’s Mike Crispino & Bob Valvano	ESPNU
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Louisiana Tech at Florida State Rich Hollenberg & Paul Biancardi	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Kentucky at Robert Morris Bob Wischusen, Jimmy Dykes & Allison Williams	ESPN
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Northeastern at Alabama John Saunders & Bob Knight	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Norfolk State at Virginia Mitch Holthus & Cory Alexander	ESPNU
	9:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Ohio at Denver Mark Neely & Corey Williams	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Washington at BYU Roxy Bernstein & Sean Farnham	ESPN
	11 p.m.	NIT First Round: Stephen F. Austin at Stanford Dave Flemming & Bill Walton	ESPN2
Wed, March 20	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Indiana State at Iowa Carter Blackburn and Dan Dakich	ESPN2
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Charlotte at Providence Jason Benetti & Tim Welsh	ESPN3
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Stony Brook at UMass Doug Sherman & Malcolm Huckaby	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	NIT First Round: Mercer at Tennessee John Saunders & Bob Knight	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Long Beach State at Baylor Mark Jones & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2
	9:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Charleston Southern at Southern Mississippi Roy Philpott & Joe Dean	ESPN3
	10 p.m.	NIT First Round: Detroit at Arizona State Joe Davis & Miles Simon	ESPNU

That’s it for this post.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/16 & 03/17/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments Courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, March 16

Pregame and Studio Shows
College GameDay — ESPN, noon
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
College Basketball Live Scoreboard — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, 12:30 a.m. (Sunday)

Men’s
ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
North Carolina State vs. Miami — ACC Network (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Debbie Antontelli)/ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Doris Burke/Jeannine Edwards), 1 p.m.
Maryland vs. North Carolina — ACC Network (Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Debbie Antontelli)/ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Jeannine Edwards), 3:30 p.m.

America East Championship, Burlington, VT
Albany at Vermont — ESPN2, 11:30 a.m. (Bob Picozzi/LaPhonso Ellis)

Atlantic 10 Tournament, Brooklyn, NY
Semifinals
Saint Louis vs. Butler — CBS Sports Network, 1:30 p.m. (Tom McCarthy/Steve Wolf)
Virginia Commonwealth vs. UMass — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m. (Tom McCarthy/Steve Wolf)

Big East Championship, New York, NY
Syracuse vs. Louisville — ESPN, 8:30 p.m. (Sean McDonough/Jay Bilas/Bill Raftery/Andy Katz)

Big Ten Tournament, Chicago, IL
Semifinals
Indiana vs. Wisconsin — CBS, 1:30 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr/Tracy Wolfson)
Ohio State vs. Michigan State — CBS, 4 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr/Tracy Wolfson)

Big 12 Championship, Kansas City, MO
Kansas vs. Kansas State — ESPN, 6 p.m. (Brent Musburger/Fran Fraschilla/Holly Rowe)

Big Sky Championship, Missoula, MT
Weber State vs. Montana — ESPNU, 9 p.m. (Kanoa Leahey/Corey Williams)

Big West Championship, Anaheim, CA
Cal-Irvine vs. Pacific — ESPN2, 10:30 p.m. (Mark Jones/Miles Simon)

Conference USA Championship, Tulsa, OK
Southern Mississippi vs. Memphis — CBS, 11:30 a.m. (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)

Mid-American Conference, Cleveland, OH
Akron vs. Ohio — ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. (Bob Wischusen/Stephen Bardo)

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship, Norfolk, VA
Morgan State vs. North Carolina A&T — ESPNU, 5 p.m. (Jason Benetti/Stan Lewster)

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
New Mexico vs. UNLV — CBS, 6 p.m. (Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Reggie Miller)

Pac-12 Championship, Las Vegas, NV
UCLA vs. Oregon — ESPN, 11 p.m. (Dave Pasch/Bill Walton/Samantha Ponder)

SEC Tournament, Nashville, TN
Semifinals
Florida vs. Alabama — ABC, 1 p.m. (Brad Nessler/Jimmy Dykes/Shannon Spake)
Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi — ABC, 3:30 p.m. (Brad Nessler/Jimmy Dykes/Shannon Spake)

Southland Conference Championship, Katy, TX
Stephen F. Austin vs. Northwestern State — ESPN2, 8:30 p.m. (Carter Blackburn/Mark Adams)

Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship, Garland, TX
Prairie View A&M vs. Southern — ESPN2, 4:30 p.m. (Mark Neely/Darrin Horn)

WAC Championship, Las Vegas, NV
New Mexico State vs. Texas-Arlington — ESPNU, 11 p.m. (Trey Bender/Stephen Howard)

Women’s
Atlantic 10 Championship, Brooklyn, NY
St. Joseph’s vs. Fordham — ESPNU, 7 p.m. (Cara Capuano/Brooke Weisbrod)

Conference USA Championship, Tulsa, OK
Central Florida vs. Tulsa — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m. (James Bates/Julianne Viani)

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
San Diego State vs. Fresno State — CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m. (Rich Cellini/Tammy Blackburn/Lauren Gardner)

WAC Championship, Las Vegas, NV
Seattle vs. Idaho — ESPNU, 3 p.m. (Roy Philpott/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude)

Sunday, March 17

Pregame & Studio Shows
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, 11 a.m.
Road to the Final Four^® — CBS, noon
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
Bracketology — ESPN, 3 p.m.
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.
NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show — CBS, 6 p.m.
Big Ten Basketball & Beyond: Selection Sunday Special — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Bracketology — ESPN, 7 p.m.
NCAA Selection Sunday — truTV, 7 p.m.
NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
30 for 30: Survive & Advance — ESPN, 9 p.m.
NIT Selection Show — ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Tournament Countdown: The Experts — ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.
College GameNight — ESPN2, 10 p.m.

Men’s
ACC Championship, Greensboro, NC
Miami vs. North Carolina — ACC Network (Tim Brant/Mike Gminski/Debbie Antonelli)/ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Jeannine Edwards), 1 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Championship, Brooklyn, NY
Saint Louis vs. Virginia Commonwealth — CBS, 1 p.m. (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)

Big Ten Championship, Chicago, IL
Wisconsin vs. Ohio State — CBS, 3:30 p.m. (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr/Tracy Wolfson)

SEC Championship, Nashville, TN
Florida vs. Mississippi — ABC, 1 p.m. (Brad Nessler/Jimmy Dykes/Shannon Spake)

Women’s
Horizon League Championship, Green Bay, WI
Loyola at Green Bay — ESPNU, 1 p.m. (Jim Barbar/Nell Fortner)

Northeast Conference Championship, Hamden, CT
St. Francis at Quinnipiac — ESPNU, 5 p.m. (Cara Capuano/Brooke Weisbrod)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/09 & 03/10/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Announcing Assignments Courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, March 9

Pregame and Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Washington, DC — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 11:30 a.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 4:45 p.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
College GameDay live from Chapel Hill, NC — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 10:30 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

Conference Tournaments
Men’s
Atlantic Sun Championship, Macon, GA
Mercer vs. Florida Gulf Coast — ESPN2, noon (Roy Philpott/Derek Whittenburg)

CAA Tournament, Richmond, VA
Quarterfinals
George Mason vs. Drexel — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic/New England/NorthWest)/The Comcast Network, 3:30 p.m. (John Castleberry/John Feinstein)
Delaware vs. Hofstra — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England), 6 p.m. (Al Koken/Ron Thompson)
James Madison vs. William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England)/The Comcast Network, 8:30 p.m. (Al Koken/Ron Thompson)

Horizon League Tournament, Valparaiso, IN
Semifinals
Detroit vs. Wright State — ESPN3, 6 p.m. (Jim Barber/Malcolm Huckaby)
Valparaiso vs. Green Bay — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m. (Jim Barber/Malcolm Huckaby)

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, St. Louis, MO
Semifinals
Creighton vs. Indiana State — MVC TV/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest/Fox College Sports Pacific, 2:30 p.m. (John Rooney/Mark Adams)
Wichita State vs. Illinois State — MVC TV/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest/Fox College Sports Pacific, 5 p.m. (John Rooney/Mark Adams)

Northeast Conference Tournament
Semifinals
Mount St. Mary’s at Robert Morris — MSG2/Fox College Sports Central, noon (Dave Popkin/Tim Capstraw/Paul Dottino)
Long Island University-Brooklyn at Wagner — MSG 2/Fox College Sports Central, 2:30 p.m. (Dave Popkin/Tim Capstraw/Paul Dottino)

Ohio Valley Conference Championship, Nashville, TN
Belmont vs. Murray State — ESPN2, 7 p.m. (Rich Hollenberg/Adrian Branch)

Patriot League Tournament
Semifinals
Lehigh at Lafayette — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m. (Don Criqui/Vince Curran)
Army at Bucknell — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m. (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
South Dakota State vs. IUPUI — Fox College Sports Atlantic, 7 p.m. (Brad Niemann/Tom Newitt)
Western Illinois vs. South Dakota — Fox College Sports Atlantic, 9:30 p.m. (Brad Niemann/Tom Newitt)

Sun Belt Conference Tournament, Hot Springs, AR
Quarterfinals
Middle Tennessee vs. Louisiana-Lafayette/North Texas — CSS/Cox Sports Television, 7:30 p.m. (Tom Dore/Bob Donewald)
Arkansas State vs. Florida Atlantic/Troy — CSS/Cox Sports Television, 10 p.m. (Tom Dore/Bob Donewald)

West Coast Conference Tournament, Las Vegas, NV
Semifinals
Gonzaga vs. Loyola Marymount — ESPN2, 9 p.m. (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
St. Mary’s vs. San Diego — ESPN2, 11:30 p.m. (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

Women’s

ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
Florida State vs. Duke — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/South/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus), 1 p.m. (Mike Hogewood/Debbie Antonelli)
North Carolina vs. Maryland — Fox Sports Net (Florida/South/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic), 3:30 p.m. (Mike Hogewood/Debbie Antonelli)

Big East Tournament, Hartford, CT
Second Round
St. John’s vs. Seton Hall — Big East Network, noon (Bob Picozzi/Brooke Weisbrod/Allison Williams)
Rutgers vs. South Florida — Big East Network, 2:30 p.m. (Bob Picozzi/Broke Weisbrod/Allison Williams)
DePaul vs. Marquette — Big East Network, 6 p.m. (Bog Picozzi/LaChina Robinson/Allison Williams)
Villanova vs. Georgetown — Big East Network, 8:30 p.m. (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson/Allison Williams)

Big Ten Tournament, Hoffman Estates, IL
Semifinals
Nebraska vs. Purdue — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m. (Kevin Kugler/Stephanie White/Lisa Byington)
Penn State vs. Michigan State — Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m. (Kevin Kugler/Stephanie White/Lisa Byington)

Big 12 Tournament, Dallas, TX
Quarterfinals
Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Net, noon (Ron Thulin/Brenda Van Lengen)
Baylor vs. Kansas State — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m. (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Iowa State vs. Kansas — Fox Sports Net, 7 p.m. (Ron Thulin/Brenda Van Lengen)
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia — Fox Sports Net, 9:30 p.m. (Ron Thulin/Brenda Van Lengen)

Pac-12 Tournament, Seattle, WA
Semifinals
UCLA vs. Cal — Pac-12 Network, 9 p.m. (Anne Marie Anderson/Tammy Blackburn/Krista Blunk)
Stanford vs. Colorado — Pac-12 Network, 11:30 p.m. (Anne Marie Anderson/Tammy Blackburn/Krista Blunk)

SEC Tournament, Duluth, GA
Semifinals
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M — ESPNU, 4 p.m. (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)
Kentucky vs. Georgia — ESPNU, 6:30 p.m. (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)

noon
Georgia Tech at Boston College — ACC Network (Dwayne Ballen/Cory Alexander)
Minnesota at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Jim Jackson)
Florida at Kentucky — CBS (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
UAB at Memphis — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Pete Gillen)
Syracuse at Georgetown — ESPN (Sean McDonough/Jay Bilas/Bill Raftery)
Providence at UConn — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)

1:30 p.m.
Iowa State at West Virginia — Big 12 Network (Brad Sham/Rich Zvosec)
Kansas State at Oklahoma State — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Bryndon Manzer)
LaSalle at Saint Louis — NBC Sports Network (Mike Corey/Dave Kaplan)
Mississippi at LSU — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)
South Carolina at Vanderbilt — SEC Network (Joe Davis/Barry Booker)

2 p.m.
Dayton at George Washington — A-10 Network (Todd Bell/Tony White)
Pittsburgh at DePaul — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
UCLA at Washington — CBS (Brian Anderson/Doug Gottlieb)
UMass at URI — Cox Sports RI (Mike Mancuso/Chris DiSano)
Marquette at St. John’s — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
North Carolina State at Florida State — ESPN2 (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)
Texas A&M at Arkansas — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)

2:15 p.m.
Nebraska at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Shon Morris)

2:30 p.m.
Clemson at Miami (FL) — ACC Network (Tim Brant/Bobby Cremins)
Oregon at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Ernie Kent)

3:30 p.m.
San Diego State at Boise State — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Blaine Fowler)

4 p.m.
South Florida at Cincinnati — Big East Network (Mike Couzens/Sean Kearney)
Texas at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Stephen Howard)
Notre Dame at Louisville — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Mike Gminski)
Missouri at Tennessee — ESPN (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Georgia at Alabama — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Jon Sundvold)

4:30 p.m.
Arizona State at Arizona — Fox Sports Net-national (Justin Kutcher/Marques Johnson) (Clair Wyant forced me to include this)
Oregon State at Colorado — Pac-12 Network (Rich Cellini/Dan Belloumini)

5 p.m.
Oklahoma at TCU — Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports Arizona Plus (Brian Estridge/John Denton)

5:30 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/South/Southwest) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)
Cornell at Harvard — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Dalen Cuff)

6 p.m.
Kansas at Baylor — ESPN (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)

6:30 p.m.
Xavier at Butler — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/John Griffin)
USC at Washington State — Pac-12 Network (JB Long/Lamar Hurd)

7 p.m.
Long Beach State at Pacific — Fox College Sports Pacific/Fox Sports West (Mike Pomeranz/Jud Buechler/Cheryl Gorman)

8:30 p.m.
Nevada at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network (Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Lauren Gardner)

9 p.m.
Duke at North North Carolina — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Jay Bilas/Dick Vitale/Samantha Ponder)

Sunday, March 10

Studio Shows
ACC Sunday Night — ESPNU, 5:30 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Conference Tournaments
Men’s

Big South Championship, Myrtle Beach, SC
Charleston Southern vs. Liberty — ESPN2, noon (Mark Neely/LaPhonso Ellis)

CAA Tournament, Richmond, VA
Semifinals
Northeastern vs. George Mason — NBC Sports Network, 2 p.m. (Todd Harris/Ron Thompson/Mike Corey)
Delaware vs. James Madison — NBC Sports Network, 4:30 p.m. (Todd Harris/Ron Thompson/Mike Corey)

Missouri Valley Conference Championship, St. Louis, MO
Creighton vs. Wichita State — CBS, 2 p.m. (Tim Brando/Bill Raftery)

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
Oakland vs. IFPW — Fox College Sports Atlantic, 7 p.m. (Brad Niemann/Tom Newitt)
North Dakota State vs. Missouri-Kansas City — Fox College Sports Atlantic, 9:30 p.m. (Brad Niemann/Tom Newitt)

Sun Belt Conference Tournament, Hot Springs, AR
Semifinals
Florida International vs. Middle Tennessee — CSS/Cox Sports Television, 7:30 p.m. (Tom Dore/Bob Donewald)
Western Kentucky vs. Arkansas State — CSS/Cox Sports Television, 10 p.m. (Tom Dore/Bob Donewald)

Women’s

ACC Championship, Greensboro, NC
Duke vs. North Carolina — ESPN2, 2 p.m. (Pam Ward/Debbie Antonelli)

A-10 Tournament, Philadelphia, PA
Semifinals
Dayton vs. St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network, 1:30 p.m. (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Temple vs. Fordham — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m. (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)

Big East Tournament, Hartford, CT
Quarterfinals
Louisville vs. St. John’s — ESPNU, noon (Beth Mowins/Brooke Weisbrod/Allison Williams)
Notre Dame vs. South Florida — ESPNU, 2:30 p.m. (Beth Mowins/Brooke Weisbrod/Allison Williams)
UConn vs. DePaul — Big East Network/ESPN3, 6 p.m. (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson/Allison Williams)
Syracuse vs. Villanova — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m. (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson/Allison Williams)

Big Ten Championship, Hoffman Estates, IL
Purdue vs. Michigan State — ESPN2, 4 p.m. (Adam Amin/Stephanie White)

Big 12 Tournament, Dallas, TX
Semifinals
Oklahoma State vs. Baylor — Fox Sports Net-national, 2 p.m. (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Iowa State vs. Oklahoma — Fox Sports Net-national, 4:30 p.m. (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)

Pac-12 Championship, Seattle, WA
UCLA vs. Stanford — ESPN2, 8 p.m. (Roxy Bernstein/Mary Murphy)

SEC Championship, Duluth, GA
Kentucky vs. Texas A&M — ESPN2, 6 p.m. (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)

noon
Wisconsin at Penn State — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Sean Harrington)
VCU at Temple — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Reggie Miller)

12:30 p.m.
Illinois at Ohio State — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)

2 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest — ACC Network (Steve Martin/Cory Alexander)

4 p.m.
Indiana at Michigan — CBS (Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg)

6 p.m.
Northwestern at Michigan State — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Tim Doyle)
Maryland at Virginia — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams)

ESPN’s 2013 Championship Week To Include 136 Men’s Basketball Games

We’re fast approaching the college basketball conference tournaments and some really fun games. Teams that are on the bubble hope to improve their NCAA Tournament selection chances, while those teams firmly assured of a birth hope to improve on their seeding or hope not to get knocked off a certain line.

With the networks of ESPN not having the rights to the NCAA Tournament, this is the next best thing to having the Big Dance. ESPN has the rights to most of the major conference tournaments including the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

And the announcing assignments for the “BCS” conferences are as follows:

ACC Tournament (Greensboro, NC): Dan Shulman on 7 games working with Sean Farnham on four games, Doris Burke on one semifinal and Dick Vitale on a semifinal game and the Championship. Dave O’Brien and Doris work the other four games. Sideline reporters will be Allison Williams on four games, Jeannine Williams on 7.

Big East Tournament (New York, NY): Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery and Andy Katz call eight games including the semifinals and Championship. Mike Patrick and Len Elmore work the other five tournament games.

Big Ten Tournament (Chicago, IL): Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Samantha Ponder will work four tournament games. CBS has the rights to the semifinals and finals.

Big 12 Tournament (Kansas City, MO): Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe work five games including the semifinals and Championship.

Pac-12 Tournament (Las Vegas, NV): Dave Pasch and Bill Walton call one quarterfinal, one semifinal and the Championship. Samantha Ponder joins Pasch and Walton for the Championship.

SEC Tournament (Nashville, TN): Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake will call seven tournament games including the semifinals and Championship on ABC.

Let’s look at what ESPN is saying about Championship Week.

Championship Week: 136 Overall Men’s Games

Includes Pac-12 Title Game for First Time as Part of Crowning of 23 Champions

ESPN’s 2013 Championship Week will showcase 136 men’s college basketball conference tournament games across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 from Wednesday, March 6 to Sunday, March 17. ESPN3 will simulcast 37 of the matchups that are available in the local markets via syndication. Coverage highlights:

• For the first time, ESPN will televise Pac-12 Tournament games, covering a quarterfinal, semifinal and the Championship. In addition to ESPN’s telecast, ESPN Deportes will televise the Pac-12 title game. As part of a 12-year agreement with the conference, ESPN will televise one conference quarterfinal and semifinal game, and the championship every other year.
• The networks will combine to offer coverage of 23 Division I conference title games and action from 25 conferences overall.
• This season will mark ESPN’s 28th, ESPN2’s 19th and ESPNU’s eighth year of comprehensive coverage. ESPN will televise 20 games, ESPN2 24, ESPNU 19 and ABC three games, while ESPN3 will offer a platform record 29 exclusive contests.
• ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine to provide action of multiple men’s games from several top conferences, including all 13 of the BIG EAST games; all 11 of the SEC and ACC; all nine from the Big 12 and four from the Big Ten.

ESPN3 will tip off Championship Week with coverage of the Atlantic Sun Conference Quarterfinals with two games each on Wednesday, March 6 and Thursday, March 7. The matchups will tip off at 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET on both days. Championship Week will conclude on Sunday, March 17 with the ACC (ESPN) and SEC (ABC) title games at 1 p.m. Additional platform coverage:

• ESPN Buzzer Beater will provide live cut-ins, highlights and up-to-the-minute commentary from numerous Championship Week games from across the ESPN networks on Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15.
• The entire Championship Week coverage will also be available via WatchESPN, which delivers live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line on computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription. The WatchESPN app is available free to download for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire devices in the App Store, Google Play Store and Amazon Appstore for Android. It is also accessible online at WatchESPN.com and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members.
• ESPN 3D will offer coverage of all 11 ACC tournament matchups.
• ESPN International will offer extensive coverage, reaching 152 countries and territories on ESPN America – Great Britain (41 games), ESPN America – Europe (33  games), ESPN America -Middle East (32 games), ESPN2 Caribbean (22  games), ESPN Pac Rim (3 games), ESPN2 Australia (25 games), ESPN Atlantic (14 games), ESPN Middle East (20 games) and ESPN Brazil HD (9 games).

Week Concludes with Extensive Day-Long Coverage
The final day of Championship Week – Selection Sunday, March 17 – will begin at noon with College Basketball Live on ESPN, followed by the ACC Championship (on ESPN) and SEC Championship (on ABC), both at 1 p.m. Extensive coverage of the men’s NCAA Championship selection will include a three-hour Bracketology at 3 p.m. and a two-hour edition at 7 p.m., both on ESPN. ESPN will also offer selection coverage during SportsCenter at 6 p.m.ESPNU will televise the seventh annual NIT Selection Show at 9 p.m. and a three-hour Tournament Countdown edition of The Experts at 9:30 p.m.

Debut of Documentary Survive And Advance
ESPN’s Selection Sunday coverage on March 17 will conclude with the ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary Survive And Advance, focusing on NC State’s 1983 season, at 9 p.m. When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his NC State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, NC State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship. In Survive and Advance, director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since.

Commentator Notes

• BIG EAST: Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery and Andy Katz will pair up to call eight  BIG EAST games, including the semifinals and championship. Mike Patrick and Len Elmore will work the remaining five games.
• ACC: Dan Shulman will call seven of the ACC games, including the semifinals and championship. He will work four games with analyst Sean Farnham, a semifinal with Doris Burke and a semifinal and championship with Dick Vitale. Dave O’Brien, Burke and reporter Allison Williams will pair up on four games. Jeannine Edwards will report on seven including the semifinals and championship.
• Pac-12: Dave Pasch and Bill Walton will call all three of ESPN’s Pac-12 telecasts with reporter Samantha Ponder joining them on the championship.
• Big 12 & SEC: Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake will call seven SEC games including semifinals and title game on ABC, while Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe will work five Big 12 telecasts.
• Big Ten: Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Samantha Ponder will call the four Big Ten telecasts.

ESPN.com
ESPN.com’s Championship Week index page will feature news, analysis, information and results for every conference tournament as well as previews, in-depth expert examination and key storylines for select conferences. ESPN.com’s Bubble Watch with writer Eamonn Brennan will give fans an in-depth look at teams on the bubble and the latest developments on NCAA tournament selection status. In addition, writers will file stories from several tournament sites, including the ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac-12 and SEC. ESPN.com’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi will also update and adjust his Bracketology projections and outlook daily.

ESPN Radio: Greenberg & Greenberg Tips Off Championship Week
ESPN Radio’s Championship Week coverage will begin with the inaugural Greenberg & Greenberg in the Morning show on Friday, March 8 (6-10 a.m. ET simulcast on ESPN2). Mike & Mike in the Morning co-host Mike Greenberg will be joined by former Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach Seth Greenberg for a hoops-heavy four-hour broadcast.

The Network’s play-by-play coverage will include the Big 12 Semifinals and Championship (March 15-16) for the fourth straight season, and every game of the ACC Tournament (March 14-17) for the second year.

Studio coverage will feature the SportsCenter Tonight Selection Sunday Special with Bram Weinstein and Dan Dakich on Sunday, March 17 from 6:30 p.m. (immediately after Knicks-Clippers NBA broadcast) to 10 p.m. featuring analysis of the brackets and interviews with tournament bound coaches and players.

Additionally, regularly scheduled ESPN Radio programming will include previews and reviews of key games, analysis by ESPN experts, and interviews with coaches and players preparing for the NCAA Tournament.

And after a jump break, I’ll provide the entire ESPN Family of Networks Championship Week schedule. Get ready to scroll.

(continue reading…)

ESPN2 Airs BNP Paribas Showdown At MSG

As part of today’s World Tennis Day festivities, ESPN2 will air the BNP Paribas Showdown. It will join the action at Madison Square Garden in New York in progress at 9 p.m. ET. The exhibition matches will include a matchup between the women’s world #1 and #2 ranked players, Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams and one between the returning Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro.

Chris Fowler will call the matches and be joined by Cliff Drysdale, Mary Jo Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe. ESPN3 will start the coverage at 7 p.m. with ESPN2 joining at 9 p.m.

Here are the particulars of the coverage from ESPN.

Tennis’ BNP Paribas Showdown Live from MSG on March 4

No. 1 Serena vs. No. 2 Azarenka in US Open Rematch
Nadal – Sidelined July-February – in First U.S. Match in 11 Months vs. Del Potro

ESPN3 and ESPN2 will present live the BNP Paribas Showdown 2013 from Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday, March 4, with two star-studded matches:  a US Open rematch between the world’s top two ranked players, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka followed by Rafael Nadal – who recently returned to action after being sidelined since Wimbledon last summer – facing former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro.

ESPN holds exclusive live rights to the matches, and ESPN3 will begin at 7 p.m. ET with ESPN2 joining at 9 p.m. Chris Fowler will call the matches with Cliff Drysdale, Mary Joe Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe. The Nadal-Del Potro match will also be available on broadband in the U.S. in Spanish on ESPN Deportes +.

“The BNP Paribas Showdown – with top stars in compelling matchups from a venue rich in tennis history – launches a great month of tennis from ESPN, crisscrossing the country from Indian Wells to Miami and in early April the Family Circle Cup from Charleston,” said Jason Bernstein, senior director, programming and acquisitions in ESPN’s programming department. “We enjoyed a successful start to the year with the Australian Open, and ESPN is there with a year-round narrative, showcasing the deepest tennis schedule on television, broadband and via WatchESPN for fans on the go.”

Williams, holder of 15 major titles, regained the world’s top ranking after last week’s WTA event in Qatar, despite losing to Azarenka in the final 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3. Azarenka, winner of the last two Australian Open championships, is now ranked No. 2. The two return to New York, where Williams defeated Azarenka in last September’s thrilling three-set US Open final.

Nadal, who counts seven French Open titles among his 11 major victories, recently returned to action after a seven-month hiatus because of injury. He recently reached the final of both singles and doubles in his first comeback event and is ranked No. 5 in the world.  He has not competed in the U.S. since playing in Miami last March.  Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champ, is currently ranked No. 7.

The BNP Paribas Showdown from MSG will air live internationally on ESPN’s networks in more than 130 countries and over 47 million households throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, UK, Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Rim, including on ESPN Latin America in Del Potro’s home country of Argentina.  In addition, ESPN’s broadband players in Latin America & the Caribbean (ESPN Play) and Australia & New Zealand (ESPN3) will also stream live simulcast coverage of this event.

That’s it.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/02 & 03/03/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments Courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, March 2

Pregame & Studio Shows
College Gameday live from Los Angeles, CA — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show 2013 — Big Ten Network, 2:30 p.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
75 Years of NCAA March Madness: Ultimate Bracket — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 7:15 p.m.
College GameDay live from Los Angeles, CA — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 10 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

11:30 a.m.
Robert Morris at Central Connecticut State — Fox College Sports Pacific (Dave Popkin/Joe DeSantis/Paul Dottino)

noon
Maryland at Wake Forest — ACC Network (Tim Brant/Cory Alexander)
Louisville at Syracuse — CBS (Ian Eagle/Clark Kellogg)
Army at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)
Old Dominion at Northeastern — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic/New England/Northwest)/The Comcast Network (Gary Tanguay/Walter McCarty)
Alabama at Florida — ESPN (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Butler at Virginia Commonwealth — ESPN2 (Carter Blackburn/Stephen Bardo/Andy Katz)

Women’s: Texas at Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Net (Detroit Plus/Southwest) (Mike Wolfe/Casey Kendrick)

1 p.m.
Jacksonville State at Belmont — ESPNU (Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod)
Memphis at Central Florida — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Ron Thulin/Perry Clark/Jenn Hildreth)

Women’s: South Florida at UConn — SNY (Andrew Catalon/Meg Culmo/Kerith Burke)

1:30 p.m.
Iowa State at Oklahoma — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Bryndon Manzer)
Tennessee at Georgia — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Joe Dean)

2 p.m.
UConn at Cincinnati — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
West Virginia at Kansas — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Jim Spanarkel)
UMass at Xavier — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Steve Lappas)
Marshall at Houston — CSS/Comcast SportsNet Houston/The Comcast Network (David Saltzman/Tom Penders)
Notre Dame at Marquette — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Wichita State at Creighton — ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams)
George Mason at Delaware — NBC Sports Network (Mike Corey/Ron Thompson)

3 p.m.
Penn State at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Sean Harrington)
Valparaiso at Green Bay — ESPNU (Jim Barbar/Bob Valvano)
Arizona State at USC — Fox Sports Net-national (Steve Physioc/Marques Johnson)

4 p.m.
Richmond at Dayton — A-10 Network (Bob McElligott/Tony White)
TCU at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Dan Hughes)
Kentucky at Arkansas — CBS (Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner)
Simon Fraser at Western Washington — CBS Sports Network (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Saint Louis at George Washington — CSS/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports Midwest Plus (Byron Kerr/Glenn Consor/Kellie Cowan)
Texas at Oklahoma State — ESPN (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)
UNLV at Nevada — NBC Sports Network (Steve Schlanger/Blaine Fowler)
LSU at Missouri — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Jon Sundvold)

Women’s: Notre Dame at Providence — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson)

5 p.m.
Colorado at Cal — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
Indiana State at Evansville — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest (Tom Ackerman/Rich Zvosec)
Mississippi at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona/Detroit/Florida/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Southwest Plus) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)
Portland at Gonzaga — WCC TV (Andy Mauser/Brad Holland)

Women’s: Iowa State at TCU — Fox Sports Net-national (Chuck LaMendola/Janice Dziuk)

5:15 p.m.
Nebraska at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Tom Doyle)
North Dakota State at Nebraska-Omaha — Fox College Sports Central (Tom Niemann/Brad Newitt)

6 p.m.
James Madison at William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/Northwest) (Al Koken/John Feinstein)
Miami (FL) at Duke — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Dick Vitale/Doris Burke)
New Mexico State at Denver — ESPN Plus (Trey Bender/Stephen Howard)
Harvard at Penn — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Calen Duff)

7 p.m.
Kansas State at Baylor — ESPN2 (Mark Neely/Bob Knight)
South Carolina at Texas A&M — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)

Women’s: Baylor at West Virginia — Fox Sports Net-national (Bob Licht/Brenda VanLengen)

7:30 p.m.
Iowa at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Jim Jackson/Stephanie Wells)

8 p.m.
St. John’s at Providence — Big East Network (Eric Frede/Ron Perry)
Clemson at Virginia Tech — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/South/SportSouth/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Mike Hogewood/Eddie Fogler)

Women’s: Kansas at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Oklahoma/Fox College Sports Pacific (Bob Carpenter/Billy Tubbs/Jessica Coody)

9 p.m.
Arizona at UCLA — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Jay Bilas/Samantha Ponder)
Vanderbilt at Auburn — ESPN2 (Dave Lamont/Kara Lawson)
Rutgers at Georgetown — ESPNU (Lou Canellis/Tim Welsh)

11 p.m.
BYU at Loyola Marymount — ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein/Danny Schayes)

Sunday, March 3

noon
Villanova at Pittsburgh — Big East Network (Kevin Connors/John Celestand)

Women’s: Michigan at Ohio State — Big Ten Network (Mike Wolf/Patricia Babcock McGraw)
Women’s: Southern Mississippi at Tulane — CBS Sports Network (Don Criqui/Amy Lawrence)

1 p.m.
Purdue at Wisconsin — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)

Women’s: Florida at South Carolina — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit/North Plus/SportSouth/Sun Sports) (Dave Baker/Elizabeth Moreau)
Women’s: Florida State at Virginia — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona/Carolinas/Detroit Plus/Florida/South/Prime Ticket/Tennessee/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESNplus) (Mike Hogewood/Debbie Antonelli)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: Vanderbilt at Georgia — ESPNU (Melissa Lee/Steffi Sorenson)

2 p.m.
DePaul at South Florida — Big East Network (Rich Hollenberg/Paul Biancardi)
Florida State at North Carolina — CBS (Marv Albert/Steve Kerr)

Women’s: Wisconsin at Michigan State — Big Ten Network (Lisa Byington/Shelly Till)
Women’s: URI at Virginia Commonwealth — CBS Sports Network (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Women’s: St. Joseph’s at Dayton — ESPN2 (Pam Ward/Swin Cash)
Women’s: LSU at Texas A&M — SEC Network (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)
Women’s: Miami (OH) at Akron — STO (Mike Cairns/Jackie Windon)

3:30 p.m.
Washington State at Washington — Fox Sports Net-national (Justin Kutcher/Marques Johnson)

Women’s: Drexel at Delaware — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Mike Corey/Pam Roecker)
Women’s: Tennessee at Kentucky — ESPNU (Sam Gore/Maria Taylor)

4 p.m.
Virginia at Boston College — ACC Network (Tom Werme/Dave Odom)
Michigan State at Michigan — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery)

Women’s: Illinois at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Stephanie White)
Women’s: North Carolina at Duke — ESPN2 (Brenda VanLengen/Carolyn Peck)

5 p.m.
Utah at Stanford — Pac-12 Network (Paul Sunderland/Ernie Kent)

6 p.m.
North Carolina State at Georgia Tech — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

Women’s: Penn State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/LaChina Robinson)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 02/23 & 02/24/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, February 22

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Lexington, KY — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
75 Years of NCAA March Madness: Top 10 Upsets — CBS, 1 p.m.
75 Years of NCAA March Madness: Top 10 Champs That Never Were — CBS, 1:30 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.
College GameDay live from Lexington, KY — ESPN, 8 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, midnight

BracketBusters
Iona at Indiana State — ESPNU, 11 a.m. (Doug Sherman/Sean Harrington)
Pacific at Western Michigan — ESPN3, 1 p.m. (Dan Gutowsky/Nate Ross)
Canisius at Vermont — ESPN3, 1 p.m. (Ed Cohen/Rob Kennedy)
Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso — ESPNU, 1 p.m. (Jim Barbar/Brooke Weisbrod)
Montana at Davidson — ESPNU, 3 p.m. (Ray Philpott/Paul Biancardi)
Northwestern State at Niagara — ESPN3, 3 p.m. (Mike Gleason/Daymeon Fishback)
Detroit at Wichita State — ESPN2, 4 p.m. (Dave Lamont/Darrin Horn)
Creighton at St. Mary’s — ESPN, 6 p.m. (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
South Dakota State at Murray State — ESPN2, 8 p.m. (Roxy Bernstein/Mark Adams)
Denver at Northern Iowa — ESPN3, 8 p.m. (Mike Couzens/Rich Zvosec)
Ohio at Belmont — ESPN2, 10 p.m. (Mike Crispino/Malcolm Huckaby)

noon
Seton Hall at Louisville — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
Clemson at Maryland — ESPN2 (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams)

Women’s: Johnson C. Smith at Shaw — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Akron at Kent State — STO (Mike Cairns/Jackie Windon)

1 p.m.
Southern Mississippi at Memphis — Fox Sports Net-national (Ron Thulin/Perry Clark/Jenn Hildreth)
Miami (FL) at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net-regional (Carolinas/Detroit Plus/Florida/South/Tennessee/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/NESN) (Rich Waltz/Eddie Fogler)

Women’s: Wisconsin at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Lisa Byington/Shelley Till/Kara Lentz)
Women’s: Texas at Baylor — Fox Sports Southwest/Fox College Sports (Kris Radcliffe/Jim Haller)

1:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Iowa State — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Stephen Howard)
Alabama at LSU — SEC Network (Joe Davis/Barry Booker)
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Jon Sundvold)

2 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia — CBS (Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb)
Virginia Commonwealth at Xavier — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Steve Wolf)
Oklahoma State at West Virginia — ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)

Women’s: Syracuse at South Florida — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson)

3 p.m.
Washington State at Arizona — Fox Sports Net-national (Steve Physioc/Marques Johnson)

Women’s: Indiana at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Stephanie White)
Women’s: Iowa State at Kansas State — Fox Sports Midwest/Fox College Sports Pacific (Brian Smoller/Missy Heidrick)
Women’s: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma — Fox Sports-regional (Detroit Plus/North Plus/Oklahoma Plus/Southwest) (Mike Wolfe/Casey Kendrick)

4 p.m.
TCU at Kansas — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Reid Gettys)
Georgetown at Syracuse — CBS (Tim Brando/Bill Raftery)
George Washington at St. Joseph’s — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Chicago/Mid-Atlantic Plus)/CSS/The Comcast Network (Scott Graham/Joe Lunardi)
William & Mary at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadelphia) (Al Koken/Ron Thompson)
North Carolina State at North Carolina — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)
New Mexico at Colorado State — NBC Sports Network (Steve Schlanger/Stan Van Gundy)
Tennessee at Texas A&M — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

Women’s: Seton Hall at UConn — SNY

5 p.m.
Baylor at Oklahoma — ESPNU (Brad Sham/Bob Valvano)
Auburn at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net-regional (Detroit/Midwest/North/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Southwest/Sun Sports) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)
Binghamton at New Hampshire — WBIN/Fox College Sports Central (Mike Murphy/Bob Lipman)
Santa Clara at Portland — WCC TV (Ari Wolfe/Brad Holland)

6 p.m.
Marquette at Villanova — ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Nevada at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network (Todd Harris/Blaine Fowler)
Cal at Oregon State — Pac-12 Network (JB Long/Lamar Hurd)

7 p.m.
Arkansas at Florida — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)

8 p.m.
UConn at DePaul — Big East Network (Lou Canellis/Sean Kearney)
Harvard at Yale — CBS Sports Network (Don Criqui/Alaa Abdelnaby)
Kansas State at Texas — Longhorn Network (Paul Sunderland/Bruce Bowen/Kaylee Hartung)
Stanford at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Ernie Kent)

8:30 p.m.
Weber State at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Pacific (Bob Carpenter/Mickey Michalec)

Women’s: Sacramento State at Northern Arizona — Fox Sports Arizona

9 p.m.
Missouri at Kentucky — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Samantha Ponder)
Providence at Rutgers — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)

11 p.m.
Washington at Arizona State — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

Sunday, February 24

noon
Pittsburgh at St. John’s — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/John Celestand)
Lehigh at Lafayette — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)

1 p.m.
Illinois at Michigan — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)

Women’s: Michigan at Penn State — Big Ten Network (Lisa Byington/Patricia Babcock-McGraw/Dave Leno)
Women’s: Purdue at Minnesota — ESPN2 (Jim Barbar/Maria Taylor)
Women’s: Texas Tech at Kansas — Fox Sports Net-national (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Women’s: Miami at Georgia Tech — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Carolinas/Detroit Plus/North Plus/Prime  Ticket/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic) (Mike Hogewood/Christy Winters-Scott)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: North Carolina State at North Carolina — ESPNU (Roy Philpott/LaChina Robinson)

2 p.m.
Boston College at Duke — ACC Network (Tim Brant/Cory Alexander)
Georgia Tech at Virginia — ACC Network (Tom Werme/Debbie Antonelli)
Cincinnati at Notre Dame — CBS (Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel)
LaSalle at URI — Comcas SportsNet Philadelphia/Cox Sports RI (Mike Mancuso/Chris DiSano)

Women’s: St. Bonaventure at George Washington — CBS Sports Network (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Women’s: Georgia at Mississippi — CSS/Comcast Sportsnet California (Matt Stewart/Joe Ciampi)
Women’s: Tennessee at Arkansas — SEC Network (Melissa Lee/Nell Fortner)

3 p.m.
Women’s: Iowa at Nebraska — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Stephanie White)
Women’s: Duke at Maryland — ESPN2 (Pam Ward/Carolyn Peck)
Women’s: Arizona at Arizona State — Pac-12 Network (Ann Schatz/Kyndra de St. Aubin)

3:30 p.m.
UCLA at USC — Fox Sports Net-national (Justin Kutcher/Marques Johnson/Steve Kerr)

Women’s: Notre Dame at DePaul — ESPNU (Lou Canellis/Brooke Weisbrod)

4 p.m.
Michigan State at Ohio State — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Clark Kellogg)

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: James Madison at Delaware — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/CSS/The Comcast Network (Al Koken/Pam Roecker)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Texas A&M at Vanderbilt — ESPN2 (Adam Amin/Swin Cash)
Women’s: USC at UCLA — Pac-12 Network (Anne Marie Anderson/Tammy Blackburn)
Women’s: Oregon State at Cal — Pac-12 Network (Bay Area/Oregon/Washington) (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy)

6 p.m.
Northwestern at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Dan Bonner)
Florida State at Virginia Tech — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

7 p.m.
Old Dominion at Hofstra — Comcast SportsNet (California/Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest)/CSS/SNY/The Comcast Network (Joe Beninati/John Feinstein)

Women’s: Oregon at Stanford — Pac-12 Network (Jim Watson/Rose Gold-Onwude)

8 p.m.
LIU-Brooklyn at Wagner — ESPNU (Bob Picozzi/Derek Whittenburg)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 02/16 & 02/17/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments Courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, February 16

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Lawrence, KS — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
75 Years of NCAA March Madness: Top 10 Improbable Heroes — CBS, 12:30 p.m.
College GameDay live from Lawrence, KS — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 10 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, midnight
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, midnight

11 a.m.
Kent State at Ohio — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Brooke Weisbrod)

11:30 a.m.
Central Connecticut State at Mount St. Mary’s — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Dave Popkin/Tim Capstraw/Paul Dottino)

noon
Boston College at Florida State — ACC Network (Tom Werde/Dave Odom)
Virginia at North Carolina — ACC Network (Steve Martin/Eddie Fogler)
Notre Dame at Providence — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/Bob Wenzel)
Clayton State at Montevallo — CBS Sports Network (Jason Knapp/TBD)
William & Mary at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic/New England/Northwest/Philadelphia)/CSS (Brent Harris/Brian Oliver)
Villanova at UConn — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Xavier at Dayton — ESPN2 (Mike Crispino/Stephen Bardo)

Women’s: Michigan State at Michigan — Big Ten Network (Lisa Byington/Stephanie White)

1 p.m.
Kentucky at Tennessee — CBS (Ian Eagle/Clark Kellogg)
Pittsburgh at Marquette — CBS (Spero Dedes/Greg Anthony)
Rutgers at DePaul — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)
St. Joseph’s at LaSalle — NBC Sports Network (Dave Strader/Mike Kaplan)

Women’s: Central Connecticut State at Mount St. Mary’s — Fox College Sports Pacific (Paul Dottino/Phyllis Mangina/John Schmeelk)

1:30 p.m.
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Bryndon Manzer)
TCU at Iowa State — Big 12 Network (Chad McKee/Kevin Lehman)
Florida at Auburn — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

2 p.m.
Army at Navy — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)
Purdue at Indiana — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)
Virginia Tech at North Carolina State — ESPN2 (Carter Blackburn/Fran Fraschilla)
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Carolinas/Detroit/North Plus/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)

Women’s: Pittsburgh at Syracuse — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson)

2:30 p.m.
SMU at Tulane — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Pete Pranica/Dan Bonner/Debbie Antonelli)

3 p.m.
Creighton at Evansville — ESPNU (Mitch Holthus/Mark Adams)
Northern Arizona at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central (Dan Hammer/Greg Stemen)

4 p.m.
Texas Tech at West Virginia — Big 12 Network (Mark Neely/Rich Zvosec)
Butler at Fordham — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Steve Lappas)
Georgia State at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet (Chicago/Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadelphia)/CSS (Joe Beninati/John Feinstein)
Missouri at Arkansas — ESPN (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
UCLA at Stanford — ESPN2 (Dave Pasch/Bill Walton)
South Carolina at Alabama — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Jon Sundvold)

Women’s: UConn at Rutgers — SNY
Women’s: Western Michigan at Ohio — STO

4:30 p.m.
Houston at Tulsa — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Ron Thulin/Mike Gminski/Jenn Hildreth)

Women’s: North Dakota at Northern Arizona — Fox Sports Arizona Plus (Jordan Byrd/Sharon Falor/Heather Hodgeson)

5 p.m.
Mississippi State at LSU — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)
Western Illinois at South Dakota State — Fox College Sports Pacific (Tom Nieman/Brad Newitt)

6 p.m.
Temple at UMass — CBS Sports Network (Brent Stover/Steve Wolf)
Duke at Maryland — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Jeannine Edwards)
Detroit at Valparaiso — ESPN2

6:30 p.m.
Texas A&M at Vanderbilt — Fox Sports net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit Plus/Midwest Plus/South/Southwest/West/Wisconsin/Sun Sports) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)

7 p.m.
Baylor at Kansas State — ESPNU (Brad Sham/Bob Valvano)
Princton at Harvard — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Dalen Cuff)
Oregon at Washington State — Pac-12 Network (JB Long/Ernie Kent)

7:15 p.m.
Oakland at Missouri-Kansas City — Fox College Sports Pacific (Neil Harwell/Jaycie Pearson)

8 p.m.
Syracuse at Seton Hall — Big East Network (Mike Corey/Jim Spanarkel)
Michigan State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Tim Doyle)
Memphis at Marshall — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Pete Gillen)
Georgia at Mississippi — ESPN2 (Dave Lamont, Kyle Macy)

8:30 p.m.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Central (David Garrett/Mickey Michaelec)

Women’s: Utah State at New Mexico State — Fox Sports Arizona Plus

9 p.m.
Portland at BYU — BYU TV (Dave McCann/Steve Cleveland/Robbie Bullough)
Texas at Kansas — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Jay Bilas/Holly Rowe)
Arizona State at Colorado — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
San Diego State at UNLV — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmister/Blaine Fowler)

11 p.m.
New Mexico State at Utah State — ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein/Corey Williams)
Oregon State at Washington — Fox Sports Net-national (Justin Kutcher/Marques Johnson/Laura McKeeman)
Cal State-Fullerton at Cal-Irvine — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports San Diego/Fox College Sports Central (Justin Alderson/Michael Cage/Kelli Tennant)

Sunday, February 17

noon
Penn State at Michigan — Big Ten Network (Tom Hamilton/Shon Morris)
Holy Cross at American — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Steve Spatola)

1 p.m.
Ohio State at Wisconsin — CBS (Tim Brando/Bill Raftery)
Louisville at South Florida — ESPN (Rich Hollenberg/Bob Wenzel)

Women’s: North Carolina at Florida State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Carolinas/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Tom Werme/Chelsea Shine)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: DePaul at Louisville — ESPNU (Jim Barbar/Sonya Beeler) (2013 Play 4Kay)
Women’s: West Virginia at Iowa State — Fox Sports Net-national (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Women’s: LSU at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/North Plus/SportSouth) (Dave Baker/Daymeon Fishback)

2 p.m.
Women’s: Temple at St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Women’s: South Carolina at Mississippi — SEC Network (Cara Capuano/Steffi Sorensen)

2:30 p.m.
2013 Play 4Kay
Women’s: Alabama at Auburn — ESPN2 (Clay Matvick/Brooke Weisbrod)
Women’s: Georgia Tech at North Carolina State — ESPN2 (Joe Davis/Deb Antonelli)
Women’s: Notre Dame at Marquette — ESPN2 (Pam Ward/Stephanie White)
Women’s: Oklahoma at Kansas — ESPN2 (Holly Rowe/Fran Fraschilla)

2 p.m.
Minnesota at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Brian Anderson/Sean Harrington)

3 p.m.
Arizona at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Paul Sunderland/Brevin Knight)

Women’s: Wake Forest at Duke — Fox Sports Net-regional (Carolinas/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Mike Hogewood/Christy Winters Scott)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Stanford at UCLA — ESPNU (Rich Cellini/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude) (2013 Play 4Kay)
Women’s: Texas at Texas Tech — Fox Sports Net-national (Bob Licht/Dan Hughes)

4 p.m.
Women’s: UNLV at San Diego State — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Tammy Blackburn)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Towson at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Joe Beninati/John Feinstein)
Women’s: Cal at USC — Pac-12 Network (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy)

2013 Play 4Kay
Women’s: Cincinnati at St. John’s — ESPN2 (Bob Picozzi/Rebecca Lobo)
Women’s: Iowa at Purdue — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Nell Fortner)
Women’s: Maryland at Virginia — ESPN2 (Melissa Lee/LaChina Robinson)
Women’s: Vanderbilt at Tennessee — ESPN2 (Adam Amin/Maria Taylor)

6 p.m.
Miami at Clemson — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

7 p.m.
Washington State at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (Ann Schatz/Ann Meyers-Drysdale)

7:30 p.m.
Illinois at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Mike Kelley)
James Madison at Delaware — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphia)/CSS (Mike Reghi/Brad Jackson)

8 p.m.
Wichita State at Illinois State — ESPNU (Mitch Holthus/Mark Adams)

10 p.m.
USC at Cal — Fox Sports Net-national (Steve Physioc/Corey Williams)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 02/09 & 02/10/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments Courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, February 9

Pregame and Studio Shows
College GameDay live from South Bend, IN — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
75 Years of March Madness: Top 10 Coaches — CBS, 12:30 p.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
College GameDay live from South Bend, IN — ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, midnight
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, midnight

11 a.m.
Temple at Dayton — ESPNU (Jason Benetti/Bob Valvano)

noon
Georgetown at Rutgers — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
Hofstra at North Carolina-Wilmington — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England)/CSS/MSG Network/The Comcast Network (Mike Gleason/Charlie Woollum)
Michigan at Wisconsin — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)
Florida State at Wake Forest — ESPN2 (Carter Blackburn/Paul Biancardi)

Women’s: Nova Southeastern at Florida Southern — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
Mississippi at Missouri — CBS (Ian Eagle/Greg Anthony)
Akron at Miami (OH) — ESPNU (Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod)
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona/Carolinas/Detroit Plus/Florida/North Plus/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Rich Waltz/Cory Alexander)
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Tennessee-Martin — Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports South (Darren Kinnard/Kelly Burke)

1:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Texas — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Reid Gettys)
Arkansas at Vanderbilt — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

2 p.m.
DePaul at Marquette — Big East Network (Quint Kessenich/John Celestand)
Delaware at George Mason — CBS Sports Network (Don Criqui/Marc Jackson)
Tulane at Houston — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Northwest)/The Comcast Network (Brett Dolan/Tom Penders)
North Carolina at Miami (FL) — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Jeannine Edwards)
St. Joseph’s at UMass — ESPN2 (Marc Kestecher/Stephen Bardo)

3 p.m.
South Florida at Villanova — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)
Eastern Washington at Northern Arizona — Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Fox College Sports (Mitch Strohman/Dave Brown/Kara Hammer)

Women’s: Montana at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central (Dan Hammer/Craig Stemen)
Women’s: West Virginia at Kansas — Fox Sports Net-national (Bob Licht/Brenda VanLengen)

4 p.m.
Texas Tech at Baylor — Big 12 Network (Brad Sham/Stephen Howard)
West Virginia at TCU — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Dan Hughes)
Memphis at Southern Mississippi — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Pete Gillen)
Northeastern at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Mid-Atlantic/New England)/CSS/The Comcast Network
Kansas at Oklahoma — ESPN (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla/Holly Rowe)
Valparaiso at Cleveland State — ESPN2 (Mike Crispino/Darrin Horn)
Auburn at Kentucky — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Kara Lawson)
Pepperdine at Portland — WCC Network (Barry Tompkins/Dan Belluomini)

4:30 p.m.
Northwestern at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Justin Kutcher/Shon Morris)

5 p.m.
Texas A&M at Georgia — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)
Mississippi State at Florida — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona/Detroit Plus/Midwest/North Plus/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Southwest/Wisconsin/Sun Sports) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)
South Dakota State at Oakland — Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports North/Fox College Sports Atlantic (John Keating/Mateen Cleaves)

6 p.m.
Fresno State at San Jose State — CBS Sports Network (Andrew Catalon/Andrew Lappas/Lauren Gardner)
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Iowa State at Kansas State — ESPN2 (Mark Neely/Chris Piper)

Women’s: Cincinnati at Rutgers — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/Steffi Sorenson)

7 p.m.
Xavier at Duquense — A-10 Network (Bob McElligott/Tony White)
Michigan State at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Jim Jackson)
St. Bonaventure at URI — Cox Sports RI (Mike Mancuso/Chris DiSano)
Stanford at Arizona State — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

7:30 p.m.
Missouri State at Wichita State — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest/Fox College Sports Central (Scott Warmann/Rich Zvosec)

8 p.m.
LSU at Alabama — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Utah at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (Jim Watson/Ernie Kent)

Women’s: San Diego State at Fresno State — CBS Sports Network (Rich Cellini/Tammy Blackburn)
Women’s: Baylor at Texas — Longhorn Network (Fran Harris/Debbie Antonelli/Kaylee Hartung)

9 p.m.
San Francisco at BYU — BYU TV (Dave McCann/Steve Cleveland/Robbie Bullough)
Louisville at Notre Dame — ESPN (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Samantha Ponder)Penn State at Nebraska — ESPNU (Dan Gutowsky/Sean Harrington)
Seattle at New Mexico State — Fox College Sports Pacific (Jeff Matthews/Glenn Cerny)
New Mexico at UNLV — NBC Sports Network (Paul Burmeister/Stan Van Gundy)

10 p.m.
Illinois State at Creighton — ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams)
Washington State at UCLA — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Don MacLean)

11 p.m.
St. Mary’s at San Diego — ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein/Corey Williams)
Cal State-Fullerton at Cal-Riverside — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports San Diego/Fox College Sports Pacific (Just Alderson/Michael Cage/Kelli Tennant)

Sunday, February 10

11:30 a.m.
Women’s: North Carolina at Georgia Tech — ESPNU (Michele Smith/LaChina Robinson)

noon
UConn at Seton Hall — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/Bob Wenzel)

Women’s: Michigan at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Stephanie White)

1 p.m.
North Carolina State at Clemson — ACC Network (Steve Martin/Mike Gminski)
Virginia at Maryland — ACC Network (Tim Brant/Dan Bonner)
Indiana at Ohio State — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Clark Kellogg)
Tennessee at South Carolina — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit/Midwest/North Plus/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Southwest/Sun Sports) (Dave Baker/Daymeon Fishback)

Women’s: Houston at Rice — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Central (Bob Rathbun/Debbie Antonelli)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: Georgia at LSU — ESPNU (Melissa Lee/Maria Taylor)

2 p.m.
Women’s: Minnesota at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Mike Wolf/Patricia Babcock-McGraw/Kara Lentz)
Women’s: Holy Cross at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Amy Lawrence)
Women’s: Butler at George Washington — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic)
Women’s: Florida State at Miami (FL) — CSS (Jason Solodkin/Robin Mueller)
Women’s: Michigan State at Penn State — ESPN2 (Adam Amin/Swin Cash)
Women’s: Mississippi State at Missouri — SEC Network (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)

3 p.m.
St. John’s at Syracuse — ESPN (Dave Pasch/Dan Dakich)

Women’s: Tulane at Tulsa — Fox Sports Net-national (Bob Licht/DanHughes)
Women’s: Oregon State at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Anne Marie Anderson/Tammy Blackburn)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: DePaul at UConn — ESPNU (Bob Picozzi/Brooke Weisbrod)

4 p.m.
Women’s: Ohio State at Northwestern — Big Ten Network (DanKelley/Shelley Till)
Women’s: Kentucky at Vanderbilt — ESPN2 (Pam Ward/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude)

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Old Dominion at Drexel — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Al Koken/Jody Lavin Patrick)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Net-national (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Women’s: Arizona State at Stanford — Pac-12 Network (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy)

6 p.m.
Illinois at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Eddie Johnson)
Duke at Boston College — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

7 p.m.
James Madison at Drexel — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphia)/CSS
Cal at Arizona — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Matt Muehlebach)

8 p.m.
Drake at Evansville — ESPNU (Mitch Holthus/Mark Adams)
Washington at USC — Fox Sports Net-national (Steve Physioc/Corey Williams)

10 p.m.
Colorado at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (JB Long/Lamar Hurd)

ESPN’s Programming For Super Bowl Weekend

Some networks used to treat weekends like a dead hole, but knowing that the Super Bowl is on a Sunday, ESPN is maintaining its busy schedule from New Orleans. The Alleged Worldwide Leader will be particularly busy on Sunday when it airs its pregame programming.

Check out what it will air this weekend.

ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVII Weekend Programs from French Quarter in New Orleans

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLVII continues through the weekend from the French Quarter in New Orleans. The weekend programming begins Saturday with SportsCenter at 9 a.m. CT and concludes Sunday with a 90-minute post-game edition of the ESPN flagship news program. All shows are available for free public viewing at the Jax Brewery parking lot (600 Decatur Street, New Orleans). The schedule:

ESPN’s Super Bowl programming for Saturday, Feb. 2:

Time (CT)	Show	Network(s)
9-10 a.m.	SportsCenter Hosts: Steve Levy. Analysts: Jon Gruden and Steve Young.	ESPN
12-1:30 p.m.	NFL Semanal Special (airs at 8 p.m. CT) Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre, Alvaro Martin, Eduardo Varela, John Sutcliffe and Mauricio Pedroza.	ESPN Dos
5-6 p.m.	SportsCenter Host: Stuart Scott. Analysts: Tedy Bruschi and Trent Dilfer.	ESPNEWS

ESPN’s Super Bowl programming for Sunday, Feb. 3:

Time (CT)	Show	Network(s)
	NFL Matchup (pre-taped in New Orleans; airs at 2 and 5:30 a.m.) Host: Sal Paolantonio. Analysts: Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski.	ESPN
	Mike and Mike in the Morning (airs live from 5-9 a.m. in Bristol, Conn.) Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Guests: Herm Edwards (6:00) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (7:00).	ESPN Radio, ESPN2
7-9 a.m.	SportsCenter Host: Mike Tirico. Analyst: Jon Gruden (from the Louisiana Superdome) and Hoge (from ESPN’s set in the French Quarter).	ESPN
9 a.m.-1 p.m.	Sunday NFL Countdown Host:  Chris Berman and Suzy Kolber. Analysts: Tedy Bruschi, Cris Carter, Trent Dilfer, Mike Ditka, Hoge, Tom Jackson, Jaworski, Keyshawn Johnson, Jerry Rice and Steve Young. NFL Insiders: Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter. Tirico and Gruden from the Louisiana Superdome.	ESPN
9 a.m.-12 p.m.	Countdown to Super Bowl with Hill & Schlereth Hosts:Mike Hill and Mark Schlereth.	ESPN Radio
2-4:30 p.m.	NFL Esta Noche (pre-game show) Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Eduardo Varela, Pablo Viruega and Mauricio Pedroza.	Latin North
4:30-9 p.m.	Super Bowl XLVII – Ravens vs. 49ers Play-by-play: Alvaro Martin. Analyst: Raul Allegre. Sideline Reporter: John Sutcliffe.	Latin North
9:30-10:30 p.m.	NFL PrimeTime Host: Berman. Analysts: Jackson and Young.	ESPN
10:30p.m.-12 a.m.	SportsCenter Hosts:  Steve Levy and Stuart Scott. Analysts: Carter, Dilfer and Johnson.	ESPN

Note: schedule subject to change.

That’s all.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 02/02 & 02/03/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Announcing Assignments courtesy of Eye on Sky and Air Sports

Saturday, February 2

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Bloomington, IN — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
College GameDay live from Bloomington, IN — ESPN, 8 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, midnight

11 a.m.
Cincinnati at Seton Hall — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh/Paul Calcaterra)

noon
Clemson at Boston College — ACC Network (Tim Brando/Cory Alexander)
Virginia Tech at North Carolina — ACC Network (Tim Brandt/Dan Bonner)
Hofstra at William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)/CSS/MSG Network (John Castleberry/Charlie Woolum)
Syracuse at Pittsburgh — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Purdue at Northwestern — ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)

Women’s: Hartford at Boston University — NESN (Bill Schweizer/Billy Mecca/Jayme Parker)

12:30 p.m.
Women’s: Texas at TCU — Fox Sports Net-national (Bob Licht/Brenda VanLengen)

1 p.m.
Austin Peay at Murray State — ESPNU (Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod)

1:30 p.m.
West Virginia at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Reid Gettys)
Auburn at Missouri — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Jon Sunvold)
Georgia at South Carolina — SEC Network (Dave Lamont/Kyle Macy)

2 p.m.
Tulsa at Memphis — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Pete Gillen/Gary Parrish)
Duke at Florida State — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Jeannine Edwards)
Notre Dame at DePaul — ESPN2 (John Saunders/LaPhonso Ellis)
Wake Forest at Maryland — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Carolinas/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Rich Waltz/Mike Gminski)
Dayton at Saint Louis — NBC Sports Network (Dave Strader/Mike Kaplan)

Women’s: UConn at St. John’s — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson)

2:30 p.m.
Colorado at Utah — Fox Sports Net-national (Steve Physioc/Corey Williams)

3 p.m.
Robert Morris at Long Island — ESPNU (Mike Corey/Bob Valvano)
Western Illinois at IUPUI — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Greg Rakestraw/Bob Lovell)

4 p.m.
Duquense at St. Bonaventure — A-10 Network (Kevin Sylvester/Brendan McDaniels)
Oklahoma State at Kansas — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Chris Piper)
Miami (FL) at North Carolina State — CBS (Spero Dedes/Bill Raftery)
St. John’s at Georgetown — CBS (Ian Eagle/Clark Kellogg)
URI at Butler — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/John Griffin/Jon Rothstein)
George Mason at James Madison — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadelphia) (Al Koken/Junior Burrough)
Tennessee at Arkansas — ESPN (Brent Musburger/Bob Knight)
Wichita State at Northern Iowa — ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams)
Alabama at Vanderbilt — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

4:30 p.m.
Oregon at Cal — Fox Sports Net-national (Justin Kutcher/Marques Johnson/Laura McKeeman)

5 p.m.
Ohio at Akron — ESPNU (Dan Gutkowsky/Malcolm Huckaby)
Missouri-Kansas City at South Dakota State — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Tom Niemann/Brad Newitt)

5:30 p.m.
LSU at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/Midwest Plus/North Plus/South/Southwest) (Dave Neal/Larry Conley)

6 p.m.
Temple at St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network (Tom McCarthy/Steve Lappas/Jeff Goodman)
Drexel at Northeastern — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Mid-Atlantic/New England/Northwest)/CSS/The Comcast Network (Gary Tanguay/Jack Armstrong)
Kentucky at Texas A&M — ESPN (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Kansas State at Oklahoma — ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)
Columbia at Princeton — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Dalen Cuff)

7 p.m.
Ohio State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network
Mississippi at Florida — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)

7:30 p.m.
Indiana State at Drake — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest (Scott Warmann/Kevin Lehman)

8 p.m.
Southern Mississippi at UAB — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Northwest)/The Comcast Network (Matt Stewart/Brian Oliver)
Baylor at Iowa State — ESPN2 (Mark Neely/Rich Zvosec)
TCU at Texas — Longhorn Network (Kevin Dunn/Bruce Bowen)
Nevada at New Mexico — NBC Sports Network (Steve Schlanger/Blaine Fowler)

Women’s: Baylor at Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Southwest Plus/Fox Sports Detroit Plus/Fox Sports North (Mike Wolfe/Casey Kendrick)

8:30 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Atlantic (David Garrett/Mickey Michaelec)

9 p.m.
Santa Clara at BYU — BYU TV (Dave McCann/Steve Cleveland/Robbie Bullough)
Michigan at Indiana — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Shannon Spake)
Arizona State at Washington — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)

10 p.m.
Arizona at Washington State — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Brevin Knight)

11 p.m.
Gonzaga at San Diego — ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein/Paul Biancardi/Paul Carcaterra)

Sunday, February 3

11 a.m.
Women’s: Dayton at Richmond — ESPNU (Melissa Lee/Christy Winters Scott)

noon
Providence at Villanova — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)

1 p.m.
Iowa at Minnesota — Big Ten Network (Brian Anderson/Eddie Johnson)

Women’s: Duke at North Carolina — ESPNU (Ray Philpott/LaChina Robinson)
Women’s: Oklahoma at West Virginia — Fox Sports Net-national (Ron Thulin/Brenda VanLengen)
Women’s: Georgia Tech at Virginia — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Carolinas/North Plus/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN) (Mike Hogewood/Debbie Antonelli)
Women’s: Alabama at Florida — Fox Sports Florida Plus (Mick Hubert/Mark Wise)
Women’s: Washington at Arizona State — Pac-12 Network (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy)

2 p.m.
South Florida at UConn — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/Ron Perry)
Marquette at Louisville — ESPN (Dan Shulman/Jay Bilas)

Women’s: Tennessee at Missouri — CSS  (Bernie Guenther/Robin Muller)
Women’s: Georgia at Kentucky — SEC Network (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)
Women’s: Miami (OH) at Northern Illinois — STO/Comcast SportsNet Chicago (Mike Cairns/Jackie Windon)

3 p.m.
Virginia at Georgia Tech — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)
Oregon State at Stanford — Pac-12 Network (Jim Watson/Don MacLean)

Women’s: UNC-Wilmington at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Al Koken./Jody Lavin Patrick/Brian Jackson)
Women’s: Arkansas at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net-national (Dave Neal/Maria Taylor)

3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Shon Morris)

4 p.m.
Women’s: Stanford at Oregon State — Pac-12 Network (Ann Schatz/Kyndra de St. Aubin)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/26 & 01/27/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, January 26

Pregame & Studio Hosts
College GameDay live from Raleigh, NC — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m.
College GameDay — ESPN, 6 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, midnight

11 a.m.
Syracuse at Villanova — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Walsh)

11:30 a.m.
Women’s: Delta State at Valdosta State — CBS Sports Network

noon
Notre Dame at South Florida — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
Louisville at Georgetown — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Ohio State at Penn State — ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)
Farleigh Dickinson at Quinnipiac — Fox College Sports Atlantic

1 p.m.
Maryland at Duke — CBS (Ian Eagle/Clark Kellogg)
West Virginia at Oklahoma State — ESPNU (Brad Sham/Bob Valvano)
Boston College at Virginia — Fox Sports Net-regional (Detroit Plus/Florida/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)
URI at Fordham — YES

1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Iowa State — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Chris Piper)
Arkansas at South Carolina — SEC Network (Mike Morgan/Barry Booker)

2 p.m.
Providence at Marquette — Big East Network (Mike Couzens/Sean Kearney)
Minnesota at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network
Rice at Tulane — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Northwest/Philadelphia)
Alabama at Tennessee — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Marshall at Memphis — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Pacific
Dartmouth at Harvard — NBC Sports Network

3 p.m.
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech — ACC Network
Northwestern at Nebraska — Big Ten Network
North Dakota State at South Dakota State — Fox College Sports Atlantic

4 p.m.
Duquense at Dayton — A-10 Network
Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure — A-10 Network
DePaul at Pittsburgh — Big East Network (John Sanders/John Celestand)
Baylor at TCU — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Stephen Howard)
Bucknell at Holy Cross — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)
Old Dominion at James Madison — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadephia)/CSS
Oklahoma at Kansas — ESPN (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)
Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee — ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams)
UCLA at Arizona State — Fox Sports Net-national
New Mexico at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network
LSU at Kentucky — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

5 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Missouri — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)
Western Illinois at Oakland — Fox Sports Detroit/Fox College Sports Atlantic
Washington State at Oregon State — Pac-12 Network (J.B. Long/Lamar Hurd)

6 p.m.
Xavier at St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Pete Gillen)
Temple at Butler — ESPN2 (Jim Barbar/Stephen Bardo)
Georgia at Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit Plus/South/Southwest/West/Wisconsin/Sun Sports)

7 p.m.
North Carolina at North Carolina State — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Shannon Spake)
USC at Arizona — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
Washington at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Ernie Kent)

8 p.m.
LaSalle at Virginia Commonwealth — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Steve Wolf)
Florida at Mississippi State — ESPN2 (Dave Lamont/Kara Lawson)
Mississippi at Auburn — Fox Sports Net-regional (Detroit/South/Southwest Plus/West/Sun Sports)

8:30 p.m.
McNeese State at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Pacific

10:30 p.m.
BYU at Portland — ESPN2 (Roxy Bernstein/Steve Cleveland)

Sunday, January 27

noon
Seton Hall at St. John’s — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/Jim Spanarkel)
Lafayette at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network (Bob Socci/Chris Spatola)

1 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Clemson — ACC Network
Michigan State at Indiana — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Greg Anthony)

Women’s: Penn State at Ohio State — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Florida at Georgia — CSS
Women’s: TCU at Texas Tech — Fox Sports Net-national
Women’s: Boston College at Duke — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Carolina/Detroit Plus/Florida/Prime Ticket/San Diego/South/Tennessee/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: St. John’s at Louisville — ESPNU

2 p.m.
Rutgers at UConn — Big East Network (Kevin Connors/Tim Welsh)

Women’s: Xavier at Richmond — CBS Sports Network (John Sadak/Julianne Viani)
Women’s: North Carolina at Miami — ESPN2
Women’s: Vanderbilt at Alabama — SEC Network

3 p.m.
Women’s: LSU at Kentucky — CSS/Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Fox Sports Detroit Plus/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/SportSouth

3:30 p.m.
Iowa at Purdue — Big Ten Network
Cal at Colorado — Fox Sports Net-national

Women’s: Missouri at Texas A&M — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Women’s: Fresno State at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network (Rich Cellini/Tammy Blackburn)
Women’s: Purdue at Michigan State — ESPN2

5 p.m.
Women’s: Oregon at Washington — Pac-12 Network (Anne-Marie Anderson/Ros Gold-Unwude)

6 p.m.
Michigan at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Florida State at Miami (FL) — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

7 p.m.
Women’s: Colorado at Stanford — Pac-12 Network (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy)

8 p.m.
George Mason at Northeastern — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)/CSS
Creighton at Southern Illinois — ESPNU (Mitch Holthus/Mark Adams)

9 p.m.
Stanford at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Ernie Kent)

ESPN Moves Aussie Open Men’s Semis & Both Singles Finals to The Mothership

In a move that came out of the blue, ESPN has announced that it has moved the Thursday’s Australian Open men’s semfinals as well as both singles finals from ESPN2 to the Mothership. In the olden days of ESPN, before there was an ESPN2, the Australian Open finals were always on the main channel. Now with ESPN showing the Wimbledon finals as of last year, it seems a natural fit for the Mothership to air the year’s first Grand Slam Final.

The Women’s Semifinals will be aired tonight on ESPN2 as scheduled. The men’s semifinals will air on ESPN on Thursday and Friday at 3:30 a.m. ET.

Then the finals will be seen Saturday and Sunday morning at 3:30 ET.

We have the release from ESPN.

Australian Open:  Men’s Semis, Both Finals Move to ESPN

Top Four Men’s Seeds in Semis
Surprising Sloane Stephens to face Defending Champ Azarenka, Sharapova-Li for Slots in Championship

The men’s semifinals and both the women’s and men’s championship matches of the Australian Open will now be aired live on ESPN.  The encore presentations of those matches will remain on ESPN2.

For the second straight year, the men’s semifinals feature the top four seeds.  In the first semifinal, top-seeded Novak Djokovic, seeking his third consecutive title Down Under, will face No. 4 David Ferrer on ESPN late tonight (Wednesday) at 3:30 a.m. ET (half past midnight PT). In the other semi, No. 2 Roger Federer plays No. 3 Andy Murray 24 hours later, late Thursday night at 3:30 a.m.  Federer – who counts four victories in Melbourne among his all-time best 17 Grand Slam titles – will be aiming for his 25^th career major final. Murray, who broke through with his first major title last year at the US Open, is seeking to win back-to-back Grand Slam events.

Tonight on ESPN2, No. 2 Maria Sharapova plays No. 6 Li Na in a semifinal at 9:30 p.m.  The other women’s semifinal will follow, pairing the defending champion and No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka against the 19-year old American who ousted Serena Williams Tuesday night in the Quarterfinals – Sloane Stephens. The Florida native is the No. 29 seed and has never advanced this far in a major event.  Should the top two seeds Azarenka and Sharapova advance to the championship, it would be a rematch of last year where Azarenks took home her first Grand Slam trophy.

The two weeks of live late-night, marathon telecasts will climax with the women’s championship Saturday, Jan 26, and the men’s championship Sunday, Jan. 27, both at 3 a.m. Each will reair at 9 a.m. and in prime time. The telecasts are available through WatchESPN online at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app.

ESPN’s 29th consecutive Australian Open represents the company’s longest uninterrupted professional sports programming relationship.

Late Night Thrills

Since the Australian Open finals became a prime-time event in Melbourne (men in 2005, women in 2009), the live telecasts at 3:30 a.m. ET have provided ESPN2’s biggest five audiences at that time of day in the last 10 years (since January 2003, measured by average number of households tuned to ESPN2 during the program). Last year’s men’s final is tennis’ longest Grand Slam final ever, with Djokovic outlasting Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in five hours, 53 minutes.

Date	Event	Players	Rating	Homes – avg.
Jan 31, 2009	Men’s Final	Nadal-Federer	0.9	860,000
Jan 30, 2010	Men’s Final	Federer-Murray	0.7	671,000
Jan 28, 2012	Men’s Final	Djokovic-Nadal	0.7	662,000
Jan 26, 2008	Men’s Final	Djokovic-Tsonga	0.6	582,000
Jan 29, 2010	Women’s Final	S.Williams-Henin	0.6	589,000
Sept 29, 2012	College Football Final	–	0.6	568,000

2012 Australian Open on Television

This week’s television schedule (For these charts, all times are Eastern, and each day “begins” at 6 a.m. ET.  Therefore, the listing Sat., Jan. 26 at 3 a.m. ET is actually very late on Saturday night.):

Date	Time (ET)	Event	Network
Wednesday, January 23	9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Women’s Semifinals Sharapova-Li Azarenka-Stephens	ESPN2	LIVE
Thursday, January 24	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1 Djokovic-Ferrer	ESPN	LIVE
	Noon – 4 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	ESPN2	encore
Friday, January 25	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2 Federer-Murray	ESPN	LIVE
	Noon – 4 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	ESPN2	encore
	3 – 5:30 a.m.	Women’s Championship	ESPN	LIVE
Saturday, January 26	9 – 11 a.m.	Women’s Championship	ESPN2	encore
	10 p.m. – MID	Women’s Championship	ESPN2	encore
Sunday, January 27	3 – 6:30 a.m.	Men’s Championship	ESPN	LIVE
	9 a.m. – 2 p.m.	Men’s Championship	ESPN2	encore
	7:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.	Men’s Championship	ESPN2	encore

There you have it.

ESPN Previews 2013 Conference Championship Sunday

ESPN will air its regular Sunday NFL pregame shows, however, Sunday NFL Countdown is scheduled for noon ET. NFL Matchup will be seen at its regular time on the ESPN family.

Let’s see what’s in store for Conference Championship Sunday on ESPN.

ESPN NFL Programming Update – NFL Conference Championship

Conference Championship Sunday NFL Countdown Begins at 12 p.m. ET

Sunday NFL Countdown with Chris Berman, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber, Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski will preview the NFL Conference Championship games on Sunday, Jan 20, beginning at the special time of 12 p.m. NFL Insider Adam Schefter and senior analyst Chris Mortensen will report the day’s news.

Sal Paolantonio will host NFL Matchup with analysts Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski Sunday at 6:30 a.m. each day (reairs on ESPN2 at 8:30 a.m.).  NFL PrimeTime with host Berman, and analysts Trent Dilfer and Tom Jackson will air Sunday at 11 p.m.

On-site reporters at the Conference Championship games:  Conference championship pre- and post-game: Reporters assigned to each team in the championship – Colleen Dominguez (San Francisco) and Ed Werder (Atlanta); Sal Paolantonio (Baltimore) and Rachel Nichols (New England).

ESPN’s NFL studio programming on Conference Championship weekend:

Date	Time (ET)	Show	Networks
Sunday, January 20	6:30 a.m.	NFL Matchup Paolantonio, Hoge and Jaworski	ESPN (ESPN2 @ 8:30 a.m.)
	12 p.m.	Sunday NFL Countdown (3 hours) Chris Berman, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber, Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski	ESPN
	11 p.m.	NFL PrimeTime Berman, Dilfer and Jackson	ESPN

Sunday NFL Countdown:

• Boomer with the Smiths: The San Francisco 49ers’ Aldon Smith and Justin Smith are arguably the toughest defensive tandem in the league. Going into their second straight NFC title game, they sit down with Countdown’s Chris Berman to share secrets of their success.
• Soundtracks – Tom Brady: Last Sunday against the Texans, New England’s Tom Brady surpassed his childhood hero, Joe Montana, in playoff victories with his 17th win.  The quarterback’s in-game audio from last Sunday will be the subject of this week’s Soundtracks.
• Lee Evans Remembers: Last year, with time winding down in the AFC Championship, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco hit wide receiver Lee Evans for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown and a trip to the Super Bowl. The ball was stripped from Evans and a missed field goal later the Ravens season was over.  A year later, Adam Schefter revisits the play and how it has impacted Evans.
• Field Pass:  Live look-ins at quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Matt Ryan, running back Frank Gore, and wide receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White during their pregame routines leading into the 3 p.m. NFC Championship
• Frank Caliendo:  The witty comedian returns to impersonate Hall of Famer and Countdown analyst Mike Ditka and popular radio host Jim Rome.

NFL Matchup:

• Ron Jaworski shows how the Atlanta Falcons used a fake wide receiver screen to get wide receiver Roddy White one on one with Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman.
• Jaworski covers the field to show how the 49ers offense will expose the voids in Atlanta’s “Cover 3” defensive scheme with their tight end, just like Seattle did with Zach Miller on Sunday.
• Merril Hoge takes a look at how receiver Michael Crabtree has emerged as the 49ers ‘go-to’ guy with 80 percent of his third down catches converting for first downs in the last six games.
• Jaworski explains the mechanics of the 49ers “Pistol Read-Option,” and shows how quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to keep the ball for a 56-yard touchdown run.
• Hoge breaks down how the Falcons defense used a simple approach to take away the Seahawks “Read-Option.”
• Hoge uses the “Coaches Clicker” to explain how the Ravens executed a very successful run game against Denver.
• Jaworski uses the telestrator in a segment on Ravens offense taking deep shots to receiver Torrey Smith when they have man coverage from New England’s defense.
• Jaworski analyzes the Patriots use of the speed offense with no huddle to catch defenses off-guard, and how it allows New England’s offense to gain easy yards vs. a compromised defense.

And that will do it for this post. We’ll move to Fox Sports next.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/19 & 01/20/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, January 19

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live from Indianapolis — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 p.m.
College GameDay live from Indianapolis — ESPN, 8 p.m.

11 a.m.
Virginia Military Institute at Coastal Carolina — ESPNU (Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod)

noon
St. John’s at DePaul — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
Maryland at North Carolina — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)
UConn at Pittsburgh — ESPN2 (John Saunders/Dereck Whittenburg)

12:30 p.m.
Harvard at Memphis — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic

1 p.m.
St. Bonaventure at Temple — CBS Sports Network
Nebraska at Penn State — ESPNU (Mike Crispino/Bob Valvano)

1:30 p.m.
Iowa State at TCU — Big 12 Network (Mitch Holthus/Reid Gettys)
Arkansas at Mississippi — SEC Network (Dave Baker/Barry Booker)
Vanderbilt at South Carolina — SEC Network (Dave Lamont/Kara Lawson)

2 p.m.
Wake Forest at Virginia Tech — ACC NetworkLaSalle at Xavier — A-10 Network
Kansas at Texas — CBS (Kevin Harlan/Clark Kellogg)
West Virginia at Purdue — CBS (Ian Eagle/Bill Raftery)
Drexel at William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest)/The Comcast Network/CSS
Missouri at Florida — ESPN (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State — ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)

Women’s: Seton Hall at Georgetown — Big East Network
Women’s: Boston University at New Hampshire — Fox College Sports Pacific

2:30 p.m.
Arizona at Arizona State — Fox Sports Net (national)
Eastern Kentucky at Jacksonville State — Fox Sports South

3 p.m.
Akron at Kent State — ESPNU (Dan Gutowsky/Darrin Horn)
Columbia at Cornell — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Dalen Cuff)

Women’s: Texas at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Oklahoma

4 p.m.
Florida State at Virginia — ACC Network
Villanova at Providence — Big East Network (Don Orsillo/Ron Perry)
Oklahoma at Kansas State — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Rich Zvosec)
Oregon at UCLA — CBS (Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb)
SMU at UTEP — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadelphia)
Syracuse at Louisville — ESPN (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)
Creighton at Wichita State — ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams)
Boston University at New Hampshire — Fox College Sports Pacific
Mississippi State at Tennessee — SEC Network (Clay Matvick/Joe Dean)

Women’s: Syracuse at UConn — SNY

4:30 p.m.
Cal at Stanford — Fox Sports Net (national)

5 p.m.
Penn at St. Joseph’s — ESPNU (Scott Graham/Carolyn Peck)
Hofstra at George Mason — NBC Sports Network (Mike Corey/Ron Thompson)

6 p.m.
Georgetown at South Florida — Big East Network (Jason Benetti/Mark Wise)
UAB at Southern Mississippi — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area Plus/Houston/Northwest)
Ohio State at Michigan State — ESPN (Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich)
Texas A&M at Alabama — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Florida/North Plus/South/Southwest/Sun Sports)

7 p.m.
Marquette at Cincinnati — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)
UNLV at Colorado State — NBC Sports Network (Steve Schlanger/Blaine Fowler)

8 p.m.
Rutgers at Notre Dame — Big East Network (Lou Canellis/Sean Kearney)
Wisconsin at Iowa — Big Ten Network
LSU at Georgia — CSS/Bright House Sports/Comcast SportsNet (Houston/Northwest)/Cox Sports Television (Matt Stewart/Daymeon Fishback)
Oregon State at USC — Pac-12 Network

9 p.m.
San Diego at BYU — BYU TV
Gonzaga at Butler — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Shannon Spake)
Kentucky at Auburn — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)

11 p.m.
Utah at Washington — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
Colorado at Washington State — Pac-12 Network

Sunday, January 20

noon
Navy at Army — CBS Sports Network

Women’s: St. John’s at Notre Dame — ESPNU

1 p.m.
Indiana at Northwestern — Big Ten Network

Women’s: Iowa State at Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Net-national
Women’s: Wake Forest at Boston College — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit Plus/South/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)
Women’s: South Carolina at Florida — Fox Sports Florida

2 p.m.
Women’s: Butler at LaSalle — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Maryland at Georgia Tech — ESPN2
Women’s: Auburn at Kentucky — SEC Network

3 p.m.
Women’s: UAB at UTEP — Fox Sports Net-national
Women’s: Florida State at North Carolina State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit Plus/South/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: UCLA at Cal — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Women’s: Purdue at Iowa — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Colorado State at UNLV — CBS Sports Network

5 p.m.
Women’s: Texas A&M at Georgia — ESPN2, 5 p.m.

6 p.m.
Clemson at North Carolina State — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

Women’s: Nebraska at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

8 p.m.
Illinois State at Southern Illinois — ESPNU (Mitch Holthus/Mark Adams)

Our Monday Linkage

Time for some Monday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS Evening News anchorman Scott Pelley about interviewing President Obama for the network’s Super Bowl coverage and also reviews the performances of the NFL “B” analysts during the weekend.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal note that the Atlantic Coast Conference is exploring the potential of a new league-owned network.

Chris Chase of USA Today’s Game On blog reports that tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has joined Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about returning to SportsCenter this week after the holiday season grilling fire that left her singed.

Hiestand also talks with Michelle Beadle about her upcoming show on NBC Sports Network.

UK journalist David Walsh who was the first writer to investigate disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong after his first Tour de France “win”, has an article in the Sunday Times looking back at his long journey.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report notes that the Times placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune calling on Oprah Winfrey to ask certain questions to Armstrong when they tape their “interview” this week. Here’s a closeup look at the ad courtesy of Deadspin.

Ed interviews Dana Jacobson of CBS Sports Radio.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter says USA Network and the NFL will team up for their second annual special that will air after the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NHL is back.

Christopher Heine of Adweek writes that Lincoln has shot a social media-driven spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age says social media might be spoiling Super Bowl advertisers’ suspense and full impact.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Emrick calling a girls’ 12-and-under game last week.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wants to know why Lance Armstrong thought he could cheat and get away with it.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says no one is happier about the end of the NHL Lockout than NBC.

In an upset, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun actually has some praise for CBS’ Dan Dierdorf from Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos game.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the much-maligned Vinny Cerrato is part of CBS Sports Radio’s weekend lineup.

Dan notes that Fox Sports Radio’s Steve Czaban has quit Twitter cold turkey.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about ESPN2′s Australian Open coverage which will run late into the night.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has a review of the weekend in sports TV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Texans-Patriots drew big numbers in H-Town.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable is picking up college basketball games from Sports Time Ohio.

Bob Wolfley with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL playoffs played big in Sudstown.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Comcast SportsNet is tapping a Milwaukee sports reporter to fill a position.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders writes that Ravens-Broncos got big numbers in the Rocky Mountain region.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Americans shouldn’t expect to see small market NHL teams on NBC.

Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing has the grades for the NFL’s top broadcasting teams.

Because I’ve been in and out today, I’m finally getting the links to you after 6 p.m. I have been trying to get these up since before 11 a.m.

2013 Australian Open on ESPN2

Tennis’ first major tournament of the year starts tonight in Melbourne in Australia. On the men’s side, defending champion Novak Djokovic hopes to repeat once again. One hurdle in Rafael Nadal won’t be in Australia this year as he’s recovering from an injury.

On the women’s side, Victoria Azarenka returns to defend her championship.

ESPN2 will have more than 100 hours of coverage including the women’s and men’s semifinals and both finals.

The usual ESPN tennis crew including Chris Fowler, Chris McKendry, Chris Evert, Darren Cahill, Patrick McEnroe and others will be live in Melbourne for the two weeks Down Under.

Here’s ESPN’s press release.

Australian Open Starts Sunday on ESPN2

100+ Hours on ESPN2 HD, 600 on ESPN3; Finals Live January 26, 27

The 2013 tennis season begins with the Australian Open presented by Franklin Templeton Investments with more than 100 live hours on ESPN2 HD and 600+ on ESPN3.  Each year, the marathon live action seen overnight in the U.S. from Melbourne has led to some of the most dramatic action in the sport in recent years.  The action gets underway Sunday, Jan. 13, at 6:30 p.m. ET with a 12.5-hour telecast.

ESPN’s 29th consecutive Australian Open represents the company’s longest uninterrupted professional sports programming relationship.  Daily action continues each night with afternoon reairs totaling more than 50 additional hours through the women’s championship Saturday, Jan 26, and the men’s championship Sunday, Jan. 27, both at 3 a.m. with reairs later each day at 9 a.m. and in prime time.  The telecasts are also available through WatchESPN online at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app.

Expanded digital coverage includes 600 hours on ESPN3, all live, with users choosing between ESPN2 or action on up to other seven courts with all matches available on-demand after completion.  ESPN3’s coverage starts at 7 p.m. over the first 11 days of the tournament with the first ball each day of all TV court matches.  Additionally, ESPN3 will offer live matches not airing on ESPN2, including the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championships and the finals of the boys and girls divisions.

The tournament is part of ESPN’s ongoing Grand Slam alliance with Tennis Channel, which offers audiences a near round-the-clock tournament experience at tennis’ major events.  ESPN is producing all Australian Open coverage for both networks, which will cross-promote each other with each channel utilizing its own commentators.

Setting the Stage

Victoria Azarenka won her first major event a year ago in Melbourne and finished the 2012 campaign as the top-ranked women’s player.  Close on her heels is Maria Sharapova, who completed a career Grand Slam at last year’s French Open, and Serena Williams, who has an Open Era record five Australian Open victories among her 15 major titles, is looking to continue her winning ways of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2012.

Novak Djokovic will seek his third straight Australian Open championship – which would be an Open Era first among men – and enters the new season ranked No. 1 among the men.  At No. 2 is Roger Federer and his 17 major titles, including four Down Under.  Andy Murray at No. 3 will be attempting to win a second consecutive Grand Slam event after breaking through with his first at the US Open.  With injury and illness keeping Rafael Nadal – who has been off the court since last summer’s Wimbledon – from competing, the door is open for the likes of David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the semis, or beyond.

The Australian Open has a history of starting the tennis season off in a big way, with matches of historic lengths in the summer heat Down Under.  Just in the last two years on ESPN2:

• In the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open, Francesca Schiavone defeats Svetlana Kuznetsova in the longest women’s match ever at a Grand Slam event – 6-4, 1-6, 16-14.  The match lasted 4:44.
• In tennis’ longest Grand Slam final ever, No. 1 Novak Djokovic outlasts No. 2 Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in 5 hours and 53 minutes at the 2012 Australian Open on ESPN2.  It was Djokovic’s fourth title in the last five Majors.

TV:  IN THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD

The best tennis team in television returns for 2013, led by Cliff Drysdale – who has been with ESPN since its first tennis telecast in 1979.  Darren Cahill, Chris Evert, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver return with hosts Chris Fowler, who also calls matches including the finals, and Chris McKendry.  Tom Rinaldi will contribute features, news and interviews during event coverage and on SportsCenter.

ESPN Interactive TV, seen on DIRECTV and ESPN3, will again present the Australian Open in a six-screen “mix channel” format.  For eight hours each evening during the first eight days of the tournament, viewers will be able to watch the ESPN2 feed or select from five other courts, all with commentary and customized graphics.   Interactive data features include the tournament draw, up-to-date scores, daily order of play, and social media interaction.  SportsCenter’s Steve Weissman will anchor the coverage, providing studio updates and news from around the tournament. Joining the announce team are former players Chanda Rubin, Jeff Tarango, Leif Shiras, Elise Burgin, Doug Adler, Nick Lester, and Christen Bartelt, along with play by play announcers Mark Donaldson and Brian Webber.

ESPN International will deliver to the pan-regional ESPN networks in Latin America (including the HD networks) over 100 hours of coverage, showcasing the biggest names in tennis and players of local relevance. ESPN+ will air over 30 hours of live complementary coverage in primetime throughout the early rounds.

DIGITAL MEDIA, AT HOME AND ABROAD

WatchESPN will deliver ESPN2’s live coverage of the Australian Open online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members.  Additionally, ESPN3 will once again provide coverage of no fewer than eight live feeds from various courts – including the women’s and men’s semifinals and finals – nearly 600 hours.  For the first 11 days (Sun., Jan. 13 – Wed., Jan. 23), coverage will commence at 7 p.m. (11 a.m. in Melbourne, when play begins) and continue for at least seven hours.  The courts to be included are the “TV courts,” the ones most likely to have top matches:  Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, Margaret Court Arena, plus Courts 2, 3, 6 and 8.  For the remainder of the tournament, ESPN3 will continue with select live coverage from ESPN2, including the women’s (Jan. 26) and men’s (Jan. 27) finals, plus exclusive coverage of select men’s, women’s and mixed doubles play and the boys’ and girls’ finals.  Fans can also access ESPN3 feeds from AustralianOpen.com.  Each window will be available for on-demand replay following completion.  With ESPN3’s dynamic interface, fans will be able to fast-forward, rewind and pause action – during on-demand replay and live action.

ESPN Mobile TV, a 24/7 channel for wireless, will provide 113 hours of live and simulcast coverage with ESPN2′s programming schedule.

ESPN On Demand (TV & Mobile) Will offer highlights from past years tournaments as well as a highlight from this year’s men’s and women’s matches.

ESPN.com will once again feature Courtcast, a cutting-edge application presented by IBM, featuring official IBM tournament and real-time statistics, Hawk-Eye technology, a rolling Twitter feed, Cover It Live analysis and interactive poll questions. Slam Central, an aggregation of all the day’s top news, analysis, blogs and video, as well as a daily Digital Serve and At This Minute video segments with commentators in Melbourne discussing the results, will be a daily staple.  News and analysis from contributors Bonnie D. Ford and Tennis.com writers will add to the depth of coverage.  During the second week of play, the staff will interact with fans via live blogging.

ESPNtenis.com will have the following content:  A daily webisode called “ESPiaNdo el Australian Open”; an “applet” featuring real-time, point-by-point scoring of all matches; live scores, results and brackets; columns, chats and blogs by TV commentators and other writers; polls; the “Ask ESPN” feature, prompting users to send their comments/questions via the website; video clips with highlights of daily action and analysis; TV scheduling information, and photo galleries.

ESPN International’s ESPN Play (Watch ESPN  in Brazil) broadband service in Latin America will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the year’s first Grand Slam, airing over 500 hours of live tennis from every available televised court, including the men’s & women’s quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, all live. This streaming action will be available in over two million homes in 15 countries throughout Latin America/Caribbean (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Panama, Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, Trinidad/Tobago).

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2013 on ESPN2 HD

(For these charts, all times are Eastern, and each day “begins” at 6 a.m. ET.
Therefore, the listing Sun., Jan. 19 at 3:30 a.m. ET is actually very late on Sunday night.)

Date	Time (ET)	Event
Sun, Jan 13	6:30 p.m. – 7 a.m.	Early round play	LIVE
Mon, Jan 14	Noon – 2:55 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Tue, Jan 15	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Wed, Jan 16	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	11 p.m. – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Thur, Jan 17	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	11 p.m. – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Fri, Jan 18	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Sat, Jan 19	7 – 9:55 a.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Round of 16	LIVE
	3 – 7 a.m.	“	LIVE
Sun, Jan 20	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Mon, Jan 21	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Quarterfinals	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Tue, Jan 22	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9 p.m. – 2 a.m.	“	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	“	LIVE
Wed, Jan 23	2 – 5 p.m.	“	Same-day
	9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.	Women’s Semifinals	LIVE
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	LIVE
Thurs, Jan 24	1 – 4 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #1	reair
	3:30 – 6 a.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	LIVE
Fri, Jan 25	1 – 4 p.m.	Men’s Semifinal #2	reair
	3 – 5:30 a.m.	Women’s Championship	LIVE
Sat, Jan. 26	9 – 11 a.m.	Women’s Championship	reair
	10 p.m. – MID	Women’s Championship	reair
	3 – 6:30 a.m.	Men’s Championship	LIVE
Sun, Jan 27	9 a.m. – 2 p.m.	Men’s Championship	reair
	7:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.	Men’s Championship	reair

That’s it.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/12 & 01/13/2013, All Times Eastern

Men’s schedule courtesy Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, January 12

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay — ESPN2, 10 a.m.
College GameDay — ESPNU, 11 a.m.
Big Ten Tip-Off Show — Big Ten Network, 11:30 a.m.
Big Ten Game Break — Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
The Fab Five — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Big Ten Finale ’12-’13 — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 9 p.m.
College Basketball Live — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

11 a.m.
Georgetown at St. John’s — ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Len Elmore)

noon
Virginia at Clemson — ACC Network
Villanova at Syracuse — Big East Network (Anish Shroff/Bob Wenzel)
Minnesota at Indiana — Big Ten Network
Anderson at Lincoln Memorial University — CBS Sports Network
Delaware at Georgia State — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Mid-Atlantic/Northwest/Philadelphia)/CSS
Duke at North Carolina State — ESPN (Dan Shulman/Dick Vitale/Jeannine Edwards)
Marquette at Pittsburgh — ESPNU (Beth Mowins/Tim Welsh)

1 p.m.
Tennessee at Alabama — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Jimmy Dykes)

1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at West Virginia — Big 12 Network (Mark Neely/Stephen Howard)
Auburn at South Carolina — SEC Network (Mike Morgan/Jon Sundvold)
Mississippi State at Georgia — SEC Network (Dave Lamont/Kara Lawson)

2 p.m.
UConn at Notre Dame — Big East Network (Lou Canellis/LaPhonso Ellis)
Holy Cross at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network
Charlotte at URI — Cox Sports RI
George Mason at North Carolina-Wilmington — Comcast SportsNet (California/Mid-Atlantic)/The Comcast Network
North Carolina at Florida State — ESPN (Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke)
Texas at Iowa State — ESPNU (Brad Sham/Bob Valvano)
Butler at Dayton — NBC Sports Network (Dave Strader/Stan Van Gundy)
UCLA at Colorado — Pac-12 Network (JB Long/Ernie Kent)

2:15 p.m.
Illinois at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network

2:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma — ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi/Fran Fraschilla)

4 p.m.
VCU at St. Bonaventure — A10 Network
South Florida at Louisville — Big East Network (Jim Barbar/Darrin Horn)
Kansas at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network (Dave Armstrong/Reid Gettys)
George Washington at Xavier — CBS Sports Network
Florida at LSU — ESPNU (Tom Hart/Matt Doherty)
Boston College at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net-regional (North Plus/South/West/Sun Sports/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)
Drexel at James Madison — NBC Sports Network (Mike Corey/Ron Thompson)
Washington at Cal — Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein/Dan Belluomini)

Women’s: West Virginia at Kansas State — Fox Sports Net-national
Women’s: UConn at Marquette — SNY, 4 p.m.

5 p.m.
Oakland at North Dakota State — Fox College Sports Central

6 p.m.
Saint Louis at Temple — ESPNU (Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod)
Vanderbilt at Arkansas — Fox Sports Net-regional (Midwest/North Plus/South/Southwest/West/Wisconsin)
TCU at Baylor — Fox Sports Southwest/Fox College Sports Central
Penn at Princeton — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Dalen Cuff)
USC at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Joe Cravens)

Women’s: Villanova at Pittsburgh — Big East Network (Bob Picozzi/LaChina Robinson)

8 p.m.
Cincinnati at Rutgers — Big East Network (Quint Kessenich/Jim Spanarkel)
Arizona at Oregon State — ESPNU (Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham)
Missouri at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net-regional (Florida/Midwest/South/Southwest)
Colorado State at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network (Steve Schlanger/Blaine Fowler)

Women’s: Texas Tech at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Oklahoma

8:30 p.m.
Women’s: Idaho at New Mexico State — Altitude 2
Women’s: Portland State at Northern Arizona — Fox Sports Arizona Plus

8:30 p.m.
Memphis at UAB — CSS/Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Chicago/Houston/Northwest)Stephen F. Austin at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Atlantic

11 p.m.
Washington at Stanford — Fox Sports Net-national/Fox College Sports Pacific

Sunday, January 13

11:30 a.m.
Women’s: Tennessee at Florida — ESPNU (Cara Capuano/Nell Fortner)

noon
Providence at Seton Hall — Big East Network (Quint Kessenich/John Celestand)
Penn State at Purdue — Big Ten Network

Women’s: Lafayette at Navy — CBS Sports Network

12:30 p.m.
Women’s: Oklahoma State at Texas — Fox Sports Net-national

1 p.m.
UMass at Fordham — YES

Women’s: Boston College at Clemson — Fox Sports Net-regional (Arizona Plus/Detroit Plus/Florida/North Plus/South/Prime Ticket/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)

1:30 p.m.
Michigan at Ohio State — CBS (Tim Brando/Clark Kellogg)

Women’s: Kentucky at Missouri — ESPNU (Melissa Lee/Maria Taylor)

2 p.m.
Women’s: Wisconsin at Michigan — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Fordham at Charlotte — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Nebraska at Penn State — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/LaChina Robinson)

2:30 p.m.
Women’s: Baylor at Kansas — Fox Sports Net-national
Women’s: Alabama at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net-regional (SportSouth/Sun Sports

3 p.m.
Women’s: Miami at Florida State — Fox Sports Net-regional (Detroit Plus/Florida/North Plus/South/Prime Ticket/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN)
Women’s: Oregon State at Arizona State — Pac-12 Network (Anne Marie Anderson/Kyndra de St. Aubin)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Rutgers at Notre Dame — ESPNU (Jim Barbar/Krista Blunk)

4 p.m.
Women’s: Michigan State at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Women’s: San Diego State at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Cal at Stanford — ESPN2 (Pam Ward/Mary Murphy)

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Southern Mississippi at Memphis — Fox Sports Net-national

5 p.m.
Women’s: Colorado at Utah — Pac-12 Network (Ann Schatz/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude)

5:30 p.m.
Iowa at Northwestern — ESPNU (Dan Gutowaski/Tim McCormick)

6 p.m.
Nebraska at Michigan State — Big Ten Network

8 p.m.
Maryland at Miami (FL) — ESPNU (Carter Blackburn/Jay Williams/Allison Williams)

9 p.m.
Arizona at Oregon — Pac-12 Network (Paul Sunderland/Ernie Kent)