ESPN Continues to Air Record Number of Women’s Championship Week Games

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Four Conference Champions to be crowned on ESPN on Sunday, March 6

ESPN’s 2016 Championship Week Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods will feature an industry-leading 141 exclusive women’s college basketball games beginning Wednesday, March 2 to Sunday, March 13, across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN3. ESPN will be the home to four conference title games on Sunday, March 6 – the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and will offer 29 games, while ESPN3 will have exclusive coverage of 112 conference tournament games, and will show another 23 contests available in local markets via syndication, for a total of 164 games. ESPN networks will crown the champion from 23 Division I conferences.

Women’s Champ Week coverage will culminate with the exclusive live announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field as part of Selection Monday presented by Capital One on March 14, at 7 p.m., with ESPNU offering a bonus hour of coverage on the NCAA Women’s’ Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage at 8 p.m.

The Champ Week schedule includes a total of 333 men’s and women’s basketball games – including 289 exclusive contests – across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN3 from 26 Division I conferences.

All Champ Week telecasts will be streamed live on WatchESPN, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

Championship Week Highlights

• ESPN will be the home to four conference title games on Sunday, March 6 on ESPN:
  • The ACC championship game will be shown at 1 p.m. with the semifinals airing on Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
  • The SEC title game airs at 3:30 p.m., with the semifinals shown on Saturday at 5 and 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
  • The Big Ten title game airs at 7 p.m. and the nightcap at 9 p.m. features the Pac-12 semifinal winners.
• The American Women’s Conference Championship can be seen exclusively on ESPN networks– the first round and quarterfinal games will be on ESPN3 on Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5, respectively, with the semifinals airing Sunday on ESPNU and the title game on Monday on ESPN2.
• Additional championship games live on ESPNU: America East, Atlantic 10, Horizon League, MAAC, Northeast Conference, Summit League, Western Athletic Conference and West Coast Conference.

Studio Assignments

• Host Doug Kezerian will be joined on Sunday, March 6 in ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios by analyst Rebecca Lobo for 1 and 3:30 p.m. games and analyst Kara Lawson for the 7 and 9 p.m. windows.
• Kezerian and Lawson will be in studio for Monday’s American Women’s Conference championship game.

SEC Network Coverage

• SEC Network will carry the first-, second- and quarterfinal-round games live from Jacksonville, Fla., beginning Wednesday, March 2 through Friday, March 4.
• SEC Now is courtside in Jacksonville throughout the tournament pregame and postgame coverage.
• SEC Now features Host Maria Taylor and analysts Nell Fortner and Andy Landers.
• Unseen vantage points and sounds from the court and locker room air in SEC Inside: Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

espnW Coverage
Top espnW writers will report from key conference tournaments, while Charlie Creme will provide Bracketology updates as upsets occur and conference tournament champions are decided. Throughout Champ Week, espnW will also provide content through social channels, daily video highlights, game results and brackets for each of the 31 league tournaments.

Select games will also be available on the ESPN3 player on espnW.com

Champ Week Music
In addition to commercial music selection from last year’s Champ Week – “Glitter & Gold” by Rebecca Ferguson – additional music includes “Get Up” by Dorothy, “Victorious” by Panic! At the Disco and “Golden” by Travie McCoy ft. Sia.

Postseason Coverage
ESPN networks will continue to carry all 63 games of the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Capital One, culminating with the NCAA Women’s Final Four from Indianapolis, on April 3 and 5.

The exclusive live announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field as part of Selection Monday presented by Capital One will be unveiled March 14, at 7 p.m., with ESPNU offering a bonus hour of coverage on the NCAA Women’s’ Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage at 8 p.m.

All 63 games of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will air on ESPN networks for the 11^th consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN2 will present regionalized telecasts with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN3 and ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer first- and second-round games in their entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.

2016 Women’s College Basketball Champ Week Schedule (subject to change)

^ – tape delayed on Sunday, March 13 (ESPNU, 1 a.m.)
* – tape delayed on Sunday, March 13 (ESPNU, 9 a.m.)
# – tape delayed on Sunday, March 13 (ESPNU, 11 a.m.)

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