Men’s College Basketball Season Tips Off with 26 Games in First WeekSchedule: Quicken Loans Carrier Classic, Coach K’s Record Climb, Five Tournaments & Five of Top Seven Teams
ESPN’s 2011-12 men’s college basketball season will tip off Monday, Nov. 7, with an ESPNU doubleheader from the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: William & Mary at St. John’s at 7 p.m. ET followed by Valparaiso at No. 16 Arizona at 9 p.m. Highlights of the first week:
- ESPN networks will combine to televise 26 games in the first week including 13 exclusively on ESPNU.
- ESPN and ESPN 3D will offer exclusive coverage of the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic pitting Michigan State against No. 1 North Carolina on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. It will mark the first men’s college basketball game to be played on the deck of a United States military aircraft carrier.
- ESPNU will televise Duke’s first two games of the season as head coach Mike Krzyzewski attempts to tie the Division I men’s all-time wins record: Friday, Nov. 11, at 9 p.m. against Belmont and Saturday, Nov. 12, at 4:30 p.m. against Presbyterian.
- Fifteen of the telecasts are part of five pre-season tournaments: 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, TicketCity City Legends Classic, Progressive CBE Classic, DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off and EA Sports Maui Invitational.
- The networks will combine to televise five of the top seven teams in the ESPN/USA Today poll and nine ranked teams overall: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Connecticut, No. 5 Syracuse, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Pittsburgh, No. 16 Arizona, No. 18 Michigan and No. 24 California.
ESPN’s record-breaking 2011-12 men’s college basketball schedule will include more than 1,450 regular-season and Championship Week games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ABC, ESPN Regional Television (ERT), ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN FULL COURT. The schedule surpasses last year’s previous high of approximately 1,200 matchups.
Viewers can also watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater game action online at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets through the WatchESPN app. The service – available to video subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV – gives fans the ability to watch ESPN’s live networks, no matter where they are.
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com schedule through November 14
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Mon, Nov 7 | 7 p.m. | 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: William & Mary at St. John’s (New York)
Bob Wischusen & Len Elmore
|
ESPNU |
| 9 p.m. | 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: Valparaiso at No. 16 Arizona (Tucson)
Dave Flemming & Miles Simon
|
ESPNU | |
| Wed, Nov 9 | 7 p.m. | 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: Lehigh at St. John’s
Bob Wischusen & Len Elmore
|
ESPN2 / ESPN3 |
| 7 p.m. | 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: Akron at Mississippi State (Starkville)
Rob Stone & Jimmy Dykes
|
ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer: Duquesne at No. 16 Arizona (Tucson)
Dave Flemming & Miles Simon
|
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| Fri, Nov 11 | 7 p.m. | Quicken Loans Carrier Classic: Michigan State vs. No. 1 North Carolina (San Diego)
Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas & Andy Katz
|
ESPN / ESPN3 |
| 7 p.m. | Columbia at No. 4 Connecticut
Dave O’Brien & Bill Raftery
|
ESPNU | |
| 7 p.m. | Northern Illinois at Purdue
Jim Barbar & Mark Adams
|
ESPN3 | |
| 7 p.m. | Loyola (Maryland) at Wake Forest
Tom Werme & Brevin Knight
|
ESPN3 | |
| 9 p.m. | Belmont at No. 6 Duke
Mike Breen & Doris Burke
|
ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | Oral Roberts at West Virginia
Tim Neveritt & Jim Chones
|
ESPN3 | |
| Sat, Nov 12 | 2 p.m. | East Tennessee State at Virginia Tech
Scott Corrigan & Pat Kennedy
|
ESPN3 |
| 4:30 p.m. | Presbyterian at No. 6 Duke
Mike Breen & Doris Burke
|
ESPNU | |
| Sun, Nov 13 | 2 p.m. | TicketCity Legends Classic: Cleveland State at No. 7 Vanderbilt (Nashville)
Dave Neal & Jimmy Dykes
|
ESPNU |
| 4 p.m. | No. 1 North Carolina at UNC-Asheville
Rob Stone & Jay Williams
|
ESPNU | |
| 6 p.m. | Progressive CBE Classic: Bowling Green at Georgia (Athens)
Mike Morgan & Stephan Bardo
|
ESPNU | |
| 6 p.m. | Rider at No. 11 Pittsburgh
John Sanders & Curtis Aiken
|
ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | TicketCity Legends Classic: Morehead State at NC State (Raleigh)
Walter Storholt & Paul Biancardi
|
ESPN3 | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Progressive CBE Classic: Georgia Washington at No. 24 California (Berkeley)
Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham
|
ESPNU | |
| Mon, Nov 14 | 7 p.m. | DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off: Manhattan at No. 5 Syracuse (Syracuse)
Beth Mowins & Tim Welsh
|
ESPNU |
| 7 p.m. | DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off: Monmouth at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg)
Scott Corrigan & Pat Kennedy
|
ESPN3 | |
| 7 p.m. | Central Florida at Florida State
Tom Block & Mark Wise
|
ESPN3 | |
| 8:30 p.m. | EA Sports Maui Invitational: Towson at No. 18 Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Dan Gutowsky & Tim McCormick
|
ESPN3 | |
| 9 p.m. | Progressive CBE Classic: Detroit at Notre Dame (South Bend)
Jim Barbar & LaPhonso Ellis
|
ESPNU | |
| 9 p.m. | DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off: Florida International vs. George Mason (Blacksburg)
Scott Corrigan & Pat Kennedy
|
ESPN3 | |
| 11 p.m. | DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off: Fresno State at Stanford (Stanford)
Mark Neely & Miles Simon
|
ESPNU |
– 30 –
Recent Comments