Men’s College Hoops: Extensive Coverage Surrounding Final Conference Title Games and Selection Sunday Analysis 

infROWgraphic: Inside Jay Bilas’s crazy Championship Week schedule

• Jay Bilas Co-hosts Sunday’s 11 p.m. SportsCenter & Monday’s Mike & Mike
• Multiple Cross-Network Studio Shows Featuring Large Cast of Top Analysts

ESPN’s extensive coverage of Selection Sunday on March 13 – the day the 68-team NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship field is announced – will include in-depth analysis and discussion throughout the day on studio shows across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN Radio, in addition to the title games from the SEC, American and Sun Belt.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas will be a part of the day’s coverage after a very busy week, culminating with co-hosting Sunday’s 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter with John Buccigross and Monday on Mike & Mike (6 a.m., ESPN2). Rece Davis will also join Mike & Mike on Monday.

A two-hour Bracketology presented by Staples on Sunday (7 p.m., ESPN) – with another two hours immediately following (9 p.m., ESPN2) – will include extensive, in-depth analysis of the recently-announced bracket in each region plus multiple tournament topics and the analysts revealing their Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship teams. In addition, Andy Katz will interview NCAA Championship Chairman Joseph Castiglione from New York City.

Many of the sport’s top experts will contribute throughout the day, including analysts Bilas, Dane Bradshaw, Adrian Branch, Jim Calhoun, Dan Dakich, Tony Delk, LaPhonso Ellis, Daymeon Fishback, Fran Fraschilla, Dino Gaudio, Seth Greenberg, Katz, Doug Kezirian, Kara Lawson, Joe Lunardi, Craig Robinson, Miles Simon, Chris Spatola, Maria Taylor, Dick Vitale, Tim Welsh and Williams.

Hosting duties across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN Radio will be handled by Peter Burns, Rece Davis, Chris Cotter, Brendan Fitzgerald, Dari Nowkhah, Paul Finebaum, Matt Schick, Anish Shroff and Adnan Virk.

Greg Shaheen, who oversaw the operation of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship until 2012, will provide insight into the selection process of the Tournament Committee across ESPN platforms for a fourth straight season.

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN Radio’s Schedule for Sunday & Monday

College Basketball Live at 11 a.m. on ESPN2 and noon on ESPN
The special two-hour College Basketball Live – 11 a.m. on ESPN2 and continuing on ESPN at noon – will review the conference tournament results, look at the potential NCAA Championship field and preview the day’s upcoming conference championships. Davis will host with analysts Bilas, Greenberg and Williams.

Bubble Watch at 3 p.m. on ESPN2
The special two-hour Bubble Watch at 3 p.m. on ESPN2 will include host Cotter and analysts Dakich, Ellis, Lawson and Simon discussing the conference champions already in tournament, potential seeding and the teams on the bubble hoping to be one of the 68 in the field.

SportsCenter at 5:30 p.m. (or at the conclusion of American Title Game) on ESPN & 11 p.m. on ESPN
Scott Van Pelt will host a special edition of SportsCenter Sunday afternoon in which the opinionated anchor of the midnight SportsCenter and noted college hoops fan gives his thoughts on the just-revealed bracket. Guests will include Davis, Bilas, Lawson and Dakich; ESPN Bracketologist Lunardi and SportsCenter contributor and author Mark Titus. Van Pelt also will be hosting a group on ESPN.com’s Tournament Challenge which is free for all fans of his show to join.

Bilas will co-host Sunday’s 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter on ESPN with John Buccigross.

Bracketology presented by Staples at 7 p.m. on ESPN
The two-hour program will include extensive, in-depth analysis of the bracket in each region. Davis will host with analysts Bilas, Dakich, Greenberg, Simon and Vitale (via satellite) discussing multiple tournament topics and revealing their Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship teams. In addition, Katz will interview NCAA Championship Chairman Joseph Castiglione from New York City.

Bracketology presented by Staples at 9 p.m. on ESPN2
Extensive discussion of the tournament field will continue on ESPN2 with an additional two hours of Bracketology Presented by Staples at 9 p.m. Virk will host with analysts Dakich, Ellis , Lawson and Simon providing insight and predictions for every game. In addition, a “Bracketology” National Champion will be crowned during the program.

NIT Selection Special at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU
ESPNU will reveal the NIT field on the NIT Selection Special, hosted by Schick with analyst Gaudio, at 8:30 p.m. ESPN will provide exclusive coverage of all 31 NIT games beginning Tuesday, March 15.

Tournament Countdown: The Experts at 9 p.m. on ESPNU
Anish Shroff will host a three-hour Tournament Countdown: The Experts on ESPNU at 9 p.m. with analysts Branch, Fraschilla and Gaudio providing an expert’s take on the entire tournament field and an in-depth examination of each first- and second-round game.

SEC Now Selection Special Expands on SEC Network
SEC Network is expanding its SEC Now Selection Special to two-hours this year. Beginning at 9 p.m., the show will include analysis of the championship field (NCAA and NIT) from an SEC perspective. Nowkhah and Burns will host with analysts Bradshaw, Fishback and Delk.

SEC Now will also air for two hours on Monday at 9 p.m. to continue the men’s NCAA and NIT discussion, as well as examine the women’s NCAA selections.

10 Hours of Tournament Countdown Programming Monday on ESPNU
ESPNU will provide 10 hours of Tournament Countdown programming on Monday, March 14. Coverage will begin at 1 p.m. with a five-hour Tournament Countdown: Katz Korner featuring interviews with top coaches of teams in the championship, analysis from Branch and Welsh, and tournament predictions.

Programming will continue at 6 p.m. with College Basketball Live: Tournament Countdown. Gaudio, Robinson and Spatola join host Schick to help you fill out your bracket. Discussion and analysis of the biggest storylines, best matchups, potential upsets and Cinderella’s, Final Four projections, among other topics will be covered during the two-hour show. List-style countdowns of the best players, teams and moments from the season and past NCAA tournaments, plus Jungle Jack Hanna will bring us “Jungle Jack-etology”, looking at the bracket from a real-animal perspective.

Tournament Countdown: The Experts at 9 p.m. – hosted by Shroff with analysts Dino Gaudio, Craig Robinson and Tim Welsh – will provide a look at why teams will advance, debates on the best matchups and analysts picking this year’s national champion.

ESPN Radio’s Selection Sunday Show Begins at 6:30 p.m.
ESPN Radio will preview the field on the Selection Sunday Show from 6:30-10 p.m. The show will include host Paul Finebaum with Doug Kezirian and Maria Taylor discussing the brackets as they are revealed, insights from additional ESPN college basketball analysts, and interviews with multiple coaches. The NCAA Basketball Committee chairman Joe Castiglione is scheduled to join the show during the 8 p.m. hour. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins and Purdue head coach Matt Painter are also confirmed to appear. Additional guests will be announced at a later date.

ESPN.com Tournament Challenge
ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge and ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge both return for their 19th seasons and will once again be free for entrants to submit up to 10 entries on ESPN.com. At the end of the tournament, all Men’s Tournament Challenge entries that finish in the top 1% are entered in a random drawing to win a trip for two to the 2016 Maui Invitational and a $10,000 Amazon Gift Card prize. In the Women’s Tournament Challenge, entries that finish in the top 1% are entered in a random drawing for a $3,000 Amazon Gift Card. Entries for the Men’s Tournament Challenge game will be accepted until just prior to the tip-off of the Tournament’s first game on Thursday, March 17. The Women’s Tournament Challenge will accept registration until just prior to tip-off of the first game on Friday, March 18

Last year, the Men’s Tournament Challenge game was again the most popular bracket game in the nation, with more than 11.57 million brackets, a new all-time mark that surpasses last year’s record. At the peak period, fans registered 7,791 brackets per minute (129 brackets per second), among those of which was a bracket from President Barack Obama.

Heroes of the Dorm
Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm returns to ESPN networks for a series of esports programming surrounding the Heroes of the Dorm collegiate tournament. Teams consisting of five students from U.S. and Canadian colleges battle through a single-elimination bracket with more than $500,000 in tuition and other prizes on the line.    

ESPNU kicks off its Selection Sunday block with a 30-minute Heroes of the Dorm Championship Bracket Reveal Show at 8 p.m. on March 13 that includes multiple reairs on ESPNEWS.  A recap of the Round of 8 and preview of the Heroic Four will be shown on Wednesday, April 6 (11 p.m. on ESPNU with additional reairs).  The Heroic Four will air live on Saturday, April 9 (8 p.m., ESPN2 with multiple reairs on ESPNU), followed by the three-hour live Grand Finale on Sunday, April 10 (8 p.m., ESPN2 with multiple reairs on ESPNU). A tournament recap show can be seen on Friday, April 15 (11 p.m. on ESPNU with an ESPN2 reair on April 17).

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