ESPN College Basketball
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ESPN College Basketball is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks (including ABC since 2006). Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major conference, and a number of mid-major conferences.
ESPN was the first broadcaster to provide extensive early-round coverage of
History
1979
ESPN has aired college basketball games from its inception, starting in 1979 with DePaul's victory over Wisconsin with a then-novice color commentator Dick Vitale and Joe Boyle doing the play-by-play. In the early days, Vitale was paired with veteran sportscaster Jim Simpson.
1980s
One of the first milestone events that ESPN covered was the
They intensively covered the early rounds of March Madness, gaining the entire tournament much prestige. The early rounds of course were not the most ideal time, many games taking place during work hours. When
During the 1985 NCAA tournament, ESPN aired five live games on each first round day which, combined with the CBS games and the around the clock ESPN tape delayed games, made for almost non-stop basketball for 55 consecutive hours from Thursday noon through early Saturday evening. With four games at each first round site, NCAA Productions typically sent two announcer crews to each site to call two games each.
One of the next milestones in ESPN's coverage was when they aired Championship Week for the first time in 1986 (the term would be coined later however). The network was given critical acclaim for its coverage of the conference tournaments, of bouncing from game to the next. It also raised the profile of many "mid-major" and "minor" conferences who received their only national attention during a single game, usually the championship game of their conference tournament. Like everything else with ESPN, the success and expansion of the network led to more games being televised in this made-for-TV event.[2]
1987 was the last year that ESPN was involved in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. John Saunders was ESPN's studio host in the afternoon while Bob Ley was the studio host in the evening. Dick Vitale served as the studio analyst for both men. In 1989, Tim Brando became the afternoon studio host while John Saunders moved to the evening. And then a year later, Chris Fowler replaced Brando as the afternoon studio host. As previously mentioned, 1990 was also the last year ESPN/NCAA Productions' involvement.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s with only a single network; no regional or internet coverage, ESPN televised around 200 games a year.
1990s
In 1991, they would lose coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament but would continue to televise just as many regular season games and conference tournament games.[3]
In 1993, ESPN aired the Women's Selection Show for the first time ever.[4] Unlike the men's tournament, ESPN is the only network that airs the unveiling.
In 1996, ESPN and ESPN2 aired a total of 281 men's games and 22 women's games.[5]
2000s
ESPN has rapidly increased its coverage throughout the years as the network as expanded from a single cable channel to a multiple outlets including the internet.
In 2003, ESPN and its sister networks aired all the games of the Women's NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, a practice that still exists today.[6]
On March 4, 2005,
In 2005–06, the ESPN family of networks aired 884 games (they aired 140 women's games that year).[9] However the following season, they aired over 1000 games.[10]
In 2007, ESPNU as well as ESPN2 aired the first-ever NIT Selection Show.[11] Also, ESPN Radio aired its first-ever coverage of the Selection Sunday.[12] Also that year, a then-record of more than 3.3 million brackets entered on ESPN.com surpassing the record set the previous year.[13]
During the 2007–2008 season, the ESPN networks aired a total of more than 1,050 men's games
Legendary basketball coach
The ESPN networks aired about 1,100 games during the 2008–09 season,[8] including 148 women's games (including the entire NCAA Tournament).[24]
In the 2009–10 season, ESPN began a 15-year deal to serve as the main rightsholder of the SEC. The package initially contained a broadcast television package via
2010s
In 2010, ESPN reached a deal for rights to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) basketball and football, while still maintaining Raycom's long-standing syndicated package.[29] In July 2016, ESPN announced an extension of the agreement, which would include the formation of the ACC Network cable channel, and the end of Raycom's broadcast television package after the 2018–19 season.[30][31][32] In 2017, ESPN renewed its rights to the Big Ten through the 2022–23 season.[33][34]
In 2017, ESPN unveiled a significantly redesigned on-air presentation for college basketball games; ESPN explained that the new branding was designed to reflect the fan culture and tribalism of the game.[35][36][37]
2020s
In August 2022, ESPN lost its rights to the Big Ten after the upcoming 2022–23 season.[38][39][40] In October 2022, ESPN renewed with the Big 12 Conference.[41]
Due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, it was announced that five January 2024 NBA Wednesday games instead was airing on ABC instead of on ESPN as part of a Doubleheader, to replace this coverage ESPN will air a single college basketball game each night instead.[42]
Coverage
Game coverage
ESPN broadcasts weekly games in various windows. Its flagship weekly games are
- Big Monday: A Monday-night doubleheader on ESPN, aired after the conclusion of football season (which until then is occupied by Monday Night Football).[43] Since the 2013–14 season, it has consisted of an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) game, followed by a Big 12 Conference game. Prior to its realignment in the 2013–14 season, the Big East was featured as the early game alongside the Big 12 (hence the title).[44][45] The second game was initially a Big Ten game; in the 1991–92 season, they were moved to an early window on Tuesdays in favor of the then-Big Eight Conference, citing that the conference's territorial footprint was more favorable for 9:30 p.m. ET starts than the Big Ten.[46] Previously, the block also featured a third, west coast game at 9 p.m. PT, which in the past had featured games involving conferences such as the Big West (especially UNLV during its glory years under Jerry Tarkanian), Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and West Coast Conference (WCC).[44][45][47]
- Super Tuesday, a Tuesday-night doubleheader on ESPN featuring Big Ten and Southeastern Conference (SEC) games.[48]
- Wednesday Night Hoops[49]
- Thursday Night Showcase[49]
- Saturday Primetime[49]
ESPN currently airs many pre-season tournaments and showcases, some of which organized by
The final week of the regular season is branded as "Bracket Builder Week" (formerly "Judgment Week") and highlights games involving possible contenders for the NCAA tournament,[55] while "Champ Week" (formerly "Championship Week") is used as the blanket branding for coverage of conference tournaments. ESPN formerly broadcast other in-season events, including
- The Tip-Off Marathon, held from 2008 through 2017,late-night tripleheader that started at midnight ET with games from Memphis, Saint Mary's (CA), and Hawaii.[57][58]
- Until 2014, ESPN held an annual slate of games known as BracketBusters, which showcased teams in mid-major conferences considered to be potential at-large selections for the NCAA tournament field.[59]
- ESPNU Campus Connection Week (originally "Student Spirit Week") was formerly featured across a week of game broadcasts in January, which featured segments profiling student-athletes, students taking on selected production and on-air roles, student-produced segments aired during games, and reports from student sections.[60][61]
Post-season tournaments
ESPN airs the
Non-games
ESPN has traditionally aired coverage of non-game action including Midnight Madness, which it help popularize by airing the first practices.
During the NCAA tournament, many ESPN personalities including Dick Vitale appear to discuss the tournament. In addition during the Final Four, there is an on-location set. Typically special editions of College Gameday and SportsCenter appear during this time. In 2017, alongside its selection shows for the NIT and Women's NCAA Division I tournament, ESPN first held the Tournament Challenge Marathon—a 24-hour-long slate of programming (including special editions of existing ESPN studio shows) devoted to bracketology. The event was co-promoted with ESPN.com's ESPN Tournament Challenge bracket game, and contained charitable appeals for the Jimmy V Foundation. The event was revived in 2018, with a 25-hour marathon of tournament-related programming.[65][66]
ESPNU airs a National Signing Day, first premiering in 2008. It was done due to the popularity of the football edition.[67]
Women's coverage
ESPN has greatly expanded its coverage of the women's game, which now includes the entire
Criticism
ESPN is often accused of having a bias towards certain teams, including the
Dick Vitale is often criticized for being a "homer" for Duke, especially for former coach Mike Krzyzewski, as well as most teams in the ACC (for example, a February 28, 2017 game between Indiana vs. Purdue game was scheduled to be on ESPN but was demoted to ESPN2 in favor of Florida State vs. Duke).[71] He is also known for mentioning Duke frequently during broadcasts, even when Duke is not playing. Temple head coach John Chaney once said "You can't get Dick Vitale to say 15 words without Duke coming out of his mouth".[72] He is sometimes called "Duke Vitale" or "Dookie V", a take-off on his "Dickie V" nickname, by detractors for the same reason. Although his bias towards Duke is widely speculated by many, he is also believed to favor the entire ACC in general, including Duke's rival, North Carolina as well as Kentucky.
A large number of college basketball games are covered off-site, with announcers watching games on television at a studio at Bristol or Los Angeles. For instance, some 2016
Typical games
During the regular season, typical games that are shown almost every year on the ESPN family of networks include Duke-North Carolina, Florida-Kentucky, Texas Tech-Baylor, Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s, and Kansas-Kansas State.
Championship Week always features most Division I conference tournaments including expanding coverage of the "major" conferences. The "mid-major" and/or "minor" conferences will typically only get the latter rounds of the tournaments carried, if not, only the conference finale game.
Personalities
See also
- Men's college basketball on television
- College GameNight
- College Basketball on ABC
- College Basketball on CBS
- College Basketball on NBC
- CBS Sports Network
- Big Ten Network
- MountainWest Sports Network
References
- better source needed]
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- ^ John Steinbreder (December 4, 1989). "CBS paid $1 billion to keep the NCAA tournament – 12.04.89". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
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- ^ JEFF ELLIOTT The Times-Union (March 4, 2005). "TV/RADIO: It's opening night for ESPN's newest network". Jacksonville.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
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- ^ a b "ESPN Press Room - for Media Professionals (Formerly ESPN MediaZone)". Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
- ^ "SEC Network Unveils Brand Campaign". Multichannel News. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ Jon Solomon (August 25, 2008). "ESPN, SEC reach 15-year, $2.25 billion pact". AL.com. Alabama Media Group. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "SEC Network timeline: The conference's journey to its own television channel". AL.com. Alabama Media Group. April 15, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ Raycom loses Southeastern Conference Charlotte Business Journal, August 25, 2008.
- ^ Smith, Michael; Ourand, John (October 5, 2010). "History with ACC secures future for Raycom". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- ^ "Art of the deal: How Swofford, ACC, ESPN reached agreement to launch the ACC Network". The News & Observer. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ "ACC, ESPN announce new television deal, including launch of ACC Network". syracuse.com. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
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- ^ Landis, Bill (May 15, 2017). "Ohio State vs. Michigan football rivalry to be televised on FOX during 2017 season". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ "What we know about the new Big Ten rights deal". Awful Announcing. July 31, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
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- ^ "The Daily Sweat: Football nears its end, but that means 'Big Monday' for college hoops fans". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Gleeson, Scott. "ACC, Big 12 fill up ESPN's 'Big Monday' schedule". USA Today. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ a b "Your new Big Monday schedule is here". ESPN.com. August 7, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Saviers, Dale. "Big 8 Joins ESPN Big Monday List". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
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- ^ Bucholtz, Andrew (November 28, 2022). "ESPN announces new ACC/SEC Challenge". Awful Announcing. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
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- ^ "LSU To Play Basketball At Disney World, November 2018". LSU Athletics. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
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- ^ Wooten, Eddie. "N.C. State to honor Jim Valvano by adding his name at Reynolds Coliseum". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- ^ Siegal, Rachel Margolis (February 25, 2013). "Men's College Hoops: Bracket Builder Week Continues Highlighted by Miami at Duke". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
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- ^ "BracketBusters discontinued after this season". ESPN.com. December 11, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
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- ^ Editor, Carolyn Braff (January 28, 2010). "Campus Connection Week Hits 81 Schools in 16 Conferences". Sports Video Group. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
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