BIG EAST Television BIG EAST’s unprecedented Television Coverage Continues 91 Percent of League Games Include an NCAA Tournament Team
The BIG EAST men’s basketball conference schedule has had two notable characteristics that have become the norm in recent years – all 144 league games televised and more than half on national television. For the upcoming campaign, however, after a season when the BIG EAST placed a record 11 teams in the NCAA Championship and Connecticut won the national title, an incredible 91 percent of all conference games in 2011-12 will include a team that played in the 2011 NCAA tourney.
In fact, 67 of the 144 league games will be between two teams that played in the 2011 NCAA Championship. Fifty-six of those games will be on national television. The BIG EAST has always been considered a leader in television. Twelve BIG EAST teams reside in the top 35 media markets in the country.
Some of the highlights of the current agreement: • Seventy-five of the 144 regular-season BIG EAST games will be on national television (either on CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU). • Each of the BIG EAST’s 16 teams will make at least three national television appearances in conference games alone. • The 2011-12 season is the fifth straight in which all 144 regular-season league games will be televised. • Forty-five conference games will be carried on ESPN or ESPN2. • CBS will air five conference games and four nonconference games. • ESPNU, which has a reach of more than 73 million homes, will carry at least 25 conference games. • ESPN Regional Television once again produce the BIG EAST Network Game of the Week package, which is available to more than 40 percent of the nation in approximately 43 million households.
Some additional television highlights of the 2011-12 schedule include: Big Monday – The BIG EAST schedule on ESPN’s Big Monday includes eight games over seven weeks. The series starts with a doubleheader on Jan. 16, the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Louisville plays at Marquette at 3:30 p.m. ET and Pittsburgh plays at Syracuse at 7:30 p.m. Every team that appears on Big Monday this season played in the NCAA Championship last March. Cincinnati will host a Big Monday for the first time. The Bearcats will play Syracuse at Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 23. All games on the Big Monday schedule also will be available on ESPN3.com. Prior to the official Big Monday schedule, West Virginia will play at Connecticut on ESPN2 on Monday, Jan. 9. Four other conference games will be shown on Mondays on ESPNU. Wednesdays – Like last year, ESPN or ESPN2 will show 10 Wednesday games involving BIG EAST teams during the 10-week conference season. The Wednesday schedule begins Dec. 28 with Georgetown at Louisville on ESPN2. Thirteen different BIG EAST teams will be featured on the Wednesday games. Saturdays – ESPN or ESPN2 will telecast 13 BIG EAST games on Saturdays during the conference season. The Saturday schedule includes a doubleheader on the final day of the regular season, March 3, when Pittsburgh visits Connecticut and Cincinnati plays at Villanova on ESPN2. The BIG EAST Network Game of the Week package continues on Saturdays and Sundays. Sundays – ESPN or ESPN2 will carry four league games on Sundays, the most ever. On Feb. 5, Villanova visits Pittsburgh. St. John’s travels to Georgetown on Feb. 12. On Feb. 19, ESPN has a doubleheader with Syracuse at Rutgers on ESPN and USF at Pittsburgh on ESPN2. CBS SPORTS– The nine-game schedule on CBS features nine different BIG EAST squads. The first of five conference games will be Marquette at Notre Dame on Feb. 4. On March 3, the final day of the regular season, Louisville plays at Syracuse. Louisville will make the first two BIG EAST appearances on CBS when the Cardinals host Memphis Dec. 17 and play at Kentucky Dec. 31. The other nonleague games are Connecticut at Tennessee on Jan. 21 and UCLA at St. John’s on Feb. 18. The BIG EAST and CBS have been formal television partners since 1983-84, the longest relationship of any conference and national broadcast network.
ESPN College GameDay – The BIG EAST will be the only conference scheduled to host ESPN’s signature College GameDay series at two sites. On Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh, the Petersen Events Center will host the GameDay crew and the Panthers’ playing Louisville. On Feb. 25, Connecticut will be the host to ESPN and Syracuse at Gampel Pavilion. ESPN Rivalry Week – The BIG EAST again will own the most appearances on the network’s Rivalry Week. Nine BIG EAST games will appear on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. The week begins on Feb. 6, with Connecticut at Louisville in a Big Monday battle. Two nights later, Georgetown and Syracuse renew what is arguably the BIG EAST’s most storied rivalry in the Carrier Dome on ESPN2. Holiday Week – The BIG EAST league schedule opens Dec. 27 with two games. Pittsburgh, the 2010-11 BIG EAST regular-season champion, plays at Notre Dame on ESPN2. Providence, under Ed Cooley, the league’s only new head coach this season, plays at St. John’s. On Dec. 29, ESPN2 has a pair of BIG EAST clubs playing at home against non-conference opponents. Rutgers hosts Florida and Marquette meets Vanderbilt. ESPNU also has a non-conference battle that evening. It will televise Cincinnati’s home contest against Oklahoma. Louisville plays at Kentucky on CBS Sports on Dec. 31. Four conference games will be played on New Year’s Day, including Villanova at Marquette on ESPNU. Jimmy V Classic – The BIG EAST will participate in both games of this year’s Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 6 at Madison Square Garden. ESPN will televise Villanova versus Missouri followed by Marquette against Washington. BIG EAST/SEC Challenge – The BIG EAST/SEC Challenge will match 12 teams from each conference over three nights, Dec. 1-3. ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will provide exclusive coverage. NBA All-Star Weekend Game – A BIG EAST game has become an ESPN staple on the Friday night of the NBA All-Star Weekend. This season, Marquette will play at West Virginia on Feb. 24.
2011-12 BIG EAST Media Guide—13