''ESPN College Basketball'' is a blanket title used for presentations of
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
, holding broadcast rights to games from each major conference, and a number of
mid-major
Mid-major is a term used in American NCAA Division I college sports, particularly men's basketball, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the "Power Five conferences" (the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC), which are alternativ ...
conferences.
ESPN was the first broadcaster to provide extensive early-round coverage of
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
, prior to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, later in partnership with
Turner Sports
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
, holding sole rights to "
March Madness
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
". The network also covers a number of early-season tournaments, conference championships, and is also the exclusive broadcaster of the
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
and the
Women's Division I championship.
History
1979–1989
ESPN has aired college basketball games from its inception, starting in 1979 with
DePaul's victory over
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...
with a then-novice color commentator
Dick Vitale
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
and Joe Boyle doing the play-by-play. In the early days, Vitale was paired with veteran sportscaster
Jim Simpson.
One of the first milestone events that ESPN covered was the
NCAA tournament. In
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, the fledgling channel had a total of 23 tournament games. More specifically, ESPN aired the
NCAA Productions telecasts of all 16 first-round games (12 on
tape delay).
Jay Randolph
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...
,
Gary Thompson, Steve Shannon, Steve Grad,
Fred White,
Larry Conley
George Larry Conley (born January 22, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player.
A 6'3" guard, Conley played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under coach Adolph Rupp. During the 1965–66 season, Conley was a st ...
,
Bill O'Donnell,
Bucky Waters
Raymond Chevalier "Bucky" Waters (born December 17, 1935) is an American basketball broadcaster with ESPN and Madison Square Garden Network and a retired basketball coach. He served as head basketball coach at West Virginia University from 1965 to ...
, and
Jeff Mullins were among the commentators. ESPN again aired 16 first-round games (12 on tape delay) produced by NCAA Productions in
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. That year, ESPN aired the
BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...
-
Notre Dame (at Atlanta) with Bill O'Donnell and Jeff Mullins on the call. This particular game soon became famous for
Danny Ainge
Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
A three-sp ...
's coast-to-coast buzzer beater to send BYU to Elite 8. ESPN also aired the last Final Four consolation game at 5 p.m. on March 30, 1981.
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
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
gained exclusive coverage in 1991, they would largely mimic how their predecessor had covered the event. ESPN aired the NCAA productions telecasts of all 16 first-round games (12 on tape delay).
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 Championship Week (shortened to Champ Week from 2016 onward) is ESPN's annual college basketball showcase of conference tournament games in the United States, which decide NCAA bids in early-to-mid-March. It typically lasts a little under 2 weeks, ...
'' 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.
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
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
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
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
Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for '' Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...
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.
In 1993, ESPN aired the Women's Selection Show for the first time ever. 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.
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.
On March 4, 2005,
ESPNU
ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...
premiered on the outset of a
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
–
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
game from
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...
with a special two-hour edition of ''
College GameDay''. ESPNU has aired the first set of games of each season, beginning in its initial season of 2005.
/ref>
In 2005–06, the ESPN family of networks aired 884 games (they aired 140 women's games that year). However the following season, they aired over 1000 games.
In 2007, ESPNU as well as ESPN2 aired the first-ever ''NIT Selection Show''.
/ref> Also, ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
aired its first-ever coverage of the ''Selection Sunday''. Also that year, a then-record of more than 3.3 million brackets entered on ESPN.com surpassing the record set the previous year.
During the 2007–2008 season, the ESPN networks aired a total of more than 1,050 men's games and 150 women's games.
/ref> ESPNU aired over 250 games. In addition, ESPN aired Pac-10
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
games for the first time since 1995, through a new agreement with FSN. They showed a total of 2 games. The year was marked by Dick Vitale
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
missing his first assignment ever due to surgery. He was replaced by Jay Bilas
Jay Scot Bilas (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball analyst who currently works for ESPN. Bilas is a former professional basketball player and coach who played for and served as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke Uni ...
on ''Saturday Primetime
''Saturday Primetime'', officially ''Saturday Primetime presented by H&R Block'', is an American television program that appears on ESPN during the college basketball regular season. The game is played at the site of '' College GameDay'' every Sat ...
''. He returned on February 6 for the UNC-Duke matchup. Due to the 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, ESPN2, instead of CBS, aired the 2008 SEC tournament finals from Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the home of the Georgia Tech Yellow ...
on the campus of Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
. However, CBS production was utilized including talent and graphics. ESPN had a record 3.65 million entries for the ''Tournament Challenge''.
Legendary basketball coach Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...
retired from coaching in February 2008, he joined ESPN, the following month as a studio analyst for ''Championship Week Championship Week (shortened to Champ Week from 2016 onward) is ESPN's annual college basketball showcase of conference tournament games in the United States, which decide NCAA bids in early-to-mid-March. It typically lasts a little under 2 weeks, ...
'' and later appeared during the NCAA tournament, including on location from San Antonio at the Final Four. His role was greatly expanded during the 2008–09 season, when he appeared on many platforms including a weekly Thursday game as well as '' College GameDay.''
On November 18, 2008, ESPN first held an event known as the ''Tip-Off Marathon'', a 23-hour marathon of 14 games and other studio programs across ESPN's networks, which included a UMass/Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
game at midnight ET, and a block of classic games airing on ESPN Classic.
The ESPN networks aired about 1,100 games during 2008–09 season.
There was a total of 148 women's basketball games during 2008–09 season including the entire NCAA Tournament.
2010s
In October 2017, ESPN announced that it would no longer hold its ''Tip-Off Marathon'' on the opening day of the season, citing expanding options for games throughout the season on its television channels and digital platforms, as well as the new, 16-team Phil Knight Invitational
The Phil Knight Invitational is a college basketball event held in Portland, Oregon to celebrate Nike, Inc., Nike co-founder Phil Knight. There have been three different events held, most recently in November 2022. The event has been held at the ...
tournament that ESPN would be broadcasting over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Also for the season, 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
Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution has primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civ ...
of the game.
Coverage
Game coverage
Games are typically aired on:
*Mondays (Big Monday
''Big Monday'' is a presentation of Division I college basketball on ESPN.
History
Since debuting on January 5, 1987, it has broadcast games from numerous conferences, including: the Big East, which had been a ''Big Monday'' staple from 1987 unti ...
)- ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
and Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
doubleheader
*Tuesdays (Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...
)- Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
and SEC
*Wednesdays (Wednesday Night Hoops
''ESPN College Basketball'' is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major c ...
)- ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
, Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
, and Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
,
*Thursdays (Thursday Night Showcase
''ESPN College Basketball'' is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major c ...
)- 5 games across the ESPN/ESPN2 spectrum from various conferences. ESPNU typically airs 2–3 games.
*Friday- Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...
and other non power 5 conferences
*Saturdays (Day games and Saturday Primetime
''Saturday Primetime'', officially ''Saturday Primetime presented by H&R Block'', is an American television program that appears on ESPN during the college basketball regular season. The game is played at the site of '' College GameDay'' every Sat ...
)- ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
, Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, and Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
*Sunday- American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
and other non power 5 conferences.
Pre-conference play, conference tournament games, NIT games, as well as other selected games air on other days of the week.
Pre-season tournaments
ESPN currently airs many pre-season tournaments, some of which organized by ESPN Events
ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events ...
, including the AdvoCare Invitational
The ESPN Events Invitational (previously the Orlando Invitational, Orlando Classic, Old Spice Classic, and Advocare Invitational) is an annual college basketball tournament played over Thanksgiving weekend, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. The inaug ...
, the Champions Classic, the Jimmy V Classic
The Jimmy V Classic is an annual basketball game organized by ESPN Events to raise money and awareness for cancer research. It is named after Jim Valvano and features clips from his speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards
An ESPY Award (short for Excell ...
, and the NIT Season Tip-Off
The NIT Season Tip-Off is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, toward the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites, while the semifinals and the finals are held during the ...
.
The Jimmy V Classic is accompanied by "Jimmy V Week", a charity appeal across ESPN's networks for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The event traditionally includes an airing of Jim Valvano
James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster.
Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, most notably at North Carolin ...
's speech at the 1993 ESPY Award
An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
s, where he addressed his condition and announced the formation of the charity.
Speciality weeks
ESPN has themed weeks to enhance the collegiate game including:
*''ESPNU Campus Connection Week'' (formerly known as Student Spirit Week)-
*''Feast Week''- the week of Thanksgiving
*''Holiday Hoops''- around Christmas
*''Rivalry Week''- end of January or beginning of February, features many of the hottest rivalries in the games
*''Judgment Week''- end of February or early March, final week of the regular season (replaced with ''Bracket Builder Week'' in 2015)
*''Champ Week'' (formerly known as Championship Week until 2016)- early-to-mid-March, conference tournaments
March Madness
While domestic rights to the NCAA men's tournament are held by CBS and Turner Sports, ESPN International
ESPN International is a family of sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1989, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Operating regions
Latin America
Spanish-speaking countries
* E ...
distributes coverage of the tournament internationally, and produces its own feed of the Final Four and championship game using the ''ESPN College Basketball'' staff. In 2013, ESPN International's Final Four coverage was called by Dan Shulman
Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN.
Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-the ...
and Dick Vitale
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
(alternatively joined by Brad Nessler
Bradley Ray Nessler (born June 3, 1956) is an American sportscaster, who currently calls college football and college basketball games for CBS Sports.
Career
Early assignments
Nessler began his professional broadcasting career sharing play ...
for one of the semi-final games).
Non-games
ESPN has traditionally aired coverage of non-game action including Midnight Madness, which it help popularize by airing the first practices.
'' College GameDay'' which grew as a spin-off of the popular football series is a weekly series that airs during conference play and post-season action. The main difference however is that the sites are pre-determined based on the location of the ''Saturday Primetime'' match-up. The show incorporates many of the features and is similar to the football edition.
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 Bracketology is the process of predicting the field of college basketball participants in the NCAA basketball tournament, named as such because it is commonly used to fill in tournament brackets for the postseason. It incorporates some method of p ...
. The event was co-promoted with ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
'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.
ESPNU airs a National Signing Day, first premiering in 2008. It was done due to the popularity of the football edition.
Women's coverage
ESPN has greatly expanded its coverage of the women's game, which now includes the entire NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
tournament, culminating with the ''Final Four''. They air many of the same pre-season and conference tournaments as the men do including ''Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic'', ''Holiday Hoops'', ''ESPNU Campus Connection Week'', ''February Frenzy'', ''Rivalry Week'', and ''Championship Week''. The season begins with the ''State Farm Tip-Off Classic''. ESPN2 airs a weekly ''Big Monday'' game in primetime. In addition, ESPN airs the ''Maggie Dixon Classic''. Every February, ESPN2 airs ''February Frenzy''. They air multiple games in a telecast window(s) and go to the games whip-around style. The Women's Selection Show is aired on ESPN including bonus coverage on ESPNU on ''Selection Monday'' after many years of being overshadowed by the men's show.
Criticism
ESPN is often accused of having a bias towards certain teams, including the Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
(ACC), particularly the Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...
and North Carolina Tar Heels
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...
. ESPN and the ACC have a rights deal that extends through the 2026–27 season which provides additional football, men's and women's basketball and Olympic sports coverage on a variety of platforms, suggesting the bias may have a financial motivation. In addition, ESPN has also been very fond of the Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...
as most of ESPN's Super Tuesday weeks usually tends to feature a game involving Kentucky, even when it's playing against one of the lesser SEC teams.
Dick Vitale
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...
is often criticized for being a "homer" for Duke, especially for Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...
, as well as most teams in the ACC
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
(for example, a February 28, 2017 game between Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
vs. Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
game was scheduled to be on ESPN but was demoted to ESPN2 in favor of Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
vs. Duke). He is also known for mentioning Duke frequently during broadcasts, even when Duke is not playing. Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
head coach John Chaney once said "You can't get Dick Vitale to say 15 words without Duke coming out of his mouth". 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
ACC most often refers to:
* Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US
*American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...
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 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...
games are produced off-site.ESPN broadcasting games remotely sends a bad message for NCAA Women's Tournament coverage
– Awful Announcing, Matt Yoder, 18 March 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, Michigan-Michigan State, Florida-Kentucky, Texas Tech-Texas, and Kansas-Kansas State.
''Championship Week Championship Week (shortened to Champ Week from 2016 onward) is ESPN's annual college basketball showcase of conference tournament games in the United States, which decide NCAA bids in early-to-mid-March. It typically lasts a little under 2 weeks, ...
'' 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
Men's college basketball on television includes the broadcasting of college basketball games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of basketball annually garners ...
* ''College GameNight
Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, and was a regular spor ...
''
* ''College Basketball on ABC''
* ''College Basketball on CBS''
* ''College Basketball on NBC''
* CBS Sports Network
* Big Ten Network
* MountainWest Sports Network
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:College Basketball On Espn
ESPN College Basketball,
1979 American television series debuts
1970s American television series
1980s American television series
1990s American television series
2000s American television series
2010s American television series
2020s American television series
ESPN original programming
Sports telecast series
College basketball on television in the United States, ESPN