ESPN's 24 Hour Marathon Starts Tonight
The Story: ESPN is featuring its first annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon starting at 11:59 pm tonight (Nov. 17). The marathon will start with UMass at No. 12 Memphis and it concludes with tomorrow night's game of Kentucky at No. 1 North Carolina. The new initiative attempts to highlight the beginning of 2008-09 men's college basketball season. During this marathon ESPN programs will include a game from five different U.S. time zones-Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Hawaiian. The program also includes teams from 14 different conferences-Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, ACC, Atlantic 10, Conference USA, WAC, WCC, Big Sky, Ivy, Colonial, Big South and Summit. Some other highlights include a total of thirty-three hours of coverage on the ESPN family of networks, a four-hour SportsCenter special beginning at 6 am, and a special one hour College GameDay from Chapel Hill that will include National Champion Kansas raising its title banner.
Here is a look at ESPN's schedule of events:
|
Midnight |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
UMass vs. Memphis |
|
2 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Fresno State vs. Saint Mary's |
|
4 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Idaho State vs. Hawaii |
|
6 a.m. |
ESPN |
SportsCenter Special: College Hoops Tip-Off |
|
10 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Penn vs. Drexel |
|
Noon |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Iowa vs. Kansas (women) |
|
2 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Liberty vs. UNC-Asheville |
|
4 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Centenary vs. Baylor |
|
6 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
CBE Classic: Richmond vs. Syracuse |
|
7 p.m. |
ESPNU |
NIT Regional Final (from Purdue) |
|
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final (from Boston College) |
|
8 p.m. |
ESPN |
College GameDay (from Chapel Hill) |
|
9 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Kentucky vs. North Carolina |
|
9 p.m. |
ESPNU |
CBE Classic: Florida Gulf Coast vs. Kansas |
|
9:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final (from Oklahoma) |
|
11:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final (from Arizona) |
Ryter's Block: What more do you need as a college basketball fan? With the college hoops season tipping off last week, this marathon will get sports fans prepared for the upcoming college basketball season. ESPN's featured game, Kentucky vs. UNC, contains the two most storied college hoops universities. Although Kentucky has already fallen to VMI this year this game is loaded with talent, including 4 of CHN's top 20 preseason players. The point of this marathon is to get fans involved and airing games in different time zones enables fans across the nation to take part in this event. This is the first time ESPN is hosting a 24-hour college basketball marathon. I'll bet that their first time won't be their last...
Matthew Ryter keeps you up to date on the world of college basketball with his "Ryter's Block" column. What program or game are you most looking forward to? Post your comments below:
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About Matthew Ryter
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matthew.ryter@gmail.com
Background
Matt Ryter is a graduate of Providence College. He is a life long college basketball junkie. Although his Friars may not be atop the Big East, he follows the conference religiously. When Matt worked at ESPN he was a part of the Stats and Analysis team where he mainly covered college basketball. Matt wears black Nike socks whenever he can to honor the Fab Five.
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