ESPN Inks New Extension With Sun Belt Conference

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN has inked a new deal with the Sunbelt Conference.

The new deal takes the partnership between the worldwide leader in sports and the conference through the 20207-’28 season.  The groups’ current contract was set to expire at the end of the 2019-’20 season, extending that deal out an additional eight seasons.

The new agreement makes ESPN the exclusive broadcast partner of the Sunbelt Conference, giving coverage to more than 500 conference-controlled events across the conference’s 18 sports on the ESPN television networks and on ESPN+.  Burke Magnus, ESPN Executive Vice President of Scheduling and Acquisitions said the new deal was a boon both for ESPN and for the Sunbelt Conference.

“ESPN has a long, mutually beneficial relationship with the Sun Belt, dating back to our foundational years,” Magnus said.  “We are thrilled to take that relationship to a new level via this new innovative and exclusive extension, while also deepening our commitment to serving college sports fans.  More Sun Belt events and content than ever will now be available to fans however they choose to consume them in a more personalized and targeted manner.”

Karl Benson, Sun Belt Conference Commissioner, agreed.

“The continuation of our agreement with ESPN marks one of the most historic announcements since the Sun Belt’s founding in 1976,” Benson said.  “This is truly an ‘all in’ collaboration with ESPN, the Sun Belt, and our member institutions, and the volume of accessibility of our games will have a profound impact on the future of the Sun Belt.  We have enjoyed a long relationship with ESPN since its founding in 1979, and we look forward to being featured on its newest platform, ESPN+, which promises to revolutionize how fans of the Sun Belt and of all college sports watch their favorite teams in action.”

More information on ESPN’s new contract extension with the Sun Belt Conference is available online now along with all of the network’s latest news at:

 

Website: http://www.espn.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPN

Twitter: http://twitter.com/espn

 

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN’s ‘CGD’ To Broadcast Live From University of Tennesse Campus This Weekend

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will be live in Tennessee this weekend.

The worldwide leader in sports’ flagship college football show will be live in Knoxville, TN for this weekend’s matchup between the Volunteers and Gators.  Broadcast begins at 9am ET.

Rece Davis will host the broadcast.  He will be joined at the desk by the team of analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and contributors Chris Fallica, Jen Lada, Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, George Whitfield and Gene Wojciechowski.

College GameDay Live will air live from the College GameDay set beginning at 1:30pm ET.  Samantha Ponder, Desmond Howard and David Pollack will be on hand for the broadcast.

More information on ESPN’s College GameDay built by The Home Depot is available online now along with all of the latest college football headlines at:

 

 

 

 

Website: http://www.espn.com/college-football

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/collegegameday

Twitter: http://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay

 

 

 

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Releases Broadcast Schedule For 2016 Frozen Four Tournament

Courtesy: ESPN

The 2015 – 2016 college basketball season is all but wrapped up after Monday night’s men’s championship matchup between Villanova and UNC.  Tonight the women get their turn as UConn and Syracuse face off for their title.  College basketball may be getting all of the attention but it’s not the only sport that is wrapping up its season.  The annual “Frozen Four” tournament wraps up the 2015 – 2016 college hockey season this weekend.  And ESPN will have full coverage of the annual tournament.

Denver, North Dakota, Boston College, and Quinnipiac will vie for the NCAA college hockey title in this year’s Frozen Four.  The 2016 tournament will be carried across a number of ESPN’s platforms live from the site of the tournament, Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.  The tournament will be held this Thursday, April 7^th and Saturday, April 9^th.  Top-seeded Quinnipiac will take on Boston College in the first of the semi-final matchups Thursday at 5pm ET.  No. 3 seed North Dakota will take on the Pioneers of Denver in Thursday’s second game.  That game is scheduled for an 8:30pm ET start time.  The winners of those games will face off in the Frozen Four Championship match Saturday night at 8pm ET.

John Buccigross and Barry Melrose will have the call for all three of this weekend’s games.  Quint Kessenich will be between the benches for all of the games’ latest news and interviews.  Victoria Arlen makes her debut with the team this year.  She is a former Paralympian Gold Medalist.  She joined ESPN in 2015 and regularly reports for espnW, X Games, and SportsCenter.  All three games in this weekend’s Frozen Four Tournament will be carried live on ESPN2 and online via ESPN3 Surround.  The streaming option allows fans to watch the game from ice level via a trio of robotic cameras that are placed on the glass around the rink.  The trophy presentation will be carried online exclusively on ESPN3.

Along with the exclusive ice-level coverage via ESPN3 Surround, the refs in each game will be wearing mics, letting audiences hear from them at various points throughout the final three games.  On the studio side, Steve Levy will anchor ESPN’s studio coverage of this weekend’s tournament.  From ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, CT.  He will be joined by college hockey analysts Sean Ritchlin and Dave Starman for additional commentary.  Fans can also follow all of the scores, news, and more via Twitter at http://twitter.com/NCAAIceHockey and http://twitter.com/hashtag/frozenfour.  More information on this year’s Frozen Four tournament is available online now along with all of the latest college hockey news at:

 

Website: http://espn.go.com/college-sports

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNU

 

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

MVC Heads Discuss New ESPN Deal In Media Conference Call

Courtesy: Missouri Valley Conference/ESPN/NCAA

Officials with ESPN and the Missouri Valley Conference announced this week that both sides had come to terms on a new deal. The deal in question gives the worldwide leader in sports media rights for the next ten years. That means that it gives ESPN increased coverage across its various platforms on television and online through the 20023 – 2024 academic year. In celebration of the announcement leaders from some of the MVC’s participant schools took part in a media conference call along with ESPN VP of College Sports Programming IIan Ben-Hanan. Among the topics covered in the call were the impact of the deal on the conference’s ability to recruit and generally puts it on par with colleges and universities in other conferences, the impact of the deal on local coverage within given markets, coverage of MVC games on ESPN’s platforms and much more. The full transcript of yesterday’s conference call is included below for all fans of the Missouri Valley Conference and audiences in general.

Transcript of ESPN & Missouri Valley Conference Media Call to Announce 10-Year Rights Extension  

Doug Elgin: Good morning, everyone. We are here in Chicago at Loyola University’s School of Communications to announce a long-term extension of the ESPN rights agreement, which clearly signals a new era for our conference. For the term of this new agreement, which runs through the ’23/’24 academic year, the MVC and its member institutions will work together to produce thousands of live athletic events that will be distributed on ESPN3. The co-branded network that will launch next month, The Valley on ESPN3, serves to recognize that our conference continues to be committed to remaining competitive in a fast-changing NCAA Division I landscape. This exponential increase in exposure will bring significant emphasis to men’s and women’s basketball and every conference-sponsored sport.   A key aspect of this campus-based television model will be the involvement of students in the production of live athletics events, and this student involvement is central and foundational to this agreement. Students majoring in broadcast journalism, communications or other areas of study will receive hands-on experience that will enhance their qualifications and opportunities for employment in television media or related fields.   I’m very proud of the commitments that our president’s council and directors are making to our student-athletes and athletic programs and the campus communities in general. We believe ESPN’s commitment to our league through this new agreement is an acknowledgment of our men’s basketball competitiveness that we can compete at the highest level. Certainly Wichita State’s rise to national power and Northern Iowa’s strong run in recent years have opened doors for us, but we’re seeing a much more competitive league in men’s basketball top to bottom.   This new network will provide opportunities to promote academic programs and showcase individuals throughout our campus communities. We are extremely grateful that the Missouri Valley’s relationship with ESPN will be stronger than ever. I think today’s announcement represents one of the biggest steps the MVC has taken in the modern era. This new network will be a game changer for our league. We are a basketball-centric league and the extension of our ESPN agreement ensures we will continue to compete on a national stage. Coaches in every sport will use this exposure to recruit more effectively.   I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Rosalyn Durant, senior vice president of ESPN’s college networks, and Brent Colborne, the director of programming and acquisitions for their hard work in helping to make this strengthened relationship with the MVC possible. I would also like to commend the MVC Associate Commissioner Jack Watkins and media consultant Rick Chryst, who played critical roles in this process.

Ilan Ben-Hanan: Good morning. The Missouri Valley Conference has been a significant contributor to ESPN’s college sports content since our early years, and with this deal will continue to play a key role into the next decade, nearly 40 years since our first agreement. This extension places the conference and its member institutions at the forefront of innovative sports coverage.   The MVC has been a pioneer in embracing new technology. National coverage of multiple sports that didn’t previously exist to millions of fans is the latest example.  We all see the on-campus production initiative as an opportunity for both academic and athletic programs at the member institutions, with benefits that include hands-on experience for students and unprecedented exposure for sports that might otherwise not have been shown on television.

Larry Lyons: The relationship between The Valley and ESPN is tremendous news for MVC men’s basketball. It will provide national coverage for each Valley school as we produce live events for ESPN3. Not only are we building a national platform for our teams to showcase themselves, we are extending the reach of all of our institutions to friends, family, fans, alumni, prospective student-athletes and prospective students. I’m confident that each campus will strive to produce the highest quality of live content and use the creative talents of students and staff to tell the story of inside each contest.

David Wright: This is an exciting day for Drake University and our production. For 28 years we’ve been doing sports production at Drake. We are incredibly excited about the expertise that ESPN will give us and the infusion of excitement of students getting involved in more and more production. This is a new era. What I really am excited about it is it will put athletes and academics together at a greater level than we’ve ever before had at Drake. We are very excited about this.

Gregg Marshall: It obviously gives us an opportunity to play on national television and many different stations across the ESPN brand. We had GameDay here last year. I thought it was tremendous the way they were received as well as the way the league presented itself with the Northern Iowa team coming in as a top-10 team, we were top-10. It just made for great theater with the regular-season title on the line. I know we have the mandate from the league that our teams are supposed to try to participate in the exempt tournaments that are showcased on ESPN over the holiday season. We’ve been doing that for several years. We’re just excited and ecstatic to be able to showcase our league and our program at Wichita State on ESPN.

1. Coach Marshall, how do you think this agreement maybe puts you closer, or more on par with, other conferences that you not only compete against but recruit against?

Marshall: Well, I think any time you can appear on ESPN, it helps you with not just your regional but national exposure. You can go anywhere and get ESPN channels, and now with ESPN3 from your laptop, which I’ve learned how to do myself. We have an Apple TV. We can watch just about any game now. The Valley is going to be able to talk about how many times you’re on television.   I think every game we played last year was on television. If it wasn’t on ESPN or CBS, then it was on statewide in Kansas. That was only a handful of times. We were on regionally and nationally 20-something times last year, which is great.  Now the other schools will be able to say the same thing. I think it really helps us from a recruiting standpoint, as you mentioned.

1. Doug, what does it mean to the brand to have your Olympic sports more exposed to a larger audience? Secondly, you’ve been the commissioner for 28 years. There have been a lot of historic moments as commissioner. How does consummating a deal with the number one brand name in the world, how does that rank among your many accomplishments as the commissioner?

Elgin: It’s right up there at the very top. We’ve never underestimated the promotional power of ESPN. When you think about networks that you can partner with, you certainly look to the worldwide leader. I think through the years we’ve had probably seven or eight different contracts with ESPN. This one kind of fills in all the cracks, all of our sports programs are going to benefit. I think the programs that are going to gain the most are those that have been exposed the least. Those would be the Olympic sports. Baseball has been great. We’ve had three teams in the baseball tournament this year, and many years in past history.   I do think this is going to help our recruiting, our coaches, and every program will have the opportunity to tell recruits and their families they’ll be able to watch their sons and daughters play every game of their college careers essentially at home.

1. Doug, I was curious, what is the financial benefit for the schools out of this deal?

Elgin: Unfortunately, we’re not in a position to talk about the finances of contracts that we have with media companies. I can’t really expound upon that.

1. Commissioner Elgin, can you speak to the role that the students will have in this production? Is it the full scope of it? To what extent? Is there any concern or consideration for how this would impact quality since you’re lining that up against perhaps some more veteran, more experienced crew members?

Elgin: I’d like to kick that question to associate commissioner Jack Watkins who has been out in the field.

Jack Watkins: ESPN has been largely involved in this process even when we did not have a contract. There have been production professors, if you will, that have been involved with conference calls that have actually made trips to campuses to meet not only with athletic staff, but individuals like Professor David Wright at Drake, to help convey what ESPN expectations are, that production guidelines are met.   To answer your question about the involvement of students, it can be from either running cameras to directing or producing.  The long-term is to have as many students engaged and involved. This whole process with the build-out on campus began in earnest in September of 2014. As Doug communicated earlier, we are looking for a launch date on ESPN at or around September the 4. Our institutions as well as ESPN personnel have been in consistent dialogue to move forward and to produce the very best product we can on air.

Ben-Hanan: In addition to all the benefits and procedures and plans that Jack has described, the opportunity for a deal like this to help deepen and diversify our talent pool, find future people that can work for us or other media companies, is a great asset and part of this deal, something we’re excited about.

3. Doug or Jack, I want to make sure I understand right. In previous years I could watch Valley games on ESPN3.  Educate me how this is different going forward. Secondly, I noticed in the release, there was a buildup, because it talks about a minimum of basketball games in the six-year agreement. Explain how this is going to roll out. What will fans notice different than in past years? 

Elgin: As Gregg Marshall pointed out, people are becoming much more comfortable accessing live content through mobile apps and WatchESPN. That’s going to be the biggest change. Every game we play in conference in men’s and women’s basketball will be televised in the early years of this agreement. We’re going to start with the court sports, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball. There’s going to be an eagerness by our conference institutions to produce as many events as they can. They will have a blank page to write on. They can produce as many outdoor sporting events as they can capably handle in the early years. But we’re going to peak at literally 800-plus events a year in the final six years of the agreement.   We’re stair-stepping up to that with numbers that we’re capable of achieving. This is going to be a big endeavor for our schools. I think there’s going to be a lot of excitement on campuses. We’re going to tell stories that couldn’t be told on linear networks. We’re going to have opportunities to talk about individuals on campus, faculty members, students that are achieving in the classroom. I just think there’s going to be a whole new wave of opportunity to market and sell our schools.

1. What does it mean for local packages then, like in Wichita?  Does that go away? 

Elgin: It does not. I think this contract very carefully protects our institutional packages at levels of production in past years, most recent years. We also have protection of our regional syndication. That’s been very important to us, the opportunity to produce games and put them on the regional networks. The best part of that is outside of our five-state footprint, ESPN3 will continue to carry all these games nationally. Again, I credit ESPN for allowing us to spread our games across multiple networks and platforms. We couldn’t be happier with the state of our television operation.

1. Mr. Ben-Hanan, you talked about the student involvement with the ESPN3 product, with the involvement of each respective Missouri Valley Conference school. I guess on-air is going to be included with that student help. If that’s the case, is there any worry from the on-air quality you are going to get from your student broadcasters?

Ben-Hanan: Thanks for the question. I think all of these things are a process. I think we have had experience with other students involved in our productions at other schools and conferences. So we’re going into this with some expertise and some knowledge of that. Generally speaking, what we’re talking about here from student involvement does not always extend to on-air. Oftentimes we’re talking about the ability to help run cameras, the production truck, run graphics, and the ability to build up and ramp up to production and direction roles.   Certainly there could be an opportunity here or there for students to have some on-air roles. We’ve done things in past years literally involving students embedded in the student section, which gives you a perspective you can’t get otherwise. I think, generally speaking, anyone who rises to that role, we have an expectation of professionalism.  There would be rehearsals and opportunities that hopefully will allow for a level of quality. Having said that, there certainly will be a learning curve. I think we have an expectation that if fans are tuning in to a game, no matter how it’s produced, that it’s credible, that it’s professional, and that it is functional and allows fans to enjoy the game every bit as much as they would otherwise.

1. Mr. Wright, I know from the Indiana State University campus, there’s a lot of talk about the students being involved primarily with the on-air stuff. From the Drake perspective, what are you planning on doing with your students? 

Wright: Excellent question. We’ve been doing video production for about 28 years in my time at Drake, starting from a delivery truck where we had folding tables. We train our students in a number of the production classes, but now we also have a production division that’s doing work for our steaming and scoreboards. We’ve already made investments in equipment in our production area in the journalism school that are actually very similar to the switcher, a little more powerful than the switcher we will be using in the athletics area. So we are starting to infuse that technology.   What we’re really excited about is the expertise ESPN brings on the graphics side, on the ‘look’ side, and also on the on-air talent side. We’re using a lot of students for on-air talent for some of our cablecasts streaming now. I think the initial thing will be working on the packages, behind the scenes, really understanding what’s going on in the different sports that would be hard for a crew that was coming in from out of town to really know that insight.  That’s where I see that coming eventually. I hope with training, the recruiting is going to change. We’re excited about releasing this to prospective students to say, Look at the opportunities you have to start working towards this.  Hopefully by the time they get to their senior year they’ll be up to snuff. My background says we can do this; we can produce the quality to be on ESPN.

1. Doug, what is a good audience for the ESPN3?  What are kind of the projections since more and more people are cutting the cord on cable a little bit?  Is this a move towards the future? 

Elgin: I think we’d like to kick that question to our friend in Los Angeles, Ilan Ben-Hanan.

Ben-Hanan: For us a good audience is fans can see the game. We’re really not as concerned with the individual game metrics and trying to determine on a game-by-game basis the total size of the audience. A deal like this is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. And the ability to get these games on in a form that wasn’t even possible just a couple years ago, the ability to not have to worry about the shelf space concerns that have always been limiting for the amount of total games that can be on. That’s what is game-changing about a deal like this. Ultimately our hope is that for the student-athletes, their families, the fans of these schools, the fans of basketball in general, even for the selection committees in the various sports to see these teams, I think that has an impact, not just how many people are tuned in to a given game, but a team’s quest for championships.

1. – Question regarding current access and the games moving to ESPN3 –

Watkins: Part of this deal, the commitment in the first year is to the core sports of volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball. But the long-term viability and sustainability of this network is to add more sports as the years go on. As part of the deal, those previous sports that were webcast will now be the exclusive property of The Valley on ESPN3.

1. What kind of investment has The Valley estimated most schools are going to have to put into this to pull this off?

Elgin: I think that varies at each institution. As Professor Wright pointed out, Drake has long made investments in their infrastructure. They’ve been leaders in institutional telecasts. I think that commitment will continue.

1. For ESPN, has the network ever done anything like this before with any other conference or any league? Is this completely groundbreaking in its nature? 

Ben-Hanan: We have had some experience working with some individual schools in doing these kind of what we call ‘school production deals’. We’ve had some conversations with some conferences that have kind of opened the door for the opportunity to do this. I think something like this done at the conference level with the support of both the academic and athletic sides of the house from the very beginning of the deal, that I think is what makes this very unique. We’ve had some experience, but doing something this comprehensive from the very beginning is something we’re really excited about.

1. On the investment question. What about the actual equipment, cameras, things like that? Is ESPN going to be involved in helping foot that bill or is that up to the schools? 

Watkins: Any cost will be between the conference and the schools as it relates to the production build-out for our institutions. Again, it’s an initiative. Each school is different in terms of the equipment needs and the infrastructure. Any costs to acquire that equipment or those amenities to make the network viable will be between the conference and our 10 member institutions.   I think it’s important to recognize from the Missouri Valley Conference’s perspective that we have a co-branded channel mark in The Valley on ESPN, that the conference has a mark of which it’s proud. It’s a co-branded mark as a leader in the industry. I think that really becomes our calling card from this point forward.

Elgin: One other thing that differentiates our deal from the others is the tonnage, the sheer number of events that are going to be produced by our campuses and by The Missouri Valley for distribution on ESPN3. More information on ESPN’s coverage of Missouri Valley Conference athletics is available online along with all of the latest sports headlines at:

Website: http://espn.go.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPN

  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Releases Record Broadcast Schedule For 2015 NCAA College Baseball Season

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN announced Monday its broadcast schedule for the 2015 NCAA college baseball season.

The announcement from officials with the Worldwide Leader in Sports revealed that the upcoming season will be the most expansive for ESPN and the ESPN family of networks. That is because in all, ESPN and the ESPN family of networks will broadcast more than 675 regular-season games. This includes the fledgling Longhorn Network, SEC Network, SEC Network+ and ESPN3. ESPN3’s coverage of the 2015 NCAA college baseball season begins next Friday, February 13^th at 4pm as the #12 Florida State Seminoles host the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies.

Along with its extensive regular-season broadcast schedule, ESPN will also offer post-season coverage of the conference tournaments and the NCAA Division I College Baseball Championship. This includes the selection of the 64-team field. The complete broadcast schedule for the ESPN networks’ coverage of the 2015 NCAA college baseball season is listed below.

2015 ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and ESPN3 Regular-Season Schedule

• Full schedule SEC Network + games
• Schedule subject to change

 

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Fri, Feb 13	4 p.m.	Oakland at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
Sat, Feb 14	2 p.m.	Oakland at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
Sun, Feb 15	Noon	Oakland at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
Tue, Feb 17	6 p.m.	Georgia Tech at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	UTSA at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Fri, Feb 20	6 p.m.	Minnesota at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Sat, Feb 21	3 p.m.	Minnesota at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	4:30 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at Georgia	SEC Network
	6 p.m.	Minnesota at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
Sun, Feb 22	1 p.m.	Minnesota at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Tue, Feb 24	6 p.m.	Texas-Pan American at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Fri, Feb 27	6 p.m.	Georgia at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 10 South Carolina at Clemson	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	San Diego at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Sat, Feb 28	Noon	California at Arkansas	SEC Network
	2 p.m.	Georgia at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Arizona at No. 25 Mississippi State	SEC Network
	6:30 p.m.	San Diego at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Sun, March 1	Noon	Clemson at No. 10 South Carolina	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Georgia at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	San Diego at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Tue, March 3	4 p.m.	USF at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	East Carolina at NC State	ESPN3
Wed, March 4	4 p.m.	USF at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
Fri, March 6	3 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Notre Dame at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Utah at Kansas	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Boston College at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Clemson at NC State	ESPN3
Sat, March 7	1 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Notre Dame at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Utah at Kansas	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Clemson at NC State	ESPN3
Sun, March 8	1 p.m.	Boston College at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Notre Dame at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Clemson at NC State	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Utah at Kansas	ESPN3
Tue, March 10	6 p.m.	UCF at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Incarnate Word at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	Cincinnati at Kentucky	SEC Network
Wed, March 11	4 p.m.	UCF at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
Fri, March 13	3 p.m.	Boston College at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Michigan at Kansas	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Wake Forest at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Georgia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	West Virginia at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	6:30 p.m.	Notre Dame at Clemson	ESPN3
Sat, March 14	1 p.m.	Georgia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Boston College at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Notre Dame at Clemson	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Michigan at Kansas	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Auburn at No. 23 Texas A&M	SEC Network
	5 p.m.	West Virginia at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	6 p.m.	Wake Forest at No 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 4 LSU	SEC Network
Sun, March 15	1 p.m.	Notre Dame at Clemson	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Georgia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Boston College at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Michigan at Kansas	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 4 LSU	SEC Network
Tue, March 17	7 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
Thu, March 19	7 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at Arkansas	SEC Network
Fri, March 20	5:30 p.m.	Clemson at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Kansas State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Iowa at Kansas	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at Arkansas	SEC Network
Sat, March 21	2 p.m.	Columbia at USC Upstate	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Kansas State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	3 p.m.	Iowa at Kansas	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 South Carolina at Missouri	SEC Network
	4 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at Auburn	ESPNU
Sun, March 22	1 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Clemson at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Kansas State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	2 p.m.	Iowa at Kansas	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 18 Ole Miss	ESPNU
Tue, March 24	6 p.m.	Auburn at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
Wed, March 25	7 p.m.	Cincinnati at Tennessee	SEC Network
Thu, March 26	7 p.m.	Alabama at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at Arkansas	ESPNU
Fri, March 27	3 p.m.	Rider at St. John’s	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Virginia Tech at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Wake Forest at Clemson	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at Arkansas	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Presbyterian at Liberty	ESPN3
Sat, March 28	1 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Missouri at No. 23 Texas A&M	SEC Network
	3 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Tennessee at No. 1 Vanderbilt	SEC Network
	6 p.m.	Virginia Tech at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Wake Forest at Clemson	ESPN3
Sun, March 29	1 p.m.	Virginia Tech at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (Fla.) at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Wake Forest at Clemson	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Rider at St. John’s	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Tennessee at No. 1 Vanderbilt	SEC Network
Tue, March 31	3 p.m.	Wagner at St. John’s	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	VMI at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	Georgia Tech at Georgia	SEC Network
Thu, April 2	6:30 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at Kentucky	SEC Network
	8 p.m.	No. 10 South Carolina at No. 25 Mississippi State	ESPNU
Fri, April 3	6:30 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at Kentucky	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Longwood at Coastal Carolina	ESPN3
Sat, April 4	1 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at Kentucky	SEC Network
	2 p.m.	Indiana State at Wichita State	ESPNU
	6:30 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Arkansas at Auburn	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 6 Texas at No. 7 Oklahoma State	ESPNU
Sun, April 5	Noon	No. 1 Vanderbilt at Georgia	SEC Network
	2 pm.	No. 6 Texas at No 7 Oklahoma State	ESPNU
Mon, April 6	7 p.m.	No. 7 Louisville at No. 2 Virginia	ESPNU
Tue, April 7	6:30 p.m.	Georgia at Clemson	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	New Mexico at Kansas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Wichita State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
Wed, April 8	4 p.m.	New Mexico at Kansas	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Columbia at St. John’s	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
Thu, April 9	7 p.m.	Missouri at Tennessee	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 1 Vanderbilt	ESPNU
Fri, April 10	3 p.m.	Seton Hall at St. John’s	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Wake Forest at Pitt	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Missouri at Tennessee	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 7 Oklahoma State at Kansas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at High Point	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Oklahoma at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7:30 p.m.	NC State at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPNU
	10:30 p.m.	Oregon State at No. 16 Oregon	ESPNU
Sat, April 11	Noon	Missouri at Tennessee	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Seton Hall at St. John’s	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	No. 18 Ole Miss at No. 1 Vanderbilt	SEC Network
	3 p.m.	Wake Forest at Pitt	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	No. 7 Oklahoma State at Kansas	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Oklahoma at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	4 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 10 South Carolina at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
	6 p.m.	NC State at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	Arizona at No. 21 Arizona State	ESPNU
Sun, April 12	Noon	No. 10 South Carolina at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Wake Forest at Pitt	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Seton Hall at St. John’s	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Stetson at USC Upstate	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	NC State at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Oklahoma at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	4 p.m.	Campbell at Liberty	ESPNU
Tue April 14	6 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Sam Houston State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	UAB at Alabama	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Georgia at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
Wed, April 15	6 p.m.	Princeton at St. John’s	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Missouri State at Kansas	ESPN3
Thu, April 16	7 p.m.	Tennessee at Kentucky	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at No. 10 South Carolina	ESPNU
Fri, April 17	6 p.m.	Pitt at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	NC State at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Duke at Clemson	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at No. 10 South Carolina	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	No. 6 Texas at Kansas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UNC-Asheville at Winthrop	ESPN3
Sat, April 18	Noon	Tennessee at Kentucky	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at No. 10 South Carolina	ESPN2
	1 p.m.	Wake Forest at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 25 Mississippi State	SEC Network
	6 p.m.	Pitt at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Duke at Clemson	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Alabama at Missouri	SEC Network
	8:30 p.m.	Arkansas at No. 23 Texas A&M	ESPNU
Sun, April 19	1 p.m.	Alabama at Missouri	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Duke at Clemson	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Pitt at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Wake Forest at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Lipscomb at USC Upstate	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 25 Mississippi State	ESPNU
	4 p.m.	Arkansas at No. 23 Texas A&M	SEC Network
Tue, April 21	6 p.m.	Stetson at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	College of Charleston at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Texas State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	Clemson at Georgia	SEC Network
Wed, April 22	3 p.m.	Manhattan at St. John’s	ESPN3
Thu, April 23	7 p.m.	Georgia at Auburn	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at No. 4 LSU	ESPNU
Fri, April 24	3 p.m.	Villanova at St. John’s	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at NC State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Boston College at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Georgia at Auburn	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Clemson at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
Sat, April 25	1 p.m.	Georgia at Auburn	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Villanova at St. John’s	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at No. 4 LSU	ESPN
	4 p.m.	Notre Dame at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Boston College at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at No. 11 Miami (Fla.)	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Alabama at No. 18 Ole Miss	SEC Network
	10 p.m.	No. 9 UCLA at No. 22 Stanford	ESPNU
Sun, April 26	12:30 p.m.	Notre Dame at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Alabama at No. 18 Ole Miss	ESPN
	1 p.m.	No. 10 South Carolina at Tennessee	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Duke	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Clemson at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at NC State	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Boston College at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Villanova at St. John’s	ESPN3
Tue, April 28	6 p.m.	Michigan State at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Prairie View A&M at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7p.m.	No. 7 Louisville at Kentucky	SEC Network
	8 p.m.	Oklahoma at Wichita State	ESPNU
Wed, April 29	6 p.m.	Iona at St. John’s	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Kennesaw State at Auburn	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Kansas	ESPN3
Thu, April 30	7 p.m.	Arkansas at Alabama	SEC Network
	7:30 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State	ESPNU
Fri, May 1	2 p.m.	Boston College at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	South Alabama at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 13 Texas Tech at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	Arkansas at Alabama	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Baylor at Kansas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Campbell at Gardner-Webb	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State	ESPNU
Sat, May 2	Noon	No. 5 Florida at Georgia	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Arkansas at Alabama	ESPN2
	1 p.m.	Boston College at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	South Alabama at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	No. 13 Texas Tech at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	3 p.m.	Baylor at Kansas	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Auburn at No. 10 South Carolina	SEC Network
	4 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	No. 23 Texas A&M at Tennessee	SEC Network
Sun, May 3	1 p.m.	Boston College at Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	South Alabama at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 13 Texas Tech at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	2 p.m.	Auburn at No. 10 South Carolina	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	Baylor at Kansas	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 7 Louisville at Clemson	ESPN3
Mon, May 4	7 p.m.	No. 7 Louisville at Clemson	ESPNU
Tue, May 5	6 p.m.	Albany at St. John’s	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Texas State at No. 6 Texas	Longhorn Network
	7 p.m.	USF at No. 5 Florida	SEC Network
Wed, May 6	6:30 p.m.	College of Charleston at Clemson	ESPN3
Thu, May 7	7:30 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 1 Vanderbilt	ESPNU
	8:30 p.m.	No. 25 Mississippi State at No. 18 Ole Miss	SEC Network
Fri, May 8	6 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Xavier at St. John’s	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 25 Mississippi State at No. 18 Ole Miss	SEC Network
	7 p.m.	Charleston Southern at Radford	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Duke at No. 2 Virginia	ESPNU
Sat, May 9	1 p.m.	No. 5 Florida at No. 1 Vanderbilt	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Xavier at St. John’s	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	No. 25 Mississippi State at No. 18 Ole Miss	SEC Network
	8:30 p.m.	Missouri at No. 4 LSU	SEC Network
Sun, May 10	Noon	Georgia at Kentucky	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	No. 12 Florida State at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	North Florida at USC Upstate	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	No. 15 North Carolina at Notre Dame	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Missouri at No. 4 LSU	SEC Network
Mon, May 11	7 p.m.	NC State at Wake Forest	ESPNU
Tue, May 12	6 p.m.	Kennesaw State at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at No. 7 Louisville	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	North Kentucky at Kentucky	SEC Network
Thu, May 14	6 p.m.	Wake Forest at Duke	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Clemson at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Pitt	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Wildcard: TBD	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Wildcard: TBD	SEC Network
Fri, May 15	1 p.m.	Wake Forest at Duke	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Clemson at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Pitt	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Wake Forest at Duke	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	No. 7 Louisville at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	High Point at Liberty	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 10 South Carolina	ESPNU
Sat, May 16	Noon	No. 2 Virginia at No. 15 North Carolina	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	No. 25 Mississippi State at Tennessee	SEC Network
	1 p.m.	Clemson at No. 12 Florida State	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Pitt	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	SWAC Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	No. 1 Vanderbilt at Alabama	SEC Network
	8 p.m.	No. 4 LSU at No. 10 South Carolina	SEC Network
Tue, May 19	10:30 a.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 1	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 2	SEC Network
	5:30 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 3	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 4	SEC Network
Wed, May 20	10:30 a.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 5	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 6	SEC Network
	5:30 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 7	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 8	SEC Network
Thu, May 21	10:30 a.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 9	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 10	SEC Network
	5:30 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 11	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 12	SEC Network
	11 p.m.	Long Beach State at No. 19 Cal State Fullerton	ESPNU
Fri, May 22	1 p.m.	Horizon League Baseball Championship	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 13	SEC Network
	5 p.m.	Horizon League Baseball Championship	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship	ESPN3
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 14	SEC Network
	11 p.m.	Long Beach State at No. 19 Cal State Fullerton	ESPNU
Sat, May 23	9 a.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 15	SEC Network
	TBD	SEC Baseball Championship – Game 16	SEC Network
	4 p.m.	Horizon League Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship ^	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship ^	ESPN3
	10 p.m.	West Coast Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPNU
Sun, May 24	Noon	American Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	ACC Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPN2
	1 p.m.	Sun Belt Conference Championship – Championship	ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	SEC Baseball Championship – Championship	ESPN2

All of the latest news on the ESPN networks’ coverage of the 2015 NCAA college baseball season is available online at:

Website: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/blog/_/name/ncaa_baseball

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPN

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Events Announces Details Of Very Busy College Football Bowl Game Schedule

Courtesy: ESPN

The 2014 College football regular season is over and now it’s on to the “post season. With the “post season” comes the annual announcement of which teams will go bowling. And that announcement was made last night with ESPN Events announcing its schedule for this year’s bowl games in accordance.

ESPN Events owns and operates eleven of the bowl games that make up the annual college football bowl schedule. The first of those eleven games is the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. The Gildan New Mexico Bowl will be held Saturday, December 20^th. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:20pm ET/12:20 pm MT. Utah State (9 – 4 overall, 6 – 2 conference) will represent the Mountain West in the game. The Aggies will take on the Utep Miners from Conference USA. UTEP is 7 – 5 overall and 5 – 3 in conference play. The Gildan New Mexico Bowl will be played live at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

The second game on ESPN Events’ schedule of bowl games is the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. The Utah Utes (8 – 4 overall, 5 – 4 conference) will represent the Pac -12 in the game while The Colorado State Rams (10 – 2 overall, 6 – 2 conference) will play for the Mountain West. The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl is also set for Saturday, December 20th. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30pm ET. The game will be played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV and will be broadcast live on ABC.

Third up on ESPN Events’ bowl schedule is the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. 2014 marks the 18^th year that the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be held as part of college football’s “post season.” It is the nation’s longest-running cold weather bowl game. As with the Gildan New Mexico Bowl and the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, that game is also scheduled for Saturday, December 20^th. The Broncos of Western Michigan (Mid-American, 8 – 4 overall, 6 – 2 conference) will take on the Mountain West’s Air Force Academy Falcons (9 – 3 overall, 5 – 3 conference) in this game. The game will come live from Boise State University’s Bronco Stadium. It will broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

The fourth game on the schedule for ESPN Events is one of two newly-created bowl games. That game, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, will be a prime-time game on Saturday, December 20th. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:15pm ET. The Jaguars of South Alabama (6 – 6 overall, 5 – 3 conference) will represent the Sun Belt as they take on the MAC representative Bowling Green Falcons (7 – 6 overall, 5 – 3 conference). The game will be played at the Cranton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.

Game Five on ESPN Events’ bowl schedule is another first-time bowl game. The Boca Raton Bowl will see C-USA Champion Marshall (12 – 1 overall, 7 – 1 conference) facing the Huskies of Northern Illinois from the MAC (11 – 2 overall, 7 – 1 conference) on Tuesday, December 23^rd at 6pm ET. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN Radio from the FAU Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

The sixth game on ESPN Events’ 2014 bowl schedule is the Hawai’i Bowl. 2014 marks the thirteenth anniversary of the annual bowl. In its thirteenth anniversary year, C-USA rep Rice (7 – 5 overall, 5 – 3 conference) will face Mountain West rep Fresno State (6 – 7 overall, 5 – 3 conference). 2014 marks the tenth year that the Hawai’i Bowl has been held on Christmas. The game will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI. Kickoff is scheduled for 8pm ET. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

Game Seven on ESPN Events’ 2014 bowl schedule comes in the form of the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl will take place the day after Christmas. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8 – 5 overall, 7 – 1 conference) from the C-USA will take on Big Ten rep the Illinois Fighting Illini (6 – 6 overall, 3 – 5 conference). Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm ET. The game will be played at Texas’ historic Cotton Bowl on the grounds of Fair Park. The game will be televised live on ESPN.

Also on December 26^th, the ACC’s NC State (7 – 5 overall, 3 – 5 conference) will face the UCF Knights (9 – 3 overall, 7 – 1 conference) from the AAC in the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Kickoff is schedule for 8pm ET. The game will come live from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

After Friday night’s game, ESPN’s bowl coverage will continue on Monday, December 29^th with the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl live from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Arkansas Razorbacks (6 – 6 overall, 2 – 6 conference) will represent the SEC against the Texas Longhorns (6 – 6 overall, 5 – 4 conference) in this game. ESPN and ESPN Radio will have coverage of the game right from its 9pm ET kickoff.

The tenth game on ESPN Events’ schedule is the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Friday, January 2^nd, 2015. The University of Houston fell to AAC foe Cincinnati over the weekend in the teams’ season ender, giving the Bearcats a piece of this year’s AAC Championship. Houston will take on the Pittsburgh Panthers (6 – 6 overall, 4 – 4 conference) from the ACC. Kickoff is set for 12pm ET. The game will be played live at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU in For Worth, Texas. This year marks the twelfth year that the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl has been a part of the college football “post season.”

Last on the list of ESPN Events’ bowl games is the Birmingham Bowl. The Pirates of East Carolina University (8 – 4 overall, 5 – 3 conference) will play for the AAC while Florida (6 – 5 overall, 4 – 4 conference) will represent the SEC. Florida is only one of two schools from the SEC to play in ESPN Events’ college bowl schedule this year. The only other SEC team to play in the schedule is Arkansas in the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl. The game will be played live at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday, January 3^rd. Kickoff is set for 12pm ET. It will be carried live on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

The complete 2014 listing and details of this year’s bowl games is available online at:

Website: http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CFBonESPN

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Announces Details For 2015, 2016 Armed Forces Classic

Courtesy: ESPN

The NCAA has officially released the details for the 2015 and 2016 Armed Forces Classic.

The NCAA announced the teams, locations and dates for the 2015 and 2016 Armed Forces Classic today.  Today’s announcement revealed that next year’s Armed Forces Classic–a matchup of two NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball teams that is held on a rotating list of military bases around the world each year—will see powerhouses Gonzaga and Pittsburgh face off against each other aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Snedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan.  That game is scheduled to be played on Friday, November 13^th, 2015.  The teams’ matchup will mark the first time that the powerhouses have faced each other in the Armed Forces Classic.

In 2016, the game will move to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, HI.  The game is scheduled to be played Friday, November 11^th, 2016.  That year, four teams will face off against each other.  Indiana will take on Kansas in one of that year’s games.  The last time that the Hoosiers and Jayhawks faced each other in the series was in 1995.  Currently, Kansas leads Indiana 7 – 6 in the teams’ previous AFC series matchups.  The other game scheduled for the 2016 AFC is a matchup of Arizona and Michigan State.  The Wildcats lead the Spartans 4 – 2 over the course of their meetings in the AFC.  The last time that the two teams met was in 2005.  All four programs together have combined for a total of eleven NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball titles.  They have collectively advanced to the Men’s Final Four thirty-four times.

The 2016 installment of the Armed Forces Classic will be an especially significant game.  That is because not only of its location, but for its date.  It will be played on Veterans Day in 2016.  November 11^th, 2016 is also just one month shy of the 75^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Each of the games announced for the Armed Forces Classic will air on ESPN.  They will run as part of the network’s America’s Heroes initiative.  The America’s Heroes initiative honors America’s men and women in uniform around the world.

This year’s AFC will come live from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico.  It will feature #8 Louisville taking on Minnesota.

More information on ESPN’s coverage of the Armed Forces Classic is available online at:

Website: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNCollegeBasketball

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Networks Kick Off 2014 – 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Broadcast Schedule This Weekend

Courtesy: ESPN/ESPNU

ESPN and the ESPN family of networks will kick off their coverage of the 2014-2015 college hockey season tomorrow.

Officials with ESPN announced this week that ESPN will kick off coverage of the 2014-2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Season Sunday, November 9th.  This year’s coverage opens with a matchup of #15 Notre Dame (5 – 2 – 1) and #1 Minnesota (5 – 1). The game will be broadcast tomorrow live beginning at 5pm ET on ESPNU.  The game will be broadcast live from the campus of the University of Minnesota.

John Buccigross will anchor tomorrow’s broadcast.  He will be joined in the booth by Barry Melrose.

More information on the ESPN networks’ coverage of the 2014-2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Season is available online at

Website: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNU

Twitter: http://twitter.com/espnu

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Films’ 30 For 30 Returns Tonight

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN’s hit film series 30 for 30 kicks off a new season tonight.

The network’s award-winning film series kicks off tonight at 7pm with the film Playing for the Mob.  The season’s premiere film/episode examines the role of mobster Henry Hill on a number of Boston College’s basketball games.  Hill once helped to fix many of the university’s basketball games.  The film is narrated by actor Ray Liotta (Goodfellas).  It airs tonight at 9pm ET on ESPN.  This season’s complete schedule of films is listed below.

Tuesday, Oct.7, 9 p.m. – “Playing for the Mob”
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 10 p.m. – “The Day The Series Stopped”
Tuesday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. – “When The Garden Was Eden”
Tuesday, Oct. 28, 9 p.m. – “Brian and The Boz”
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 9 p.m. – “Brothers in Exile”
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. – “Rand University”
Saturday, Dec. 13, 9 p.m. – “The U Part 2”

More information on this season’s schedule and all of the latest 30 for 30 news and is available online at:

Website: http://www.espn.com/30for30

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/espn30for30

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

LHN To Air Longhorns’ Season Opener

Courtesy: ESPN/Longhorn Network

Officials with ESPN and the Longhorn Network announced this week that the Longhorn Network will air the season opener for the Longhorns’ 2014 football season.

The Longhorns will face off against the North Texas Eagles to open the team’s season. The game is scheduled to be broadcast live on Saturday, August 30^th at 8 ET/7 CT. It will be the fourth year in a row that the Longhorn Network has aired the Longhorns’ season opener and the ninth game to air live on the LHN. To top it all off, the matchup will be the debut of Texas’ new head coach Charlie Strong.

LHN’s Texas GameDay will return this year, too. The weekly pre-game broadcast is scheduled to begin at 6 ET/5 CT. It will broadcast live from its set at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The post-game Texas GameDay Final powered by Chevy Silverado will immediately follow the game.

The Longhorn Network is available on AT&T’s U-Verse TV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS TV as well as Bay City CableVision, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Consolidated Communications, Cox Communications, En-Touch Systems, E-Tex Communications, Grande Communications, Google Fiber (in Kansas City), Mid-Coast CableVision and Texas Mid-Gulf CableVision. Current U.S.-based military personnel can also access the Longhorn Network free of cost via all computers and mobile internet platforms connected to on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks. Current U.S.-based military personnel with affiliated video subscription can also access the LHN via tablets and smartphones.

More information on the Longhorn Network is available online now at http://www.LongHornNetwork.com, http://www.facebook.com/longhornnetwork, and http://twitter.com/LongHornNetwork. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.