ESPN Family Of Networks Covering Entire Men’s 2014 NIT

Courtesy: ESPN

The 77^th annual National Invitation Tournament (NIT) tips off tonight and the ESPN family of networks will have exclusive coverage of the entire tournament.

Every game of the annual NIT will be carried across the ESPN family of networks and online on ESPN3 via WatchESPN.  Round One tips off tonight at 7pm with games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU.  The Mountaineers of West Virginia will take on the Georgetown Hoyas on ESPN, while the Florida State Seminoles will face Florida Gulf Coast on ESPN2.  The third of the 7pm games sees Robert Morris on the road against St. John’s on ESPNU.  St. John’s is making a record 30^th appearance in this year’s NIT and is one of six teams in this year’s tournament that also made an appearance in the 2013 NIT.  The other five teams on that list are: Florida State, Indiana State, Louisiana Tech, Robert Morris, and Southern Miss.

Illinois and Boston University lead off coverage of Day Two at 7pm on ESPN2 with Iona and Louisiana Tech following at 7:30pm on ESPN3 at 7:30pm ET.  Florida Gulf Coast reached the NCAA Tournament’s “Sweet Sixteen” round in 2013.  This year marks the first time that the school will play in the NIT.  It is one of three schools that will make its first ever appearance in the NIT this year.  The other two schools making their first appearance in the NIT this year are High Point and Utah Valley.

Round Two of the NIT is March 20th – 24^th.  Quarterfinals are scheduled for March 25^th – 26^th.  Semifinals are April 1^st and the NIT Championship follows April 3^rd.

The complete NIT First Round coverage schedule is listed below.

2014 NIT First Round Schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Tue, March 18	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: West Virginia at Georgetown Mike Patrick & Dan Dakich	ESPN
	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Florida Gulf Coast at Florida State Mark Jones & Darrin Horn	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Robert Morris at St. John’s Dave Pasch & Tim Welsh	ESPNU
	8:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: High Point at Minnesota Clay Matvick & Mark Wise	ESPN3
	8:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Belmont at Green Bay Jim Barbar & Sean Harrington	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Indiana State at Arkansas Brad Nessler & Jimmy Dykes	ESPN
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Davidson at Missouri Bob Wischusen & Malcolm Huckaby	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Georgia State at Clemson Tom Hart & Bob Valvano	ESPNU
	11 p.m.	NIT First Round: Utah at St. Mary’s Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	ESPN2
Wed, March 19	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Illinois at Boston University Sean McDonough & Tim Welsh	ESPN2
	7:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Iona at Louisiana Tech Brett Dolan & Daymeon Fishback	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	NIT First Round: Vermont at Georgia Joe Davis & Dino Gaudio	ESPNU
	8:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Toledo at Southern Miss Roy Philpott & Joe Dean	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: UC Irvine at SMU John Saunders & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2
	10 p.m.	NIT First Round: LSU at San Francisco Roxy Bernstein & Bill Walton	ESPNU
	10:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Utah Valley at California Trey Bender & Jon Crispin	ESPN3

 

More information on the ESPN family of networks’ coverage of the NIT is available online at http://www.facebook.com/ESPNCollegeBasketball and http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball.  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 in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Networks Win Five Sports Emmys

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN proved once again Tuesday night why it is “The Sports Leader.”  The ESPN family of networks took home five Sports Emmy Awards Tuesday night at the 34^th annual Sports Emmy Awards.  The annual awards program is put on by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  Among its awards were top honors for journalism, technical and creative excellence and marketing.

ESPN2’s E:60 took home the award for Journalism for its feature, “Beitar Jerusalem.”  The feature focused on the Beitar Jerusalem Soccer team and its infamous fan base.  Audiences saw firsthand the behavior of the team’s overly devoted fans and its sometimes overtly racist tendencies.  ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap and a filming crew went to Israel to film the feature.  The award for this feature was the fifth Sports Emmy in four years for E:60.

ESPN’s Outside The Lines brought home Sports Emmy for its feature, “Breaking The Silence.”  This feature focuses on the story of Monika Korra. Korra, a native of Norway, was a member of SMU’s cross country team.  While a member of the team, she was raped by three men.  But through her personal strength, she went on to help find the men and convict her assailants.  She now speaks publicly about such acts of violence.  “Breaking The Silence” won the Sports Emmy for Short Format Camerawork.  It Outside The Lines host Bob Ley worked with ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi for the feature.  The award is the fifteenth Sports Emmy for the show.

Full features weren’t the only things for which ESPN received awards.  It also brought home a Sports Emmy for its “It’s not crazy, it’s sports” promotional campaign.  The campaign brought home the award for Best Promo-Institutional.  One of the more memorable spots in the campaign told the story of a man named Michael Jordan who lived in Chicago.  The man in question was not the famed basketball legend.  Audiences can check out the promo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBBN3ZnYeU. 

ESPN’s recent upstart network, ESPN 3D brought home its own award yesterday.  It defended its 2012 award in the Technical Team Remote category, winning this year for its coverage of the Winter X Games.  ESPN 3D is the only all-sports 3D network on television today.

In the category of New Approaches – Short Form, ESPN’s Sports Science won its third Sports Emmy in as many years.

Yesterday’s wins bring the total number of Sports Emmys for the ESPN family of networks to one hundred and fifty three in its twenty-six years of eligibility. 

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.