January game vs. Murray State will be nationally televised in Eblen Center
Fans of the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will get a chance to pack the Eblen Center for the second straight season when the Golden Eagles host Murray State. This time they'll have the opportunity to do it in front of a national television audience as the Jan. 24 game has been selected to appear on ESPNU.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Fans of the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will get a chance to pack the Eblen Center for the second straight season when the Golden Eagles host Murray State. This time, however, they'll have the opportunity to do it in front of a national television audience as the Jan. 24 game has been selected to appear on ESPNU.
The Golden Eagles will get a chance at a second nationally televised game later in the year, as their March 2 home match-up against Morehead State was selected as one of six wild card games for that day. ESPNU will also air the wild card game, which will be selected from among the six 21 days prior to the contest.
The Ohio Valley Conference announced its slate of Conference games across ESPN platforms for the 2012-13 season on Thursday.
"We're excited for this opportunity," said TTU coach Steve Payne. "Our guys will be looking forward to that game, and I know our fans will circle that date on their calendars and plan to be here. We had an amazing crowd and a fantastic atmosphere for the Murray State games last year, and hopefully we can match that enthusiasm and energy once again for the national TV audience.
"It's a great chance to show fans viewing across the country exactly what Tennessee Tech basketball is all about," Payne said.
The schedule includes 10 total men's basketball games (seven regular season contests and three OVC Tournament games) that will appear on one of the networks during the season. Each of the seven regular season games will air on ESPNU as will the first semifinal of the OVC Tournament (Friday, March 8 at 6:00 p.m. CT). The second semifinal game will air live on ESPN3 and tape delayed on ESPNU at 12:30 a.m. CT.
The tournament championship game will air on ESPN2 at 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 9. The tournament will be held at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
For the third year in a row, the schedule of games will include "Wild Card" selections that will feature teams selected 21 days before the contest. This season's wild card date is March 2; the wild card format helps ensure the most competitive games featuring the teams at the top of the standings are selected for telecast.
The first live game event telecast on ESPNU, launched on March 4, 2005, was a Southeast Missouri State/Eastern Kentucky OVC Tournament semifinal which followed a live College GameDay telecast from Oklahoma State. The 24-hour college sports television network airs more than 650 live events annually. Each season, ESPNU televises more than 300 men's and women's basketball games, including regular season and conference tournament matchups from a wide variety of schools representing 27 different conferences. ESPNU is available nationwide in approximately 73 million households and has long-term carriage agreements with all 10 of the top multichannel TV providers - Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV (Channel 208), DISH Network (Channel 141), Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse.
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com. It is available to approximately 70 million homes at no cost to fans who receive a high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks. It can be accessed on smart phones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and on ESPN on Xbox LIVE through an affiliated provider.
A complete television schedule, including non-conference games, will be released in the coming weeks.
2012-13 ESPN Television Schedule
Saturday, January 5
Murray State at Southeast Missouri, 5:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Thursday, January 24
Murray State at Tennessee Tech, 7:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Saturday, February 2
Austin Peay at Murray State, 12:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Thursday, February 7
Belmont at Murray State, 7:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Thursday, February 14
Belmont at Tennessee State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, February 28
Morehead State at Tennessee State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, March 2
Wild Card Game (Teams TBD), 12:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Potential Wild Card Games for March 2
UT Martin at Austin Peay
Jacksonville State at Belmont
SIUE at Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri at Murray State
Eastern Kentucky at Tennessee State
Morehead State at Tennessee Tech
Friday, March 8
OVC Tournament Men's Semifinal #1, 6:00 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
OVC Tournament Men's Semifinal #2, 8:00 p.m. CT (ESPN3 – Delayed on ESPNU at 12:30 a.m. CT)
Saturday, March 9
OVC Tournament Men's Championship, 6:00 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
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