ESPN Unveils the 2014-15 College Basketball Announcing Teams

As we’re about to begin the 2014-15 college basketball season (yes, this week!), ESPN has unveiled its announcing teams for the year.

There are several changes including to the Big Monday ACC team as Jay Bilas gets more plumb assignments this season.

Brad Daugherty who had focused on NASCAR since the 2007 Sprint Cup season returns to basketball as both a studio analyst and as the ESPNU ACC Sunday Night game analyst.

The return of the Dave and Bill Show (Dave Pasch and Bill Walton) on the Pac-12 is good news for fans as Bill goes off on tangents.

Let’s provide you with a quick synopsis of the teams below:

BIG MONDAY (ACC/BIG 12)

Sean McDonough/Shane Battier//Allison Williams (ACC)
Brent Musburger/Fran Fraschilla//Holly Rowe (Big 12)

SUPER TUESDAY (BIG TEN/SEC)

Mike Tirico/Dan Dakich//Samantha Ponder (Big Ten)
Brad Nessler/Sean Farnham (SEC)

BIG 12 TUESDAY

Dave Flemming/Miles Simon

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOOPS

Bob Wichusen/LaPhonso Ellis (ACC)
Dave Pasch/Bill Walton (Pac-12)

SATURDAY PRIMETIME

Dan Shulman/Jay Bilas//Shannon Spake

ESPNU ACC SUNDAY NIGHT

Adam Amin/Brad Daugherty

COLLEGE GAMEDAY

Rece Davis/Jay Bilas/Seth Greenburg/Jay Williams

For more on the ESPN lineup, we have the surprisingly under 1,000-word press release.

Men’s College Basketball: All-Star Commentator Lineup on ESPN’s Extensive 2014-15 Coverage

ESPN’s 2014-15 men’s college basketball telecasts – more than 1,600 games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN3, ESPN FULL COURT, SEC Network and Longhorn Network – will showcase a deep roster of experienced commentators.

ESPN will provide fans with live coverage of at least one game every day but three from November 14 to March 8 (December 24 and 26 and January 12). The wealth of experience working games on ESPN networks include former Division I coaches and NBA, WNBA and collegiate players, along with versatile and veteran play-by-play voices.

Non-conference coverage of more than 700 contests gets underway Friday, Nov. 14, with a full slate of games including the Armed Forces Classic pitting No. 8 Louisville, and head coach Rick Pitino, against Minnesota, and his son Richard, from United States Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Commentator Highlights

Analyst Jay Bilas, entering his 21^st season at ESPN, will be paired with Dan Shulman and reporter Shannon Spake on the Saturday Primetime game that host’s that day’s College GameDay.

Bilas and Basketball Hall of Famer Dick Vitale, who enters his 36^th season calling games for the network, will each call key ESPN weekday matchups across multiple conferences. Vitale will also work a marquee game each Saturday.

College GameDay gets a fresh look in its 11^th season as host Rece Davis and Bilas are joined by first-year GameDay analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams. The foursome will help carry out a new flexible schedule that will give the Saturday morning show more ability to react to storylines as the season develops to better ensure visits to top games on ESPN networks each week, beginning on the road Saturday, Jan. 17.

Davis will also call a Thursday Night Showcase game involving Big Ten teams.

Shane Battier, fresh off a lengthy and successful NBA career, will join play-by-play veteran Sean McDonough and reporter Allison Williams on the ACC Big Monday package.

The trio of Brent Musburger, Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe return to work the second half of the Big Monday doubleheader featuring Big 12 programs.

Mike Tirico, one of ESPN’s most versatile commentators and the voice of Monday Night Football, pairs again with analyst Dan Dakich and reporter Samantha Ponder for the weekly Big Ten Super Tuesday game. Dakich will also call a Saturday Big Ten contest with Bob Wischusen.

ESPN’s weekly Super Tuesday SEC telecast, will see the return of Brad Nessler and Spake, and adds analyst Sean Farnham. Farnham will join Joe Tessitore on the Thursday SEC telecast.

Kara Lawson will work with Mark Jones to call the Saturday SEC window.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton will again have the call of Pac-12 games on Wednesday and Thursday nights with Dave Pasch.

ACC games will also be covered by Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke (Saturday), as well as Bob Wischusen and LaPhonso Ellis (Wednesday).

Big 12 Tuesdays will be called by Dave Flemming and Miles Simon, in addition to the league’s Saturday games called by Jon Sciambi and Fraschilla.

American games will see Mike Patrick on Thursdays and Saturdays with Len Elmore and Bob Knight, in addition to O’Brien and Burke working select AAC Thursday games.

Several analysts return to ESPN and ESPN’s studio coverage – with a consistent presence from Battier, Greenberg and Williams.

Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame member and former UConn head coach Jim Calhoun joins ESPN provide insight and analysis, including studio programming, joining select game telecasts and conducting sit-down interviews with top figures in the game.

New faces on ESPNU include former coaches Craig Robinson and Stan Heath, and former college and pro standout Brad Daugherty, who returns to work ESPN games after several years as a NASCAR analyst. He will call select ACC college basketball games, including the ESPNU ACC Sunday Night Basketball series with Adam Amin.

SEC Network will televise 118 men’s games in its inaugural season and will include analysts Dane Bradshaw, Barry Booker, Joe Dean, Jr., Tony Delk, Daymeon Fishback, Darrin Horn, Jon Sundvold and Will Purdue, as well as play-by-play commentators Dave Neal, Tom Hart and Dave Baker.

Longhorn Network will surround the network’s 10 exclusive Texas men’s basketball games with studio programming that includes a simulcast of Coach Rick Barnes weekly radio show and original content such as LHN All-Access. Paul Sunderland and Lowell Galindo will call play-by-play for the network with analysts Lance Blanks and Reid Gettys.

Studio Coverage

In addition to Greenberg, Battier and Williams, ESPN and ESPN2 studio programming will also include Dakich, Ellis, Farnham, Fraschilla, Jeff Goodman, Andy Katz, Lawson and Miles Simon.

ESPNU will rotate its studio coverage including analysts Dino Gaudio and Adrian Branch, along with hosts Brendan Fitzgerald, Matt Schick and Anish Shroff.

ESPN Buzzer Beater

Analyst Tim McCormick will be seen on ESPN Buzzer Beater – which offers live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college basketball games Saturdays from noon ET to 11 p.m. and Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., beginning Saturday, Jan. 10.

ESPN.com

Katz, Goodman, Eamonn Brennan, Myron Medcalf, Dana O’Neil, C.L Brown and John Gasaway will provide reporting, analysis and original video on ESPN.com throughout the season, while Paul Biancardi, Jeff Borzello, Adam Finkelstein and Reggie Rankin will break down what is going on in college basketball recruiting. Also, Bracketologist Joe Lunardi will keep an eye on what the NCAA Championship field might look like come March.

Season Overview

Announcers across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN3, SEC Network and Longhorn Network will call games involving more than 300 teams from all 32 Division I conferences.

Commentators can also be seen during ESPN’s popular weekly series’ beginning in January – Big Monday, Super Tuesday, Wednesday Night Hoops, Thursday Night Showcase, College GameDay, Saturday Primetime and ESPNU ACC Sunday Night Basketball – plus a full slate of games throughout the season.