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Tip Times & Announcing Assignments For Sunday’s 3rd Round 2012 NCAA Tournament Action

The press release is in. We have the tip times, networks and announcing assignments for the NCAA Tournament for the third round action on Sunday.

CBS will have the first three games starting at 12:15 p.m. ET with Georgetown vs. North Carolina State from Columbus, OH. That will be followed by Michigan State-Saint Louis at 2:45 p.m. and North Carolina-Creighton at 5:15 p.m.

TNT will have two games starting at 6:10 p.m. TBS’ night begins at 7:10 p.m. and truTV will come in with its lone weekend game and last game of the tournament at 7:45 p.m. with Xavier-Lehigh. After the third round, both TNT and truTV’s NCAA Tournament duties will be finished for 2012.

CBS and TBS will combine for the Sweet 16 on Thursday and Friday.

Here’s the schedule for Sunday.

TURNER SPORTS AND CBS SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND MATCH-UPS FOR THIRD-ROUND GAMES ON SUNDAY, MARCH 18

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Third-Round on Saturday, March 17

CBS Sports and Turner Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for third-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 18 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET) with all games available in their entirety across four national television networks: TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV. Exclusive live coverage continues with third-round action on Saturday, March 17 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET).

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson sharing hosting duties each day. Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith provide analysis throughout the tournament alongside Gumbel or Johnson from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin joins the New York Studio on Saturday and Sunday. Matt Winer hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis and Steve Smith on Saturday and Sunday.

Following are the tip-times for Sunday’s third-round games, as well as the announce team assignments. Tip-times for the Regional Semi-Final games on Thursday, March 22 and Friday, March 23 will be announced on Sunday after the conclusion of the day’s games. For a complete channel guide click on MyChannels at NCAA.com/MyChannels.

NCAA March Madness^® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

THIRD ROUND GAMES
SUNDAY, MARCH 18 (12:00 Noon-12:00 AM, ET)

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15PM	CBS	Columbus I	Georgetown vs. NC State	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//
				Otis Livingston
2:45 PM	CBS	Columbus II	Michigan St. vs. Saint Louis	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//
				Otis Livingston
5:15 PM	CBS	Greensboro I	North Carolina vs. Creighton	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//
				Tracy Wolfson
6:10 PM	TNT	Omaha I	Florida vs. Norfolk St.	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//
				Craig Sager
7:10 PM	TBS	Nashville I	S. Florida vs. Ohio	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//
				Lewis Johnson
7:45 PM	truTV	Greensboro II	Xavier vs. Lehigh	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//
				Tracy Wolfson
8:40 PM	TNT	Omaha II	Kansas vs. Purdue	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//
				Craig Sager
9:40 PM	TBS	Nashville II	Florida St. vs. Cincinnati	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//
				Lewis Johnson

And we are done for the night. I’ll be back sporadically this weekend.

CBS/Turner Sees Highest Rated Opening Thursday of NCAA Tournament in 21 Years

The four games on four networks in one window is working for CBS/Turner. Thursday’s action saw a 5.3 rating and 7.7 million viewers on CBS/TBS/TNT and truTV. That’s up from a 5.0 and 7.4 million viewers last year.

Here’s the press release from CBS/Turner Sports.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Delivers 5.3 US HH Rating and 7.7 Million Total Viewers

Most-Watched First Thursday since 1991
Thursday’s Coverage Up 6% in Households; 4% in Total Viewers

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday combined to deliver a 5.3 U.S. HH rating (+6% vs. 2011) and 7.7 million total viewers (+4% vs. 2011), according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.

Last night’s coverage across the four networks delivered the highest-rated and most-viewed Thursday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows.

The second telecast window of the day combined to earn a 4.8 U.S. HH rating (+9% vs. last year) and 6,723,000 total viewers (+5% from last year).

The third telecast window of the day combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+10% vs. last year) and 9,664,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

The final window combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+8% vs. last year) and 9,900,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/17/12 vs 3-15-3/17/11. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That’s it.

Doing Some Friday Megalinks Now

Let’s do some megalinks on this Friday. My apologies for the lack of posts yesterday. The site was swamped with people linking to my post on How to Avoid Paying the $3.99 Fee For March Madness Live and it was down for most of the day. We seem to be ok today, although the site was down for a short stretch in the morning. But we’re back up now and time for some megalinks on this Friday.

The Weekend Viewing Picks are up and running. Lots of sports as the winter NCAA Championships including the basketball tournaments are underway.

Let’s get to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today praises CBS/Turner for bringing the NCAA head of men’s basketball officiating back to explain controversial calls.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On blog remembers a great NCAA Tournmament buzzer beater from 1981 as called by NBC’s Marv Albert.

Sports Business Daily notes the overnight ratings for Thursday’s games from the NCAA Tournament were down, but still considered a win for CBS/Turner.

Matt Carmichael from Advertising Age tells us which two schools were Googled the most during yesterday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the absolutely hilarious video of a WGN morning news anchor trying to amp up the volume at ESPN’s Dick Vitale while technical difficulties arise.

Karen Hogan from Sports Video Group writes that the National Invitation Tournament may be the NCAA Tournament’s ugly sister, but it still gets major treatment from ESPN.

To Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing who notes another Twitter feud involving CNBC’s Darren Rovell, this one with Bomani Jones.

Sports Media Watch says Thursday’s 2nd round NCAA Tournament games received slightly lower overnight ratings from the year before.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth wants to know why name calling in sports radio is a more punishable offense than inaccurate reporting.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy asks if the NHL’s new Stanley Cup ad campaign to replace the great “History Will Be Made” promos can be as successful.

Laura Northrup of the Consumerist wonders why NBA League Pass hasn’t adjusted to Daylight Savings Time?

All Access says ESPN Deportes Radio in Chicago has picked up the Spanish rights to the White Sox.

La Liga Talk has learned that Al Jazeera has obtained the US TV rights to Spain’s La Liga from Gol TV.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

At SB Nation Boston, Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen says social networking may have created spoiled fans.

Tazina Vega from the New York Times says the NHL is hoping to lure viewers by airing all of its Stanley Cup Playoff games on various NBC Sports platforms.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament collaboration has become the Home Shopping Network. Whatever.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with CBS/Turner analyst Clark Kellogg.

Justin has 5 questions for MSG Network NBA analyst Kelly Tripucka.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the Onion has skewered the DC NFL Team.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with a Turner Sports Interactive executive on how Twitter is incorporated into this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says NBC will air this fall’s Miami-Notre Dame football game in primetime.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that CBS/Turner’s Charles Barkley criticized Baylor’s ugly neon yellow uniforms.

David has the CBS/Turner announcing assignments for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman notes that Cox Cable subscribers can access the NCAA March Madness Live app for free provided they authenticate.

John E. Hoover from the Tulsa World says the Big 12′s new TV deals will ensure the survival of the conference.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Reds voice Marty Brennaman can be heard in a new UPS March Madness ad.

While Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel enjoys the NCAA Tounament, there are some things he can do without.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business announces he’ll no longer be writing his sports business and media blog for the publication.

Ed says he will be launching a new site on the sports media and I look forward to seeing it when it finally comes to fruition.

Brigid Sweeney of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that Bulls TV analyst Stacey King now has a new fashion line.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the national Junior College championships can be seen online.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the local CBS affiliate didn’t help matters by taking up a large portion of the screen during NCAA Tournament action for weather updates.

West

Bill Center at the San Diego Union-Tribune says maybe, maybe Fox Sports San Diego will launch on Saturday provided MLB approval comes that quickly.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star looks at the Erin Andrews network sweepstakes.

Jim says the NCAA Tournament has become predictable.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Richard Horgan of Fishbowl LA says ESPN will not discipline its SoCal reporters for getting a big story wrong on the Dodgers ownership bid process.

We are going to end the links there. Not as many as in past weeks, but still a hefty amount. Enjoy your weekend.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/17 & 03/18/12, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 17

Men’s

National Invitational Tournament
Second Round
UMass at Seton Hall — ESPN,11 a.m.

NCAA Tournament
Third Round

East Region
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Scott Graham/Kevin Grevey
#1 Syracuse vs. Kansas State — CBS, 12:15 p.m.
#2 Ohio State vs. #7 Gonzaga — CBS, 2:45 p.m.

The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jamie Maggio (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Michael Cage
#4 Wisconsin vs. #5 Vanderbilt — TNT, 6:10 p.m.

South Region
Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner/Jenn Hildreth (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Calabro/Bill Frieder
#4 Indiana vs. #12 VCU — TBS, 7:10 p.m.

KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ted Robinson/Kyle Macy
#1 Kentucky vs. #8 Iowa State — CBS, 7:45 p.m.

The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jamie Maggio (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Michael Cage
#3 Baylor vs. #11 Colorado — TNT, 8:40 p.m.

West Region
KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ted Robinson/Kyle Macy
#3 Marquette vs. #6 Murray State — CBS, 5:15 p.m.

Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner/Jenn Hildreth (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Calabro/Bill Frieder
#4 Louisville vs. #5 New Mexico — TBS, 9:40 p.m.

Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
First Round
All Games on ESPN2

Kingston, RI Region
Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT
Announcers: Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo
#8 Kansas State vs. #9 Princeton — ESPN2, 11:20 a.m.
#1 UConn vs. #16 Prairie View A&M — ESPN2, 1:50 p.m.

McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, WA
Announcers: Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham
#6 Rutgers vs. #11 Gonzaga — ESPN2, 4:15 p.m.
#3 Miami (FL) vs. #14 Idaho State — ESPN2, 6:45 p.m.

Hilton Coliseum, Ames, IA
Announcers: Clay Matvick/Krista Blunk
#2 Kentucky vs. McNeese State — ESPN2, 4:20 p.m.
#7 Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. #10 Iowa State — ESPN2, 6:50 p.m.

Raleigh, NC Region
Comcast Center, College Park, MD
Announcers: Bob Wischusen/LaChina Robinson
#2 Maryland vs. #15 Navy — ESPN2, 11:15 a.m.
#7 Louisville vs. #10 Michigan State — ESPN, 1:45 p.m.

Reed Arena, College Station, TX
Announcers: Carter Blackburn/Tamika Raymond
#6 Arkansas vs. #11 Dayton — ESPN2, 4:05 p.m.
#3 Texas A&M vs. #14 Albany — ESPN2, 6:35 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA
Announcers: Mark Jones/Mary Murphy
#8 West Virginia vs. #9 Texas — ESPN2, 11:10 a.m.
#1 Stanford vs. #16 Hampton — ESPN2, 1:40 p.m.

Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, IN
Announcers: Brenda VanLengen/Stephen Bardo
#5 South Carolina vs. #12 Eastern Michigan — ESPN2, 11:05 a.m.
#4 Purdue vs. #13 South Dakota State — ESPN2, 1:45 p.m.

Des Moines, IA Region
Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
Announcers: Jon Sciambi/Brooke Weisbrod
#2 Tennessee vs. #15 Tennessee-Martin — ESPN2, 4:10 p.m.
#7 DePaul vs. #10 BYU — ESPN2, 6:40 p.m.

Sunday, March 18

Men’s

National Invitation Tournament
2nd Round
Northern Iowa at Drexel — ESPN, 11 a.m.
Bucknell at Nevada — ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Iowa at Oregon — ESPNU, 5 p.m.

NCAA Tournament
Third Round

East Region
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Lewis Johnson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Brad Sham/Pete Gillen
#3 Florida State vs. #6 Cincinnati — TBS, 9:40 p.m.

Midwest Region
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/John Thompson
#3 Georgetown vs. #11 North Carolina State — CBS, 12:15 p.m.

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Gary Cohen/Reid Gettys
#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Creighton — CBS, 5:15 p.m.

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Lewis Johnson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Brad Sham/Pete Gillen
#12 South Florida vs. #13 Ohio — TBS, 7:10 p.m.

CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Tom Brennan
#2 Kansas vs. #10 Purdue — TNT, 8:40 p.m.

South Region

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Gary Cohen/Reid Gettys
#10 Xavier vs. #15 Lehigh — truTV, 7:45 p.m.

Midwest Region
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/John Thompson
#1 Michigan State vs. #9 Saint Louis — CBS, 2:45 p.m.

CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Tom Brennan
#7 Florida vs. #15 Norfolk State — TNT, 6:10 p.m.

Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard– ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight

Women’s

NCAA Tournament
First Round
All Games on ESPN2

Kingston, RI Region
Maravich Center, Baton Rouge, LA
Announcers: Bob Picozzi/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude
#4 Penn State vs. #13 UTEP — ESPN2, 5:15 p.m.
#5 LSU vs. #12 San Diego State — ESPN2, 7:45 p.m.

Raleigh, NC Region
Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, FL
Announcers: Justin Kutcher/Nell Fortner
#4 Georgia vs. #13 Marist — ESPN2, 12:05 p.m.
#5 St. Bonaventure vs. #12 Florida Gulf Coast — ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.

Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, IN
Announcers: Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke
#8 Cal vs. #9 Iowa — ESPN2, 12:10 p.m.
#1 Notre Dame vs. Liberty — ESPN2, 2:40 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, OK
Announcers: Marc Kestecher/Kayte Christensen
#3 St. John’s vs. #14 Creighton — ESPN2, 5:05 p.m.
#6 Oklahoma vs. #11 Michigan — ESPN2, 7:35 p.m.

Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
Announcers: Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli
#7 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Middle Tennessee State — ESPN2, 5:10 p.m.
#2 Duke vs. #15 Samford — ESPN2, 7:40 p.m.

Des Moines, IA Region
Stroh Center, Bowling Green, OH
Announcers: Cara Capuano/Abby Waner
#8 Ohio State vs. #9 Florida State — ESPN2, 12:15 p.m.
#1 Baylor vs. #16 UC Santa Barbara — ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.

Carmichael Arena, Chapel Hill, NC
Announcers: Beth Mowins/Stephanie White
#5 Georgetown vs. #12 Fresno State — ESPN2, 12:20 p.m.
#4 Georgia Tech vs. #13 Sacred Heart — ESPN2, 2:50 p.m.

Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, AR
Announcers: Holly Rowe/Fran Fraschilla
#3 Delaware vs. #14 Arkansas-Little Rock — ESPN2, 5:20 p.m.
#6 Nebraska vs. #11 Kansas — ESPN2, 7:50 p.m.

Tip Times & Announcing Assignments For Saturday’s 3rd Round NCAA Tournament Action

Ok, it’s late, but we have the tip times and the announcing assignments for Saturday’s Third Round games in the NCAA Tournament. CBS has its traditional Saturday quadruple header. TBS and TNT will both have two games apiece. truTV won’t have a game on Saturday, but will have one on Sunday.

CBS will begin the day with an exclusive afternoon doubleheader starting at 12:15 p.m. ET. TNT joins at 6:10 p.m. then TBS jumps in at 7:10 p.m.

The day begins with Syracuse vs. Kansas State in Pittsburgh on CBS and will conclude with Louisville vs. New Mexico in Portland, OR on TBS. Overall, it will almost 12 hours of wall-to-wall basketball on the CBS/Turner consortium. Here’s the press release.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND MATCH-UPS FOR THIRD-ROUND GAMES ON SATURDAY, MARCH 17

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Second-Round on Friday, March 16

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for third-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 17 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET) with all games available in their entirety across three national television networks: TBS, CBS, and TNT. Exclusive live coverage continues with second-round action on Friday, March 16 (11:00 AM-12:00 AM, ET).

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson sharing hosting duties each day. Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith provide analysis throughout the tournament alongside Gumbel or Johnson from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin joins the New York Studio on Saturday and Sunday. Matt Winer hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis, Steve Smith on Saturday and Sunday. Villanova head coach Jay Wright joins the Atlanta studio on Friday.

Following are the tip-times for Saturday’s third-round games, as well as the announce team assignments. Tip-times for the third-round games on Sunday will be announced on Friday after the conclusion of the day’s games. For a complete channel guide click on MyChannels at NCAA.com/MyChannels.

NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

THIRD ROUND GAMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 17 (12:00 Noon-12:00 AM, ET)

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh I	Syracuse. vs. Kansas St.	Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//
				Marty Snider
2:45 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh II	Ohio St. vs. Gonzaga	Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//
				Marty Snider
5:15 PM	CBS	Louisville I	Marquette vs. Murray St.	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//
				Lesley Visser
6:10 PM	TNT	Albuquerque I	Wisconsin vs. Vanderbilt	Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//
				Jaime Maggio
7:10 PM	TBS	Portland I	Indiana vs. VCU	Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//
				Jenn Hildreth
7:45 PM	CBS	Louisville II	Kentucky vs. Iowa St.	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//
				Lesley Visser
8:40 PM	TNT	Albuquerque II	Baylor vs. Colorado	Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//
				Jamie Maggio
9:40 PM	TBS	Portland II	Louisville vs. New Mexico	Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//
				Jenn Hildreth

That will do it.

NCAA Tip Off Quotage For FIRST FOUR, 03/14/12

Because CBS/Turner got an interview with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, we have this piece of quotage for you. Boeheim discussed Orangemen center Fab Melo being declared ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, however, he really didn’t shed much light into why. But we get quotage and that’s good for you as we see a portion of what was said in the NCAA Tip-Off interview and the reaction from the studio crew.

Check it all out below.

Notes from tonight’s NCAA® Tip Off Pregame Show on truTV
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ interview with Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim

Click here for a replay of the one-on-one interview with Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim conducted by Marty Snider on truTV.

Boeheim on the impact from the loss of Fab Melo in the lineup: “The big difference is he’s the best shot blocker in the country, or one of the best, if not the best in the country. That’s where he really anchors our defense. What we have to do is play better defense in front of that spot. Our other guys have to play better defensively. On the offensive end, it doesn’t change much in terms of what we’re going to do.

“It does, obviously, change our defense but I think we’re a team that is well-equipped to…play this tournament without him. Most years I wouldn’t say that if we lost our starting center. We have guys that have played. They’re not as good as he is but they are good players and I’m very confident in what they can do.”

NCAA Tip Off pregame show
Matt Winer, Steve Smith, Seth Davis and Villanova head coach Jay Wright as guest analyst

Wright on the impact of Melo’s absence on Syracuse’s offense: “It’s going to affect them offensively. [Melo’s] defense and shot blocking starts their [fast] break and they have the best break in college basketball.”

Smith on Melo’s absence: “Offensively, they don’t do a great job in the half court and the shots they miss, [Melo] could grab and [the opposition] needed two or three guys to box him out. So they are going to miss him on both ends.”

Davis on how Syracuse played without Melo earlier in the season: “When they did play without him [earlier in the season], it was striking how much they missed him.”

Davis on Syracuse’s chances in the tournament after the loss of Melo: “I think they go from a very short list of contenders for the national championship to a second tier team in a jumble of teams. Yes, if they get hot or if they get the right matchups, they could make it but I think this is a near-devastating blow for them.”

Wright on how Syracuse can still have a successful tournament: “They have a lot of great players and Boeheim is one of the smartest guys in basketball. They can figure out a way to play differently and still be successful.”

That will do it.

CBS/Turner, CBS Sports Network Add Coaches As Guest Analysts For NCAA Tournament Coverage

We have a couple of notes from CBS/Turner and CBS Sports Network on the guest analysts each entity will have on their sets.

CBS will bring in St. John’s coach and former ESPN analyst to its New York set to join Greg Gumbel, Ernie Johnson, Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Greg Anthony. In Atlanta joining the Turner set of Matt Winer, Steve Smith and Seth Davis will be Villanova coach Jay Wright.

Take a look at the CBS/Turner press blurb.

THIS JUST IN…
…from CBS Sports and Turner Sports:

Turner Sports and CBS Sports have added Villanova head coach Jay Wright and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin as guest studio analysts for the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Wright will contribute to coverage of the First Four^® on truTV from the Atlanta studio on Wednesday, March 14, along with second round action on Thursday, March 15, and Friday, March 16. Wright will appear alongside Steve Smith, Seth Davis and Matt Winer on truTV’s Inside March Madness to wrap up each day’s action at 12:30 a.m. ET.

Lavin will serve as a guest analyst in the New York studio for third round coverage on Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18, joining analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson.

CBS Sports Network says a total of five, count ‘em, five current and former coaches joining its studio team. Check it out.

CBS Sports Network Adds College Coaches to 2012 NCAA Tournament Coverage

Rutgers coach Mike Rice, George Mason coach Paul Hewitt, DePaul coach Oliver Purnell, Penn coach Jerome Allen and former Illinois coach Bruce Weber join CBS Sports Network’s coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Rice, Hewitt and Weber serve as guest analysts on Thursday, March 15. Hewitt and Weber return on Friday, March 16, along with Purnell and Allen.

The coaches join the studio team of analysts Wally Szczerbiak, Steve Lappas, Alaa Abdelnaby and Mateen Cleaves, insider Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com writers Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish, and hosts Adam Zucker, Dave Ryan and Brent Stover from CBS Sports Network’s New York City studio. For more information and a full programming schedule, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

That’s it.

Giving You Some Mid-Week Links

Time for some linkage on this Wednesday.

In case you missed it from early this morning, I wrote a post on how you can avoid paying the $3.99 fee to watch the March Madness Live app on your mobile, iPad or online.

And Maine Sports Media has a legal promo code which you can use to avoid paying the fee while supplies are still available.

Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated has a great story on when the NCAA Tournament truly became March Madness back in 1981 when NBC switched from buzzer beater to buzzer beater. I remember every one of these moments that Layden describes. Yes, I’m old.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand handicaps where ESPN’s Erin Andrews could be headed once her contract is up.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing says Erin Andrews isn’t the only free agent at ESPN.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes having March Madness online is a good thing for everyone.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Daily report that the Big 12 is close to signing a rights extension with current TV partners ESPN and Fox Sports Net.

Tom Lorenzo of SportsGrid has video of President Obama making his Final Four picks on ESPN.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says FX had strong ratings for the premiere “The Ultimate Fighter”.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek writes that Time.com is launching a sports blog.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports says CBS/Turner is not worried about losing viewers to the March Madness Live online app.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suggests if Tim Tebow gets traded to Jacksonville, it would be huge for the franchise.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash notes that WFAN’s Boomer & Carton will be skating for charity next week.

To the Schenectady Gazette where Ken Schott says ESPN has named its announcing teams for the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championships.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the overnight ratings for the NCAA Tournament’s FIRST FOUR™ games were down from last year.

Pete says NBA TV will be all over the NBA Trade Deadline.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Time Warner Cable will air the New York State high school basketball championships.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Drexel got plenty of sympathy from the TV analysts during NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reports that a local sports radio talk show host who used a racial slur earlier this week has left the station.

Eric Deggans of the Times also has a story on the controversy.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says the NBA’s Thunder topped the local ratings last week.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio is now airing “Reds Live” nightly.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman notes that Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf grants a rare interview tonight.

Ed says a new Chicago sports news website is preparing to launch next month joining an already crowded marketplace.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC will shift focus from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the playoff-bound Ottawa Senators.

Sports Media Watch looks at the overnight ratings for the opening night doubleheader of the NCAA Tournament.

SMW tells us that the Knicks and Rangers are performing well in the ratings for MSG Network.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media learns that NBC will air its first-ever NHL playoff doubleheader in April.

Steve says NBC Sports Network will carry Thursday’s Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers game marking the return (again) of Sidney Crosby to the ice.

Steve also provides the coverage plans for NBC Sports Network and TSN for Crosby’s return.

Joe Favorito says horse racing is trying to make some inroads into the March sports calendar.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead wonders if an ESPN anchor attempted to recruit a high school basketball player for his alma mater.

And that is where the links will end for today.

More posts are on the way. Keep your feeds updated.

Overnight Ratings For FIRST FOUR NCAA Tournament Games Are In

Just received this notice from CBS/Turner on last night’s FIRST FOUR™ doubleheader involving Mississippi Valley State-Western Kentucky and BYU-Iona, both of which involved wild comebacks or collapses, whichever you prefer.

The ratings were an average 0.9 for both games on truTV. CBS/Turner says that’s in line with last year’s average for all FIRST FOUR™ games. Both games received a 0.9 rating. Last year’s ratings averaged a 0.85.

Here’s the press blurb from CBS/Turner for last night.

THIS JUST IN…

…from Turner Sports and CBS Sports

truTV’s exclusive live doubleheader coverage of the First Four of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday, March 13 (6:30 p.m.-12 a.m. ET), averaged a 0.9 metered market household rating. In 2011, the First Four averaged a 0.9 overnight metered market household rating through the first four telecasts.

Both of last night’s truTV telecasts – Mississippi Valley State vs. Western Kentucky (6:30-9:15 p.m.) and BYU vs. Iona (9:45 p.m.-12 a.m.) – earned a 0.9 metered market household rating, according to Nielsen.

That will do it.

How To Avoid Paying The $3.99 Fee To Watch March Madness Online

There has been plenty of confusion over the $3.99 fee to watch the NCAA Tournament online, whether it be through NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app for Android, iPhone and the iPad. First, the original press release promoted the fee and did not clearly explain how you could avoid paying it.

Well after fiddling around with the app this week, I’ve finally figured this out. First download the app for free either from the Android Marketplace or the Apple App Store. Once you’ve downloaded the app, go to the settings button on upper left of the iPad app or hit “Settings” on the mobile app. Touch “My Channels” and put in your zip code, hit “go” and then choose your cable or satellite provider.

Then in “My Account” or “Login” put in your e-mail and set up your password, confirm it and you should be all set to watch all the games. One password will work for the online login at NCAA.com, the iPhone app as well as the iPad app.

You can also watch games through truTV.com, TNT.tv and TBS.com and all you have to do is put in your zip and choose your provider as well as putting in your password. Games at CBSSports.com can be viewed for free, no login is required.

And having seen the video on the March Madness Live mobile and iPad apps, the quality is excellent, however, video did not work for the early game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. It was up for the BYU-Iona game.

I also watched at truTV.com and again, the video stream was very good. The online ads are different from what’s shown on TV, but that’s expected.

I do expect the demand on Thursday to cause the video to lag on all online platforms, but should be rectified as the wears on.

So there is the way to watch games on the March Madness Live app without having to pay. As long as your cable or satellite company has an agreement with Turner for streaming, you should be all set.

UPDATE, 03/15/12 — 7:20 p.m.: Turner Sports says if you’re still having trouble authenticating, call 855-566-5483 and techies will walk you through it.

NCAA Women’s Tournament Begins on ESPN2/ESPN3 on Saturday

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament tips off on Saturday on ESPN2. All games will streamed online through ESPN3. There will be 16 sub-regional sites and thus, 16 announcing teams used. Five women will do play-by-play including Brenda VanLegen, Beth Mowins, Pam Ward, Cara Capuano and Holly Rowe. Beth and Pam will move to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 to call the regional semis and finals.

Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck will be the studio crew throughout the Tournament.

For most of the country, ESPN2 will air Whip-Around coverage going to wherever the action is, but in areas of local interest, games will be shown in their entirety.

We have the full details of ESPN2′s coverage this weekend and for the entire NCAA Women’s Tournament.

ESPN2 and ESPN3 Open NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Coverage

ESPN tips-off its extensive coverage of all 63 game of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship – across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN FULL COURT – beginning Saturday, March 17 and concluding at the NCAA National Championship game Tuesday, April 3 in Denver.

During the first two rounds, ESPN2 will present 48 games within 12 telecast windows in a whip-around format with home market protection. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer complete games as a supplement to ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.

In addition, ESPN will feature additional NCAA Championship content across its platforms, including SportsCenter, espnW, ESPN.com, ESPNEWS, WatchESPN and ESPN International.

First and Second Rounds – Regionalization & Home Market Protection

• Regionalized/Home Market Protection – In the home markets of the competing teams, ESPN2 will televise the game of local interest. While constant updates from the other games will be provided, the networks will not switch to another game during live action, thereby establishing home market protection.

• Whip-Around Coverage – For the first and second rounds, multiple games (as many as four) will begin within one telecast window on ESPN2. During those windows, the network plans to “whip-around” or switch to the best action from different games for viewers in the majority of the nation (except in the home markets of the competing teams). Select games will be made available to a full national audience on ESPNU.

Coverage Highlights

Sneak peak of Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins‘ SportScience feature

• The Elena Della Done feature from Outside the Lines
• An examination of the working relationship between UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and his associate head coach Chris Dailey
• Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins will be the focus of a SportsScience feature from the Sports Science Lab in Los Angeles
• Former Notre Dame men’s head coach and current ESPN analyst Digger Phelps sits down with the head coach of the Irish women Muffet McGraw and Diggens for a candid conversation
• Three espnW-produced pieces will be used during studio and game telecasts
• Interact on twitter via the #espnwbb hashtag throughout the entire tournament

Studio Coverage
Trey Wingo will host ESPN’s studio coverage from Bristol, Conn., along with analysts Kara Lawson and Carolyn Peck.

Commentators Notes

• Nell Fortner, who retired as head coach of Auburn at the conclusion of the regular season, will serve as an analyst through the first two rounds at the Tallahassee, Fla., site
• An analyst last season, Brenda VanLegen will return at the play-by-play position for the first- and second-rounds in West Lafayette, Ind., with analyst Stephen Bardo
• Play-by-play veteran Beth Mowins will have the call for the first time of a regional semifinal and final – from Des Moines, Iowa with analyst Stephanie White
• Two new reporters join the crew this year – Allison Williams will be at the Raleigh Regional, while Samantha Steele with join Mowins and White in Des Moines
• Several cross-over analysts from the men’s game will be part of the telecasts – Bardo in West Lafayette, Ind., Sean Farnham from Spokane, Wash., and Fran Fraschilla from Little Rock, Ark.
• Dave O’Brien returns at play-by-play for the Final Four, along with veteran analyst Doris Burke and reporters Holly Rowe and Rebecca Lobo

espnW

• Analysis and coverage from espnW writers Mechelle Voepel, Graham Hays, Kate Fagan and Michelle Smith
• A blogger series with student-athletes competing in the NCAA Championship including Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame), Chelsea Gray (Duke), Samantha Prahalis (Ohio State), Elena Delle Donne (Delaware) and Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford)
• 5 Questions segments with analyst/reporter Lobo, and blogs and chats from the entire espnW team
• On-the-court video segments breaking down the x’s and o’s of each game throughout
• “Total Access” segments will include behind-the-scenes video with players and coaches at the Final Four
• Full coverage of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team roster announcement and top awards ceremonies from the Final Four

2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship
First & Second Round Schedule (Subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Networks
Sat, Mar 17	11 a.m.	First Round No. 9 Princeton vs. No. 8 Kansas State (Bridgeport, Conn.) Pam Ward & Rebecca Lobo No. 15 Navy vs. No. 2 Maryland (College Park, Md.) Bob Wischusen & LaChina Robinson No. 9 Texas vs. No. 8 West Virginia^ (Norfolk, Va.) Mark Jones & Mary Murphy No. 12 Eastern Michigan vs. No. 5 South Carolina (West Lafayette, Ind.) Brenda VanLengen & Stephen Bardo	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of 11 a.m. games	First Round No. 16 Prairie View vs. No. 1 Connecticut (Bridgeport, Conn.) No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 7 Louisville^ (College Park, Md.) No. 16 Hampton vs. No. 1 Stanford (Norfolk, Va.) No. 13 South Dakota State vs. No. 4 Purdue (West Lafayette, Ind.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	4 p.m.	First Round No. 15 McNeese State vs. No. 2 Kentucky (Ames, Iowa) Clay Matvick & Krista Blunk No. 15 UT-Martin vs. No. 2 Tennessee^ (Chicago, Ill.) Jon Sciambi & Brooke Weisbrod No. 11 Dayton vs. No. 6 Arkansas (College Station, Texas) Carter Blackburn & Tamika Raymond No. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 6 Rutgers (Spokane, Wash.) Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of4 p.m. games	First Round No. 10 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Green Bay^ (Ames, Iowa) No. 10 BYU vs. No. 7 DePaul (Chicago, Ill.) No. 14 Albany vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (College Station, Texas) No. 14 Idaho State vs. No. 3 Miami (Fla.) (Spokane, Wash.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
Sun, Mar 18	Noon	First Round No. 9 Florida vs. No. 8 Ohio State^ (Bowling Green, Ohio) Cara Capuano & Abby Waner No. 12 Fresno State vs. No. 5 Georgetown (Chapel Hill, N.C.) Beth Mowins & Stephanie White No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 8 California (Notre Dame, Ind.) Dave O’Brien & Doris Burke No. 13 Marist vs. No. 4 Georgia (Tallahassee, Fla.) Justin Kutcher & Nell Fortner	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end ofNoon games	First Round No. 16 UC-Santa Barbara vs. No. 1 Baylor^ (Bowling Green, Ohio) No. 13 Sacred Heart vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech (Chapel Hill, N.C.) No. 16 Liberty vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Ind.) No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast vs. No. 5 St. Bonaventure (Tallahassee, Fla.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	5 p.m.	First Round No. 13 UTEP vs. No. 4 Penn State (Baton Rouge, La.) Bob Picozzi & Rosalyn Gold-Onwude No. 14 UALR vs. No. 3 Delaware^ (Little Rock, Ark.) Holly Rowe & Fran Fraschilla No. 10 Middle Tennessee State vs. No. 7 Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) Dave Pasch & Debbie Antonelli No. 14 Creighton vs. No. 3 St. John’s (Norman, Okla.) Marc Kestecher & Kayte Christensen	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of5 p.m. games	First Round No. 12 San Diego State vs. No. 5 LSU (Baton Rouge, La.) No. 11 Kansas vs. No. 6 Nebraska (Little Rock, Ark.) No. 15 Samford vs. No. 2 Duke (Nashville, Tenn.) No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 6 Oklahoma^ (Norman, Okla.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
Mon, Mar 19	7 p.m.	Second Round (Bridgeport, Conn., College Park, Md., Norfolk, Va., West Lafayette, Ind.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Second Round (Ames, Iowa, Chicago, Ill., College Station, Texas, Spokane, Wash)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
Tue, Mar 20	7 p.m.	Second Round (Bowling Green, Ohio, Chapel Hill, N.C., Notre Dame, Ind., Tallahassee, Fla.)	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Second Round (Baton Rouge, La., Little Rock, Ark., Nashville, Tenn., Norman, Okla.	ESPN2 HD / ESPN3

^ – Full national telecast – not part of Regionalized/Home Market Protection

2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship
Regional & Final Four Schedule (Subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Games	Networks
Sat, Mar 24	Noon	(Des Moines, Iowa) Beth Mowins, Stephanie White & Samantha Steele	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	2 p.m.	(Des Moines, Iowa)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	(Fresno, Calif.) Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli & Heather Cox	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	11:30 p.m.	(Fresno, Calif.)	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
Sun, Mar 25	Noon	(Raleigh, N.C.) Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo & Allison Williams	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	(Raleigh, N.C.)	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	(Kingston, R.I.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke & Holly Rowe	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	(Kingston, R.I.)	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
Mon, Mar 26	7 p.m.	(Des Moines, Iowa)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	(Fresno, Calif.)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
Tue, Mar 27	7 p.m.	(Raleigh, N.C.)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	(Kingston, R.I.)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
Sun, Apr 1	6:30 p.m.	National Semifinal (Denver, Colo.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Rebecca Lobo & Holly Rowe	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	National Semifinal (Denver, Colo.)	ESPN HD/ESPN3
Tue, Apr 3	8:30 p.m.	National Final (Denver, Colo.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Rebecca Lobo & Holly Rowe	ESPN HD/ESPN3

That’s going to do it.

Some Quick Monday Night Linkage

Since we did our linkage this morning, there have been several stories worthy of links and they really should not wait until Tuesday. So I’ll do a set of links right now.

We start with Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead who reports on a fake tweet about ESPN’s Erin Andrews leaving the network (her contract is expiring) and the personalities at the Alleged Worldwide Leader who are negotiating new deals.

MediaRantz recaps how this tweet got circulated and had to be quickly debunked by ESPN.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes over an interesting Twitter feud between comedian Norm Macdonald and ESPN’s Rick Reilly.

Matt says Digger Phelps wasn’t on his “A” game during Sunday night’s Bracketology show on ESPN.

John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal has CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus talking about the new authentication and pay system for the March Madness mobile app.

Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor notes that the ESPN Films documentary on Magic Johnson’s HIV-positive announcement 20 years ago shows how far we have come in our attitude on the disease.

Conor Nagle at Wei Under Par writes that NBC went into bizzaro world in attempting to cover Tiger Woods’ leg injury at the WGC Cadillac Championships.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that the NHL on NBC hit a season low overnight rating on Sunday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the numbers with March Madness.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that fans hoping to watch this weekend’s ECAC Hockey Championships will have to do so online (scroll down).

Katie Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard has ESPN’s Joe Lunardi saying that local fans give him the hardest time when it comes to his brackets.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams has CBS/Turner’s Jim Nantz and Marv Albert both talking about the NCAA Tournament.

Dave Walker at the New Orleans Times-Picayune says social media has helped to popularize March Madness.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the departure of Texans’ offensive lineman Eric Winston will leave a big hole at a local sports radio station.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the networks, announcing assignments and tip times for games of local interest from the NCAA Tournament.

Writing in OnMilwaukee, departing local sports radio host Doug Russell has one wish for the market as he leaves town.

Aaron Morton of the Deseret (UT) News explains to BYU fans where they can find truTV.

Sports Media Watch says the NCAA Tournament Selection Show had its lowest overnight ratings since 1989!!!!

Carol Einarssen at Race Journal Online has Cheers and Jeers for Fox’s NASCAR coverage.

Sox & Dawgs has video of Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine speaking with former ESPN colleagues Karl Ravech and John Kruk during Monday’s exhibition game against Miami.

And that will complete the posts for Monday

2012 College Basketball Invitational Tournament Schedule

You may not know or care that there is a third college basketball postseason tournament. This one is called the College Basketball Invitational Tournament or CBI for short. It has a 16 team field and is normally aired on Mark Cuban’s HDNet.

HDNet will air four of the eight first round games between Tuesday and Wednesday. The quarterfinals will be held on March 19 with the semifinals on March 21 and then a best two out of three finals that will held from March 26 through March 30. All games will be at home sites.

Here’s the schedule if you’re interested in taking a look. The CBI brackets are here.

2012 COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

First Round
3/13/12 — Princeton @ Evansville, Evansville, Ind., 8 pm ET — HDNet
3/13/12 — Washington State @ San Francisco,  San Francisco, Calif., 10 pm ET — HDNet
3/13/12 — Milwaukee @ TCU, Fort Worth, Texas, 8 pm ET
3/14/12 — Delaware @ Butler, Indianapolis, Ind., 8 pm ET — HDNet
3/14/12 — Western Illinois @ Oregon State, Corvallis, Ore., 10 pm ET — HDNet
3/14/12 — Wofford @ Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 7 pm ET
3/14/12 — Quinnipiac @ Penn, Philadelphia, Pa., 7:30 pm ET
3/14/12 — North Dakota State @ Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo., 9 pm ET

Quarterfinals
3/19/12 — Game 1, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 2, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 3, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 4, TBD

Semifinals
3/21/12 — Game 1, TBD — HDNet
3/21/12 — Game 2, TBD — HDNet

Championship Series
3/26/12 — Game 1, TBD — HDNet
3/28/12 — Game 2, TBD — HDNet
3/30/12 — Game 3 (if necessary), TBD  — HDNet

That’s it.

Entire 2012 NIT First Round To Be Aired on ESPN Networks

Last night, the entire 32 team field for the 75th annual National Invitation Tournament was announced on ESPNU. The networks of ESPN will air all of the 16 first round games that will be held Tuesday and Wednesday.

The entire bracket can be seen here.

We have the schedules for Tuesday and Wednesday plus the networks that will air the games. Announcing assignments will be released later today.

Here is the schedule.

UPDATE — 2:45 p.m.: The announcing assignments and now the entire NIT schedule has been released so let’s provide that in the press release below.

Washington, Tennessee, Seton Hall and Arizona among Teams Slated for ESPN’s Exclusive Coverage of National Invitation Tournament

Exclusive coverage of the entire 75^th National Invitation Tournament begins on ESPN2, Tuesday March 13 at 7 p.m. ET, and continues across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 with coverage of all 31 games. In addition to five exclusive ESPN3 games during the first round, the broadband network will simulcast every first round, second round, quarterfinal, semifinal and final matchup. The semifinal on ESPN2 and the championship game on ESPN will also be simulcast in ESPN3D.

The 32-team field for the oldest tournament in college basketball was announced Sunday, March 11 during the ESPNU NIT Selection Show and includes teams representing 18 conferences, led by the Atlantic 10, Pac-12 and SEC with four selections each. Five teams in the 2012 field are previous NIT Champions: Dayton (1962, 1968, 2010), Minnesota (1993, 1998), La Salle (1952), Seton Hall (1953) and Stanford (1991).

Dayton is making its 24^th appearance in the NIT, the most among schools in this year’s tournament; the second highest in the tournament’s history, behind St. John’s (28). St. Joseph’s is making its 15^th NIT appearance and is currently tied for the fourth most NIT appearances without winning the title.

On Wednesday, March 14 during the 7 p.m. hour, Philadelphia will be the epicenter for college hoops when La Salle, Drexel and St. Joseph’s all host NIT games at home. Drexel, making its sixth appearance in the NIT, is tied with three other schools for the most NIT games without a win.

Bucknell, UCF, Northern Iowa and Savannah State are all making their first NIT appearance.

Schedule subject to change beyond first round: 

Date	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Network
Tue, Mar 13	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Massachusetts at Mississippi State Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes	ESPN2
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Stony Brook at Seton Hall Mike Gleason and Tim O’Toole	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Dayton at Iowa Bob Wischusen and Dan Dakich	ESPN
	8 p.m.	NIT First Round: Savannah State at Tennessee Mike Crispino and Bob Valvano	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Akron at Northwestern Mike Patrick and Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2
	9:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Marshall at Middle Tennessee State Adam Amin and Brooke Weisbrod	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: LSU at Oregon Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham	ESPN
	10 p.m.	NIT First Round: UT Arlington at Washington Justin Kutcher and Tim McCormick	ESPNU
	11 p.m.	NIT First Round: Cleveland State at Stanford Roxy Bernstein and Mark Adams	ESPN2
Wed, Mar 14	7 p.m.	NIT First Round: Minnesota at La Salle John Saunders and Stephen Bardo	ESPN2
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: UCF at Drexel Mike Gleason and Paul Biancardi	ESPN3
	7:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Northern Iowa at St. Joseph’s Noah Coslov and Rob Kennedy	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Valparaiso at Miami Mark Jones and Tim Welsh	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	NIT First Round: Bucknell at Arizona Carter Blackburn and Miles Simon	ESPN2
	9:15 p.m.	NIT First Round: Nevada at Oral Roberts Mitch Holthus and Doc Sadler	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	NIT First Round: Illinois State at Ole Miss Clay Matvick and Joe Dean	ESPNU
Fri, Mar 16	9:30 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPNU
Sat, Mar 17	11 a.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPN
Sun, Mar 18	11 a.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPN
	3 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPNU
Mon, Mar 19	7 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPN2
	11 p.m.	NIT Second Round: TBD	ESPN2
Tue, Mar 20	7 p.m.	NIT Quarterfinal: TBD	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	NIT Quarterfinal: TBD	ESPN2
Wed, Mar 21	7 p.m.	NIT Quarterfinal: TBD	ESPN2
	9 p.m.	NIT Quarterfinal: TBD	ESPN2
Tue, Mar 27	7 p.m.	NIT SEMIFINAL: TBD Mike Patrick, Fran Fraschilla and Bill Raftery	ESPN2/ESPN3D
	9:30 p.m.	NIT SEMIFINAL: TBD Mike Patrick, Fran Fraschilla and Bill Raftery	ESPN2/ESPN3D
Thu, Mar 29	7 p.m.	NIT CHAMPIONSHIP: TBD Mike Patrick, Fran Fraschilla and Bill Raftery	ESPN/ESPN3D

*All games will be simulcast on ESPN3;

That is it.

Ringing In Some Monday Linkage

Let’s do our Monday linkage today.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today writes that CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg will have a big “get” during halftime of Tuesday’s NCAA Tournament First Four game.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says MSG Network has a new show dedicated to the best and worst baseball trades and deals.

Mike says YES Network’s national feed will be seen by California cable subscribers for the first time.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age looks at SB Nation’s foray into producing original content for YouTube with former ESPN’ers Bomani Jones and Amy K. Nelson.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says the NCAA Tournament can be a sports marketer’s dream.

Kevin Wagstaff of Time Magazine says YouTube will be the official video player for NBCOlympics.com, however, don’t expect to see live Olympics on the video streaming service.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead spent a day following ESPN’s Jay Bilas at the Big East Tournament.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead wonders if NBC’s entrance into MLS will help to grow soccer in America.

Timothy Burke of Deadspin has the funny video of ESPN’s Dick Vitale being Dick Vitale during last night’s Bracketology show.

Ken Belson of the New York Times describes the Mets first-ever radio broadcast which included the late Howard Cosell as pregame host.

Michael O’Keefe of the New York Daily News talks with former ESPN’er Sean Salisbury who has been battling depression and hoping to make a TV comeback bid. The story never mentions Salisbury’s MTV2 gig with the Lingerie Football League.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post writes that TV continues to ignore athletes’ bad behavior.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the tip times for the FIRST FOUR and 2nd Round games of the NCAA Tournament.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the voices of the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league affiliate get their call to the big club this week.

Bob Rossi in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says NBC will go all out for the NHL Playoffs this spring.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television and I find that I disagree with a couple of his points.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press says the new Comcast SportsNet Houston plans to build studios that will allow for a Today Show-like atmosphere outdoors.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer is in talks to have a movie based on his interesting life.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says there wasn’t much anger directed at the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee this year from the TV analysts.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Dan McLaughlin returned to Fox Sports Midwest Sunday after a long suspension over his drunk driving arrests.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says Peyton Manning’s visit to the Mile High City gave the local media plenty to talk about over the weekend.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times had a chance to tour Jon Gruden’s offices as he prepared to host several incoming NFL quarterbacks for his ESPN shows this Spring.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about rebranding the conference.

Tom also has his sports calendar for this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the Canadian NHL clubs want some changes in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

Bruce also looks at the coverage of the death of Canadian skier Nik Zoricic over the weekend.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says when Don Cherry leaves Hockey Night in Canada, he will be sorely missed.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox lost a million viewers for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the previous year.

Paul Kennedy at SoccerAmerica feels NBC Sports Network did well in its MLS debut.

SoccerNation says NBC has tapped a well-known composer to produce its MLS theme music.

And that’s going to do it for now.

Some Early Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

Another sports media thoughts post which means more original content and that’s good for you. And they’re in bullet form as always.

• CBS/Turner went back to basics for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show this year streamlining the set. Jettisoning Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley off the Selection Show and leaving Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis to analyze the 68 team field led to a more efficient show as compared to last year’s edition where Barkley was woefully miscast and seemed to be snake bitten. This year, Anthony and Davis gave some strong analysis on the field, although Seth freed from having to cede time to Barkley and Smith, seemed to be more forceful in jamming his opinions.

  The Selection Show was much stronger this year and it gave the viewer more meat and potatoes. However, the satellite delays from various school viewing parties are still annoying and forced Gumbel to vamp until the reaction was given. Perhaps going fiber optic will help, but until we get to that point, we’ll have to endure the delays.

  Overall, I was glad to see CBS/Turner return to a less crowded set for the Selection Show.

• CBS/Turner’s first foray into extended analysis of the Tournament field with NCAA Hardcore Brackets on truTV was more of a mixed bag. Barkley and Smith joined Gumbel, Anthony and Davis plus Selection Committee Chairman Jeff Hathaway and Vice Chair Mike Bobinski were interviewed extensively. Barkley’s questions to Hathaway and Bobinski came off more like statements and led to long awkward pauses. Plus, having Hathaway and Bobinski stay for a half hour actually slowed the pace, which was not their fault. Some tweaking is needed for Hardcore Brackets, but the show was a nice alternative to ESPN’s Bracketology.
• Speaking of Bracketology, ESPN kept mostly its tried-and-true formula of having Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale analyze the field. While there was no extreme anger over omissions like Drexel as compared to Bilas going insane over VCU getting in last year. Vitale did go classic Vitale at the end of the show, but overall, the two hour show went off without too much controversy.
• One leftover thought from Sunday’s sports media post regarding ESPN’s coverage of Championship Week. If you watched the ACC, Big East and SEC Tournaments on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC, you may have noticed that the shot clock was superimposed on the floor, near each basket. For some reason, seeing this large clock on the floor distracted me from the action and creeped me out whenever someone stepped over it. I could understand if there was no shot clock, but ESPN had one on its scoreboard bar on the bottom of the screen. I don’t know if it was ESPN’s way of trying to be cute or just showing off, but the whole concept was annoying. Not a bad idea, but the execution was off.
• I know we won’t have Gus Johnson on the NCAA Tournament this year, but if I could suggest that radio rightsholder Dial Global hire him for next year. It would bring back the event’s signature voice to its rightful place and be a great PR move. Plus, it would bring an audience to the radio calls. Gus has called radio for the New York Knicks for MSG so why not have him do it for the NCAA Tournament? Just a thought. Let’s make this happen.

That will conclude the thoughts for this Monday.

ESPN Quotage From Bracketology Plus Final Four Picks

We have our last NCAA Tournament-related press release post of the evening. This comes from ESPN and it has the quotage from tonight’s Bracketology program. It includes the picks from analysts Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale. How Rece Davis held it all together for two hours without having his head explode live on the air is beyond me, but he got the job done rather admirably.

You can read the reaction from the analysts to the 68 team field plus check out their Final Four picks and you can agree or disagree.

In addition, ESPN has provided the second round picks from the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb. Check it all out below.

ESPN Analysts React to Selection Sunday, Make Picks

ESPN capped 13 hours of extensive, multiplatform coverage of Selection Sunday with Bracketology tonight. During the two-hour show (7-9 p.m. ET) hosted by Rece Davis, analysts Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale made their upset picks and championship predictions, and noted a variety of key matchups for the 68 teams selected to this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. In addition, for the first time, Gottlieb gave his second-round pairings picks.

On overall selections:
Bilas: “It seems like a victory for ‘the eye test’.”

Davis: “I said before, I thought all the bubble teams were average. The only two teams that it’s unfortunate they won’t play in the NCAA tournament are Drexel and Washington.”

Gottlieb: “My beefs are… One – I don’t understand why they selected their teams before Sunday. I don’t understand why Xavier is automatically in the field. Who exactly did they beat – they beat Dayton twice, really, after the brawl. That is really all that they did. I liked Xavier and what they did earlier in the season, but they are a completely different team.”

“I think we hold the mid-majors to a ridiculously high standard. You are talking about leaving out Oral Roberts, 27 wins, Middle Tennessee State, 25 wins and Drexel, who wins 25-of-27 down the stretch. I think those teams belonged in.”

Vitale: “I think the committee did really a very fair job..and has put together a field that the Goliaths will really prevail.”

Semifinal and Championship Predictions

Analyst	Semifinal Picks	Championship	Winner
Jay Bilas	Kentucky/Michigan State, Syracuse/UNC	Kentucky v Syracuse	Kentucky
Hubert Davis	Kentucky/Michigan State, Syracuse/UNC	Michigan State v. UNC	UNC
Digger Phelps	Kentucky/Michigan State, Florida State/Kansas	Michigan State v Florida State	Michigan State
Dick Vitale	Kentucky/Missouri, Florida State/UNC	Kentucky v UNC	Kentucky

Reactions:

Bilas:
“The South appears to me to be the toughest region among the top four seeds. The East is second and then maybe the toughest overall.”

On Vanderbilt:  “They’re going in [to the tournament] with a free mind as an older team.”

On Missouri:  “If I were [Missouri], I wouldn’t want to play Marquette. Marquette’s the team that would scare me the most.”

Davis:
On Syracuse: “They’re going to have to do a couple things…finish defensive possessions with a rebound…and it cannot just be Dion Waiters on the offensive end.”

Gottlieb:
“Don’t sleep on Norfolk State. Remember, we talked about how good Drexel is? Norfolk State beat Drexel, at Drexel.”

“Kansas State is massively under seeded at the eight seed. This is a great story for Larry Eustachy personally to come back from his demons, going back to the Iowa State days, and taking Southern Miss to the tournament.”

Phelps:
“Missouri is the best team out there. They can attack every way, every angle, every part of that basketball court.”

Vitale:
“I see a big stumbling block [for Kentucky]:  I see Connecticut.”

“If you’re a ‘Cuse fan, I think you’re in trouble.”

Gottlieb’s Picks for Second-Round Matchups

• Kentucky vs. Iowa State
• Wichita State vs. New Mexico State
• UNLV vs. Baylor
• Xavier vs. Duke
• Michigan State vs. St. Louis
• New Mexico vs. Davidson
• Murray State vs. Marquette
• Florida vs. Missouri
• Syracuse vs. Kansas State
• Vanderbilt vs. Montana
• Cincinnati vs. Florida State
• Gonzaga vs. Ohio State
• North Carolina vs. Creighton
• Cal/USF vs. Ohio
• NC State vs. Belmont
• Saint Mary’s vs. Kansas

First-round upsets:
Bilas: “West and East I don’t see a ton of upsets. I like New Mexico State over Long Beach State, Louisville over Davidson, Gonzaga over West Virginia and Vandy gets by Harvard.”

Davis: “Virginia over Florida.”

Phelps: “Long Beach State over New Mexico, West Virginia over Gonzaga.”

Under-seeded teams according to ESPN’s BPI:
Memphis, Saint Louis, Belmont, Texas and California

Over-seeded teams according to ESPN’s BPI:
Notre Dame, Xavier, Colorado State, Florida State, Michigan and San Diego State

Additional coverage
ESPNU will televise more than 60 hours of comprehensive Tournament Countdown studio programming beginning Selection Sunday night and extending past the last dribble of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships on Tuesday, April 3.

That will do it. One more post to wrap up our night and that will be it.

Some Selection Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

On this NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday, it’s time to present some sports media thoughts and as usual, they come in bullet form.

• With college basketball’s conference tournaments wrapping up and we get ready for three awesome weeks of the NCAA Tournament, ESPN’s coverage of Championship Week (11 days in reality) has been nothing short of stellar. Whether it be the mid-major tournaments or the BCS conferences, for the most part, the production of the games has been clean, and the transitions from game to game have been quite good. Some of the announcing on the mid-major tournaments have been lacking, but overall, it’s been good. I wish CBS/Turner could bring over the Big East team of Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery as one of its crews. Sean and Jay have worked for CBS in the past and Raft currently works with Uncle Verne Lundquist on the Tournament, but I feel Sean, Jay and Raft give ESPN its best college basketball team.

  The studio with Rece Davis leading as the main host along with Karl Ravech and Ryan Burr have done well. I like Hubert Davis as one of the studio analysts, but Digger Phelps has been grating on me in recent years.

  But overall, I give ESPN an A for its Championship Week coverage. College basketball is one of the sports that the Alleged Worldwide Leader does well from beginning to end.

• With CBS/Turner taking over the main college basketball stage starting on Tuesday, it means Jim Nantz will be the lead announcer once again. Up until Saturday when he called the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, he had only called one regular season game this season. In recent years, Nantz has called one regular season college basketball game. Granted, he’s busy in December and January calling the NFL and he also does the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing in February. But is it necessary to sacrifice college basketball in the process? I’ve gotten on Joe Buck for calling half of the MLB on Fox schedule, but in Nantz’s case, it’s even less.

  I think it’s time for CBS to name either Kevin Harlan or Ian Eagle as the #1 college basketball play-by-play man or have Jim Nantz commit to more games. CBS can contend that by the time the NCAA Tournament ends, Nantz will have called 12 games, but that’s not good enough.

  If ESPN had the tournament, it would have Dan Shulman as the lead and he would have called over 20 regular season games along with the ACC Tournament. That’s what the lead announcer should do, call a full slate of regular season games, not just one. Just as I do with Joe Buck on Fox’s MLB schedule, I will keep track of how many regular season college basketball games Jim Nantz calls for CBS.

• Lastly, I want to give shoutouts to two Friends of Fang’s Bites for work over the last two days. Jen Royle made her first appearance on Comcast SportsNet New England’s Sports Tonight program on Friday night. She discussed baseball with co-hosts Michael Holley and Lou Merloni. I thought she did a very good job and looked comfortable on the air. Here’s hoping for more appearances on CSN for Jen. And CSN should not have Merloni co-host. Brutal.

  On Saturday, Courtney Fallon had the rare extended local sports segment on WLNE (ABC6) in Providence, a whopping six and a half minutes. And she used the time wisely focusing on the RI high school championship hockey and basketball games. This is the way local sports can differentiate itself from ESPN and not lose time by keeping hyperlocal and finding compelling stories. Courtney did a bang up job in her segment.

Just three topics for Sunday. I hope you’ve turned your clocks ahead one hour. Back later tonight with NCAA Tournament announcing assignments.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks Again

Linkage has been scarce around the site this week, but I should be able to get a good set of megalinks in today as we head into NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday. You deserve the links and I thank you for your patience around some server problems this week.

As usual, you can check the Weekend Viewing Picks for all weekend sports and entertainment recommendations.

Let’s get to the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today profiles ESPN’s bracketologist Joe Lunardi who got a big endorsement from Louisville’s Rick Pitino this week.

Erik Spanberg at Sports Business Journal looks at Major League Soccer hoping for big returns from its new contract with NBC Sports.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores NBC’s new approach to airing soccer and reviews ESPN’s new documentary on Magic Johnson.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group looks at ESPN’s innovative plans for MLS games this season.

Lindsay Flans of the Hollywood Reporter says A-List celebrities have caught Linsanity fever.

And the Reporter provides a seating chart of where celebrities sit at Madison Square Garden to get a glimpse of Jeremy Lin.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley feels the mid-major conferences sacrifice regular season integrity in exchange for TV exposure with their post-season tournaments.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is recovering after his alma mater, Northwestern, played its way out of the NCAA Tournament this week.

Joe Favorito says even in this day and age, the little guy can make a splash in sports marketing.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

SMW notes that NBC Sports will replace the departed Wimbledon with the Tour de France this summer.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says ESPN Films is suffering from an identity crisis.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC’s innovation in hockey production is now extending to the soccer pitch.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth isn’t a fan of speculation.

At Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog, Dan Devine says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made a gay joke at Bill Simmons’ expense with him present.

Erik Malinowski of Deadspin says Cuban has apologized for making that remark.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn looks at CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

Chad notes that a prodigal son is returning to WEEI this weekend.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen at SB Nation Boston says the Boston Herald will miss Patriots beat reporter Ian Rapoport as he departs for NFL Network.

George Cain at Sports of Boston compares and contrasts the two sports radio stations ratings.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says different generations watch sports differently.

Paul Devlin of the New Canaan (CT) Patch talks with ESPN High Grand Poobah of News Vince Doria.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Magic Johnson about ESPN’s documentary on his HIV announcement 20 years ago.

Neil notes the opening of a new Broadway play on the rivalry between Magic and former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird.

Neil says it’s time for our annual search to find truTV for the NCAA Tournament.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the “gang mentality” in football.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that MSG Network is about to unveil a new baseball-centric show.

Chris Boyle at the Merrick (NY) Patch says two alumna of a local high school, now ESPN personalities, made a visit to their old stomping grounds.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that Buffalo Sabres games are back on MSG after a technical glitch prevented fans from seeing their games for two weeks.

Pete talks with Uncle Verne Lundquist of CBS who’s going into his 49th year of broadcasting.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times-Herald Record says a local man has been chosen to take part in this year’s MLB Fan Cave.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with ESPN’s Mike Tirico who says he’ll miss working with Ron Jaworski every Monday Night.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with tennis Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Chris Evert.

South

Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer says for the first time, viewers in the ACC footprint can see ESPN’s coverage of the ACC Tournament.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald likes watching the ESPN/ABC NBA studio show.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Comcast SportsNet Houston is getting ready for its fall launch.

And David expands on his column on CSN Houston in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a few Sooner State sports media news and notes.

Midwest

Jeff Moss at Detroit Sports Rag has a field of 64 to decide the Worst Detroit Sports Media Personality.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says CBS and Turner are enjoying their NCAA Tournament partnership.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has his weekly winners and losers in sports business and media.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviews the one week experiment of Joe Buck and Tim McKernan co-hosting a radio show that could turn into something bigger down the road.

Dan says don’t expect too many changes for this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage on CBS and Turner Sports.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that if NCAA Tournament coverage ain’t broke, then CBS and Turner aren’t going to fix it.

John says Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch any day now, provided MLB approves the Padres’ deal to air games on the network.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the success of the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament consortium surprised officials at both companies.

Jim says Peyton Manning’s former coach, Tony Dungy now of NBC, feels San Francisco would be a good fit for him.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Magic Johnson’s life-changing announcement, 20 years later.

Tom explores how Time Warner Cable will present LA Galaxy games while it’s still in the process of launching its new SoCal regional sports network.

Tom has a few items that didn’t make his weekly media column.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times notes that ESPN will air next year’s Pac-12 Basketball Championship Game.

Canada

Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star says CBC’s Don Cherry and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are acting like a couple of spoiled divas in their public spat.

And that’s going to do it for today. Enjoy your sports weekend.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/10 & 03/11/12, All Times Eastern

Men’s schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, March 10

College GameDay — ESPN, noon

Men’s

ACC Tournament, Atlanta, GA
Semifinals
North Carolina State vs. North Carolina — ACC Network/ESPN, 1 p.m.
Florida State vs. Duke — ACC Network/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

America East Championship, Stony Brook, NY
Vermont at Stony Brook — ESPN, 11 a.m.

Atlantic 10 Tournament, Atlantic City, NJ
Semifinals
UMass vs. St. Bonaventure — CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.
Dayton vs. St. Louis — CBS Sports Network, 3:30 p.m.

Big East Championship, New York, NY
Cincinnati vs. Louisville — ESPN/ESPN 3D, 9 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis, IN
Semifinals
Michigan State vs. Wisconsin — CBS, 1 p.m.
Michigan vs. Ohio State — CBS, 3:30 p.m.

Big 12 Championship, Kansas City, MO
Baylor vs. Missouri — ESPN, 6 p.m.

Big West Championship, Anaheim, CA
Long Beach State vs. UC-Santa Barbara — ESPN2, 10 p.m.

Conference USA Championship, Memphis, TN
Marshall vs. Memphis — CBS, 11:30 a.m.

MAC Championship, Cleveland, OH
Akron vs. Ohio — ESPN2, 8 p.m.

MEAC Championship, Winston-Salem, NC
Bethune-Cookman vs. Norfolk State — ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
San Diego State vs. New Mexico — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

Pac-12 Championship, Los Angeles, CA
Arizona vs. Colorado — CBS, 6 p.m.

SEC Tournament, New Orleans, LA
Semifinals
Kentucky vs. Florida — ABC, 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi — ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Southland Championship, Katy, TX
Lamar vs. McNeese State — ESPN2, 3 p.m.

SWAC Championship, Garland, TX
Mississippi Valley State vs. Texas Southern — ESPNU, 8 p.m.

WAC Championship, Las Vegas, NV
New Mexico State vs. Louisiana Tech — ESPN2, midnight

Women’s

Big South Tournament, High Point, NC
Liberty vs. Charleston Southern — SportSouth, 1:30 p.m.
High Point vs. Radford — SportSouth, 4 p.m.

Big 12 Championship, Kansas City, MO
Baylor vs. Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net, noon

CAA Tournament, Upper Marlboro, MD
Semifinals
Delaware vs. UNC-Wilmington — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England), CSS, The Comcast Network, noon
James Madison vs. Drexel — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus/New England), CSS, The Comcast Network, 2:30 p.m.

Conference USA Championship, Memphis, TN
UTEP vs. Tulane — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.

MAC Championship, Cleveland, OH
Central Michigan vs Eastern Michigan — STO, 1 p.m.

MEAC Championship, Winston-Salem, NC
Howard vs. Hampton — ESPNU, 4 p.m.

Missouri Valley Tournament, St. Charles, MO
Semifinals
Missouri State vs. Creighton — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 2:30 p.m.
Drake vs. Wichita State — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 5 p.m.

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
San Diego State vs. New Mexico — NBC Sports Network, 4 p.m.

Pac-12 Championship, Los Angeles, CA
Stanford vs. Cal — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

WAC Championship, Las Vegas, NV
Louisiana Tech vs. Fresno State WAC Sports Network, 6 p.m.

Sunday, March 11

Men’s

College GameDay — ESPN2, 11 a.m./ESPN, noon
Bracketology — ESPN, 3 p.m.

ACC Championship, Atlanta, GA
North Carolina vs. Florida State — ACC Network/ESPN, 1 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Championship, Atlantic City, NJ
St. Bonaventure vs. Xavier — CBS, 1 p.m.

Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State vs. Ohio State — CBS, 3:30 p.m.

SEC Championship, New Orleans, LA
Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt — ABC, 1 p.m.

NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show — CBS, 6 p.m.
Bracketology — ESPN, 7 p.m.
NCAA Hardcore Brackets — truTV, 7 p.m.
Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
Crunch Time — ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Duke ’91 & ’92: Back to Back — truTV, 8 p.m.
Bracketology — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
NIT Selection Show — ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Tournament Countdown: The Experts — ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.

Women’s

Big South Championship, High Point, NC
Liberty vs. High Point — SportSouth, 4 p.m.

CAA Championship, Upper Marlboro, MD
Delaware vs. Drexel — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)/CSS, 12:30 p.m.

Horizon League Championship
Green Bay vs. Detroit — ESPNU, 1 p.m.

Missouri Valley Championship, St. Charles, MO
Creighton vs. Drake — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 3 p.m.

Northeast Championship, Fairfield, CT
Monmouth at Sacred Heart — ESPNU, 3 p.m.

CBS Ramps Up For Championship Weekend

There was a time in the 1980′s when CBS’ Championship Weekend consisted of the Big East Tournament semifinals and the Big East Championship and then it was a long wait until the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. Luckily, CBS diversified its Championship portfolio and it has four championship games in its six broadcast windows starting from 11:30 a.m. Saturday through 5:45 p.m. Sunday.

CBS has the Conference USA Championship, Big Ten Conference Semifinals and Championship, Pac-12 Championship (the last year of airing the game) and the A-10 Championship.

And CBS will utilize some of its NCAA announcing teams including Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel, Uncle Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery, Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Reggie Miller and the Final Four team of Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr.

We have the particulars from CBS Sports.

Sunday, March 11 — Doubleheader

• 1:00 PM, ET: Atlantic 10 Championship — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery
• 3:30 PM, ET: Big Ten Championship — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr

That will do it.

ESPN To Air the NCAA Women’s Tournament Selections

After we complain and bitch about the team’s missing from the NCAA Men’s Tournament, the women will get their focus on Monday when ESPN exclusively airs the selections for the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

As usual, the networks of ESPN will have the Women’s Tournament starting Saturday, March 17 and go all the way through to the Women’s Final Four in Denver.

Trey Wingo will host the Selection Show and he’ll be joined by analysts Kara Lawson, the always lovely Carolyn Peck, the great Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo.

The show airs at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 12 on ESPN. We have the full details from ESPN below.

NCAA Women’s Championship Bracket Revealed Exclusively on ESPN Selection Monday Specials

ESPN will unveil the 64-team NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship field exclusively during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN3. Trey Wingo will host the bracket special with analysts Kara Lawson, Carolyn Peck, Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo.

The discussion will continue at 8 p.m. on ESPNU with the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage when Wingo, Lawson, Peck and Lobo are joined by ESPN’s Jemele Hill. The ESPNU show will include an exclusive interview with Greg Christopher, the chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.

The two-hours of programming during Selection Monday will tipoff ESPN’s extensive coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship March 17-April 3, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN FULL COURT. In addition, ESPN will feature additional NCAA Championship content across its platforms, including SportsCenter, espnW, ESPN.com, ESPNEWS, WatchESPN and ESPN International.

Both hours will include insight into the bracket with analysis of each region, team and players to watch as they vie for a Final Four spot in Denver. Flip-cam footage and still photos will be sent in from schools around the nation with their reactions to receiving an NCAA Championship invite, featuring tournament hopefuls Iowa, Kansas State, Nebraska, St. John’s and Tennessee.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special – Monday, March 12, 7 p.m. on ESPN HD & ESPN3

• Live look-ins at Baylor and Delaware – as the teams await seeding for the championship
• Burke and Lobo giving an in-depth look at teams that are not top-seeds and have the potential to make a run to Denver
• A feature on Baylor’s run for a perfect season focusing on the breakdown of Brittney Griner’s game – what game plans opponents have used when facing her and their successes
• Taking from experience at the U.S. Women’s National Team tryouts, Lawson puts herself on the court against Griner and explains what surprised her and how different it is to actually play against her
• NBA stars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant offer remarks from the NBA All-Star Game on the talents and ability of Griner
• Opening tease to the show featuring the Emmy-nominated show Glee, and the song Light Up the World

NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage – Monday, March 12, 8 p.m. on ESPNU HD & ESPN3

• An exclusive interview with Greg Christopher, chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee
• Hill joins the crew to provide her thoughts and debate the placement of the teams in the bracket
• Interviews with Baylor’s Kim Mulkey and Griner, along with Delaware’s Tina Martin and Elena Delle Donne

College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Special – Tuesday, March 13, 1 p.m. on ESPNU HD
Host Beth Mowins, along with analysts Cara Capuano and Abby Waner, will take part in the four-hour ESPNU special. The trio will get reaction from the basketball community and conduct interviews with all 64 head coaches participating in the NCAA Championship.

espnW
espnW.com will provide fans with extensive coverage of Selection Monday from its team of analysts and experts. Highlights:

• Columnist Mechelle Voepel selects her tournament favorites, including a look at Baylor’s undefeated season and chances of reaching the Final Four in Denver
• Voepel, along with Charlie Creme, Kate Fagan, Graham Hays and Michelle Smith, gives Selection Monday quick picks including toughest regional, favorite early matchups, best first-round game, biggest bracket snub/surprise, Cinderella team and Final Four picks
• Hays answers five crucial questions viewers want to know about the bracket
• Creme provides a summary of the NCAA Championship field
• Michelle Smith with be at Stanford when the bracket is revealed – talking to the players to get their reaction on seeding and site placement
• Lobo providing updates throughout the day with a behind-the-scenes look at Selection Monday
• SportsNation conducting a chat with Voepel, Hays and Creme, along with Christopher, the NCAA Chair
• The start of the blogger series featuring student-athletes competing in the NCAA Championship with Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame), Chelsea Gray (Duke) and Samantha Prahalis (Ohio State)

 

ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge
The games return for their 15th season on the digital hard court and will once again be free for entrants to submit up to 10 entries on ESPN.com. Fans complete and submit a bracket of forecasted tournament game outcomes and points are awarded for each correct pick, with point values increasing as the Tournaments progress. In the Women’s Tournament Challenge, entries that finish in the top one percent are entered in a random drawing for a $5,000 Best Buy Gift Card. The Women’s Tournament Challenge will accept registration until just prior to tip-off of the first game on Saturday, March 17.

ESPN to Air All 63 NCAA Championship Games
ESPN networks will air all 63 games of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship for the 10^th consecutive year – beginning Saturday, March 17 and running through the NCAA National Championship game on Tuesday, April 3. During the first two rounds, ESPN2 will present 48 games within 12 telecast windows in a whip-around format with home market protection. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer complete games as a supplement to ESPN2’s coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2.

More stuff is on the way. I have to catch up after server issues the last few days.

ESPN All Over the NCAA Tournament Selections

On Sunday, ESPN will have 13 hours of coverage devoted to college basketball. It will air the ACC Championship at 1 p.m. ET as well as produce the SEC Championship for ABC at the same time. Before and after the games, ESPN will have plenty of discussion over the NCAA Tournament Selections through a special Sunday morning edition of College GameDay on ESPN2 starting on 11 a.m. ET and continuing on ESPN at noon ET.

ESPN will have the Selections on SportsCenter just seconds after CBS makes them official, then a complete Bracketology show will air at 7 p.m. ET. In addition, ESPNU will have the NIT Selections at 9 p.m. ET and plenty of discussion about the NCAA Tournament leading up to the first games on Tuesday.

Here’s the ESPN press release.

More than 13 Hours of Hoops Coverage for Selection Sunday

Top experts: Bilas, Dakich, Davis, Fraschilla, Gottlieb, Lunardi, Phelps, Vitale and more; Magic Johnson Documentary The Announcement Debuts

ESPN’s extensive multiplatform coverage of Selection Sunday, March 11 – the day the 68-team field for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament is announced – will be highlighted by more than 13 hours of television programming across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

Many of the top men’s college basketball experts will contribute throughout the day, including Jay Bilas, Adrian Branch, Dan Dakich, LaPhonso Ellis, Hubert Davis, Jimmy Dykes, Fran Fraschilla, Dino Gaudio, Doug Gottlieb, Andy Katz, Joe Lunardi, Digger Phelps, Miles Simon, Bob Valvano, Dick Vitale, Tim Welsh and Jay Williams.

The day will tip off with a two-hour College GameDay beginning at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN2 and continuing on ESPN at noon. The show will review Championship Week action and provide a preview of the ACC and SEC championship games at 1 p.m. on ESPN and ABC, respectively.

ESPN’s studio coverage will include two Bracketology programs – a three-hour edition at 3 p.m. and a two-hour show at 7 p.m. – as well as a special SportsCenter at 6 p.m. that will give a thorough preview and review of all Tournament-bound teams. ESPNU’s lineup will include a one-hour Crunch Time: Championship Week Special at 8 p.m. followed by the NIT Selection Show at 9 p.m. and a three-hour special Tournament Countdown: The Experts at 9:30 p.m.

Overall, ESPNU will provide more than 60-hours of Tournament Countdown studio programming extending past the last dribble of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday, April 2. The network will interview all 68 men’s head coaches, in addition to hosting multiple expert panels, regular SportsCenterU highlight packages and 30-minute features on each final four team. A release with information on every ESPNU Selection Sunday show and the ESPNU Tournament Countdown schedule is posted below.

Details of Selection Sunday studio programming:

Bracketology at 3 p.m. on ESPN
ESPN will provide extensive, in-depth analysis with a three-hour Bracketology at 3 p.m. Host Ryan Burr, analysts Dakich, Fraschilla, Gottlieb and Williams, Lunardi, and reporter Andy Katz will discuss their predictions for No. 1 seeds, the last teams in and out, interview coaches of teams on the bubble and more. In addition, the GameDay crew of host Rece Davis and analysts Bilas, Hubert Davis and Phelps will provide insights from the “war room” where monitors show feeds from all concluding conference championships.

The program will include interviews with coaches and players throughout the three hours.

SportsCenter at 6 p.m. on ESPN
In addition to reporting on the latest sports news, the 6 p.m. SportsCenter will provide up-to-the-minute updates of the Tournament selections with GameDay host Rece Davis and analysts Bilas, Hubert Davis and Phelps evaluating the brackets shortly after they are announced.

Bracketology at 7 p.m. on ESPN
The two-hour special will include extensive, in-depth analysis of the bracket in each region. Host Rece Davis will be joined by Bilas, Hubert Davis, Gottlieb and Phelps in studio with Vitale (via satellite) to discuss multiple Tournament topics and reveal their Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship teams.

A new interactive element to the show will offer fans an opportunity to ask questions that could be answered on air by the analysts. Twitter users can tweet a question or express their bracket concerns with the #ASKBILAS and select posts will be answered or weaved into the discussion.

Tournament Countdown: The Experts
After the selections are announced, ESPNU’s panel of experts will breakdown each first and second round game, providing viewers insight into filling out their own brackets. Anish Shroff will host with analysts Dino Gaudio, Adrian Branch, LaPhonso Ellis, Tim Welsh, Miles Simon and Bob Valvano.

ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN2’s Selection Sunday and Tournament Countdown Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Show	Network
Sunday, Mar 11	11 a.m.	College GameDay	ESPN2
	noon	College GameDay	ESPN
	1 p.m.	ACC Championship	ESPN
	1 p.m.	SEC Championship	ABC
	3 p.m.	Bracketology	ESPN
	6 p.m.	SportsCenter	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Bracketology	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Crunch Time: Championship Week Special	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	NIT Selection Show	ESPNU
	9:30 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts	ESPNU

The Announcement
On November 7, 1991, Earvin “Magic” Johnson stunned the world by announcing that he was HIV-Positive. Now, more than 20 years later, acclaimed filmmaker Nelson George gets to the core of Magic’s incredible emotional journey in the new ESPN Films documentary, The Announcement, airing Sunday, March 11, at 9 pm ET on ESPN.

Narrated by Magic himself, The Announcement tells Magic’s story in his own words along with insights from the people closest to him including his wife Cookie, his son Andre, longtime rival and friend Larry Bird, former coach Pat Riley, Los Angeles Lakers teammates James Worthy and Kurt Rambis, former NBA star Karl Malone and close friends Chris Rock and Arsenio Hall.

And ESPNU will have plenty of NCAA Tournament Selection talk over both the men’s and women’s tournament from Sunday leading up to the first games on Tuesday. Then ESPNU gears up for the Tournament with all types of studio programming surrounding the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament.

60 Hours of Tournament Countdown Coverage Surrounding NCAA Basketball Championships on ESPNU

Your homecourt for college hoops, ESPNU will televise more than 60 hours of comprehensive Tournament Countdown studio programming beginning Selection Sunday, March 11 at 8 p.m. and extending past the last dribble of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships on Tuesday, April 3.

On March 11, ESPN platforms will offer more than 13 hours of Selection Sunday programming.

2012 ESPNU Tournament Countdown programming highlights:

• Tournament Countdown: College Basketball Live Special – Seasoned basketball reporter Andy Katz will once again preview the upcoming madness by interviewing all 68 men’s coaches in a five-hour special to tip off the basketball post-season.
• Tournament Countdown: The Experts – After selections are made on Sunday, ESPNU’s panel of experts will breakdown each first and second round game, providing viewers insight into filling out their own brackets. They will also educate fans on the sleepers and the names you need to know. On Monday The Experts will walk through each round of the tournament and explain who viewers should expect to be cutting down the nets in New Orleans.
• Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship – A look back in separate 30-minute specials at the journey each final four team took to reach the top tier of the national bracket with features and analysis.
• Tournament Countdown: ESPNU College Basketball WhipAround – ESPNU host Dari Nowkhah takes viewers around the country and into the press room to preview and review every second round game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
• SportsCenterU – Gets extra playing time at the end of the night to breakdown all of the college basketball action around the county during ESPNU Tournament Countdown coverage.
• Crunch Time: Champ Week Edition – Captures every crucial moment from ESPN’s 137 Championship Week games.
• Tournament Countdown: ESPNU Film Room – ESPNU’s roster of former coaches single out the X’s & O’s viewers need to understand when their team takes to the court in the final four matchups.
• 2012 NIT Selection Show – In advance of the network’s coverage the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the nation’s oldest post-season college basketball tournament, Nowkhah and analyst Dino Gaudio will announce the 32-team field live on ESPNU.
• Tournament Countdown will once again include extensive NCAA women’s basketball coverage from the court and in the studio. Full details to be released later this week. (ESPNU studio elements included in the schedule below).

Date	Time (ET)	Program
Sunday, Mar 11	8 p.m.	Crunch Time: Champ Week Edition
	9 p.m.	2012 NIT Selection Show
	9:30 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts
Monday, Mar 12	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: College Basketball Live Special
	6 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: College Basketball Live
	8 p.m.	NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Show Extended Coverage
	9 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts
Tuesday, Mar 13	1 p.m.	College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Special
	5 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: College Basketball Live
	11 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Wednesday, Mar 14	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: ESPNU College Basketball WhipAround
	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Thursday, Mar 15	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: ESPNU College Basketball WhipAround
	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Friday, Mar 16	2 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: ESPNU College Basketball WhipAround
	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Saturday, Mar 17	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Sunday, Mar 18	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Monday, Mar 29	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts
Monday, Mar 26	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts
Thursday, Mar 19	11 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: ESPNU Film Room
Friday, Mar 30	11 a.m.	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	11:30 a.m.	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	Noon	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	12:30 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	1 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Saturday, Mar 31	11 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Monday, Apr 2	1 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: The Experts
	4 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	4:30 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: Road to the Championship
	5 p.m.	Tournament Countdown: College Basketball Live
	11:59 p.m.	SportsCenterU
Tuesday, Apr 3	1 p.m.	The Experts
	3 p.m.	Crunch Time: NCAA Women’s Tournament
	5 p.m.	The Experts: NCAA Women’s Championship
	6 p.m.	College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Championship

That’s it.

The Results For The “Official” Theme Songs For Sports Television

Last week, I asked you to vote on which themes should be the “official” tunes for each sport. This was a fun post and it was linked from Sports Illustrated. I appreciate all of the votes. The polls are now closed so let’s take a look at the results. I’ll provide the number of votes, the percentages and the video that will become the “Official” Theme Song for each sport. Some of the results will not be surprising, others may be.

Here they are:

BASEBALL

Total Votes: 765

Which Should Be The “Official” Theme For MLB?

The winner: MLB on ESPN

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Total Votes: 713

Which Theme Should Be The “Official” Song For College Football

The winner: SEC on CBS

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Total Votes: 719

Which is Your Choice for “Official” Theme For College Basketball

The winner: CBS/Turner March Madness

NBA

Total Votes: 748

What Should Be the “Official” Theme of the NBA?

The runaway winner: Roundball Rock

NFL

Total Votes: 735

Your Choice for “Official” Theme of the NFL

Our winner: Monday Night Football “Heavy Action”

While this remix is good, I prefer the ABC version used in the late 1980′s.

NHL

Total Votes: 479

Which Should Be The “Official” Theme For The NHL?

The Winner: NHL on ESPN over my wishes for Hockey Night in Canada, but the voters have spoken.

TENNIS

Total Votes: 295

Which Do You Like As the “Official” Theme for Tennis

The winner: Wimbledon on NBC

SPORTS ANTHOLOGIES

Total Votes: 315

What Should Be Our “Official” Theme For Sports Anthologies?

The overwhelming winner: ABC’s Wide World of Sports as it should be.

This was very enjoyable to do. I hope to do similar polls with you in the future.

Your Monday Linkage

Back to work for many of you. Let’s get some Monday links in.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the networks have missed a competitive Tiger Woods.

Tom Weir of USA Today adds that Cleveland Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has pulled his Quicken Loans ads from Rush Limbaugh’s radio show over a budding controversy.

The independent Gannett Blog notes that all of USA Today’s sports staffers have been told to reapply for their jobs as part of a newsroom reorganization. Oh, that’s nice.

At Forbes, Douglas Alden Warshaw says Comcast is going all in on sports and chronicles how it survived the loss of NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol last year.

To Mashable where Sam Laird notes that ESPN is opening up its source code so developers can build apps around the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s sports information.

Michael Schottey at Bleacher Report says it’s time to end the archaic NFL blackout rules.

Nat Ives with Advertising Age writes that magazines like Sports Illustrated are finding at what price is best to bundle print and tablet subscriptions.

Also at AdAge, Brian Steinberg looks at NBC’s ad sales pitch for the London Olympics.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi says car rental company Enterprise will ramp up a new March Madness spot for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says MLB Network is gearing up for this week’s Cleveland-Arizona telecast which will feature nearly real-time audio from the field.

Double G Sports interviews Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle.

To Comcast SportsNet New England’s Tom Curran who says the Boston Globe treats the Red Sox and Patriots differently when it comes to their off-the-field business deals.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says it may take civil action to finally put an end to bounties in the NFL.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the ratings for the final round of the Honda Classic were good.

From the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner writes that a U.S. Senator is seeking an end to NFL blackouts.

Kevin Callahan of the Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier-Post talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about being booted out of the Monday Night Football booth.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Bram Weinstein is forever grateful to former Georgetown coach John Thompson.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times writes that a new sports radio talk show premieres today.

Tom also reviews the weekend in sports television.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Green Bay Packers have changed flagship TV stations.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman says local MLB teams are cashing in on huge rights fees, except for the Cubs and White Sox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cardinals have set their spring training radio schedule.

Dan says this week, Joe Buck is co-hosting a local radio show that could lead to a podcast or a nationally syndicated show.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that quarterbacks help drive the NFL engine.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has your sports calendar for this week.

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says NBC Sports Group will attempt to attract viewers to the 2013 America’s Cup.

Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Yahoo is considering a bid for the Canadian TV and online rights for the 2014/16 Olympics after two combined efforts by CBC/CTV were thrown by the International Olympic Committee for being too low.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail wonders if CBC will pay a price with the NHL for Don Cherry’s candor on Coach’s Corner.

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says Cherry’s criticisms of Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are getting out of hand.

Joseph Hall at the Star says Cherry remains at odds with Burke.

Sports Media Watch says Tiger Woods helped drive the Honda Classic’s overnight ratings to a 10 year high.

SMW says North Carolina-Duke gave ESPN its highest college basketball overnight ratings in 3 years despite a blowout.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC’s overnight ratings continue on a steady upward trend.

And we’ll end the links there for today. Enjoy the rest of your Monday.

Championship Week Conference Tournament TV Schedules

Ok, let’s provide the college basketball tournament conference tournament schedules plus TV networks that will air the games.

You’ll see each of the games included in the Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, but this is also a one stop shopping post for you as well.

Bookmark this and I’ll also update this as the days progress. All times are Eastern.

ACC TOURNAMENT, PHILIPS ARENA, ATLANTA, GA

First Round — Thursday, March 8

#8 Maryland vs. #9 Wake Forest– ACC Network/ESPNU, noon
#5 North Carolina State vs. #12 Boston College — ACC Network/ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.
#7 Clemson vs. #10 Virginia Tech — ACC Network/ESPNU, 7 p.m.
#6 Miami (FL) vs. #11 Georgia Tech — ACC Network/ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 9

#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Maryland — ACC Network/ESPN2, noon
#4 Virginia vs. #5 North Carolina State — ACC Network/ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
#2 Duke vs. # 10 Virginia Tech — ACC Network/ESPN2, 7 p.m.
#3 Florida State vs. #6 Miami (FL) — ACC Network/ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Saturday, March 10

#1 North Carolina vs. #5 North Carolina State — ACC Network/ESPN, 1 p.m.
#2 Duke vs #3 Florida State — ACC Network/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

Championship — Sunday, March 11

#1 North Carolina vs. #3 Florida State — ACC Network/ESPN, 1 p.m.

AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP, STONY BROOK ARENA, STONY BROOK, NY

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#2 Vermont at #1 Stony Brook — ESPN2, 11 a.m.

ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT, BOARDWALK HALL, ATLANTIC CITY, NJ

First Round — Tuesday, March 6

#9 Duquense at #8 UMass– Atlantic10.com, 7 p.m.
#12 Charlotte at #5 St. Joseph’s — Atlantic10.com, 7 p.m.
#10 Richmond at #7 LaSalle — Atlantic10.com, 7 p.m.
#11 George Washington at #6 Dayton — Atlantic10.com, 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Temple vs. #8 UMass — A10 Network, noon
#4 St. Bonaventure vs. #5 St. Joseph’s– A10 Network, 2:30 p.m.
#2 St. Louis vs. #7 LaSalle — A10 Network, 6:30 p.m.
#3 Xavier vs. #6 Dayton — A10 Network, 9 p.m.

Semifinals — Saturday, March 10

#8 UMass vs. #4 St. Bonaventure — CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.
#2 St. Louis vs. #3 Dayton — CBS Sports Network, 3:30 p.m.

Championship — Sunday, March 11

#3 Xavier vs. #4 St. Bonaventure — CBS, 1 p.m.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK, NY

First Round — Tuesday, March 6

#16 DePaul vs. #9 UConn — ESPN2, noon
#13 Pittsburgh vs. #12 St. John — ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
#15 Providence vs. #10 Seton Hall — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
#14 Villanova vs. #11 Rutgers — ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.

Second Round — Wednesday, March 7

#8 West Virginia vs. #9 UConn — ESPN, noon
#5 Georgetown vs. #13 Pittsburgh — ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
#7 Louisville vs. #10 Seton Hall — ESPN, 7 p.m.
#6 South Florida vs. #14 Villanova — ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#1 Syracuse vs. #9 UConn — ESPN, noon
#4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Georgetown — ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
#2 Marquette vs. #7 Louisville — ESPN, 7 p.m.
#3 Notre Dame vs. #6 South Florida — ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Syracuse vs. #4 Cincinnati — ESPN, 7 p.m.
#7 Louisville vs. #3 Notre Dame — ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

Championship, Saturday, March 10

#4 Cincinnati vs. #7 Louisville — ESPN, 9 p.m.

BIG SKY TOURNAMENT, DAHLBERG ARENA, MISSOULA, MONTANA

Semifinals — Tuesday, March 6

#2 Weber State vs. #3 Portland State — Altitude, 7:30 p.m.
#1 Montana vs. #4 Eastern Washington — Altitude, 10 p.m.

Championship — Wednesday, March 7

#2 Weber State vs. #1 Montana — ESPN2, 9 p.m.

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT, BANKERS LIFE FIELDHOUSE, INDIANAPOLIS, IN

First Round — Thursday, March 8

#8 Iowa vs. #9 Illinois — Big Ten Network, 11:30 a.m.
#5 Indiana vs. #12 Penn State — Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
#7 Northwestern vs. #10 Minnesota — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
#6 Purdue vs. #11 Nebraska — ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Michigan State vs. #8 Iowa — ESPN, noon
#4 Wisconsin vs. #5 Indiana — ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
#2 Michigan vs. #10 Minnesota — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
#3 Ohio State vs. #6 Purdue — Big Ten Network, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Saturday, March 10

#1Michigan State vs. #4 Wisconsin — CBS, 1:30 p.m.
#2 Michigan vs. #3 Ohio State — CBS, 4 p.m.

Championship — Sunday, March 11

#1 Michigan State vs. #3 Ohio State — CBS, 3:30 p.m.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT, SPRINT CENTER, KANSAS CITY, MO

First Round — Wednesday, March 7

#8 Oklahoma vs. #9 Texas A&M — Big 12 Network, 7 p.m.
#7 Oklahoma State vs. #10 Texas Tech — Big 12 Network, 9:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#4 Baylor vs. #5 Kansas State — ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.
#1 Kansas vs. #9 Texas A&M — ESPN2, 3 p.m.
#2 Missouri vs. #7 Oklahoma State– Big 12 Network, 7 p.m.
#3 Iowa State vs. #6 Texas — Big 12 Network, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#4 Baylor vs. #1 Kansas — Big 12 Network/ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
#2 Missouri vs. #6 Texas — Big 12 Network/ESPNU, 10 p.m.

Championship, Saturday, March 10

#4 Baylor vs. #2 Missouri — ESPN, 6 p.m.

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT, HONDA CENTER, ANAHEIM, CA

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#3 UC-Santa Barbara vs. #6 Pacific — Big West.TV, 3 p.m.
#2 Cal State Fullerton vs. #7 UC-Irvine — Big West.TV, 5:30 p.m.
#1 Long Beach State vs. #8 UC-Davis — Big West.TV, 9 p.m.
#4 Cal Poly vs. No. 5 UC-Riverside — Big West.TV, 11:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Long Beach State vs. #7 UC-Irvine — ESPN3.com, 9:30 p.m.
#3 UC-Santa Barbara vs. #4 Cal Poly — ESPNU, midnight

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#1 Long Beach State vs. #3 UC-Santa Barbara — ESPN2, 10 p.m.

COLONIAL ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, RICHMOND COLISEUM, RICHMOND, VA

Championship — Monday, March 5

Drexel vs. VCU — ESPN, 7 p.m.

CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT, FEDEX FORUM, MEMPHIS, TN

First Round — Wednesday, March 7

#7 Rice vs. #10 East Carolina — CSS, 1 p.m.
#6 Marshall vs. #11 SMU — CSS, 3:30 p.m.
#8 UTEP vs. #9 Houston — CSS, 7:30 p.m.
#5 UAB vs. #12 Tulane – CSS, 10 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#2 Southern Mississippi vs. #10 East Carolina — CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.
#3 Tulsa vs. #6 Marshall– CBS Sports Network, 3:30 p.m.
#1 Memphis vs. #8 UTEP– CBS Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.
#4 Central Florida vs. #5 UAB– CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#2 Southern Mississippi vs. #6 Marshall — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.
#1 Memphis vs. #4 Central Florida — CBS Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#6 Marshall vs. #1 Memphis — CBS, 11:30 a.m.

HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, ATHLETICS-RECREATION CENTER, VALPARAISO, IN

Championship — Tuesday, March 6

Detroit at Valparaiso — ESPN, 9 p.m.

METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, MASSMUTUAL CENTER, SPRINGFIELD, MA

Championship — Monday, March 5

#2 Fairfield vs. #4 Loyola (MD) — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, QUICKEN LOANS ARENA, CLEVELAND, OH

Second Round — Wednesday, March 7

#12 Northern Illinois vs. #8 Western Michigan — STO, 7 p.m.
#11 Central Michigan vs. #7 Toledo — STO, 9:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#4 Kent State vs. #8 Western Michigan — STO, 7 p.m.
#3 Ohio vs. #11 Central Michigan — STO, 9:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Akron vs. #4 Kent State — STO, 7 p.m.
#2 Buffalo vs. #3 Ohio — STO, 9:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#1 Akron vs. #3 Ohio — ESPN2, 8 p.m.

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, JOEL COLISEUM, WINSTON-SALEM, NC

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#4 Bethune-Cookman vs. #2 Norfolk State — ESPNU, 1 p.m.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, THOMAS & MACK CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#1 San Diego State vs. Boise State — the mtn., 3 p.m.
#4 Colorado State vs. #5 TCU — the mtn., 5:30 p.m.
#2 New Mexico vs. #7 Air Force — the mtn., 9 p.m.
#3 UNLV vs. #6 Wyoming — the mtn., 11:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#1 San Diego State vs. #4 Colorado State — CBS Sports Network, 9 p.m.
#2 New Mexico vs. #3 UNLV — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#1 San Diego State vs. #2 New Mexico — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, WELLNESS CENTER, BROOKLYN, NY

Championship — Wednesday, March 7

#3 Robert Morris vs. #1 LIU — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

PAC-12 TOURNAMENT, STAPLES CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA

First Round — Wednesday, March 7

#8 Washington State vs. #9 Oregon State — Fox Sports Net, 3 p.m.
#5 UCLA vs. #12 USC — Fox Sports Net, 5:30 p.m.
#7 Stanford vs. #10 Arizona State — Fox Sports Net, 9 p.m.
#6 Colorado vs. #11 Utah — Fox Sports Net, 11:30 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Thursday, March 8

#1 Washington vs. #9 Oregon State — Fox Sports Net, 3 p.m.
#4 Arizona vs. #12 UCLA — Fox Sports Net, 5:30 p.m.
#2 Cal vs. #7 Stanford — Fox Sports Net, 9 p.m.
#3 Oregon vs. #6 Colorado — Fox Sports Net, 11:30 p.m.

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#9 Oregon State vs. #4 Arizona — Fox Sports Net, 9 p.m.
#2 Cal vs. #6 Colorado — Fox Sports Net, 11:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#4 Arizona vs. #6 Colorado — CBS, 6 p.m.

PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, SOJKA PAVILION, LEWISBERG, PA

Championship — Wednesday, March 7

#1 Bucknell vs. #2 Lehigh — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, NEW ORLEANS ARENA, NEW ORLEANS, LA

First Round — Thursday, March 8

#8 LSU vs. #9 Arkansas — SEC Network, 1 p.m.
#5 Alabama vs. #12 South Carolina — SEC Network, 3:30 p.m.
#7 Mississippi vs. #10 Auburn — SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.
#6 Mississippi State vs. #11 Georgia — SEC Network, 10 p.m.

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 9

#1 Kentucky vs. #8 LSU — SEC Network, 1 p.m.
#4 Florida vs. #5 Alabama — SEC Network, 3:30 p.m.
#2 Tennessee vs. #7 Mississippi — SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.
#3 Vanderbilt vs. #11 Georgia — SEC Network, 10 p.m.

Semifinals — Saturday, March 10

#1 Kentucky vs. #4 Florida — ABC, 1 p.m.
#7 Mississippi vs. #3 Vanderbilt — ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Championship — Sunday, March 11

#1 Kentucky vs. #3 Vanderbilt — ABC, 1 p.m.

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, U.S. CELLULAR CENTER, ASHEVILLE, NC

Championship — Monday, March 5

Davidson vs. Western Carolina — ESPN2, 9 p.m.

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, LEONARD E. MERRILL CENTER, KATY, TX

Semifinals — Thursday, March 8

#2 Stephen F. Austin vs. #3 Lamar — Southland TV, 7 p.m.
#1 Texas-Arlington vs. #4 McNeese State — Southland TV, 9:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#3 Lamar vs. #4 McNeese State — ESPN2, 3 p.m.

SOUTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, THE SPECIAL EVENTS CENTER, GARLAND, TX

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#1 Mississippi Valley State vs. #2 Texas Southern — ESPNU, 8 p.m.

SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT, SIOUX FALLS ARENA, SIOUX FALLS, SD

Semifinals — Monday, March 5

#1 Oral Roberts vs. #4 Western Illinois — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
#2 South Dakota State vs. #6 Southern Utah — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 9:30 p.m

Championship — Tuesday, March 6

#4 Western Illinois vs. #2 South Dakota State — ESPN2, 9 p.m.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, THE SUMMIT ARENA, HOT SPRINGS, AR

Semifinals — Monday, March 5

#5 North Texas State vs. #9 Arkansas State — CSS/Cox Sports Television, 7 p.m.
#3 Denver vs. #7 Western Kentucky — CSS, 9:30 p.m.

Championship — Tuesday, March 6

#5 North Texas State vs. #7 Western Kentucky — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NV

Semifinals — Friday, March 9

#6 Hawaii vs. #2 New Mexico State — WAC Sports Network, 9 p.m.
#1 Nevada vs. #5 Louisiana Tech — WAC Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Championship — Saturday, March 10

#2 New Mexico State vs. #5 Louisiana Tech — ESPN2, 11:59 p.m.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, ORLEANS ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NV

Championship — Monday, March 5

#1 St. Mary’s vs. #2 Gonzaga — ESPN, 9 p.m.

CBS Sports & CBS Sports Network Gear Up For Championship Week

It’s wall-to-wall basketball on CBS this weekend as the network covers 7 basketball games in a span of 12 hours both today and tomorrow. Six of the seven games will be aired nationally. The 2 p.m. window today will be split two ways betwen LSU-Auburn and Washington-UCLA. The details of this weekend’s college basketball action including tournament matchups are right here in the College Basketball Viewing Picks.

In the meantime, we have the CBS Sports press release which includes the announcers for each game for you below.

CBS SPORTS MARCHES ON WITH FOUR TOP TEN TEAMS HIGHLIGHTED BY NO. 1 KENTUCKY VS. NO. 16 FLORIDA AND NO. 2 SYRACUSE VS. NO. 19 LOUISVILLE

Big Ten Battle Between No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Ohio State Also Featured

CBS Sports’ college basketball schedule continues with a full slate of top games on Saturday, March 3, starting with Memphis at Tulsa (12:00-2:00 PM, ET). Regional coverage follows with LSU at Auburn and Washington at UCLA (2:00-4:00 PM, ET). The day concludes with *No. 19-ranked Louisville at *No. 2-ranked Syracuse (4:00-6:00 PM, ET) in a Big East battle.

CBS Sports broadcasts a tripleheader on Sunday, March 4 tipping-off with *No. 1-ranked Kentucky at *No. 16-ranked Florida (12:00-2:00 PM, ET), followed by the Missouri Valley Conference Championship (2:00-4:00 PM, ET). The day concludes with *No. 5-ranked Michigan State hosting *No. 10-ranked Ohio State (4:00-6:00 PM, ET) in a Big 10 showdown.

Spero Dedes and Bill Raftery handle the call for Memphis-Tulsa live from Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla. Mark Wolff produces and Suzanne Smith directs. Turner Sports’ Brian Anderson and Dan Bonner team up for LSU-Auburn live from Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala.  Craig Silver produces and Mark Grant directs.

Turner Sports’ Reggie Miller joins Kevin Harlan and Bob Wenzel to broadcast Washington-UCLA live from the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. Steve Scheer produces and Mike Arnold directs. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel are courtside for Louisville-Syracuse live from the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. Bob Mansbach produces and Chris Svendsen directs.

Marv Albert and Turner Sports’ Steve Kerr announce Kentucky-Florida live from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. Ken Mack produces and Jim Cornell directs.  Tim Brando and Mike Gminski are on hand for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship live from Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.  Ross Schneiderman produces and Andy Goldberg directs. Verne Lundquist joins CBS Sports lead college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg for Ohio State-Michigan State live from the Breslin Center in Columbus, Ohio. Bob Dekas, CBS Sports’ coordinating producer for college basketball, produces and Bob Fishman directs.

AT THE HALF^®, CBS Sports’ halftime studio show, hosted by Greg Gumbel alongside Greg Anthony and Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis, provides all the day’s news, scores and highlights live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Eric Mann produces and Bob Matina directs. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

*AP Poll as of 2/27/12

And CBS Sports Network will have its share of college tournaments beginning today with coverage of the Patriot League semifinals. It will conclude with the Atlantic 10, Conference USA and Mountain West Tournaments next weekend. We have details of that plus announcing assignments below.

CBS SPORTS NETWORK PROVIDES COMPLETE COVERAGE OF COLLEGE BASKETALL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Network to Feature Conference USA, Mountain West, Atlantic 10 and Patriot League Action

CBS Sports Network tips-off coverage of college basketball conference championship week on Saturday, March 3 with the Patriot League Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals. American faces Lehigh (2:00 PM, ET) at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa. in the first semifinal, followed by Lafayette-Bucknell (4:30 PM, ET) at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. Bob Socci and Vince Curran announce the first game, while Jason Knapp and Steve Lappas handle the call for the later matchup. Patriot League action returns to the Network on Wednesday, March 7 with the Championship game (7:00 PM, ET).

Conference Tournament coverage continues on Sunday, March 4 with the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (12:00 PM and 2:30 PM, ET) at Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Network features Conference USA Men’s Basketball Championship Quarterfinals from FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. on Thursday, March 8 (1:00 PM, 3:30 PM, 7:30 PM and 10:00 PM, ET). CBS Sports Network also simulcasts the Mtn.’s telecast of two Mountain West quarterfinal matchups on Thursday (5:30 PM and 12:00 AM, ET).

College basketball action continues Friday, March 9 with the C-USA Women’s Championship Semifinals (11:00 AM and 1:30 PM) and the C-USA Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (4:00 PM and 6:30 PM, ET). The Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals follow from Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. (9:00 PM, ET and 11:30 PM, ET).

On Saturday, March 10, Atlantic 10 play returns to the Network with the Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals (1:00 PM and 3:30 PM, ET) from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The Patriot League Women’s Basketball Championship (6:00 PM, ET) and C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship (8:00 PM, ET) wrap up conference basketball championship week on CBS Sports Network.

In addition to live game coverage, the Network’s studio show Inside College Basketball: Bracket Week, keeps fans updated with the latest news, highlights and analysis leading up to Selection Sunday. Adam Zucker hosts and is joined by analysts Alaa Abdelnaby and Steve Lappas, insider Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com Bracketology expert Jerry Palm and national college basketball writer Jeff Goodman, as well as guest analyst Tom Penders, the former Houston coach.

Talent assignments for conference championship week are listed below.

2012 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
(ALL TIMES EASTERN)

March 3 (Saturday)

American vs. Lehigh (Patriot League Semifinal) — 2:00 PM
Bob Socci and Vince Curran

Lafayette vs. Bucknell (Patriot League Semifinal) — 4:30 PM
Jason Knapp and Steve Lappas

March 4 (Sunday)

Atlantic 10 Semifinal #1 (Women’s) — 12:00 PM
Atlantic 10 Semifinal #2 (Women’s) — 2:30 PM
Brent Stover and Tammy Blackburn

March 7 (Wednesday)

Patriot League Championship — 7:00 PM
Bob Socci and Vince Curran

March 8 (Thursday)

Conference USA Quarterfinal #1 — 1:00 PM
Conference USA Quarterfinal #2 — 3:30 PM
Roger Twibell and Wally Szczerbiak

Mountain West Quarterfinal #2 — 5:30 PM (Simulcast)
Rich Cellini and Joe Cravens

Conference USA Quarterfinal #3 — 7:30 PM
Conference USA Quarterfinal #4 — 10:00 PM
Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen

Mountain West Quarterfinal #4 — 12:00 AM (Simulcast; Join in Progress)
Ari Wolfe and Blaine Fowler

March 9 (Friday)

Conference USA Semifinal #1 (Women’s) — 11:00 AM
Conference USA Semifinal #2 (Women’s) — 1:30 PM
Brent Stover and Tammy Blackburn

Conference USA Semifinal #1 — 4:00 PM
Roger Twibell and Wally Szczerbiak

Conference USA Semifinal #2 — 6:30 PM
Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen

Mountain West Semifinal #1 — 9:00 PM
Mountain West Semifinal #2 –11:30 PM
Todd Harris and Steve Lappas

March 10 (Saturday)

Atlantic 10 Semifinal #1 — 1:00 PM
Atlantic 10 Semifinal #2 — 3:30 PM
James Bates and Steve Wolf

Patriot League Championship (Women’s) — 6:00 PM
Bob Socci and Leah Secondo 

Conference USA Championship (Women’s) — 8:00
Brent Stover and Tammy Blackburn

That’s it.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Lots of things to get to today. Couldn’t do the links yesterday. Going to do a big megalink edition for you.

Let’s get cracking, but first, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks complete with a link to the busy College Basketball Viewing Picks which will be updated throughout the weekend.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Oscar-winner and ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham.

Sports Illustrated issued a statement standing by its feature story this week by George Dohrmann on UCLA’s troubles.

Yesterday, Captain Blowhard, a.k.a Bill Simmons of Grantland interviewed President Obama for his podcast. I haven’t listened to it nor read the transcript as I don’t want to be bothered. Dan Levy of Bleacher Report did and had some problems with it.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider’s Sports Page lists some writers who were most likely jealous over Simmons’ sitdown with the President.

Sports Business Daily says Captain Blowhard threw a hissy fit this week after Duke refused to issue a credential to one of Grantland’s writers for Saturday’s game against North Carolina.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NFL Today and Inside the NFL host James Brown will become a special correspondent for CBS News.

Gabriel Beltrone of Adweek writes that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is pitching Sprint phones.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says thanks to Super Bowl XLVI, NBC won the February sweeps, marking the third straight year that sports has steered the month.

Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine writes that NBC Sports Network will be all over a French bicycle race this month.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while we know MLB will announce expanded Wild Card Playoff games today, we don’t know which network will air them.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that the competition among mainstream sports websites is very intense.

Pam Modarelli-Hegner at Sports TV Jobs writes about the types of personalities and egos journalists encounter when interviewing athletes.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder writes in Puck Drunk Love about ESPN’s failure to cover the NHL.

In his regular site, Matt says CNBC’s Darren Rovell assigned his baby daughter several social networking accounts on her first day on earth.

Brady Green at AA has video of the Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia’s very funny impression of ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian that aired on Baseball Tonight.

John Daly at the Daly Planet looks at Showtime’s Inside NASCAR program taking the spring and summer off after one episode this week.

Barry Petchesky over at Deadspin notes that ESPN came up with another potentially racist headline for an Asian-American athlete.

Rachel Margolis at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog talks with college basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod who has a rather interesting day job that keeps her busy during the work week.

Joe Favorito says President Obama is courting sports fans through the Captain Blowhard podcast.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media reviews the new hockey movie, “Goon.”

Sports Media Watch has some of the ratings from last week’s sports action.

SMW says Jeremy Lin is helping to move the ratings needle for ABC and TNT.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a San Diego sports anchor’s criticism of Danica Patrick shows that sexism still exists in sports.

Also in the National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos laments how social media has watered down traditional sports journalism.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan talks with ESPN’s college basketball analyst Doris Burke. High praise and I agree. Doris is one of the best.

Chad Finn of the Globe says despite having his original role reduced, Dale Arnold is remaining at WEEI.

Chad has some advice for rookie ESPN MLB analyst Terry Francona.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writing in SB Nation Boston says Bill Simmons has had a meteoric rise to stardom.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says it was the Worcester Sharks’ radio voice who came up with the idea to have popular New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spike a puck before a game last month.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks back at the 50th anniversary of one of the major milestones in sports that barely was covered by the media at the time.

Newsday’s Neil Best says two ESPN’ers will speak at their high school alma mater next week.

Neil says the Nets are not drawing well on YES.

Neil notes that CBS Sports Network utilizes a husband & wife team for its college hockey games.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick mocks the bracketologists handicapping the NCAA Tournament field.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NHL on NBC voice Mike Emrick.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says MSG Network continues to score with Knicks games.

Jerry reports that former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman is back on TV in NYC.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air the America’s Cup next year.

Pete says YES is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NBC Sports Network is adding NHL games to its schedule for the playoff drive.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that a local service provider has snagged the rights to an incoming minor league hockey team.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest developments in Baltimore-Washington, DC sports media at Press Box.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that a local sports anchor is recovering from a stroke he suffered last year.

David has a little more on the story in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with Fox Sports Oklahoma NBA studio analyst Stephen Howard.

Mel has more here with Stephen Howard.

Mel says NBA TV is marking the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Kiesewetter says a movie script has been written about a deaf mute Reds player who changed the way umpires made calls.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if another network will join Fox and TBS in airing the MLB Postseason this year.

Bob says ESPN still leads the way in cable subscriber fees, meaning how much cable and satellite providers are required to pay ESPN per subscriber.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Ed says a Big Ten Network profile of former Indiana University coach Bob Knight will mostly focus on his achievements and hardly touches on his tumultuous exit.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes NBA TV’s documentary on Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says not many Missourians will be able to see local teams in conference tournaments next week.

West

Dan Caesar of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU is better off an a football independent rather than share money and TV time with other teams when it was part of the Mountain West.

John Maffei at the North County Times says local prep basketball games will be harder to find on local TV this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says who knew that product placement would be the big winner during Fox’s airing of the Daytona 500.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says CBS and MSG Network are considering buy the Dodgers in separate bids in order to get their TV rights.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at how the media covered (barely) Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game 50 years ago today.

Tom has some news and notes this week.

Canada

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says CBC premieres part two of the movie on Don Cherry’s life this weekend.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail can’t believe how well NHL Trade Deadline coverage does in the ratings.

Bruce says social media has changed sports reporting forever.

And that will do it. Enjoy your weekend.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/03 & 03/04/12, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, March 3

Men’s Schedule

College GameDay live from Durham, NC — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Atlantic Sun Championship, Macon, GA
Belmont vs. Florida Gulf Coast — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Big South Championship, Asheville, NC
VMI vs. UNC-Asheville — ESPN, noon

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, Richmond, VA
Quarterfinals
Drexel vs. UNC-Wilmington — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic & New England)/The Comcast Network, noon
Old Dominion vs. Delaware — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/The Comcast Network, 2:30 p.m.
VCU vs. William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/CSS/The Comcast Network, 6 p.m.
George Mason vs. Georgia State — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/The Comcast Network, 8:30 p.m.

Horizon League Tournament, Valparaiso, IN
Semifinals
Detroit vs. Cleveland State — ESPN3, 6 p.m.
Butler vs. Valparaiso — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, St. Louis, MO
Semifinals
Wichita State vs. Illinois State — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 2:30 p.m.
Creighton vs. Evansville — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 5 p.m.

Ohio Valley Conference Championship, Nashville, TN
Murray State vs. Tennessee State — ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Patriot League Tournament (Home Sites)
Semifinals
Lafayette at Bucknell — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
American at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
Oral Roberts vs. IPFW — Fox College Sports Central, 7 p.m.
South Dakota State vs. IUPUI — Fox College Sports Central, 9:30 p.m.

West Coast Conference Tournament, Las Vegas, NV
Semifinals
San Francisco vs. St. Mary’s — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
BYU vs. Gonzaga — ESPN2, 11:30 p.m.

noon
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech — ACC Network
West Virginia at South Florida — Big East Network: Bright House/MASN/MSG Network/Root Sports Pittsburgh
Memphis at Tulsa — CBS
George Washington at Dayton — CBS Sports Network
Pittsburgh at UConn — ESPN

12:30 p.m.
Nebraska at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

1:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Kansas State — Big 12 Network
South Carolina at Georgia — SEC Network

2 p.m. 
Charlotte at Xavier — A-10 Network: Fox Sports Ohio
Georgetown at Marquette — Big East Network: MASN/SNY
LSU at Auburn — CBS
Washington at UCLA — CBS
Cincinnati at Villanova — ESPN
Southern Mississippi at Marshall — Fox Sports Net (national)

2:30 p.m.
Boston College at Miami — ACC Network
Northwestern at Iowa — Big Ten Network

4 p.m.
URI at UMass — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet (New England & Philadelphia)/CSS
Missouri at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network
Texas A&M at Oklahoma — Big 12 Network
Louisville at Syracuse — CBS
Vanderbilt at Tennessee — ESPN
Colorado at Oregon State — Fox Sports Net (national)
Boise State at New Mexico — NBC Sports Network
Alabama at Mississippi — SEC Network
Colorado State at Air Force — the mtn.

5 p.m.
Arkansas at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net (regional): Fox Sports South/Sun Sports

6 p.m.
Seton Hall at DePaul — Big East Network: Altitude/MASN/MSG Network

7 p.m.
North Carolina at Duke — ESPN
San Diego State at TCU — the mtn.

8 p.m.
St. John’s at Rutgers — Big East Network: MASN/MSG Network

9 p.m.
Texas at Kansas — ESPN

10 p.m.
Wyoming at UNLV

Women’s Schedule

ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina State — ESPNU, 11 a.m.
Maryland vs. Wake Forest — ESPNU, 1:30 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis, IN
Semifinals
Ohio State vs. Nebraska — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
Penn State vs. Purdue — Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.

SEC Tournament, Nashville, TN
Semifinals
Kentucky vs. LSU — ESPNU, 4 p.m.
Tennessee vs. South Carolina — ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.

noon
Iowa State at Baylor — Fox Sports Net (national)

Sunday, March 4

Men’s Schedule

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, Richmond, VA
Semifinals
Drexel vs. Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/CSS/The Comcast Network, 2 p.m.
VCU vs. George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/CSS/The Comcast Network, 4:30 p.m.

Missouri Valley Championship, St. Louis, MO
Creighton vs. Illinois State — CBS, 2 p.m.

Northeast Conference Tournament (Home Sites)
Semifinals
Robert Morris vs. Wagner — Fox College Sports Atlantic/MSG Network, noon
Quinnipiac vs LIU — Fox College Sports Atlantic/MSG Network, 6 p.m.

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
Western Illinois vs. North Dakota State — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Oakland vs. Southern Utah — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 9:30 p.m.

noon
Kentucky at Florida — CBS
Clemson at Florida State — ESPN2

1 p.m.
Illinois at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network
Michigan at Penn State — ESPN

2 p.m.
Virginia at Maryland — ACC Network

3:30 p.m.
Arizona at Arizona State — Fox Sports Net (national)

4 p.m.
Ohio State at Michigan State — CBS

5:30 p.m.
Cal at Stanford — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network
North Carolina State at Virginia Tech — ESPNU

Women’s Schedule

ACC Championship, Greensboro, NC
Maryland vs. Georgia Tech — ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Tournament, Philadelphia, PA
Semifinals
St. Bonaventure vs. St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network, noon
Temple vs. Dayton — CBS Sports Network, 2:30 p.m.

Big East Tournament, Hartford, CT
Quarterfinals
Georgetown vs. West Virginia — ESPNU, noon
Notre Dame vs. DePaul — ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.
St. John’s vs. Louisville — Big East Network: SNY, 6 p.m.
UConn vs. Rutgers — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, IN
Nebraska vs. Purdue — ESPN2, 4 p.m.

SEC Championship, Nashville, TN
LSU vs. Tennessee — ESPN2, 6 p.m.

1 p.m.
Texas A&M at Texas — Fox Sports Net (national)

Our Tuesday Links

Let’s provide some links now.

John Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal write that local NBA TV ratings are up thus far.

Eric Fisher of SBJ writes that sports arenas have an issue with providing more bandwidth as fans demand wifi access.

Paul White at USA Today says the newly-renamed Miami Marlins are ready for their reality TV closeup.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says Los Angeles Lakers radio voice John Ireland was busted by Jay Leno’s Show of Hacks for putting on makeup during a game.

Michael O’Connell at the Hollywood Reporter says thanks to the Daytona 500, Fox won Monday night’s ratings over strong network competition.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable reports on a sports fan lobbying group that’s asking the FCC to end the NFL’s archaic blackout policy.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says despite lower ratings from last year, the NBA is pleased with the numbers for the All-Star Game.

Mihir Bose of the London (UK) Evening Standard looks at the upcoming bidding for the English Premier League TV rights by talking with an ESPN Europe executive. It’s expected that incumbents Sky Sports and ESPN will have to fend off a heated bid by Al-Jazeera.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says Dan Patrick almost got into a heated exchange with David Letterman last night.

Sports Video Group says ESPNsoccernet has launched a new mobile app.

At Her Campus, Annie Wang talks with a close friend of Jeremy Lin’s on he views Linsanity in Communist China.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says reviews the upcoming ESPN documentary on the 20th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV positive.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that today ends a long streak for Jeremy Lin.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says a local radio station will air a handful of Red Sox exhibition games.

Pete says this year’s MAAC Tournament will be online except for the finals.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the NBA’s pay per view League Pass package is free for this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Oklahoma City was the 2nd highest rated local market for the NBA All-Star Game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says rain delay coverage of the Daytona 500 on Sunday scored well in Suds City.

And Bob says Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver is given good odds to win this season’s Dancing with the Stars competition.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego has tapped a news anchor to become its first-ever Padres studio host.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times talks with ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham about winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says Twitter scooped TV in breaking NHL trades yesterday.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog kept track of which Canadian networks RDS, Rogers Sportsnet or TSN broke the trades yesterday.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing says ESPN ignored the NHL Trade Deadline yesterday.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead explains why ESPN chose to ignore the deadline.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media declares Rogers Sportsnet the winner in NHL Trade Deadline Day coverage.

In Tennis Space, former player Mark Petchey tells how he became a TV analyst.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin gets an internal ESPN e-mail about Twitter.

Sports Media Watch looks at the Daytona 500′s ratings.

And that’s going to do it for now.