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ESPN Announces College Hoops Assignments

Thursday, November 1, 2007 , Posted by Christopher Byrne at 9:41 PM, under , , , , , , , , ,

Bristol, CT (Nov 1, 2007) - ESPN will field the deepest roster of knowledgeable and experienced men’s college basketball commentators to work television’s most extensive game and studio coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN360.com. New this year:

* Doris Burke, who has worked on ESPN’s basketball coverage since joining the company in 1991, will add men’s game analysis to her current role as a women’s analyst and men’s reporter. Burke will serve as an analysis on BIG EAST and Big Ten telecasts with announcer Dave O’Brien. Burke will continue to serve as a reporter on non-conference games with commentator Dan Shulman and analyst Dick Vitale.

* Analyst Jay Bilas will add a regular weekday telecast to his Big Monday BIG EAST game telecast, and Saturday College GameDay Driven by State Farm and Tuesday studio shows. He will work matchups from various conferences on select Wednesday and Thursday nights. Bilas will continue to work Big Monday Presented by Bud Light BIG EAST games with Sean McDonough, entering his 20th season as an announcer, and analyst Bill Raftery, who has been with ESPN since 1980.

The extensive schedule will also feature returning commentators in familiar roles during conference action.

* Shulman and Vitale, who has been with ESPN since the network’s launch in 1979, will return as a team to work ESPN’s Saturday Primetime Presented by DirecTV telecast, a Saturday night game-of-the week at 9 p.m. ET beginning January 5, as well as other games. Erin Andrews (Saturday Primetime) and Burke (various games) will serve as the reporters.

* Rece Davis will return to host College GameDay, ESPN’s weekly college basketball road show originating from the site of the Saturday Primetime game, with returning analysts Bilas, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis, and reporter Andy Katz. College GameDay will be aired every Saturday at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. from January 19 to March 8. Vitale will continue to provide analysis during the 8 p.m. show.

o Ron Franklin, an ESPN announcer since 1987, and analyst Fran Fraschilla, will enter their fourth season together on Big Monday Big 12 contests and be joined by reporter Holly Rowe for the third season.

* ESPN’s Super Tuesday telecasts will feature Brent Musburger and Brad Nessler, two of the most prominent and veteran college play-by-play callers. Musburger will work with Steve Lavin and reporter Andrews on Big Ten matchups while Nessler will be joined by Jimmy Dykes and reporter Jeannine Edwards on SEC coverage. Musburger and Lavin, and Nessler and Dykes will also work Saturday afternoon ABC telecasts.

* Mike Patrick, with ESPN since 1982, will work Wednesday Night Hoops Presented by Staples and Thursday Night Showcase Presented by T Rowe Price ACC telecasts with either Vitale or Len Elmore, who is entering his 22nd year as an analyst. Elmore will also work with Dave Pasch and John Saunders on BIG EAST games.

* Stacey Dales will return as a studio analyst during ESPN’s Big Monday tripleheader with host Rece Davis and analyst Phelps, entering his 15th year as an analyst with ESPN.

* Stephen Bardo will return as an analyst on the Big Monday West Coast game with Terry Gannon and on select Wednesday Night Hoops Big 12 games with Dave Barnett. He will also continue to provide studio analysis, including during Thursday Night Showcase.

* In addition to extensive studio analysis, Doug Gottlieb will work various conference games on Super Tuesday with commentator Bob Wischusen.

* For the fifth year, select games will include “Katz Courtside,” on-site halftime reports on college basketball’s top stories from ESPN.com’s Andy Katz.

* ESPNU will field a team of commentators to call the 24-hour college sports network’s more than 200 games and extensive studio coverage. The primary play-by-play announcers include Dave Armstrong, Clay Matvick, Jim Barbar, Quint Kessenich, Steve Physioc, Anthony Calhoun and Michael Reghi. Analysts will be Bob Wenzel, Mike Kelley, and Mark Adams.

* ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature live sports broadband network, will utilize several commentators for its season-long coverage, including Frank Giardina, John Sanders, Dave Kaplan, Lou Canellis, Mark Adams, John Celestand, Dave Popkin and Scott Graham.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU Studio Shows

ESPN and ESPN2’s studio programs and segments will feature a combination of returning analysts Phelps, Bilas, Hubert Davis, Lavin, Fraschilla, Elmore, Bardo, Tom Brennan, Gottlieb and Dales. Rece Davis will serve as the primary host and rotate duties with Karl Ravech, John Saunders, Scott Reiss, Dari Nowkhah and Ryan Burr. Karl Ravech will host studio segments on ABC.

Midnight Madness, ESPN’s weekly Saturday studio program at midnight (9 p.m. PT), will originate from the Bristol, Conn. studios with analysts Brennan and Gottlieb. The show will include elements from the College GameDay site. Analysts will also appear on College GameNight, ESPN’s recurring studio show beginning in January, on their corresponding night.

ESPNU’s studio coverage will include Lowell Galindo hosting ESPNU Inside the Polls (Mondays at 6 p.m. beginning January 7) with Katz and analyst Adrian Branch. Most games will be supported by the highlights show SportsCenterU during halftime and pre-and post-game segments. Galindo and Mike Gleason will rotate as hosts with analyst Branch, Drew Barry and others.

Day Studio Analyst

Big Monday Digger Phelps and Stacey Dales

Super Tuesday Jay Bilas and Hubert Davis

Wednesday Night Hoops Steve Lavin and Jimmy Dykes

Thursday Night Showcase Fran Fraschilla and Stephen Bardo

Friday Doug Gottlieb and Tom Brennan

Saturday College GameDay Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and reporter Andy Katz

Saturday afternoons Tom Brennan and Doug Gotlieb

Saturday Midnight Madness Tom Brennan and Doug Gotlieb

Sunday Tom Brennan and Doug Gotlieb

*All on ESPN

ESPN’s 2007-08 men’s college basketball coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN360.com, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN FULL COURT will feature more than 1,050 games. Log on to www.espnmediazone.com for the season schedule.

Commentators will appear in regular weekly ESPN and ESPN2 time slots -- Big Monday, Super Tuesday, Wednesday Night Hoops and Thursday Night Showcase– plus Saturdays throughout the season. Regular men’s NCAA game assignments (conference assignments can vary):

Saturday Primetime Play-By-Play Analyst Reporter

Jan. 6-March 3 Dan Shulman Dick Vitale Erin Andrews

Various Days

Select Games Dan Shulman Dick Vitale Doris Burke

Big Monday

BIG EAST Sean McDonough Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery

Big 12 Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla Holly Rowe

West Coast Terry Gannon Stephen Bardo

Super Tuesday
Big Ten Brent Musburger Steve Lavin Erin Andrews

SEC Brad Nessler Jimmy Dykes Jeannine Edwards

Various Games Bob Wischusen Doug Gottlieb

Wednesday Night

ACC Mike Patrick Dick Vitale
or Len Elmore Stacey Dales

BIG EAST Dave O’Brien Doris Burke
or Dave Pasch Len Elmore

Big 12 Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla or Dave Barnett Stephan Bardo

Thusday Showcase

ACC Mike Patrick Len Elmore Stacey Dales

BIG EAST Dave O’Brien Doris Burke Allen Hopkins or Pasch Elmore

Big Ten Musburger Lavin
or O’Brien Burke

Atlantic 10 Jon Sciambi Hubert Davis

Saturday

BIG EAST Dave Pasch Len Elmore
or Dave O’Brien Doris Burke

Big Ten Dave O’Brien Doris Burke

Big 12 Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla

ABC
Saturday

Various Brent Musburger Steve Lavin
Brad Nessler Jimmy Dykes
Terry Gannon Fran Fraschilla

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