ACC To Have 151 Men's Hoops Games Nationally Televised?

Athens, GA (Oct 16, 2008) - The basketball season is getting closer, and Eye on Sports Media is hard at work on the schedule database. In the meantime, we will offer news and tidbits on the coming season. This should come as no surprise to anyone, but the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is saying they will have a whole bunch of games on a whole bunch of networks. Why put it that way? Because the numbers released and as presented by the ACC are misleading.

Here is the chart the conference has published:

2008-09 Games & Appearances Breakdown

Title	Games
Raycom	35
Fox Sports Net (FSN)	20
ESPN	20
ESPN2	21
Regional Sports Networks	10
ESPNU	13
ESPN2/Raycom	6
ABC	5
Fox Sports Net Florida	9
ESPN/Raycom	4
Comcast Sports Net	7
Fox Sports Net South	7
CBS	5
ESPN or ESPN2	4
ESPNU or ESPN2	3
College Sports South	3
Fox Sports Net South/FSN-Florida	2
Fox Sports Net South/Comcast	2
ESPN or ESPNU	1
FSNS/FSN-Florida/Comcast	1
New England Sports Network (NESN)	1
Total	179

But there is a footnote:

Regional Sports Network is comprised of Comcast Sports Net, Fox Sports Net South, Fox Sports Net Florida and the New England Sports Network.

So that means you have to go back to the chart and do some consolidation:

2008-09 Games & Appearances Breakdown (Revised)

Title	Games
Raycom	35
Fox Sports Net (FSN)	20
ESPN	20
ESPN2	21
Regional Sports Networks	10
ESPNU	13
ESPN2/Raycom	6
ABC	5
ESPN/Raycom	4
CBS	5
ESPN or ESPN2	4
ESPNU or ESPN2	3
College Sports South	3
ESPN or ESPNU	1
Total	150

And this is just a first cut. Now our numbers may be a little bit off because it is not clear how many other games the ACC is double counting, or how they are double counting them (updated 10/17.2008: or IF they are double counting them). But the charts do not match what they are saying and it is disingenuous at best, and the ACC should stop fudging data presentation to self-aggrandizing levels to show how important they are in the world of college basketball.

If this very rough analysis is off-base, then the ACC needs to do a better job at how they present their information.