I found this a while back, but for those who want to see the differences in the expiring agreements between the SEC and its existing TV partners and the new agreements between the conference and CBS & ESPN, an excellent comparison exists at the Gatorzone website.  Most of the items are already known, but it interesting to see how FSN could remain a partner through existing agreements with the schools in the SEC (SportSouth - Tennnessee & South Carolina, Sun Sports - Florida) and that they could be the recipient of a regional cable package of basketball telecasts.

Also, it is expected that the WAC football schedule will be finalized sometime this week.  The Sun Belt's national telecast schedule should be announced soon as well.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 3:27 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 29 March 2009 3:36 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

• The Mountain West released their football schedule and associated TV schedule on Thursday.  In terms of the telecast breakdown, eight games will appear on Versus, nine on CBS College Sports and thirty on The mtn.
  
  What is different on this schedule from prior years is that all of the Versus and CBS CS telecasts will be on Saturday and available in HD.  The MWC has went out of its way to make sure that its kickoff times are at times that can maximize gate revenue and be beneficial to the television viewer.
  
  Each MWC team will appear once on either Versus or CBS CS.  Air Force (5 CBS CS, 1 Versus) and TCU (2 CBS CS, 4 Versus)have the most national telecasts.  All schools except for New Mexico will appear on Versus.  Wyoming and Colorado St. are not on CBS CS.
  
  
• The MAC also released its schedule.  The conference was a source of contention for many schools in other conferences because of a domino effect caused by MAC member schools wishing to rearrange their OOC schedules.  The schedule touts 14 telecasts, but I only count 13 games, unless two games will be televised on ESPNU on 11/27. 
  
  One odd game time is the Toledo home game vs. Colorado.  Toledo, which accepted the Colorado game from Miami (OH) and passed off a game vs. Boise St. to another school.  This game will kick off at 9pm ET. 
  
  Also, each MAC school is guaranteed at least one appearance on ESPNU or ESPN2 except for Kent St., whose appearance on 11/27 is subject to the game(s) ESPN wants to televise.
  
  
• Larry Scott, the CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, was named commissioner of the PAC-10 on Tuesday, replacing retiring commissioner Tom Hansen.  Scott has been praised for his ability to increase the profile of the WTA, getting the purses at many events to be equal for both the men and women.  He's also been lauded for his stance in getting the WTA events on television, both international and domestic.
  
  And this is where Scott is sorely needed for the PAC-10.  His 1st major negotiation will be with the television partners of the PAC-10, ABC/ESPN and FSN.  FSN has been roundly criticized by the media for the lack of reach that their PAC-10 telecasts have and the perception that the conference is under-covered nationally.  Scott has worked with FSN for two of the tournaments that are staged in conjunction with the ATP (Indian Wells, Miami) and plenty of men's and women's tennis airs on the network.  Since tennis rights are negotiated at the tournament level, CBS, NBC, ESPN, FSN and the Tennis Channel all get their chances to air tournaments. 
  
  The question becomes whether the PAC-10 open up their media rights package to other parties, like Versus, CBS College Sports, ESPN on wider scale and could the conference look at switching up the broadcast side of the house?  The deals that the SEC and Big Ten have signed, and the ACC will negotiate, will have a direct effect on the PAC-10.  Does internet streaming finally get utilized?  Will the conference remain on a strict level of one telecast per TV window?  Will their be less/more control by the individual schools for telecasts?
  
  The ACC will be negotiating, sometime soon, but the PAC-10 could be the one that has drastic changes.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 8:12 AM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 28 March 2009 8:51 AM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Here's the rest of the conference tournaments and their television coverage.  Enjoy Championship Week!

At-large teams were based on a ranking of 55 or higher in the 3/8 rankings at RealTimeRPI.com.

Atlantic 10 (3/11-3/14)
Host: A neutral site, Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.

TV Coverage: The A-10 TV, managed by CBS College Sports, will syndicate the quarterfinal and semifinal games.  MASN and the Cincinnati feed of Fox Sports Ohio will pick up all the syndicated games.  ESPN2 will televise the final.  This will be the final year that ESPN televises the game as CBS has purchased the rights to the championship.  The tournament will move up one day to a Sunday final on CBS and 1st round games will be hosted on campus instead of the championship site.

At-Large Possibilities: Xavier, Dayton and Temple all are possibilities.  Xavier and Dayton are virtual locks as they have been ranked down the stretch.

Atlantic Coast (3/12 - 3/15)
Host: The Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA will host the tournament from start to finish

TV Coverage:  The usual hodgepodge because of the ACC's contract with Raycom.  Depending on where you are in the ACC areas, you will see at least one first round game on ESPN and could see other games on ESPN. ESPN2 or the local Raycom affiliate.  Those of us away from ACC areas will get coverage strictly from ESPN or ESPN2.  Note that three of the 1st round games are Raycom exclusives while a fourth is an ESPN exclusive.

At-Large Possibilities: UNC, Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida St., Boston College and Miami (FL) are all possibilities with the 1st five listed as locks.

Big 12 (3/11-3/14)
Host: The Ford Center in Oklahoma City will host all four rounds.

TV Coverage: Due to a change requested by the conference to end its tournament on Saturday instead of Sunday, the conference will see less national television coverage of the tournament.  Two first round games will air on ESPN2 HD and the final will air on ESPN HD, but all other games will air on the ESPN Regional TV-produced Big 12 Network in syndication.  Altitude Sports will carry all of the Big 12 Network games.

At-Large Possibilities: Right now, six Big 12 teams are possibilities for the tournament: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma St., Texas A&M and Texas.

Big East (3/10-3/14)
Host: The mother of all tournaments now that all sixteen teams will dance here, Madison Square Garden will once again host the tournament

TV Coverage: ESPN used to hype the fact that they would televise the entire tournament but with five days worth of games that has become impossible.  ESPN will pick up coverage with the second round and televise everything after that, including the championship.  All games in HD.

At-Large Possibilities: Eight teams have a realistic chance to dance after MSG (Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova, West Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette and Georgetown).

Big Sky (3/7. 3/10-3/11)
Host: 1st round games on campus, semifinals and finals at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, UT on the campus of regular season champ, Weber St.

TV Coverage: Altitude will air the semifinals and ESPN2 will the championship

At-Large Possibilities: None

Big Ten (3/12-3/15)
Host: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN will host as a neutral site

TV Coverage: It's a hodgepodge, but its all in HD.  The Big Ten Network will air one 1st round matchup and two quarterfinal matchups.  ESPN2 will air two 1st round games and ESPN will have the other two quarterfinals.  CBS then takes over for the semifinals and the championship.

At-Large Possibilities: A deep list, Michigan St., Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio St., Minnesota and Michigan all have a chance.

Big West (3/11-3/14)
Host: Anaheim Convention Center will once again host this neutral site tournament

TV Coverage:  Both semifinal games will appear on ESPNU and the championship will be on ESPN2.  Unlike past years, both semfinals will air live.  Previously, the 2nd semifinal aired live and the 1st was aired on tape delay after the 2nd semi finished.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Conference USA (3/11-3/14)
Host: FedEx Forum in Memphis, home court of the Memphis Tigers.

TV Coverage: Quarterfinal matchups will air on CSS throughout the southeast.  Semifinal games will air on CBS College Sports HD and the final will air on CBS HD.

At-Large Possibilities: Memphis and UAB.  Memphis is the lock, UAB is on the bubble.

Mid-American (3/11-3/14)
Host: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH as a neutral site

TV Coverage: Quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will air through MAC TV syndication on the Cleveland feed of Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Detroit.  The final will air on ESPN2.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Mid-Eastern (3/10-3/11, 3/13-3/14)
Host: Lawrence-Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home of Wake Forest hoops, will be the neutral site host.

TV Coverage: The championship game will air on ESPNU.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Mountain West (3/11-3/14)
Host: The Thomas & Mack Center, home court for UNLV

TV Coverage: The entire tournament will be covered in HD.  The mtn. will carry the 1st round game, the mtn. and CBS College Sports will carry the quarterfinals, CBS College Sports will exclusively air the semifinals and Versus will carry the championship.

At-Large Possibilities: Utah, BYU, UNLV and San Diego St. all have chances to complement whomever wins the automatic berth.

PAC-10 (3/11-3/14)
Host: The Staples Center in Los Angeles will host as a neutral site.

TV Coverage: FSN will carry the tournament in HD from the 1st round through the semifinals, where CBS HD will pick up the championship game.

At-Large Possibilities: UCLA, Washington, Arizona, Arizona St. and California all have at-large possibilities.

Southeastern (3/12-3/15)
Host: The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL will host as a neutral site

TV Coverage: Raycom HD, in its final year as an SEC TV partner, will once again televise the first round and quarterfinals on an exclusive basis.  The semifinals, due to the Big 12's tournament schedule changes, will now air on ESPN2 HD outside of SEC markets and Raycom HD will air the semis in the SEC areas.  CBS HD will air the championship for the final time before it moves to ABC next year.

At-Large Possibilities: Tennessee, LSU, Florida and South Carolina all have at-large hopes.

Southland (3/12-3/15)
Host: The Merrill Center in Katy, TX will act as the neutral site host

TV Coverage:  For the 1st time, the semifinals will air on the Southland TV Network and its affiliates.  The championship will once again air on ESPN2. 

At-Large Possibilities: None

SWAC (3/11-3/14)
Host: Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, AL will act as the neutral site host

TV Coverage:  The championship will air on ESPNU.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Summit (3/7-3/10)
Host: Sioux Falls Arena, home of South Dakota St., will host

TV Coverage: Semifinals will air on Metro Sports in Kansas City and the championship will air on ESPN2.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Sun Belt (3/4, 3/8-3/10)
Host: First round games will be hosted on campus sites, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship at neutral site Summit Arena in Hot Springs, AR.

TV Coverage: Semifinal games will be televised by ESPN Regional TV and the championship will air on ESPN2.  Altitude and MASN will air the semifinal telecasts.

At-Large Possibilities: Western Kentucky has slim hopes of an at-large bid

WAC (3/11-3/14)
Host: The Lawlor Events Center, home of the Nevada Wolf Pack.

TV Coverage: Thanks to a new television contract with ESPN, coverage of the WAC tournament will be expanded on a national level.  Two quarterfinal games will air on ESPNU, the 2nd semifinal and championship will air on ESPN2.

At-Large Possibilities: Utah St.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 8:13 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 8 March 2009 7:28 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

When the NCAA took over the NIT from five NYC area schools, they came up with the rule that as long as you won your conference's regular season crown and #1 seed, you were guaranteed at least an NIT bid.  Here's teams from who are guaranteed postseason:

UPDATED on 3/7 at 11:50am

Binghamton (America East)
Xavier (Atlantic 10)
Jacksonville (Atlantic Sun)
Weber St. (Big Sky)
Radford (Big South)
Michigan St. (Big Ten)
VCU (Colonial)
Memphis (Conference USA)
Butler (Horizon)
Siena (MAAC)
Morgan St. (MEAC)
Northern Iowa (MVC)
Robert Morris (NEC)
UT-Martin (OVC)
American (Patriot)
Davidson (SoCon)
LSU (SEC)
North Dakota St. (Summit)
Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
Utah St. (WAC)
Gonzaga (WCC)

Cornell, who has won the Ivy League regular season, earns the automatic NCAA bid because the Ivy League does not play a conference tournament.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 9:05 PM EST

Updated: Saturday, 7 March 2009 12:01 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Several conference tournaments begin the week of 3/2 and its important to spotlight where you can find these games and what teams have the best shot at taking the automatic bid or stealing an at-large bid. 

Any team in the top 55 of the RPI on 3/2 will be considered a possibility for an at-large bid.

America East (3/6 - 3/8, 3/14)
Host: SEFCU Arena, Albany's home court, for the quarters and semis.  The final is played at the home of the highest remaining seed six days after the semifinals.

TV Coverage: The semifinals are televised through America East TV, syndicated by ESPN Regional TV on 3/8.  The final is on ESPN2 at 11:30am.

At-large possibilities: None

Atlantic Sun (3/4 - 3/7)
Host: Allen Arena, the on-campus home of Lipscomb University.

TV Coverage: The A-Sun has a somewhat unusual format due to their membership, where some members are still transitioning up to Division I and are not eligible to compete in NCAA championships and have been left out of the tournament.  With that said, CSS will televise one 1st round game, one quarterfinal and a pair of semifinal games.  ESPN2 will televise the championship.

At-large possibilities: None

Big South (3/3, 3/5, 3/7)
Host: The tournament is an on-campus tournament during the 1st round.  The regular season champion, Radford, will host the semifinals and the highest remaining seed will host the championship.

TV Coverage: ESPNU will present the semifinals on 3/5 and ESPN2 will provide the coverage of the championship game.

At-large possibilities: None

Colonial (3/6 - 3/9)
Host: A neutral site tournament, Richmond Coliseum will host the entire tournament.

TV Coverage: Comcast Network will televise the quarterfinals and semifinals.  The quarterfinal coverage will also be seen on CSN New England.  ESPN will televise the championship game.

At-large possibilities: None

Horizon (3/3, 3/6-3/7, 3/9)
Host: The first round games will be played on campus, the 2nd round games and semifinals will be hosted at Hinkle Fieldhouse (regular season champ Butler's home court) and the final will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.  Note that the Horizon does not have a true quarterfinal round.  The top two seeds are given a double bye to the semifinals.

TV Coverage: ESPNU HD will televise the semifinals and ESPN will televise the championship

At-large possibilities: Butler.  The Bulldogs have been ranked for a fair portion of the season.

Metro Atlantic (3/6-3/9)
Host: The Times Union Center in Albany, NY, the home court of Siena University, will host the tournament.

TV Coverage: The quarterfinals and semifinals games will be televised by MAAC TV, syndicated through ESPN Regional TV.  The MAAC TV games will air on the MSG Networks (MSG, MSG 2 and MSG Plus).  The championship game will air on ESPN2.  Unlike previous years, the two first round games will not be televised.

At-large possibilities: Siena.  The Saints ran away from the rest of the MAAC and have an RPI in the 30s due a top five OOC strength of schedule.  They did not have a win over a top 50 team but were 6-0 against the teams placed 51-100. 

Missouri Valley (3/5-3/8)
Host: Another neutral site, the ScottTrade Center in St. Louis will host the tournament.

TV Coverage: The MVC TV Network, comprised of Fox Sports Midwest and CSN Chicago, will televise the quarterfinal and semfinal games.  CBS HD will carry the championship.

At-large possibilities: Creighton has been able to use a nine game winning streak (could be a ten game streak based on the result vs. Illinois St.) to push themselves into the at-large discussion.

Northeast (3/5. 3/8. 3/11)
Host: The tournament is held at the on-campus arenas of each team with the higher seeded teams as the home teams.

TV Coverage: MSG will air one semifinal game on 3/8 and ESPN2 will air the championship game.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Ohio Valley (3/3, 3/6-3/7)
Host: First round games will be on campus.  The semifinals and finals will be on the neutral court of the Sommet Center in Nashville.

TV Coverage:  ESPNU will televise the semifinals and ESPN2 will air the championship game.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Patriot (3/4. 3/8, 3/13)
Host: All games will be played on campus with the higher seed as the host.

TV Coverage: CSN Mid-Atlantic will air one of the semifinal games.  ESPN2 will televise the championship.

At-Large Possibilities: None

Southern (3/6-3/9)
Host: McKenzie Arena, the home court of Chattanooga.

TV Coverage: SportSouth will televise the semifinals and ESPN2 will air the championship.

At-Large Possibilities: None

West Coast (3/6 - 3/9)
Host: The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV will be the neutral site host for the tournament.  This will be the first neutral site tournament in the conference's history.

TV Coverage: The semifinals will air on ESPN2 HD and the final will air on ESPN HD

At-Large Possibilities: Gonzaga & St. Mary's.  Gonzaga has been ranked during parts of the season and is 3-4 against the top 50 RPI teams.  As for St. Mary's they have been able to go 5-3 after losing Patty Mills in the 1st matchup with Gonzaga to tread water and keep themselves on the periphery of the at-large discussion.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 3:39 PM EST

Updated: Saturday, 28 February 2009 3:41 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

March is here and a few conferences will hold their championships this week.  More on that in the next post.  Several great games in the Big East this week and Duke-UNC finishes off the week.  Washington St. at Washington could be for UW's first PAC-10 title and first regular season conference title since their PCC championship of 1953.

Tuesday
Florida St. at Duke (Raycom HD/Full Court), 8pm
Wake Forest at Maryland (ACC RSNs), 9pm

Wednesday
Marquette at Pittsburgh (ESPN2), 7:30pm
Oklahoma at Missouri (Big 12/Full Court), 9pm

Thursday
Big South Semifinals (ESPNU), 6pm & 8:30pm
Providence at Villanova (ESPN2), 7pm
Dayton at Xavier (ESPN2), 9pm
California at Arizona (FSN HD), 10:30pm

Friday
MVC Quarterfinals (FSN Midwest & CSN Chicago), All day
OVC Semifinals (ESPNU), 7pm & 9:30pm
Atlantic Sun Semifinals (CSS/Full Court), 7pm & 9:30pm

Saturday
Connecticut at Pittsburgh (CBS HD), 12pm
Syracuse at Marquette (Big East/Full Court), 2pm
MVC Semifinals (FSN Midwest & CSN Chicago), 2:30pm & 5pm
Big South Championship (ESPN2) 4pm
Washington St. at Washington (FSN HD) 5:30pm
Atlantic Sun Championship (ESPN2) 6pm
Ohio Valley Championship (ESPN2) 8pm
MAAC Quarterfinals (MSG Networks), All Day

Sunday
Missouri Valley Championship (CBS HD) 2pm
Duke at North Carolina (CBS HD) 4pm
Clemson at Wake Forest (FSN HD) 6pm
SoCon Semifinals (SportSouth) 6pm & 8:30pm
MAAC Semifinals (MSF Networks) 6pm & 8:30pm
WCC Semifinals (ESPN2 HD) 9pm & 11:30pm

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 2:35 PM EST

Updated: Saturday, 28 February 2009 3:26 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

UPDATE: SEC selection added 

The Big Ten, PAC-10 and SEC announced their wildcard selections for the final regular season week. 

Thursday 3/5
Stanford at Arizona St. (Fox Sports AZ), 8:30pm
California at Arizona (FSN HD), 10:30pm

Saturday 3/7
Michigan at Minnesota (ESPN HD), 12pm
California at Arizona St. (CBS HD), 2pm
South Carolina at Georgia (Raycom), 2pm
Oregon at UCLA (ABC), 3:30pm
LSU at Auburn (Raycom), 4pm
Washington St. at Washington (FSN HD), 5:30pm
Stanford at Arizona (Fox Sports AZ), 7:30pm

Sunday 3/8
Purdue at Michigan St. (CBS HD) 12pm
Indiana at Wisconsin (Big Ten HD) 7pm

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 7:14 AM EST

Updated: Friday, 27 February 2009 9:40 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

A new number #1 should be known on Monday, but its likely going to be from the same conference as last week's as Pitt should replace UConn.  The SEC matchups are more for jockeying with respect to the bubble, while the MWC matchups are about seeding and trying to stay close to Utah.  If LSU wins out this week, they should virtually clinch the SEC's top seed.  The Marquette-UConn matchup on Wednesday continues Marquette's march through the teeth of the conference.   Meanwhile in the Big 12, will Blake Griffin be ready for Big Monday after his concussion-like issues against Texas?

Monday
Kansas at Oklahoma (ESPN HD) 9pm

Tuesday
Florida at LSU (ESPN HD) 9pm
Florida St. at Boston College (ESPNU HD) 9pm
BYU at San Diego St. (The mtn.) 10pm

Wednesday
Connecticut at Marquette (ESPN HD) 7pm
Kentucky at South Carolina (Raycom HD/Full Court) 7pm
UNLV at Utah (The mtn.) 10pm

Thursday
Minnesota at Illinois (Big Ten HD) 7pm
Arizona St. at Washington (Fox Sports Regional) 11pm

Saturday
LSU at Kentucky (CBS HD) 4pm
Utah at BYU (CBS College HD) 5pm
Long Beach St. at CS-Northridge (Prime Ticket) 6pm
N. Dakota St. at Oral Roberts (KGEB/FCS Central) 8pm

Sunday
Louisville at Marquette (CBS HD) 12pm
Missouri at Kansas (CBS HD) 2pm
Michigan St. at Illinois (CBS HD) 4pm

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 7:35 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 22 February 2009 7:36 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

The Sun Belt Conference and ESPN have negotiated a new contract with ESPN Networks.  Last year the SBC worked on a mutual option year under the terms of their previous agreement.  This deal mirrors much of the most recent negotiation that ESPN had with the Mid-American Conference in that the minimums the MAC had in their conference were essentially what the MAC had been receiving in coverage from ESPN.  The one difference is that the Sun Belt opted for a shorter term (three years) when compared to the MAC (seven years).

Key terms:

• Two guaranteed football games on ESPN/ESPN2 per season
• ESPN/ESPN2 can request up to two midweek football games per season
• The Sun Belt can now be part of the 12 day selection process for Saturday games on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU.  This did not exist previously
• Sun Belt teams will make up to four appearances on ESPN/ESPN2
• ESPN Regional TV retains the right to televise at least five football games and eight basketball games.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 6:32 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

News is slowly trickling in on the football schedule side of things...

• The ACC announced its entire slate of football games on Thursday, including six games moved to weeknights, plus a seventh that is part of the C-USA package.  The Miami (FL)-Florida St. game was moved back to Labor Day and four other conference games were moved to Thursdays.  Two non-conference games (South Carolina-NC State, Virginia Tech-East Carolina) were also moved.
  
• Notre Dame released its list of kickoff times for the eight games that will appear on NBC.  As usual the early season contests in South Bend will start at 3:30pm ET and the November games will start at 2:30pm ET.  The Washington St. game, to be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, will be a 7:30pm ET start and that it expected to be a trend for the neutral site games that ND will be scheduling.
  
• ESPN passed along a press release of several games that will air in primetime early in the season or had been moved to Thursday nights.  There are three TBA slots for Thursdays that need to be filled.  The SEC can have up to two Thursday night games and only one has been selected so far.  The Big East can also have up to four Thursday night games and its schedule is pending.

Posted by mattsarz44017 at 5:09 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink