Horizon League, ESPNU announce Friday night basketball game-of-the-week schedule

Oct. 20, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

INDIANAPOLIS --- The Horizon League's first national basketball game-of-the-week package highlights the League's 2008-09 broadcast schedule on ESPN networks, Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone announced Monday (Oct. 20).

Seven Horizon League match-ups featuring all 10 men's teams and two women's on Fridays in January and February on ESPNU are part of 17 games involving League teams scheduled to be shown on ESPN networks during the coming season.

"We are excited to expand our ESPN partnership with our first national basketball game-of-the-week," said LeCrone. "More fans will now be able to follow our teams on a regular basis during the regular season. This is another important step in the growth of the League."

The Friday night game-of-the-week schedule will tip-off Jan. 9 with an intrastate battle when the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee plays host to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay at 9 p.m. ET.

"Showcasing the Horizon League in a consistent Friday primetime window is a great addition to ESPN's college basketball schedule," said Rosalyn Durant, vice president and general manager, ESPNU. "This agreement also allows us to enhance the number of live events we offer on ESPNU with quality intra-conference competition."

The following Fridays in January will feature Wright State University at the University of Detroit Mercy on Jan. 16 (9 p.m.), preseason League favorite Cleveland State University at Youngstown State University on Jan. 23 (9 p.m.) and Valparaiso University at defending champion Butler University on Jan. 30 (7 p.m.).

February's Horizon League game-of-the-week schedule on ESPNU starts with a women's match-up when Wright State plays at Butler on Feb. 6 (9 p.m.). Men's action resumes with Butler playing host to the University of Illinois at Chicago on Feb. 13 (7 p.m.), followed by UIC at cross-town rival Loyola University Chicago on Feb. 27 (9 p.m.). There will be no scheduled League game on Feb. 20 due to all 10 teams participating in the annual ESPNU BracketBusters that weekend.

ESPN2 will televise two regular-season men's games, including Butler at UIC on Saturday, Jan. 17 (2 p.m.). Again this season, the final Saturday of the regular season (Feb. 28, 12 p.m.) will feature a men's wildcard game that will be selected in early February. Games scheduled that day are Green Bay at Wright State, Milwaukee at Detroit, Cleveland State at Butler and Youngstown State at Valparaiso. Both ESPN2 games also will be streamed live on ESPN360.com.

Two non-conference Horizon League games also will be broadcast on ESPNU this season. Valparaiso will host the University of North Carolina on Dec. 20 (2 p.m.) at the United Center in Chicago, and Butler will play at Xavier University on Dec. 23 (7 p.m.). A third game will be streamed live on ESPN360.com when Detroit opens the season at Purdue University on Nov. 14 (9 p.m.).

ESPNU will air the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship semi-finals on March 7 at 7 and 9 p.m. and the Women's Basketball Championship on March 15 at 1 p.m. The Men's Basketball Championship remains in its usual spot on Tuesday (March 10) at 9 p.m. on ESPN as part of "Championship Week." That game also will be available on ESPN360.com.

Following is a list of Horizon League men's and women's basketball games currently scheduled for ESPN networks during the 2008-09 season. (All games are men's unless otherwise noted.)

DayDateGameTime (ET)NetworkFridayNov. 14Detroit at Purdue9 p.m.ESPN360.comThursdayDec. 4Butler at Cleveland State8 p.m.ESPNUSaturdayDec. 20Valparaiso vs. North Carolina (United Center, Chicago)2 p.m.ESPNUTuesdayDec. 23Butler at Xavier7 p.m.ESPNUFridayJan. 9Green Bay at Milwaukee9 p.m.ESPNUFridayJan. 16Wright State at Detroit9 p.m.ESPNUSaturdayJan. 17Butler at UIC2 p.m.ESPN2 / ESPN360.comFridayJan. 23Cleveland State at Youngstown State9 p.m.ESPNUFridayJan. 30Valparaiso at Butler7 p.m.ESPNUFridayFeb. 6Wright State at Butler (women's)9 p.m.ESPNUFridayFeb. 13UIC at Butler7 p.m.ESPNUFridayFeb. 27UIC at Loyola9 p.m.ESPNUSaturdayFeb. 28Wildcard game TBD12 p.m.ESPN2 / ESPN360.comSaturdayMar. 7Men's basketball semi-final #17 p.m.ESPNUMen's basketball semi-final #29 p.m.ESPNUTuesdayMar. 10Men's basketball championship game9 p.m.ESPN / ESPN360.comSundayMar. 15Women's basketball championship game1 p.m.ESPNU

Horizon League

Comprised of ten public and private institutions of higher learning, the Horizon League is an NCAA Division I athletics conference that sponsors 19 intercollegiate championships and is headquartered in Indianapolis. The League and its member institutions aspire to teach young people, through athletic competition, the value of learning, service to others and personal responsibility.

Member institutions of the Horizon League are Butler University (Indianapolis), Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, Valparaiso (Ind.) University, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio) and Youngstown (Ohio) State University.

Horizon League teams have enjoyed national success in a variety of sports in recent years, most notably in men's basketball, in which its teams have advanced to the Regional semi-finals of the NCAA Championship three times in the past seven seasons.

ESPNU

ESPNU launched on March 4, 2005. The 24-hour college sports television network features more than 550 live events annually, including college football, college basketball and Olympic sports from more than 25 Division I conferences, as well as premier high school content. The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships.

ESPNU also offers comprehensive studio programming, including live simulcasts of ESPN Radio's The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and replays the best games of the week from ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Regional Television. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNU HD and online at ESPNU.com. In addition, ESPNU Campus Connection, a multi-platform student-generated content initiative, was introduced in August 2007.

ESPNU is available nationwide in 21 million households and has long-term carriage agreements with several top 10 providers, including Charter, Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 614), DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Time Warner. ESPNU is also available on Verizon FIOS TV and AT&T U-verse.