Aug. 19, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; August 19, 2009 - Penn State will play at least 24 nationally televised games in 2009-10 and will open its 18th season of Big Ten conference play at Minnesota live on ESPN2 the conference office announced Wednesday when it released conference schedules and television arrangements for all 11 Big Ten men's basketball teams.
For the third consecutive year, every Big Ten men's basketball conference regular-season and tournament game will be nationally televised through the conference's media agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN and the Big Ten Network that will result in more than 100 games appearing nationally in the 2009-10 season. Big Ten men's basketball will be broadcast nationally every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the conference season.
Penn State will make at least four appearances on an ESPN platform during the non-conference season and at least four during the Big Ten season for a total of at least eight ESPN appearances on the year. The Nittany Lions will also have one non-conference game and at least 12 conference games televised nationally on the Big Ten Network and will have five non-conference games streamed live via BigTenNetwork.com.
In all, Penn State will have at least 24 nationally televised games on the year, with its final two regular season conference games serving as "wildcards" that could appear either on CBS, ESPN or BTN and a guaranteed first round Big Ten Tournament game appearing on either ESPN2 or BTN.
Coming off 10 Big Ten wins and a fourth place finish in 2009, its best conference season since 1996, Penn State will open the 2009-10 Big Ten season at Minnesota on Tue., Dec. 29. That game will be the first Big Ten conference game of the year to be carried by ESPN and will air live on ESPN2 at 9:00 p.m. (ET). The Nittany Lions will have three of their first six Big Ten games broadcast live on ESPN2.
Penn State will play its first Big Ten home game on Sun., Jan. 3 when it takes on Wisconsin at 2:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. The Badgers will be the first of five home weekend opponents in Big Ten play on the season, four in February.
The Lions will return to ESPN2 in their next game as they take on Michigan on Thur., Jan. 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Lions will also have a home Thursday night match-up with Indiana (Jan. 21 at 7:00 p.m.) televised on ESPN2 and a big weekend showdown with 2009 NCAA runner-up Michigan State (12:00 p.m.) televised live on ESPN from the Jordan Center on Sat., Feb. 13.
Other home weekend opponents in February include Minnesota (Sat., Feb. 6 at 2:00 p.m.), Northwestern (Sun., Feb. 28 at 12:00 p.m.) and a "wildcard" game with Purdue on either Saturday or Sunday, March 6 or 7 that will be televised by CBS, ESPN or BTN.
Penn State will have single plays vs. Iowa and Indiana during its 18-game Big Ten slate as Indiana comes to the BJC and the Lions head to Iowa City on Sat., Jan. 16 for a 1:00 p.m. tip on BTN. Illinois (Wed., Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m.) and Ohio State (Wed., Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m.) also make trips to the Jordan Center in games that will be televised by BTN.
The 13th annual Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will be played Thursday, March 11 through Sunday, March 14 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. All 10 games will air nationally on ESPN, ESPN2, the Big Ten Network and CBS Sports. ESPN2 will carry the first two games on Thursday and the Big Ten Network will air the final game of the evening. On Friday, ESPN will broadcast the first two quarterfinal games while the Big Ten Network will air the remaining two contests. CBS Sports will televise the semifinal and championship games on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Penn State added three nationally televised non-conference games to previously announced match-ups with UNC Wilmington at the Charleston Classic (Nov. 19 at 4:00 p.m. on ESPNU) and at Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2). The Nittany Lions will take on Virginia Tech at 8:00 p.m. on Sat., Dec. 12 in the Jordan Center live on ESPN2, will have a Sat., Dec. 19 home tip vs. Gardner Webb (9:00 p.m.) televised by ESPNU and will have a Wed., Nov. 25 home tip vs. Sacred Heart (6:00 p.m.) shown live on BTN.
Penn State's exhibition game with Slippery Rock (Fri., Nov. 6) will tip off at 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on BTN.com. Four Nittany Lion non-conference games will be distributed via BTN.com beginning with the season opener vs. Penn on Fri., Nov. 13. That game is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Penn State will also face Robert Morris (Mon., Nov. 16) and UMBC (Tue., Dec. 8) in 7:30 p.m. tips on BTN.com. The Lions last non-conference game of the season, a Mon., Dec. 21 match-up vs. American, will tip at 5:00 p.m. on BTN.com.
Tip time and television arrangements for Penn State's game at Temple on Sat., Dec. 5 have yet to be determined.
The Nittany Lions return three starters and eight lettermen from a school-record 27-11 season that culminated in the 2009 NIT Championship at New York's Madison Square Garden. Among the returners is junior point guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.), a first team All-Big Ten, USBWA and NABC All-District selection, who led the U.S. World University Games team in scoring this summer. Battle (16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 5.0 apg) is joined by returning junior starters D.J. Jackson (4.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Andrew Jones (6.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and 6-8, junior swingman Jeff Brooks. Penn State returns 53 percent of its scoring and 65 percent of its rebounding and will welcome four incoming freshmen, as well as red-shirt freshman forward Billy Oliver (Chatham, N.J.).
-NITTANY LIONS-