Nov. 13, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - The Patriot League basketball season tips off on Friday, and followers will have plenty of opportunities to see the teams in action throughout the 2008-09 campaign.
The eight Patriot League men's basketball teams already have a combined 46 games set to appear on broadcast television, while the women currently have 30 games on the TV slate. More games are also expected to be added in the future.
The television schedule for both the men and women is highlighted by the Patriot League's contract with the ESPN Networks. Six Patriot League men's basketball regular season games will be shown on ESPNU via the League's package, with one women's contest broadcast on ESPNU in the regular season. The Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship will be shown on ESPN2 at 4:45 p.m. on March 13, while the League's Women's Basketball Championship is set for broadcast on ESPNU at 6 p.m. on March 11.
The men's television slate features 16 non-League games and 30 League contests, with games on ESPNU, Comcast Sports Net and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) among others in non-League action. Patriot League teams will take on Georgetown, Maryland, Syracuse, Washington and Penn State in marquee televised non-League contests. The non-League television schedule opens up on Tuesday when Lafayette hosts Stony Brook in a game broadcast by the Lafayette Sports Network. On Dec. 1, Colgate is at Syracuse on Time Warner Sports and American hosts Mt. St. Mary's on MASN. Army and Lafayette both visit Penn State in games broadcast by ESPNU in December. In addition, American's contest at No. 12 Oklahoma on Friday will be streamed on the Internet on ESPN360.
The men's League slate is packed with television contests, with the ESPNU contests accompanied by broadcasts on regional and national outlets. The League schedule also includes Army heading to Navy on Feb. 21 in a contest broadcast by CBS. Every Lafayette and Lehigh League home game will be shown either regionally or nationally, and every Patriot League team will have at least five televised games during the League portion of the schedule.
The Patriot League men's basketball schedule opens up on ESPNU, with Bucknell traveling to Navy on Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. Bucknell and Holy Cross will face off on ESPNU from Lewisburg on Jan. 17, with a doubleheader on the network the next weekend as American visits Holy Cross on Jan. 24 and Navy travels to Army on Jan. 25. The ESPNU schedule finishes up with Colgate at American on Feb. 14 and Lafayette at Lehigh on Feb. 22.
All four Patriot League men's basketball games will be televised on Jan. 17 and on the weekend of Jan. 24-25. Three of the four contests will be shown on Jan. 14, Feb. 7 and Feb. 25.
The women's basketball television schedule includes nine non-League contests and 21 League affairs. The non-League slate begins on Tuesday when Holy Cross hosts Boston College in a contest broadcast by WCTR in Central Massachusetts. The highlight of the women's non-League television slate comes on Dec. 14, when Army faces Rutgers at Madison Square Garden in an ESPNU-televised contest.
The women make an appearance on ESPNU during the League slate when Lehigh visits American on Feb. 7. The network will also carry Navy's visit to Army at Noon on Jan. 24, a game that will lead into the American and Holy Cross men's contest at 2 p.m. Like the men's side, every Lafayette and Lehigh women's basketball League home contest will be televised.
Every men's and women's game in League play will also be shown on the Patriot League All-Access broadband package, which is available for $9.95 per month by clicking here or going to www.patriotleague.com.
The Patriot League basketball season begins on Friday, with five men's and six women's teams stepping on the floor for their opening contest.
For the full Patriot League schedule of men's basketball games and television appearances, see the 2008-09 composite schedule. For the women's schedule, click here. For televised events in all Patriot League sports, look at the full Patriot League television schedule.
