ESPN to Present Extensive Men's College Basketball Coverage

ESPN will continue to serve as the college basketball leader with the industry's most extensive package of game and studio coverage in 2015-16 - approximately 1,200 exclusive games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network and Longhorn Network. The addition of ESPN3 exclusive games and its lineup of outermarket contests will be included in future releases resulting in a record number of games this season.

In addition, content will live throughout the year on ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN the Magazine and many more ESPN platforms.

The season gets underway in world-wide fashion on Friday, Nov. 13, with the fourth annual Armed Forces Classic - this year staged from Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan and showcasing Pittsburgh vs. Gonzaga at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Just prior, Colorado travels to South Dakota's Samford Pentagon to take on Iowa State for a 5 p.m. tilt on ESPN2, while action continues throughout the night with an SEC Network doubleheader, an ESPNU doubleheader, including an early-round game of the 2K Classic featuring Siena at Duke and closing the night on ESPN with Texas versus Washington in Shanghai, China.

All telecasts will be streamed live on WatchESPN, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

New this year: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to air every game of the third annual Big 12/SEC Challenge Presented by Sonic - staged for the first time on the common bye date of Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, during the conference schedule. The field is headlined by four preseason top-10 teams in the ESPN.com's revised too-early top 25 - No. 3 Kentucky, No. 5 Kansas, No. 7 Iowa State and No. 8 Oklahoma - and matches all 10 of the Big 12 members against 10 teams from the Southeastern Conference.

College GameDay Covered by State Farm will be live for the first time from the annualJimmy V Classic presented by Corona on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The launch of ESPN College Extra, a new college sports service that will bring hundreds of ESPN3 exclusive live college sports events to the TV. Live events will be accessible to customers of AT&T U-verse and DIRECTV - which is now part of the AT&T family - Bright House Networks, Cox, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and select NCTC members.

ESPN will televise two games of the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games as part of the Tip-Off Marathon presented by Constant Contact on Tuesday, Nov. 17, showcasing DePaul at Penn State at 5 p.m. on ESPNU and top-ranked Maryland hosting Georgetown at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

Also new to ESPN's programming this season is the ARS Hoophall Miami Invitational featuring Kentucky vs. USF and Ohio State vs. Memphis at 5 p.m. on ESPN and 7:30 on ESPN2.

Schedule highlights: Continuing off of last year's theme, College GameDay Covered by State Farm - originating from the site of ESPN's Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV telecasts - will feature several options each week to choose from in order to follow storylines as the season develops. The sites for the seven-week series - January 23 to March 5 - will be announced the week prior. The morning edition of the show will begin at 11 a.m. on ESPN and conclude with a one-hour version will air on ESPN leading into the game-of-the-week telecast.

For the fifth straight year, ESPN will showcase four of the all-time winningest programs in the State Farm Champions Classic doubleheader to close out the 24-hour Tip-Off Marathon Presented by Constant Contact on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The games from the United Center in Chicago will showcase four teams in an early ESPN.com preseason poll: No. 3 Kentucky at No. 6 Duke at 7:30 p.m. followed by No. 5 Kansas vs. No. 19 Michigan State at 10 p.m. COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF: TOP 25 - ESPN's exclusive reveal of the COLLEGE FOOTBALL Playoff weekly rankings - will air from the United Center between games with host Rece Davis and analyst Kirk Herbstreit onsite.

The eighth annual Tip-Off Marathon presented by Constant Contact will celebrate the start of the basketball season with 18 men's and WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL games beginning Monday, Nov. 16, and continuing through Tuesday, Nov. 17, across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. After the women's game of top-ranked UConn at Ohio State at 5:30 p.m., ESPN2's Marathon schedule will include nine games tipping off about every two hours, followed by ESPN's schedule of five consecutive games starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and concluding with the State Farm Champions Classic. ESPN2 will also televise a Tuesday men's primetime game featuring top-ranked Maryland against Georgetown at 9 p.m. as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. In addition, ESPNU will feature a doubleheader on Monday beginning at 7 p.m.

ESPN will provide fans with live coverage of at least one game on an ESPN television network every day but eight from November 13 to March 6 (November 14, 18 and 28; December 11, 14, 24 and 26; and January 11).

The sixth season of the ESPN Buzzer Beater network will offer live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college basketball games Saturdays from noon to 11 p.m. and Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. beginning Wednesday, Jan. 6.

SEC Network will present more than 120 SEC games exclusively, highlighted by weekly Tuesday and Wednesday doubleheaders and an extensive lineup every Saturday.

Longhorn Network, ESPN's 24-hour network devoted to The University of Texas, will air nine games, including three featuring a Big 12 opponent.

The regular-season will culminate with ESPN's 31st consecutive season ofChampionship Week presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods wall-to-wall conference tournament coverage March 3-13.

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