Network Gives Viewers First Look at 11 Schools; Full Live Event Coverage of Seven on ESPN3

ESPNU Midnight Madness tips off the basketball season for the sixth year on Friday, Oct. 14 with more schools than ever before, including both the men’s and women’s defending NCAA National Champions and nine teams ranked in ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz’s Preseason Top 25. Beginning at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU, the four-hour special will preview top college programs in whip-around coverage of 11 basketball events across the nation. In addition, seven sites will be featured live on ESPN3.

ESPNU Midnight Madness 2011 highlights:

• In-studio coverage and analysis provided by ESPNU host Dari Nowkhah, college basketball analysts Hubert Davis, Doug Gottlieb and Katz, as well as contributions from Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas
•  Katz expectations for this year’s Midnight Madness:
  “The meaning of this night is that it tips off what should be one of the best seasons in college basketball, with NBA-level talent in a potential NBA-less fall and early winter,” said Katz. “Get ready for the college basketball regular season to have more meaning than it has had since four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four in 2008.” 
  More from Katz on each team here  
• ESPN analysts on-site: Stephen Bardo, Doris Burke, Dan Dakich, Jimmy Dykes, Sean Farnham, Fran Fraschilla, Carolyn Peck, Bill Raftery and more…
• On-site commentators will provide coverage of various elements including scrimmages, player introductions, skill and dunk contests, team skits, head coach and player interviews, along with season previews
• No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Connecticut, No. 9 Louisville and No. 20 Texas A&M will be featured live on ESPN3
• Additional team spotlights with coach interviews from No.3 Ohio State, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Memphis, No. 10 Arizona, No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 12 Florida from Katz’s Preseason Top 25, as well as New Mexico and UCLA
• Be a part of the Midnight Madness action on twitter with #ESPNUMadness; become a fan of ESPNU on Facebook or follow @ESPNU all season long for daily updates and behind-the-scenes photos and videos

*ESPNU coverage will air from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

ESPNU and ESPN3 will begin coverage of the 2011-12 college basketball season Monday, Nov. 7 with two matchups from the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. Tipping off the season is William & Mary at St. John’s at 7 p.m., followed by Valparaiso at Arizona at 9 p.m.

ESPNU will air more than 300 men’s and women’s basketball games combined, including action from more than 25 NCAA Division I conferences in the 2011-12 season. ESPN3 will showcase over 1,000 games, 150 of which will be exclusive to the network.

ESPNU
The 24-hour college sports television network airs more than 650 live events annually and offers over 600 original studio shows. ESPNU has seen a steady increase since its inception on March 4, 2005 and is now in over 73 million households. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNUHD, now in over 20 million homes. The network has long-term carriage agreements with all 10 of the top multichannel TV providers – Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV (Channel 208), DISH Network (Channel 141), Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse.

ESPN3

ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com.  It is currently available to approximately 70 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.  It is also accessible through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app through an affiliated provider. 

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