November 15, 2011

On the

ESPNU goes coast-to-coast with ESPNU Road Trip in California, The Battle Presented by AT&T in Louisiana and ESPNU All-Access: Miami down South. No sweater needed for this week’s pit stops….

Wednesday (5 p.m.) – ESPNU Road Trip visits Palo Alto, Calif., for a Pac-12 clash between Stanford and Oregon airing at 5 p.m. See all the sights and sounds as hosts Drubner and Niki Noto explore the Harvard of the West, get in-synch for the big game and have some tailgating fun with the Stanford Tree.  

Wednesday (11 p.m.) – ESPNU All-Access: Miami chronicles how new head coach Al Golden is working to restore the legacy of the football program. Watch the coaches’ and players’ struggles and sacrifices laboring through fall training camp and see Golden and his players operate under the media scrutiny following reports of an NCAA investigation of the athletic program.

Thursday (10 p.m.) – The Battle Presented by AT&T debuts with back-to-back airings showcasing the heart, sweat and determination of the iconic HBCU marching band, Grambling State Tigers.

College GameDay Notebook

ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot will originate from a new college campus for the second straight week – visiting the University of Houston, on Saturday, Nov. 19, in advance of the Conference USA matchup between No. 11 Houston and SMU. The GameDay set will be located at Cullen Circle on Houston’s campus. The weekly show airs at 9-10 a.m. on ESPNU and 10 a.m.-noon on ESPN.

Houston and SMU are each making a first appearance on College GameDay.

This week’s show features  a segment on Houston’s Case Keenum’s record-breaking season and Virginia head coach Mike London and his former profession as a police officer.

A Ratings Review

The Quicken Loans Carrier Classic, played on Veteran’s Day (11-11-11), provided some indelible images against the backdrop of San Diego Harbor at sunset, and a lasting mark on ESPN’s early-season college basketball ratings. 

The Friday game between top-ranked North Carolina and Michigan State aboard the docked USS Carl Vinson posted a 2.7 rating for 3,859,119 viewers – ESPN’s highest-rated and most-viewed regular-season men’s college basketball game since March 4, 2006 featuring then-No. 15 North Carolina vs. then- No. 1 Duke (3.5 for 4,702,483 viewers).

In addition, the Veteran’s Day game ranks as ESPN’s highest-rated November contest since the Nov. 27, 1992 NIT Championship when Virginia topped Notre Dame, also delivering a 2.7 rating.

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Weekly Highlights

The football schedule for Saturday, Nov. 19 includes coverage of the top five teams and eight of the top nine. Highlighted by:

No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 22 Baylor (8 p.m., ABC)
Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Heather Cox

• Oklahoma, with one loss on the season, has never lost to Baylor

No. 16 Nebraska at No. 18 Michigan (noon, ESPN & ESPN3)
Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman, Urban Meyer & Quint Kessenich

• First regular-season meeting since 1962
• Spotlight on two of the top five rushing quarterbacks in Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez

USC at No. 4 Oregon (8 p.m., ABC)
Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews

• One-loss Oregon clinches Pac-12 North Division with a victory and a Stanford loss
• Oregon has won 21 consecutive straight home games and 19 conference games

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The men’s hoops schedule this week features action from nine pre-season tournaments and ranked teams in action, highlighted by:

• Friday at 6 p.m. (ESPNU) – No. 6 Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski, currently tied with Bob Knight as the winningest Division I men’s basketball coach at 902, against Davidson
  Mike Breen & Doris Burke
• Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN3) – No. 7 Louisville at Butler, a participant in last year’s NCAA title game
  Jim Barbar & Mark Adams
• Nine pre-season tournaments include 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, TicketCity City Legends Classic, DICK’S Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off, EA Sports Maui Invitational, State Farm Champions Classic, Progressive CBA Classic, 5-hour ENERGY Puerto Rico Tip-Off, DIRECTV Charleston Classic Presented by Foster Grants and Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off

The women’s hoops schedule features action from six ranked teams in the first full week of play, highlighted by:

• Monday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU) – The first top-five matchup of the season include No. 5 Stanford at No. 4 Connecticut
  Beth Mowins & Rebecca Lobo

The studio programming schedule includes its regularly scheduled shows this week with the addition of special programming, highlighted by:

• Tuesday at 6 p.m. – College GameDay Driven by State Farm, originating from Madison Square Garden for the State Farm Champions Classic, that includes pre-game, half-time, between-game and post-game reports and analysis
  Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis & Digger Phelps
• Sunday at 10 a.m. (ESPNU) – FCS Selection Show unveils the 20-team bracket live from ESPN’s Charlotte studio; all games will air on ESPN networks
  Dari Nowkhah, Tom Luginbill & Craig Haubert