Get the Red Bull out and prep the coffee pot -- College basketball’s delightful day is back for the third straight year.
ESPN’s 24-hour hoops marathon schedule is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 16. This year’s telecast features 20 live games (19 men’s and one women’s) broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, while ESPN3.com also will have two games. And it’s a helluva slate, perhaps the best ever in college hoops’ unofficial kickoff.
It features three teams from the 2010 Final Four, the debut of Louisville’s new KFC Yum! Center (I can’t type that enough) and Steve Lavin’s St. John’s debut.
The primetime games - Ohio State at Florida and Butler at Louisville - are can’t-miss matchups, though Virginia Tech at Kansas State and San Diego State at Gonzaga both feature NCAA tournament-worthy teams. If your schedule’s limited, tune in between 4 and 1 a.m. ET. That’s four games with highlights that’ll get you in the mood for hoops.
A complete schedule is below.
Time | Matchup | Network |
Midnight | Miami at Memphis | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
2 a.m. | St. John’s at St. Mary’s | SPN/ESPN3.com |
4 a.m. | Central Michigan at Hawaii | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
6 a.m. | Stony Brook at Monmouth | SPN/ESPN3.com |
8 a.m. | Robert Morris at Kent State | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
10 a.m. | Northeastern at So. Illinois | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
Noon | Oral Roberts at Tulsa | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
2 p.m. | La Salle at Baylor | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
4 p.m. | Virginia Tech at Kansas State | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
5:30 p.m. | NIT Season Tip-Off: Marist at Villanova | ESPNU |
6 p.m. | Ohio State at Florida | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
6 p.m. | Women’s Tip-Off Classic: Baylor at Connecticut | ESPN2/ESPN3.com |
7:30 p.m. | CBE Classic: Miami (Ohio) at Duke | ESPNU |
8 p.m. | Butler at Louisville | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
9:30 p.m. | NIT Season Tip-Off: Belmont at Tennessee | ESPNU |
10 p.m. | South Carolina at Michigan St. | ESPN/ESPN3.com |
11 p.m. | CBE Classic: San Diego State vs. Gonzaga | ESPN3/ESPN3.com |
11:30 p.m. | NIT Season Tip-Off: Nevada or Pacific at UCLA | ESPNU |
TBD | St. Joseph’s at Penn St. | ESPN3.com |
TBD | North Dakota at Wisconsin | ESPN3.com |
Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.