ESPN will celebrate the start of the 2008-09 college basketball season with the new College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon featuring 23 consecutive hours of live college basketball game and studio programming on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The Baylor and Kansas men’s basketball squads, along with the KU women’s team, will take part in the event.
The new way to mark the opening of the season will begin at 11:00 p.m. CT with a tripleheader of live games: Massachusetts at Memphis, followed by Fresno State at Saint Mary’s at 1 a.m., with Idaho State at Hawaii at 3 a.m.
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will offer 33 total hours of coverage overall highlighted by 14 game telecasts, including defending-National Champion Kansas on ESPNU at 8 p.m. CT. ESPN360.com will offer a simulcast of every ESPN and ESPN2 telecast.
Coverage will include the College Hoops Tip-Off Special, a live four-hour studio show originating from ESPN’s studios in Charlotte, N.C., beginning at 5 a.m. In addition to the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon coverageon ESPN, ESPN2 will televise a tripleheader of 2008 NIT Season Tip-Off match-ups, including Oklahoma’s game at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. ESPNU will offer a doubleheader beginning with a NIT Season Tip-off game at 6 p.m. followed by a CBE Classic game at 8 p.m. featuring defending National Champion Kansas.
College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon Schedule for ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU (Times Central)
| 11 p.m. CT |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Massachusetts at Memphis |
| 1 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Fresno State at St. Mary’s |
| 3 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Idaho State at Hawaii |
| 5a.m. |
ESPN |
College Hoops Tip-Off Special |
| 9 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Penn at Drexel |
| 11 a.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Liberty at UNC-Asheville |
| 1 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Iowa at Kansas (women) |
| 3 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Centenary at Baylor |
| 5 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
CBE Classic: Richmond at Syracuse |
| 6 p.m. |
ESPNU |
NIT Regional Final (from Purdue) |
| 6:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final(from Boston College) |
| 7 p.m. |
ESPN |
College GameDay (from Chapel Hill) |
| 8 p.m. |
ESPN/ESPN360.com |
Kentucky at North Carolina |
| 8 p.m. |
ESPNU |
CBE Classic: Florida Gulf Coast at Kansas |
| 8:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final (from Oklahoma) |
| 10:30 p.m. |
ESPN2/ESPN360.com |
NIT Regional Final (from Arizona) |