Big Ten Network Announces Basketball TV Coverage

BTN (Big Ten Network) is dialing up the full-court press for the 2014-15 basketball season with a record number 125 men’s and women’s conference basketball games set to air on the network.

It will be an expansive lineup of nightly studio coverage and a number of key additions to its roster of basketball experts. BTN’s conference schedule tips off with a special “Super Wednesday,” a New Year’s Eve tripleheader.

The network’s lead analysts, Jim Jackson, Stephen Bardo and Shon Morris, are joined by Gary Williams, coach of the 2002 NCAA Champion Maryland basketball team and 2014 College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee; Drew Nicholas, a member of Williams’ 2002 National Champion Terrapin team; Bob Wenzel, former Rutgers basketball player and coach; John Lucas II, former Maryland basketball player and longtime NBA player and coach; Dan Bonner, longtime ACC announcer; Jess Settles, former Iowa standout; Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis; and former Spartan star Greg Kelser.

New play-by-by announcer Joe Davis of Fox Sports joins an established crew of Dave Revsine, Kevin Kugler, Eric Collins, Cory Provus and Brian Anderson.

New to BTN on the women’s side are analysts Christy Winters Scott, former Maryland basketball standout and longtime analyst, and former Ohio State guard and two-time WNBA Champion Katie Smith. They join returning analysts Stephanie White, Debbie Antonelli, Brenda VanLengen, Vera Jones, Mary Murphy and Shelley Till.

BTN studio programs returning in January include:

• Big Ten Basketball Report - Airing Thursday evenings with analysts Bardo, Morris, Lucas II and Dick “Hoops” Weiss, former longtime New York Daily News sports columnist and member of the College Basketball Writers’ Hall of Fame. Big Ten Basketball Report is presented by BMW.
• Big Ten Basketball & Beyond – National news from a Big Ten perspective, airing Sunday nights with analysts Jackson and the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy.
• BTN Live – Roundtable discussion and analysis Monday through Friday at 6 PM ET with hosts Revsine, Rick Pizzo and Mike Hall and rotating analysts including Jackson, Bardo, Morris, Williams, Davis, former Michigan State and NBA sharpshooter Steve Smith, and former Buckeye Scoonie Penn.
• Big Ten Tip-Off Show – Airing prior to Super Wednesday and on weekends. Big Ten Tip-Off Show is presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.
• The Finale – Highlights and analysis following the conclusion of the last Big Ten basketball game on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
• Women’s Sports Report – Airing Monday nights with hosts Lisa Byington and Taylor Rooks alongside rotating analysts Winters Scott, White, Jones, Till and Brooke Weisbrod.

Also returning in January are BTN’s signature series, The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2015, and additional original programming including Big Ten Elite: 1989 Illinois Basketball and Big Ten Elite: 2013 Michigan Basketball.