ESPN’s Coverage of the First Two Rounds of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

http://sportsmediajournal.com

ESPN has released its schedule for the first two rounds of the 2013 NCAA Women’c College Basketball Championship.

Unlike the men’s tournament shared by CBS and Turner Sports, ESPN will have all the games, with a majority of the early rounds airing on ESPN2.  ESPN plans to provide coverage to the based on the following regional formula: (from ESPN PR)

• Regionalized/Home Market Protection – In the home markets of the competing teams, ESPN2 will televise the game of local interest. While constant updates from the other games will be provided, the networks will not switch to another game during live action, thereby establishing home market protection.
• Whip-Around Coverage – For the first and second rounds, multiple games (as many as four) will begin within one telecast window. During those windows, the network plans to “whip-around” to different games showcasing the best action for viewers in the majority of the nation (except in the home markets of the competing teams). Select games will be made available to a full national audience on ESPNU.
• ESPN3 and WatchESPN will also provide coverage of the first- and second-round games.

Here is the schedule, along with announcer assignments:

2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Presented By Capital One First & Second Round Schedule (subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Networks
Sat, Mar 23	11 a.m.	First Round No. 13 Quinnipiac vs. No. 4 Maryland (College Park, Md.) Mark Kestecher & LaChina Robinson No. 11 Central Michigan vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Columbus, Ohio) Clay Matvick & Swin Cash No. 10 Creighton vs. No. 7 Syracuse (Knoxville, Tenn.) Bob Wischusen & Nell Fortner No. 9 Saint Joseph’s vs. No. 8 Vanderbilt (Storrs, Conn.) Dave O’Brien & Doris Burke	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of 11 a.m.	First Round No. 12 Marist vs. No. 5 Michigan State (College Park, Md.) No. 14 Stetson vs. No. 3 UCLA (Columbus, Ohio) No. 15 Oral Roberts vs. No. 2 Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.) No. 16 Idaho vs. No. 1 Connecticut (Storrs, Conn.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	4 p.m.	First Round No. 13 South Dakota State vs. No. 4 South Carolina (Boulder, Colo.) Mark Jones & Fran Fraschilla No. 14 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (College Station, Texas) Carter Blackburn & Maria Taylor No. 15 Fresno State vs. No. 2 California (Lubbock, Texas) Cara Capuano & Stephen Bardo No. 12 Gonzaga vs. No. 5 Iowa State (Spokane, Wash.) Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of 4 p.m.	First Round No. 12 Kansas vs. No. 5 Colorado (Boulder, Colo.) No. 11 Chattanooga vs. No. 6 Nebraska (College Station, Texas) No. 10 USF vs. No. 7 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas) No. 13 Montana vs. No. 4 Georgia (Spokane, Wash.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
Sun, Mar 24	Noon	First Round No. 11 West Virginia vs. No. 6 Delaware (Newark, Del.) Pam Ward & Rebecca Lobo No. 15 Hampton vs. No. 2 Duke (Durham, N.C.) Joe Davis & Deb Antonelli No. 13 Liberty vs. No. 4 Purdue (Louisville, Ky.) Melissa Lee & Brooke WeisbrodNo. 15 Navy vs. No. 2 Kentucky (Queens, N.Y.)^ Bob Picozzi & Rosalyn Gold-Onwude	ESPN2 / ESPN3ESPNU / WatchESPN
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of Noon	First Round No. 14 Albany vs. No. 3 North Carolina (Newark, Del.)No. 10 DePaul vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State (Durham, N.C.) No. 12 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 5 Louisville (Louisville, Ky.) No. 10 St. John’s vs. No. 7 Dayton (Queens, N.Y.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	5 p.m.	First Round No. 14 Cal Poly vs. No. 3 Penn State (Baton Rouge, La.) Tom Hart & Krista Blunk No. 16 UT Martin vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (Iowa City, Iowa) Holly Rowe & Brenda VanLengen No. 16 Tulsa vs. No. 1 Stanford (Stanford, Calif.) Dave Pasch & Mary MurphyNo. 9 Princeton vs. No. 8 Florida State (Waco, Texas) Beth Mowins & Stephanie White	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	Approx. 30 minutes after end of 5 p.m.	First Round No. 11 Green Bay vs. No. 6 LSU (Baton Rouge, La.) No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 8 Miami (Fla.) (Iowa City, Iowa) No. 9 Villanova vs. No. 8 Michigan (Stanford, Calif.) No. 16 Prairie View vs. No. 1 Baylor (Waco, Texas)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
Mon, Mar 25	7 p.m.	Second Round (College Park, Md., Columbus, Ohio, Knoxville, Tenn., Storrs, Conn.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Second Round (Boulder, Colo., College Station, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, Spokane, Wash.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
Tue, Mar 26	7 p.m.	Second Round (Newark, Del., Durham, N.C., Louisville, Ky., Queens, N.Y.)	ESPN2 / ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Second Round (Baton Rouge, La., Iowa City, Iowa, Stanford, Calif., Waco, Texas)