National Networks To Show Kentucky's Big Blue Madness on Friday, October 17
ESPN will tip off the 2014-15 college basketball season with Midnight Madness coverage from 11 campuses, including seven men’s programs in ESPN.com’s early top 25, on Friday, Oct. 17.
ESPNU Midnight Madness (6 p.m. ET) will combine studio and remote coverage to bring fans a three-hour start of the season celebration which involves six schools, including the 2014 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I National Champion UConn Huskies. The ESPNU special will also involve five more teams from the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship: Arizona, Florida, Gonzaga, Kentucky, and San Diego State. This is the ninth year ESPNU Midnight Madness has provided coverage of the annual college basketball tradition.
ESPN3 will also provide Midnight Madness coverage on Friday, Oct. 17, carrying six college basketball programs’ Midnight Madness celebrations in their entirety. In addition to UConn’s “First Night” at 7 p.m., ESPN3 will have Harvard’s “Crimson Madness” (6 p.m.), Mercer’s “Mercer Madness” (6:10 p.m.), Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” (7 p.m.), NC State’s “Throwback with the Pack” (8 p.m.) and Florida Gulf Coast’s “Dunk City after Dark” (9 p.m.). A week prior, ESPN3 will also carry Kansas’ “Late Night in the Phog” on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
SEC Network’s SEC Now (9 p.m.) will show portions of Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness”. ESPNU Midnight Madness will re-air at midnight on Friday, Oct. 17, and all of ESPN3’s content is available on-demand.
ESPN broadcasters at the Big Blue Madness in Lexington will be Sean Farnham (former UCLA basketball player) and Kara Lawson (former Tennessee standout, WNBA Champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist) along with Dave O’Brien (host).
