BTN/BTN2Go to televise nine Spring Championships in May

CHICAGO - The Big Ten Network is the home for complete coverage of Big Ten spring championships in May, televising events in the sports of baseball, softball, men?s and women?s golf, rowing, men?s and women?s tennis and men?s and women?s outdoor track and field. In all, BTN will televise more than 50 hours of coverage, including the entire Big Ten Baseball Tournament.

Broadcast coverage of the Big Ten?s spring championships begins at 6 PM ET on Monday, May 6, with the Big Ten Women?s Tennis Tournament from Indiana, followed by the Big Ten Men?s Tennis Tournament at 7 p.m. ET hosted by Ohio State. The Illinois men?s and Purdue women?s teams look to defend their Big Ten Tournament crowns from a year ago.

The Big Ten Women?s Golf Championships will air at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 8, with the Big Ten Men?s Golf Championships airing at noon on Sunday, May 12. Both will be televised from French Lick, IN. The Illinois men?s team and Michigan State women?s team hope to defend their titles from 2012.

At 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 19, the network will provide coverage of the Big Ten Men?s and Women?s Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Ohio State. The Wisconsin men?s and Ohio State women?s teams will look to defend their 2012 titles.

At 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 26, BTN will televise the Big Ten Rowing Championships from Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, as the Wolverines aim to defend their 2012 Big Ten crown.

The Big Ten Softball Tournament returns for the first time since 2008, and BTN will provide live coverage of the semifinals and championship game from Nebraska. Coverage of the semifinals begins at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 11. The Big Ten Softball Championship game will air at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 12.

For the fifth straight year, BTN will televise live every game of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. The tournament will take place May 22-25, with a game on May 26 if necessary, at Target Field, home of Major League Baseball?s Minnesota Twins. Coverage begins with opening-round games at noon and approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 22. Purdue won the tournament title last year, earning the Big Ten?s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship. In addition, a nightly episode of the Big Ten Diamond Report will air following the last game of the day throughout the tournament. Rick Pizzo and Mike Hall will host the shows, along with analyst Cal Eldred.

In the latest polls, the Big Ten has nationally ranked teams in the sports of baseball (No. 19 Indiana), softball (No. 9 Michigan and No. 18 Nebraska), men?s golf (No. 28 Illinois and No. 34 Northwestern), women?s golf (No. 10 Purdue, No. 19 Northwestern, No. 27 Michigan State, No. 42 Penn State and No. 47 Ohio State), men?s tennis (No. 5 Ohio State, No. 26 Michigan, No. 31 Illinois, No. 32 Minnesota, No. 34 Northwestern and No. 45 Michigan State), women?s tennis (No. 6 Michigan, No. 14 Nebraska, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 27 Purdue, No. 34 Indiana, No. 43 Penn State and No. 47 Illinois), men?s track and field (No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 15 Penn State, No. 19 Indiana, No. 20 Nebraska and No. 24 Minnesota), women?s track and field (No. 18 Illinois, No. 22 Nebraska and No. 25 Penn State) and rowing (No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan and No. 15 Wisconsin).

The complete television schedule for the 2013 Big Ten Spring Championships and Tournaments appears below. For more information on these events, go to www.BTN.com or www.bigten.org.

2013 Big Ten Network Spring Championships/Tournament Schedule:

2013 Big Ten Softball Tournament Schedule: 

2013 Big Ten Baseball Tournament Schedule:

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go is the 24/7 simulcast of BTN that delivers live and on-demand programming via the internet, smartphones and tablets to customers of participating video providers. Events include football, men?s and women?s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events; studio shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women?s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation?s finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 90 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.

About the Big Ten: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes? lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions sponsor more than 300 teams competing for championships in 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. Big Ten universities provide in excess of $136 million in athletic scholarship aid to more than 8,200 men and women student-athletes, the most of any conference. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.