BTN Communications, February 18, 2014

CHICAGO - For the seventh consecutive year, BTN will televise seven winter Big Ten Championships, including wrestling, men?s and women?s swimming & diving, men?s and women?s indoor track & field and men?s and women?s gymnastics.

Among BTN?s expert analysts for the upcoming Big Ten winter championships are three former Olympians, including gymnasts Shawn Johnson and John Roethlisberger, diver David Boudia and Rowdy Gaines, a World Champion swimmer.

Coverage begins at 10:30 AM ET on Sunday, Feb. 23, with the Big Ten Women?s Swimming & Diving Championships from Minnesota. The Big Ten Men?s Swimming & Diving Championships will air at 10:30 AM ET on Sunday, March 2, from Michigan.

Coverage continues at 10:30 AM ET on Saturday, March 8, with the Big Ten Men?s and Women?s Indoor Track & Field Championships. Both the men?s and women?s events will take place at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, OH.

BTN?s coverage of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships will be carried live at 2 PM ET on Sunday, March 9, from Wisconsin.

On Saturday, March 22, BTN will televise the first session of the Big Ten Women?s Gymnastics Championships live at Noon ET, followed by the second session live at 5 PM ET. Penn State will host the women?s event. The network will also have live coverage of the Big Ten Men?s Gymnastics Championships at 7 PM ET on Friday, March 28, and at 5 PM ET on Saturday, March 29. The men?s event will take place at Nebraska.

The Big Ten currently has 43 teams ranked in the top 25 nationally in Olympic sports programs for the winter season, including in men?s gymnastics (No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Iowa, No. 11 Nebraska), women?s gymnastics (No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 14 Illinois, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 20 Penn State, No. 23 Penn State), men?s swimming & diving (No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 7 Indiana, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 23 Purdue, No. 24 Penn State), women?s swimming & diving (No. 11 Indiana, No 13. Minnesota, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 18 Purdue, No. 19 Penn State, No. 20 Michigan, No. 25 Wisconsin), men?s indoor track & field (No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 6 Penn State, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 23 Ohio State), women?s indoor track & field (No. 10 Penn State, No. 15 Purdue, No. 25 Michigan) and wrestling (No. 1 Minnesota No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Iowa, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 18 Illinois, No. 23 Northwestern, No. 24 Purdue).

The complete television schedule for the Big Ten Winter Championships appears below. For more information, go to www.btn.com or www.bigten.org.

2014 BTN Winter Championships Schedule:

Sport

Dates

Site

Air Date and Time (ET)

Women's Swimming & Diving

February 19 – 22

Minnesota

Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10:30 AM

Men's Swimming & Diving

February 26 - March 1

Michigan

Sunday, March 2 at 10:30 AM

Indoor Track & Field

February 28- March 1

Geneva, OH

Saturday March 8 at 10:30 AM

Wrestling

March 8 – 9

Wisconsin

Sunday, March 9 at 2 PM (LIVE)

Women's Gymnastics

March 22

Penn State

Saturday, March 22 at Noon (LIVE)

Saturday, March 22 at 5 PM (LIVE)

Men's Gymnastics

March 28 – 29

Nebraska

Friday, March 28 at 7 PM (LIVE)

Saturday, March 29 at 5 PM (LIVE)

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 in more than 52 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors, such as DIRECTV, DISH, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Charter Communications, Comcast Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Mediacom, RCN, WOW!, Rogers Cable, Shaw and Shaw Direct (Canada) and approximately 300 additional video providers across North America. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.