BTN.com staff, August 17, 2011
CHICAGO - BTN today revealed its game broadcast teams and studio talent for the 2011 football season. The network?s football schedule will feature more than 40 games, extensive pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage on Saturdays and new studio shows every weeknight at 7 PM ET.
BTN?s weekly broadcast teams for football telecasts include Eric Collins (play-by-play), Chris Martin (analyst) and Dionne Miller (sidelines); Tom Hart (play-by-play), Derek Rackley (analyst) and Lisa Byington (sidelines); Matt Devlin (play-by-play), Glen Mason (analyst) and Rebecca Haarlow (sidelines).
For the fifth straight year, Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith will anchor the network?s game-day studio coverage on Big Ten Football Saturday, and will contribute to additional studio shows during the week.
?We have great chemistry among our returning talent, and we?re also thrilled to add some people who are new to the network, but are already household names to Big Ten fans,? BTN President Mark Silverman said.
Former Michigan offensive lineman Jon Jansen, former Michigan State quarterback Tony Banks, former Nebraska running back Ahman Green and former Purdue coach Joe Tiller will make their BTN debuts this fall.
Jansen, who will work as a studio and game analyst for BTN, was an All-American offensive lineman for Michigan and a member of the Wolverines? 1997 national championship team.
Banks, who will work as a studio and sideline analyst for BTN, finished his Michigan State career as one of the school?s the top five in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage.
Green, who will serve as a sideline analyst for selected telecasts, is the second-leading rusher in Nebraska football history and was a key figure on the Huskers? 1995 and 1997 national championship teams.
Tiller, who will work as a game analyst on selected telecasts, led Purdue to 10 bowl games including the 2001 Rose Bowl. His high-scoring, ?basketball on grass? style of offense is credited with introducing the spread offense in the Big Ten.
Additional new faces on BTN game telecasts and studio shows will include Kelly Stouffer, a Nebraska native and former first-round NFL draft pick; Kevin Kugler, a top play-by-play voice on Westwood One?s national radio coverage of the NFL, college football and the Final Four; Russ Lande, a former Cleveland Browns scout; and Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated national college football writer.
Rick Pizzo and Mike Hall, who have been with the network since it launched in 2007, are back as studio hosts. Also returning this fall are studio analysts Rosevelt Colvin, Tim Doyle, Teddy Greenstein and Brandon Williams, play-by-play announcers Wayne Larrivee and Tom Werme, game analyst Danan Hughes, and sideline reporters Stacy Paetz and Jay Wilson.
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. Events include football, men?s and women?s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Championship events; studio shows; coaches? 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 80 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 updated information, go to http://www.BTN.com.