'The Journey: Big Ten Football 2014' debuts 7 p.m. ET Wednesday

CHICAGO - Returning for its third season to provide fans with an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Big Ten and its key figures, BTN Originals debuts The Journey: Big Ten Football 2014 at 7 PM ET on Wednesday.

While Big Ten fans across the country gather each week to cheer on their favorite school, off-the-field stories like those captured by The Journey, BTN?s signature series, unite rivals and shed light on student-athletes and coaches fans otherwise wouldn?t see.

?The best part of The Journey is that each year, new characters emerge on the scene,? said Bill Friedman, coordinating producer of BTN Originals. ?Our talented and experienced team of producers and editors can?t wait to share the stories behind the most compelling student-athletes in the Big Ten.?

On the season premiere, The Journey team goes behind the scenes with Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah and his family. The youngest of nine children, Abdullah chose to return to Lincoln for his senior year and continue the family tradition of earning a college degree. Also included are Michigan State wide receiver Tony Lippett, a one-time cornerback for the Spartans who transitioned to offense and has emerged into one of the nation?s best wide receivers, and Indiana?s electric wide receiver Shane Wynn. Game highlights from Michigan State at Indiana and the primetime showdown between Nebraska and Northwestern will show all three in action.

In addition to being BTN?s highest-rated original program, The Journey has captured a number of prestigious awards over the past few years, including two National Sports Emmy Nominations. Last week, The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2014 won Best Sports Show in the most recent Cablefax program awards, an honor the The Journey:  Big Ten Football 2012 won last year.

For information on upcoming episodes, please go to BTN.com/Journey. Fans can also follow the Journey crew on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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 1,000 events across all platforms, 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. 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 60 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!, and approximately 300 additional video providers across North America. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.

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