BTN Men’s and Women’s hoops coverage begins with Media Day

Thursday?s Big Ten Basketball Media Day signals the arrival of hoops season on the Big Ten Network. With media day coverage, a full lineup of basketball games and nightly studio coverage, BTN is the college sports fan?s home for Big Ten basketball.

Thursday?s basketball media day coverage, B1G Basketball Media Day: 2015-2016 hosted by Rick Pizzo, runs from 9 a.m. ET to 11 a.m. ET and will feature the media availability of each men?s basketball coach, beginning with Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) at 9 a.m. ET. The women?s basketball coaches? press conferences will run concurrently, beginning with Matt Bollant (Illinois) at 9 a.m. ET, and can be seen on BTN2Go.

BTN studio shows will feature an experienced group of analysts that include former Northwestern forward/center Shon Morris; Jon Crispin, a Penn State standout; and Howard Moore, former head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago and assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin from 2005-2010. Morris and Crispin will also lead a team of talented game analysts that includes Dan Bonner, Stephen Bardo, Bob Wenzel and Stephanie White, who will be on three men?s basketball games this season. New play-by-by announcer Jeff Levering of the Milwaukee Brewers joins an established crew of Brian Anderson, Dave Revsine, Kevin Kugler and Cory Provus.

In addition to White and Lisa Byington, the Network?s lead play-by-play voice for women?s basketball, BTN also returns a strong cast of women?s basketball analysts, including Debbie Antonelli, Christy Winters Scott, Vera Jones, Katie Smith, Shelley Till, Brenda Van Lengen and Mary Murphy.

The network?s season-long coverage includes a number of studio shows which return in January:

? Big Ten Basketball Report - Presented by BMW, the Basketball Report airs weekly with analysts Crispin, Morris and Dick ?Hoops? Weiss, former longtime New York Daily News sports columnist and member of the College Basketball Writers? Hall of Fame.
? Big Ten Basketball & Beyond - National news from a Big Ten perspective, airing Sunday nights with Revsine, Morris, Crispin and the Sporting News? Mike DeCourcy.
? BTN Live - Roundtable discussion and analysis Monday through Friday at 6 PM ET with hosts Revsine, Pizzo and Mike Hall and rotating analysts including Moore, Crispin and Morris.
? Big Ten Tip-Off Show - Airing prior to Super Wednesday and on weekends. Big Ten Tip-Off Show is presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.
? The Finale - Highlights and analysis following the conclusion of the last Big Ten basketball game on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
? Women?s Sports Report - Airing Monday nights with hosts Lisa Byington and Taylor Rooks alongside analyst Brooke Weisbrod.

Also returning in January are BTN?s signature series, The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2015, and A Taste of Coaching, hosted this season by Steve Lavin, former UCLA and St. Johns head coach.

BTN will air more than 193 men?s and women?s basketball games this season. Men?s conference play tips off Dec. 29 featuring a pair of last season?s Final Four teams, as Purdue travels to Madison to take on Wisconsin and Michigan State visits Iowa City to square off with the Hawkeyes. BTN?s first televised women?s basketball game of the year comes on Dec. 2 when Syracuse takes on Maryland, which finished No. 4 last season after losing to Connecticut in the Final Four.