ESPN to Present Over 20 Women's Conference Championships During 2017 Champ Week

By: Mar. 01, 2017
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ESPN's 2017 Champ Week tips off Wednesday, March 1, and will feature a record-165 women's basketball games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN3. With more than 20 conferences playing on television and digital platforms, ESPN leads the industry in WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL postseason coverage. Thirteen Division I conference champions will be crowned on one of ESPN's television networks, with another eight competing for a conference title on ESPN3.

The Champ Week schedule includes a total of 336 men's and women's basketball games - including 297 exclusive contests - across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN3 from 26 Division I conferences.

Women's Champ Week Highlights

  • Five conference champions to be crowned on ESPN2
    • Four champions will punch their ticket to the NCAA Women's Championship on Sunday, March 5: ACC (1 p.m.), SEC (3 p.m.), Big Ten (Mar. 5, 7 p.m.), Pac-12 (9 p.m.)
    • The American title game will be played on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m. The entire championship will be available exclusively on an ESPN network, with the first and quarterfinal rounds on ESPN3 and semifinals on ESPN2.
  • Total of 21 women's title games on ESPN networks, including 13 Division I conferences
  • America East, Atlantic-10, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, Northeast, Summit League, and West Coast conference title games will all be played on ESPNU
  • ACC and SEC trophy presentations will be available following the championship title games on ACC Network Extra and SEC Network +, respectively

Studio

  • Analyst Andy Katz will join host Chris Cotter on Saturday, March 4, for the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal from ESPN's Bristol studios
  • Host Maria Taylor and analysts Rebecca Lobo and Andy Landers will be joined by Charlie Creme for coverage of several tournaments on ESPN2, including the AAC, ACC, SEC, and Pac-12 (Sunday, March 5)
  • Taylor and Landers will be in studio for Monday's conference matchups, including the American title game

SEC Network Coverage

  • The first, second and quarterfinal rounds of the tournament will be televised on SEC Network
  • SEC Now, hosted by Maria Taylor with analysts Landers and Nell Fortner, will provide pre-game, halftime and post-game insights on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from Greenville, S.C.
  • Analyst Tamika Catchings and play-by-play Courtney Lyle will both make their tournament commentating debut, after joining the network earlier this year; Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors and Steffi Sorensen will call evening games during the week, as well as the semifinals and championship game

Champ Week Music Chiddy Bang recorded a cover of "Gonna Make You Sweat" for ESPN's Champ Week coverage, plus Sage the Gemini presents a special ESPN edit of "Now and Later".

espnW espnW will provide coverage of Champ Week from start to finish, which will include daily BRACKETOLOGY updates from Creme. Writers will be on-site at several conference tournaments-Mechelle Voepel (Big 12 & SEC), Michelle Smith (Pac-12) and Vicki Friedman (ACC). For stories and updates, visit espnw.com and follow @espnW/@ESPN_WomenHoop.

NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Celebrating its 30th year, ESPN's coverage of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship begins Friday, March 17, with every round of the championship airing on ESPN or ESPN2. All teams participating in the championship will be announced during the NCAA Women's Selection Special Presented by Capital One on Monday, Mar. 13 (7 p.m., ESPN).

The Women's Final Four will be live from American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, March 31, and Sunday, April 2.



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