NCAA Selects Four SAC Basketball Games For Broadband Package

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA and College Sports Television (CSTV) announced the slate of Division II basketball webcasts for 2008, and two South Atlantic Conference doubleheaders will be featured as part of the package.

The February 9 doubleheader between Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne has been selected as one of two South Atlantic Conference matchups to be webcast this season. The other SAC matchup to be webcast this season will be Tusculum's visit to Carson-Newman on February 16.

Newberry College has been one of the most featured institutions in the two years of the Division II webcasting program. Four Indians football games have been webcast since the program's inception, and the Lenoir-Rhyne twinbill will be the second Newberry basketball doubleheader to be webcast. This will mark the sixth date and the seventh and eighth Newberry contests to be webcast by CSTV.

On January 13, 2007, the Newberry home doubleheader against Lincoln Memorial University was webcast, with the Lady Indians prevailing, 53-49, to start the day. The Indian men lost a thrilling double overtime contest to the Railsplitters, 79-77.

The broadband schedule, a product of Division II's partnership with CSTV, runs for eight consecutive Saturdays from January 12 through March 1 beginning with the following four games January 12 (all times Eastern): North Dakota at Minnesota State Mankato (7 p.m.); Charleston (West Virginia) at West Liberty State (2 p.m.); Tampa at Florida Tech (2 p.m.); and Ferris State at Grand Valley State (6 p.m.). All those are doubleheader games featuring both men's and women's matchups.

The broadband package continues January 19 with four more doubleheaders, including Cameron at Central Oklahoma at 3 p.m. Each Division II conference has at least one game in the broadband slate.

"The broadband element is a significant part of connecting with the Division II community on a more personal level by allowing fans to consume even more games than are televised on TV," said CSTV Executive Vice President Tim Pernetti. "We built our company around the fact that with technology, fans will connect to their teams and consume their content differently than before. In providing the content on different platforms of media, we give the fans the option to consume it in the way that makes the most sense for them and on the schedule that makes the most sense for them."

In addition to the broadband schedule in basketball, CSTV is broadcasting three men's and three women's games live. That schedule begins with the Drury women visiting Indianapolis January 26 at noon Eastern. The other women's games are Bridgeport at New Haven February 2 at noon and Johnson C. Smith at Shaw February 16, also at noon.

The three men's TV games (all at noon Eastern) are Holy Family at Philadelphia University February 9, Henderson State at Harding February 23 and Mount Olive at defending Division II champion Barton March 1.

The TV games also are streamed live on www.NCAAsports.com/dii. CSTV also will televise the semifinals of the 2008 Division II Men's Basketball Championship March 27.

This is the second year of the Division II/CSTV regular-season and broadband package. In addition to the six regular-season basketball games and national semifinals, the package includes four regular-season football games and several Division II championship finals in men's and women's soccer, women's lacrosse, softball, and baseball. CSTV also provided several football games this fall via broadband.