ESPN Announces 2012-13 Women's College Basketball Schedule

Related: ESPN, sports

ESPN's 2012-13 women's college basketball regular-season schedule includes a record-high 130 games, in addition to ESPN FULL COURT's coverage, increasing the total number of matchups to approximately 260 games this season. ESPN networks will also have a full slate of women's conference tournament games during Championship Week Presented by DICKS's Sporting Goods and will continue to carry all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.

ESPN will be home to the Tennessee at Baylor game on Tuesday, Dec. 18 as part of Holiday Hoops presented by Kay Jewelers.

ESPN2 will offer 34 regular-season games, including the network's season-opening game featuring Kentucky at defending national champion Baylor in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic as part of the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will also be the home for: Jimmy V Women's Classic presented by Corona Extra on Monday, Dec. 3; Big Monday presented by Bud Light - starting January 21 through the first Monday in March; and Play 4Kay on Sunday and Monday, Feb. 17 and 18 - which also includes games on ESPNU and ESPN3.

ESPNU will televise 25 regular-season games, a slight increase from 23 a year ago. The 24-hour college sports network will host a rematch of the 2012 NCAA National Championship on Wednesday, Dec. 5 - showcasing Baylor at national runner-up Notre Dame at 7 p.m. To close out the year - on Saturday, Dec. 29, at 4 p.m. - 2012 Final Four participants Stanford and Connecticut will square-off on ESPNU. In addition, ESPNU will air two games as part of the annual Play 4Kay initiative on Sunday, Feb. 17 - a BIG EAST tilt featuring DePaul at Louisville at 1:30 p.m. and a Pac-12 matchup of Stanford at UCLA at 3:30 p.m.

ESPN3's exclusive coverage will more than triple this season housing 93 games, including a full schedule of ACC competition. Joining ESPNU's hefty Dec. 5 lineup - Delaware and national player of the year candidate Elena Delle Donne will be making its regular-season debut on ESPN3 when they travel to Rhode Island for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.

In addition, all live telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater, as well as exclusive games on ESPN3 - ESPN's live multi-screen sports network - will be available on computers at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app. WatchESPN is currently available in 40 million households nationwide to fans who receive their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Xfinity TV or Midcontinent Communications.

ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, will produce the BIG EAST Network (Saturday) and SEC Network (Sunday) games of the week.

Highlights:

· College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon - Tuesday, Nov. 13

For the fifth straight year, the State Farm Tip-Off Classic will again partake in the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, featuring Kentucky at defending national champion Baylor at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The 24 hours of basketball programming across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will include 16 live matchups - 15 men's and one women's - highlighted by a special one-hour College GameDay Covered by State Farm.

· Jimmy V Women's Classic presented by Corona Extra on ESPN2 - Monday, Dec. 3

ESPN, in conjunction with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, will stage and televise the 11th annual Jimmy V Women's Classic Presented by Corona Extra. Showcasing a potential top-five matchup - Maryland will face Connecticut in a first-ever meeting at 7 p.m., from the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. This year's premier women's event returns to the night before the Jimmy V Men's Classic from Madison Square Garden.

· Big Monday presented by Bud Light on ESPN2 - Every Monday from Jan. 21 - March 4

ESPN2's Big Monday presented by Bud Light schedule features 10 games over seven consecutive weeks, highlighted by three February doubleheaders, in the seventh year of the game-of-the-week series. The slate of games, all on ESPN2, tips off on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Monday, Jan 21. The Big Monday games will air at 7 p.m. and on the nights of doubleheaders during the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. windows.

· Play 4Kay on ESPN2 & ESPNU - Sunday and Monday, Feb. 12 & 13

ESPN will show an event-high 24 teams across ESPN2 and ESPNU Sunday, Feb. 17 and Monday, Feb. 18 as part of the Play 4Kay initiative - in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund(R), in partnership with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and The V Foundation, for women's cancer research. In its seventh year, Play4Kay will showcase eight regionalized games within two ESPN2 telecast windows on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The majority of the country will see the best action of the day with whip-around coverage between sites and updates from other games. In the 16 home markets of the competing teams, ESPN2 will start and remain primarily with the game of local interest. Also, as part of the initiative, are two full-national telecasts on ESPNU at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., plus two Big Monday Presented by Bud Light games on ESPN2 on Monday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

ESPN networks will again combine to showcase the week-long men's and women's conference tournaments during Championship Week Presented by DICKS's Sporting Goods from Friday, March 8-Sunday, March 17. The complete schedule will be announced at a later date.

ESPN will present the exclusive live announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field as part of Selection Monday on March 18 at 7 p.m., with ESPNU offering a bonus hour of coverage on the NCAA Women's' Basketball Selection Special Extended Coverage at 8 p.m. All 63 games of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will air on ESPN networks for the eighth consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN2 will present its telecasts in a whip-around format with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN3 will offer first- and second-round games in its entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN's coverage. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer first- and second-round games in its entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2's coverage. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2. The complete schedule will be announced at a later date.