ESPN announces women's basketball coverage for 2018-'19 season

October 11, 2018 -- 5:36 p.m.

ESPN’s extensive coverage of women's college basketball continues this season, with more than 135 matchups across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and Longhorn Network, with an additional 1,500 games on ESPN3, SEC Network +, ACC Network Extra, and ESPN+. Throughout the regular season, more than 5,000 college basketball matchups will be available across ESPN platforms. Games that will be available on ESPN+ will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Highlights

• ESPN – will showcase up to 12 matchups, beginning with Maryland facing South Carolina Sunday, November 18, at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. The Jimmy V Women’s Classic will also be televised on ESPN (December 2) featuring UConn at Notre Dame
• ESPN2 – home for Big Monday matchups; will air nearly 40 games during the regular season, including ‘Showdown on the Rez’ featuring Baylor and Arizona State Sunday, November 11
• ESPNU – the college network will air a total of 16 matchups
• SEC Network – more than 60 matchups featuring key in-conference games, the SEC / Big 12 Challenge, We Back Pat and early rounds of the SEC Tournament
• Longhorn Network – the 24-hour network devoted to The University of Texas will televise one exhibition game (vs. West Texas A&M) and 11 home games, including six Big 12 conference matchups

Franchise programming

• Holiday Hoops – including South Carolina at Purdue (Sunday, December 16) and Mississippi State at Oregon (Sunday, December 18)
• Big Monday – the seven-week series, in its 13th season, with feature a top matchup nearly every week on ESPN2 beginning January 14, with Iowa facing Minnesota, led by new head coach Lindsay Whalen. The Big Monday slate will include Baylor at Texas (February 4), South Carolina at UConn (February 11) and Oregon at Oregon State (February 18)
• Thursday Night Showcase – several primetime games on ESPN or ESPN2, including UConn at Baylor (January 3), Louisville at Notre Dame (January 10), Notre Dame at Tennessee (January 24) and UConn at Louisville (January 31)

Events

• Jimmy V Women’s Classic – the annual event, in its 17th year, with UConn facing Notre Dame on Sunday, December 2. The matchup will be a faceoff between two Hall of Fame coaches – Geno Auriemma and Muffet McGraw – in a storied rivalry and a rematch of last year's Women’s Final Four semifinal, when UConn lost to reigning national champion Notre Dame at the buzzer
• We Back Pat – ESPN will once again support the SEC's “We Back Pat” initiative honoring the late Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt will include several matchups across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network. Programming tips off with Sunday, January 20, with LSU-Alabama on SEC Network, and culminates with a day-long slate on Sunday, January 27
• Play4Kay – 13th annual Play 4Kay – highlighting the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, in partnership with the V Foundation and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) – will air a number of games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU on Sunday, February 17 and Monday, February 18
• Big 12 / SEC Challenge – will feature four games on SEC Network (Kansas at LSU, TCU at Ole Miss, Texas Tech at Florida, Oklahoma at Auburn) and one matchup on ESPN2 (Baylor at South Carolina)

Top 16 Seeds Reveal

ESPN will reveal the NCAA Top 16 Seeds, determined by the NCAA Division I women's basketball championship sport committee, during Big Monday matchups. The reveals will take place, February 11, during halftime of South Carolina-UConn, and the UConn-USF game on March 4. The entire 64-team field for the 2019 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will be announced during the Selection Special Monday, March 18.

ESPN: Home of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

Beginning Friday, March 22, every round of the championship will be carried on ESPN or ESPN2. The Women’s Final Four will be live from Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL, Friday, April 5, and Sunday, April 7.

espnW

Charlie Creme, Graham Hays and Mechelle Voepel will continue to provide in-depth stories, profiles and game coverage this season.

espnW’s season preview will launch November 5:

• Preseason Top 25 rankings
• Top 25 player countdown
• Profiles of defending NCAA champion Notre Dame, Katie Lou Samuelson and UConn, Sabrina Ionescu and Oregon, and Asia Durr and Louisville, among others

Additionally, espnW will continue to name its national player of the week each Monday. Hays will also continue to produce his comprehensive bi-weekly mid-major top 10 poll.

Creme’s women's bracketology will debut in December and turn into weekly updates starting in January.

Games aired on an ESPN network will also be available through the ESPN App, accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

Click here to see the detailed programming schedule.

CLICK HERE for more NCAAW news and info.