10-14-2018, 02:42 PM
(10-14-2018, 08:52 AM)mbdude Wrote: https://espnmediazone.com/us/press-relea...-coverage/
I see that last year's #7 UCLA is the highest ranked team skunked by ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU. (As before, I'm ignoring the limited distribution networks (SEC, Longhorn, PAC-12).)
The PAC-12 is the most under-scheduled when compared to last year's rankings.
While ESPN is a private company and can schedule whomever they want, their national coverage influences what teams & individuals get press coverage, influencing the rankings & seedings, and affecting the probability of advancement in the NCAA tournament.
Over-scheduled, relative to last year's results (IMO): Tennessee, South Carolina, South Florida, Baylor, Missouri, Maryland
Under-scheduled: UCLA, Oregon State, Ohio State. Duke, Stanford, Central Michigan, Buffalo are also under-scheduled.
Number of games are scheduled to be shown by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU by last year's national ranking. (In parens, number of games, by the higher ranked team)
1: 7 (7) Notre Dame ACC
2: 3 (3) Miss St SEC
3: 7 (6) UConn AAC
4: 3 (1) Louisville ACC
5: 4 (3) Oregon PAC-12
6: 8 (6) South Carolina SEC
7: 0 (0) UCLA PAC-12
8: 1 (0) Oregon St PAC-12
9: 4 (2) Baylor Big 12
10: 3 (2) Texas Big 12
11: 3 (3) Texas A&M SEC
12: 1 (1) Duke ACC
13: 1 (0) Stanford PAC-12
14: 2 (1) Florida St ACC
15: 0 (0) Ohio St Big Ten
16: 2 (1) NC State ACC
17: 8 (4) Tennessee SEC
18: 3 (2) Maryland Big Ten
19: 4 (2) Georgia SEC
20: 0 (0) Central Michigan MAC
21: 0 (0) Buffalo MAC
22: 3 (0) Missouri SEC
23: 0 (0) DePaul Big East
24: 4 (2) South Florida AAC
25: 0 (0) Florida Gulf Coast Atlantic Sun
team-appearances: Conference:teams in top 26 (rankings); total games with one team + two teams = total team-appearances; Distinct schools/Total in conf
sorted by team-appearances
36: SEC: 6 (2,6,11,17,19,22); Games: 8x1 + 14x2 = 36; 10/14
20: ACC: 5 (1,4,12,14,16); Games: 4x1 + 8x2 = 20; 8/15
27: AAC: 2 (3,24); Games 5x1 + 11x2 = 27 ; 9/12
16: Big Ten: 2 (15,18); Games: 4x1 + 6x2 = 16; 8/14
10: Big 12: 2 (9,10); Games: 4x1 + 3x2 = 10; 5/10
7: PAC-12: 5 (5,7,8,13); Games: 3x1 + 2x2 = 7; 4/12
4: Atlantic 10: 0(); Games: 0x1+ 2x2 = 4; 3/14
2: MAAC:0(); Games: 0x1 + 1x2 = 2; 2/11
2: OVC: 0(); Games: 0x1 + 1x2 = 2; 2/12
0:MAC: 2(20,21); Games: 0x1 + 0x2 = 0; 0/12
0: Big East 1(23): Games: 0x1 + 0x2 = 0; 0/10
0: Atlantic Sun: 1(25); Games: 0x1 + 0x2 = 0; 0/9
The under-representation of the PAC-12 might not be a result of ESPN's preferences. It may be that the PAC-12 chose to show premium games on the relatively limited distribution PAC-12 network, leaving ESPN only less interesting games.
For Stanford, its game against last year's #21 Buffalo is not televised. Nor are its games against CSUN, Utah, Arizona (live stream only). UCLA has many games that won't be televised, including four PAC-12 games (1 is streamed). Oregon State has 3 conference games that won't be televised. As with many top teams, these teams have interesting games scheduled in the preseason at tournaments that won't be televised.
The other ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU televised games (not including a 2018 top-25 ranked team) are:
BIG10 Iowa at BIG10 Michigan State
AAC SMU at AAC Cincinnati
Big_12 TCU at Big_12 Oklahoma State
MAAC Quinnipiac at MAAC Marist
OVC Morehead State at OVC Belmont
AAC Cincinnati at AAC UCF
BIG10 Iowa at BIG10 Minnesota
AAC Houston at AAC Wichita State
BIG10 Minnesota at BIG10 Nebraska
A10 Saint Joseph’s at A10 Dayton
SEC Florida at SEC Kentucky
AAC Wichita State at AAC Cincinnati
A10 George Washington at A10 Dayton
AAC Cincinnati at AAC Temple
BIG10 Michigan at BIG10 Michigan State
AAC Houston at AAC Memphis