TV schedule starts with a bang

There will be more women’s basketball on television this season. Thanks to the startup of networks such as the Big Ten Network and the Mountain West Network, at least 300 games will be telecast this year. Unfortunately, the Big Ten appears to be way down this season, with no team ranked in the top 15, and the Mountain West Network has not yet been picked up by either Dish Network or DirecTV.

The ESPN Full Court package will once again have full coverage of the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, but unless you are a fan of Oklahoma, Oregon, or Kentucky the regular season coverage is lacking. The package will also have a handful of games from the Big East and the America East, but it is clearly a men’s basketball package with a few women’s games thrown in.

The season starts with some blockbuster games on Sunday, however, headlined by three matchups of top 12 teams on ESPN and ESPN2. The ACC and the Pac-10 will be on display as the top two teams from each conference will face stern tests. It all starts at 2:30 p.m. (all times are Eastern) with #12 Arizona State traveling to Chapel Hill to take on #8 North Carolina in the first game of a doubleheader. For the Sun Devils, the key question is whether their junior transfers, Sybil Dosty from Tennessee and Lauren Lacey from Minnesota, can provide quality post play. They will have to take on Erlana Larkins, one of the top forwards in the country.

Staying in Chapel Hill, but moving to ESPN2, #4 Maryland will take on #6 Oklahoma at 5 p.m. Maryland may have the most athletic team in the country, with three players on the list of candidates for the Wade Trophy: Crystal Langhorne, Laura Harper, and Marissa Coleman. Oklahoma has only one, but that one is Courtney Paris.

Moving up I-95 and back to ESPN, #7 Stanford ventures into the RAC to take on last year’s runnerup, #3 Rutgers. Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel lead the Cardinal, but their key player may be point guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude who missed all of last season with an ACL tear. Rutgers returns Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn.

Saturday, Nov. 10

8 p.m.: San Jose State @ Oregon -- ESPN Full Court

Sunday, Nov. 11

2:30 p.m.: Arizona State @ North Carolina -- ESPN
3 p.m.: Chattanooga @ Tennessee -- TSO
4 p.m.: Pittsburgh @ Penn State -- Big 10
5 p.m.: Maryland vs. Oklahoma -- ESPN2
6 p.m.: Duke @ Denver -- FSRM
7:30 p.m.: National preview show -- ESPNU
8 p.m.: Stanford @ Rutgers -- ESPN

Thursday, Nov. 15

7 p.m.: Duke @ South Florida -- ESPNU
9 p.m.: Kansas State @ Wyoming -- Mountain West
9 p.m.: Oklahoma vs. Tennessee -- ESPNU

Network (DirecTV, Dish)

ALTS -- Altitude Sports (644, 440)
Big 10 – Big 10 Network (220, 439)
BYU -- Brigham Young (374, 9397)
CBS -- CBS Network
CSC -- Comcast Sports Chicago (640, 429)
CSMA -- Comcast Sports Midatlantic (629, 424)
CSTV -- College Sports TV (610,152)
CSW -- Comcast Sports West (656, 409)
ESPN -- ESPN (206, 140)
ESPN2 -- ESPN 2 (209, 144)
ESPU -- ESPNUNV (609, 148)
ESPNFC -- ESPN Full Court (780+, 560+)
FOXB -- Fox Sports Bay Area (654, 419)
FOXD -- Fox Sports Detroit (636, 430)
FSAZ -- Fox Sports Arizona (649, 415)
FSFL -- Fox Sports Florida (634, 423)
FSMW -- Fox Sports Midwest (647, 418)
FSN -- Fox Sports Net North (641, 436)
FSNE -- Fox Sports New England (620, 435)
FSNP -- Fox Sports Pittsburgh (628, 428)
FSNW -- Fox Sports Northwest (651, 426)
FSNY -- Fox Sports New York (624, 413)
FSRM -- Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (645, 414)
FSSW -- Fox Sports Southwest (643, 416)
FSW -- Fox Sports West (L.A.) (652, 417)
FSW2 -- Fox Sports West 2 (653, 411)
FSWD -- Fox Sports World (613, 149)
FXCN -- Fox Sports Cincinnati (638, 427)
FXOH -- Fox Sports Ohio (637, 425)
FXSS -- Fox Sports South (630, 420)
MASN -- Mid-Atlantic Sports Net (626, 424)
MSG -- Madison Square Garden (621, 412)
NESN -- New England Sports Net (623, 434)
SNY -- SportsNet New York (625, 438)
SUN -- Sunshine Network (632, 422)
TSO -- Sports South (631, 437)
YES -- YES Network (622)