Viewers of Sunday’s Big Ten matchup between Illinois and Penn State were treated to some unexpected and unusual audio early in the second half. Either someone on the production side at Big Ten Network was having some fun and expressing love for 1980s British New Wave music or hit the wrong button.
During a stretch of play, Depeche Mode’s 1983 song “Get the Balance Right” played over the game telecast instead of play-by-play from the BTN announcing team or even audio from the Bryce Jordan Center. CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli recorded some of this phenomenon and thankfully posted it to Twitter.
https://twitter.com/TomFornelli/status/706544185118162944
Just in case you’re skeptical, Fornelli clarified that he played actual audio from the telecast and didn’t dub any music over it.
That was the actual BTN broadcast. I did not supply the music.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) March 6, 2016
Fans of 1980s synth-pop may have appreciated the apparent mistake, and those not paying close attention to the telecast were surely compelled to look up and see what was going on. Did BTN suddenly become VH1? Quite a few viewers and fans noticed the audio hiccup and voiced their confusion on Twitter.
am I hallucinating this music @BigTenNetwork
— Sam Cooper (@SamDCooper) March 6, 2016
WHAT IS HAPPENING ON BIG TEN NETWORK
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 6, 2016
What…what…what is going on @BigTenNetwork???
— Legion Of Blue (@LegionOfBluePSU) March 6, 2016
@BigTenNetwork Are you guys taking any requests at the moment?
— Black Shoe Diaries (@BSDtweet) March 6, 2016
Black Shoe Diaries might be on to something, suggesting a potentially exciting new feature for BTN college basketball telecasts. The network could take requests for songs that were hits before any of the players on the court were born and play them at random times during the game. Maybe certain games could follow a particular theme. New wave, dance pop, R&B, alternative, maybe some rap too.
Or maybe this was just a way to spice up a late-season game between two lower-tier teams in the Big Ten. Penn State was 6-11 going into Sunday’s game, while Illinois was 5-12. Sure, the Nittany Lions won in double overtime, 86-79, but there’s now something far more interesting about that game worth talking about.
But if BTN wants to stick with the Depeche Mode accompaniment, maybe producers could pick something a bit more upbeat next time around? An ad campaign could even be built around “Just Can’t Get Enough.”
