One of the centerpiece events of Fox's all-encompassing coverage Big East coverage is New Year's Eve, in which all 10 conference programs will play over a 12-hour span on Fox Sports 1. It's an impressive idea, like ESPN's 24 hours of college hoops, but with games that matter in the standings. Considering Fox's audiences for Big East hoops haven't been much to write home about, it's a chance to build some buzz for the upcoming conference season.
Fox's lead college basketball broadcast team — Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery — will perform what we've seen ESPN's Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, as well as CBC's Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, attempt in the past: calling two game in one day. Johnson and Raftery will broadcast St. John's taking on Xavier in Cincinnati at Noon, and then travel to Indianapolis to call Villanova-Butler at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The pair will travel by bus from Cincy to Indy, and bring a contest winner along with them. The crew will also contribute to Fox's in-game studio programming from the bus. No word on if it'll be done via Skype.
Fox launches the whole deal with a pre-game show at 11:30 a.m. ET, hosted by Rob Stone and featuring analysts Austin Croshere, Tarik Turner, and "insider" Reid Forgrave. They'll also show features, including a sit-down between Raftery and Creighton's Doug McDermott.
Other highlights of the day: an all-female broadcast for a men's game, as Tiffany Greene and LaChina Robinson will call Seton Hall-Providence; Dick Stockton and Bob Wenzel are at the mic for DePaul-Georgetown at 5 p.m. ET; and Justin Kutcher and Donny Marshall will broadcast the Marquette-Creighton nightcap at 10 p.m. ET.
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About Steve Lepore
Steve Lepore is a writer for Bloguin and a correspondent for SiriusXM NHL Network Radio.