Today, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced that it has entered into a new broadcast rights agreement with CBS and Turner, and has expanded the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament to 68 teams beginning in 2011. The announcement comes amid speculation that the tournament could have been grown to as many as 96 teams, and occurs before a July 31 deadline for changing the broadcast rights agreement. The new tournament increases the ‘opening round’ to three games from one, and expands regional television coverage to cable outlets TNT and TBS.
Interim NCAA president Jim Isch said in a press release, “This agreement will provide on average more than $740 million annually to our conferences and member schools to help student-athletes in 23 sports learn and compete.”
ESPN, one of the bidders for tournament rights, released a statement which said, “We made an aggressive bid and believe our combination of TV distribution, digital capabilities, season-long coverage and year-round marketing would have served the interests of the NCAA and college fans very well.”
As the new agreement will potentially change revenue distribution to member institutions, the NCAA has established a committee to evaluate new distribution formulas which will, in Isch’s words, “[support] student-athletes so they can be successful in the classroom and in life.”
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RICHMOND, VA. — Another season, another agonizing defeat in the CAA Tournament. Anyone will tell you that this one hurt the most. Five seniors leading the way for Northeastern were stopped short in their quest to play for a chance at the NCAA Tournament. Last night at the Richmond Coliseum, the Huskies lost a nailbiter to the William & Mary Tribe, 47-45, after mounting an inspired comeback to take a 1-point lead in the final minute Read more…
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It’s Thursday, so it’s time to deliver another round of stories for your consumption:
>>> Joe Meloni looks at the absurd amount of injuries/illnesses that have hurt the Huskies this season. [College Hockey News]
>>> Alex Faust makes a cameo appearance in print, recapping last weekend’s hockey games. [Huntington News]
>>> From Orono, Steven McCarthy previews the Maine/Northeastern two-game series this weekend. [Maine Campus]
(On a side note, too bad to hear that WMEB’s upgrade to 10,000 watts is being delayed.)
>>> Siena basketball is apparently a big deal in Upstate/Eastern New York, since the capitol’s 24-hour news channel will be airing pre-game and post-game shows for Saints basketball. [Albany Times-Union]
>>> Jeff Goodman likes the Huskies. He likes them so much, he’s picked them to win the CAA tournament, earning a berth to the NCAA tournament. [Fox Sports]
>>> Andrew Parente has his Northeastern basketball season preview. [Huntington News]
>>> Finally, Mike Litos is giddy but measured in his anticipation for the start of the college basketball season. [CAA Hoops]
Enjoy your Thursday, we’ll see you tonight at the red/black scrimmage!
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