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The Big Ten Network is uncorking an 11-game men's lacrosse broadcast schedule this season, the first for the Big Ten at college lacrosse's highest level of competition. From the press release:
Men’s television coverage begins Sunday, March 29, when Maryland hosts Michigan. Highlighting the schedule is No. 9 Johns Hopkins vs. No. 7 Maryland, and No. 17 Penn State vs. No. 7 Maryland. In addition, BTN will televise the entire Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, hosted by Maryland, set for April 30 to May 2.
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The network’s lacrosse coverage will also include a 60-minute BTN Lacrosse Preview Show at 4 PM ET on March 24, and a special BTN Originals mini-series, in which the cameras go behind-the-scenes with the Penn State and Maryland men’s teams leading up to the highly anticipated April 4 contest. More details will be announced at a later date.
The press release also notes that additional events may be added to the schedule later. Furthermore, the release notes that the Big Ten Network will stream "approximately 30 additional games on BTN Plus," but does not note what those games are. If you want to find out what those games are, this link should help out your confused face. Here's the full men's schedule slated for traditional television broadcast:
DATE | AWAY | HOME | TIME (ET) |
March 29 | Michigan | Maryland | TBD |
April 4 | Penn State | Maryland | 4:00 P.M. |
April 5 | Johns Hopkins | Ohio State | TBD |
April 12 | Maryland | Rutgers | TBD |
April 18 | Maryland | Ohio State | 11:00 A.M. |
April 19 | Rutgers | Penn State | TBD |
April 25 | Penn State | Michigan | 6:00 P.M. |
April 26 | Johns Hopkins | Maryland | 8:00 P.M. |
April 30 | Big Ten Tournament Semifinal I | 5:30 P.M. | |
April 30 | Big Ten Tournament Semifinal II | 8:00 P.M. | |
May 2 | Big Ten Tournament Championship | 8:00 P.M. |
Some brief notes on this:
- Hopkins-Maryland will have a broadcast home. There will be feelings.
- The Terps will be featured a minimum of five times, easily the most present figure on this schedule. Penn State will make a minimum of three appearances on the Big Ten Network while Hopkins, Michigan, and Ohio State will each have a minimum of two chances to play before a national audience.
- Interesting potential complements to ESPN's Big Ten schedule: Michigan-Maryland is the same day ESPN will carry Ohio State-Penn State; Maryland-Rutgers will air on the same day as Ohio State-Michigan; and Maryland-Ohio State has a mirror on ESPN with Michigan-Johns Hopkins. Also -- Johns Hopkins-Maryland will air well after the ACC Tournament championship on ESPNU, alleviating some problems around "What the hell am I going to do?!"