Entire Kansas Men's Basketball Schedule To Be Nationally Televised
July 24, 2008
2008-09 Schedule in PDF Format
LAWRENCE, Kan. – All 31 Kansas men’s basketball games will be televised nationally during the 2008-09 regular season, Kansas Athletics announced Thursday. The highlights include three games on CBS (at Michigan State and home vs. Texas and Missouri), and 21 games on the ESPN family of networks, which includes three games on ABC and four Big Monday appearances.
KU’s ESPN Big Monday contests will be Jan. 19 against Texas A&M, Feb. 2 at Baylor, Feb. 9 at Missouri and Feb. 23 at Oklahoma.
Fox Sports Net (FSN) will televise the Kansas-Arizona contest Dec. 23 in Tucson, Ariz., as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series and the Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic. Last year, KU defeated UA 76-72 in overtime in Allen Fieldhouse.
Besides the network and national cable telecasts, three KU games will air on the Big 12 Network, while six (including two exhibition games) will air on the in-state Jayhawk Television Network (JTV). The Big 12 Network and JTV contests will be available on ESPN’s Full Court package.
“This will be as difficult a schedule as we will have played since we’ve been here,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self, who is 142-32 in five seasons at KU. “We’ve got a great home schedule with Tennessee, Temple, UMass, Siena, Kent State, Coppin State and Jackson State, all of whom will be picked at or near the top of their conferences. The Big 12 home schedule will be tough, with Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Texas from the south, in addition to the north schools.”
The Jayhawks will open regular-season play when they host the first two rounds of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic on Nov. 16 and 18. Those two opponents have yet to be announced; those games will be televised on ESPNU. KU will play the final two games of the event at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Nov. 24 and 25. The Kansas City field includes Florida, Syracuse and Washington. Semifinal pairings will be announced at a later date.
“Our road schedule, with Arizona and Michigan State and the CBE Classic, makes this about as high-profile a schedule as anyone plays,” Self said. “It will be a great test for one of the youngest teams in the country; certainly we’re going to have to grow up fast.
“Kansas has always received great television exposure but certainly after winning the NCAA title last year, it gives us a chance for even more TV exposure,” Self said.
Kansas will play three exhibition games in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, August 30 and 31. The Jayhawks will play two games on Saturday, August 30 – at 10 a.m. Central time against McGill University at the University of Ottawa and at 6 p.m. Central vs. Carleton University at Scotiabank Place, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. The following day, KU will play the University of Ottawa at 6 p.m. Central at Montpetit Hall. Those three contests will not be televised but will be carried on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
“Our goal in playing in Canada is practice,” Self said. “NCAA rules allow us to practice from when school starts until we leave. I believe Canada is more important this year than it has been because our practice season does not start until October 17th, so you’re looking at almost one less week of preseason practice time than we had last year. With all our new guys, I think the additional time in late August will be beneficial to our team.”
The 2007-08 Jayhawks won the school’s fifth national championship, winning their last 13 games to finish 37-3. The Jayhawks won their fourth consecutive Big 12 regular-season title and third straight Big 12 postseason tournament championship.
