By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Aug. 18, 2003
Southeastern Conference men's basketball will have another year of massive television exposure during the upcoming 2003-04 season.
Conference commissioner Mike Slive announced the SEC's television schedule early last week.
Broadcast of SEC hoops action included 101 total games, with 33 contests currently slated for national telecasts. Additional games may be included at a later date.
Among the nationally televised games, CBS will air 12 contests, 20 games will be seen on either ESPN or ESPN2 and ABC will carry one contest, when Tennessee meets Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Georgia Tech on Feb. 7 at home.
Jefferson Pilot will telecast 40 regional games, and 28 contests will air on SEC-TV, the conference's regional package. Programming on SEC-TV includes Fox Sports Net South, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the Sunshine Network.
Jefferson Pilot will also be airing all eight first and second round games and both semifinal final games of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, with the championship game being broadcast by CBS at noon on March 14.
Mississippi State University and Ole Miss will have a combined 19 games televised during the 2003-04 season.
The Bulldogs will appear in eight regional telecast and three games will be on national networks.
MSU's Jan. 13 game against Kentucky will be aired on ESPN; the squad's Feb. 21 contest against Alabama will be seen on CBS; and the Bulldogs' final nationally televised game will be against Auburn on March 2, which will be seen on either ESPN or ESPN2.
The Rebels are slated to have eight games televised, with one contest appearing on a national telecast, Ole Miss' Feb. 21 game against Florida will be aired on ESPN2.
Alabama has 15 games scheduled for telecast this season, including six contest on national broadcasts.
The Crimson will have three games televised on ESPN (Jan. 3 vs. Xavier, Feb. 10 vs. Kentucky, Feb. 24 vs. Auburn), two games on ESPN2 (Dec. 20 vs. Oregon, Jan. 27 vs. Florida), and one game one CBS (Feb. 21 vs. MSU).
The SEC's most storied basketball program, Kentucky, leads the conference in most televised games for the upcoming season.
Tubby Smith and the Wildcats will have 22 games aired throughout the season, with 14 contests broadcasted nationally.
Florida will have 16 total games televised, appearing 10 times on national broadcasts.
South Carolina will be the only team in the SEC not to appear on national television during the 2003-04 season, but the Gamecocks will have eight games televised on regional coverage.
Television coverage of SEC men's basketball tips off on SEC-TV with Auburn's contest against Western Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21.