ESPN will broadcast UConn's Midnight Madness festivities Oct. 17

ESPN will tip off the 2014-15 college basketball season with Midnight Madness coverage from 11 campuses, including seven men’s programs in ESPN.com’s early top 25, on Friday, Oct. 17.ESPNU Midnight Madness (6 p.m. ET) will combine studio and remote coverage to bring fans a three-hour start of the season celebration which involves six schools, including the 2014 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I National Champion UConn Huskies. The ESPNU special will also involve five more teams from the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship: Arizona, Florida, Gonzaga, Kentucky, and San Diego State. This is the ninth year ESPNU Midnight Madness has provided coverage of the annual college basketball tradition.

ESPN3 will also provide Midnight Madness coverage on Friday, Oct. 17, carrying six college basketball programs’ Midnight Madness celebrations in their entirety. In addition to UConn’s “First Night” at 7 p.m., ESPN3 will have Harvard’s “Crimson Madness” (6 p.m.), Mercer’s “Mercer Madness” (6:10 p.m.), Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness” (7 p.m.), NC State’s “Throwback with the Pack” (8 p.m.) and Florida Gulf Coast’s “Dunk City after Dark” (9 p.m.). A week prior, ESPN3 will also carry Kansas’ “Late Night in the Phog” on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

SEC Network’s SEC Now (9 p.m.) will show portions of Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness”. ESPNU Midnight Madness will re-air at midnight on Friday, Oct. 17, and all of ESPN3’s content is available on-demand.

Additional schools Midnight Madness programs may be added at a later date

ESPNU Midnight Madness Highlights:

Studio Coverage: Andy Katz, host of Katz Korner, will anchor studio coverage along with college basketball analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams. The studio team will preview the 2014-15 season and interview various head coaches throughout the telecast.

Head Coach Perspective: Katz, Greenberg and Williams will be joined in-studio by Villanova head coach Jay Wright, who has led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament in nine of the last 10 seasons.

All-Access: ESPN commentators and analysts will be on-location, providing viewers a first-hand insight into the various Midnight Madness activities:
Arizona: Miles Simon (analyst), won the 1997 National Championship at Arizona and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player
Kentucky: Sean Farnham, former UCLA basketball player, Kara Lawson, former Tennessee standout, WNBA Champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist (analysts), along with Dave O’Brien (host)
UConn: Rebecca Lobo, won the 1995 National Championship at UConn, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and was a standout player in the WNBA, Tim Welsh, earned more than 200 wins as a head coach (analysts) along with Kevin Connors (host) and Jeff Goodman (reporter)
Florida, Gonzaga and San Diego State: Coach Donovan (Florida), Coach Few (Gonzaga) and Coach Fisher (San Diego State) will be wired for sound

Social Media: Fans can join the conversation throughout the night by tagging tweets with#MidnightMadness.

Programming Details: ESPNU’s Midnight Madness (October 17 at 6 p.m. ET)

Location	Commentators
ESPNU’s Studio Coverage	Andy Katz (Host), Seth Greenberg & Jay Williams (analysts), Villanova head coach Jay Wright (guest)
Arizona	Miles Simon (analyst)
Kentucky	Dave O’Brien (host), Sean Farnham & Kara Lawson (analysts)
UConn	Kevin Connors (host), Rebecca Lobo & Tim Welsh (analysts), Jeff Goodman (reporter)
Florida, Gonzaga, San Diego State	Coach Donovan, Few and Fisher will be wired for sound to brings fans unique perspective