Rush The Court

The ESPN Full Court package schedule was released a few days ago, so we once again took the liberty of cleaning up the data and breaking things down for you.  The cost is $109 through your local cable/satellite provider, but they usually offer a $99 early-bird special if you sign up in November or thereabouts.  We’ve gotten the package at RTC for the past six seasons and there is a definite benefit if you follow a team or teams that aren’t on the standard national networks very often (whether due to a down year, or whatever).  It’s also very good if you one of those people who just cannot go without a Big East, Big 12 or SEC conference game this season – between the three conferences, almost 300 games will be shown.

Once again, we have to point out that there are no ESPNU games on this package, which makes it just short of impossible to watch some really good games for people in areas where the cable provider will not offer this channel.  Not that we’re bitter or anything.

Here are a few highlights of this year’s schedule:

• If you like Big 12 bottom-feeders, you’re in luck!  Colorado, Iowa State and Nebraska have 56 appearances combined over the course of the season.  We hope you like watching Craig Brackins and Cory Higgins.
• It’s not all garbage, though.  The best high-volume teams are K-State (16), UConn (14), Cincinnati (12) and Louisville (12).  Even top-ten teams West Virginia (10), Kansas (9), Texas (8), Kentucky (7), and Georgetown (7) have a good number of appearances.

• You won’t find a single Big Ten or Pac-10 game on this package.  Gotta get the Big Ten Network or the FSN Sports Pack for those.
• Middie Love – one of the best features of this package annually is to get an occasional peek at mid-major leagues.  We’re always clamoring for more, but we’ll take what we can get.  There are a bunch of games involving mid-majors as the visiting team (see the entire list after the jump), but there are also 136 games where a mid-major team hosts.  The WAC has the most (24), but there are twelve leagues represented.  Here’s the list of middies:

Our favorite 30 games from the ESPN Full Court Package this year are:

• 11/17 – New Mexico @ New Mexico State (always a war)
• 11/24 – Florida State @ Florida (an early look at Kenny Boynton and Michael Snaer)
• 12/2 – Boston U @ UConn (UConn team with many changes plays an experienced BU squad)
• 12/2 – N. Iowa @ Iowa State (best team in the Valley invades a Big 12 foe as a probable favorite)
• 12/2 – Arkansas @ Oklahoma (you remember last year)
• 12/9 – Duquesne @ West Virginia (A10 team looking for respect in their own neighborhood)
• 12/9 – Missouri @ Oral Roberts (trap game for Mike Anderson’s young guys)
• 12/12 – Kansas State @ UNLV (strong OOC game between two up-and-comers)
• 12/19 – Old Dominion @ Georgetown (strong CAA team would love to get this one in DC)
• 12/22 – BYU vs. Nevada (@ Las Vegas) (fun game between high-mids that could use the RPI boost)
• 1/2 – Pittsburgh @ Syracuse (Pitt will have to prove itself after a soft OOC schedule)
• 1/2 – Milwaukee @ Butler (can anyone challenge Butler in the Horizon?)
• 1/2 – Utah @ LSU (interesting intersectional matchup)
• 1/6 – Cornell @ Kansas (how will the Ivy favorite handle Phog Allen Fieldhouse?)
• 1/7 – Oakland @ Oral Roberts (must-watch Summit League matchup)
• 1/9 – Mississippi State @ Ole Miss (SEC West battle for supremacy)
• 1/12 – Maryland @ Wake Forest (ACC battle for two teams eyeing 3d place)
• 1/17 – Georgetown @ Villanova (potentially the strongest game of the year on ESPN FC)
• 1/24 – Cincinnati @ Louisville (a rivalry that has been dormant is coming back)
• 1/24 – Rider @ Niagara (MAAC titans go to war)
• 2/3 – Mississippi State @ Vanderbilt (few teams are coming out of Memorial alive this year)
• 2/4 – Maryland @ Florida State (how will FSU have developed by this point?)
• 2/4 – UNC @ Virginia Tech (Carolina goes to Blacksburg, a tough place for highly ranked teams to win)
• 2/9 – Vermont @ Boston U (Am East rivals in a key conference game)
• 2/13 – Cincinnati @ UConn (wouldn’t shock us if Cincy was higher in the BE standings at this point)
• 2/20 – Tennessee @ South Carolina (the SEC East is going to be insane this year)
• 2/24 – Clemson @ Maryland (another solid ACC matchup that will matter)
• 2/27 – Baylor @ Oklahoma (could be interesting if Baylor is better than people think this year)
• 3/2 – Georgia Tech @ Clemson (this could be a key positioning game in the ACC race)
• 3/6 – Ole Miss @ Arkansas (not an easy game for Ole Miss trying to win the SEC West)

To save space, a list of each of the 460 men’s games is after the jump.

If you’d like to play with the data yourself, a fully sortable list is here (copy into Excel to sort).  Knock yourselves out.

Complete List:

(h/t Patrick Marshall)