Seen on Screen: ESPN Tips Off 2015-16 With 20 Games; Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament Returns to Network TV

by Wilson Sy, Editorial Assistant

ESPN will celebrate the start of the 2015-16 college basketball season with its eighth-annual Tip-off Marathon — nearly 31 consecutive hours of men’s and women’s game and studio programming from Monday, Nov. 16 through Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Marathon includes 20 games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and SEC Network among 13 Top 25 teams. Following the Georgetown-Maryland game on Tuesday, the new midnight edition of SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt will go “on the road” for the first time with a live show at his alma mater in College Park, MD. All telecasts will be streamed live on WatchESPN…

…This season, a minimum of 15 games are scheduled to air on the Fox broadcast network — more than ever before — including the championship game of the Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament, which returns to broadcast television for the first time in more than 20 years. Fox Sports 1, America’s fastest-growing sports cable network, will carry more than 150 men’s and women’s contests, including games from the Big East men’s and women’s tournaments, Pac-12 and Conference USA men’s and Big 12 women’s tournaments, and a potential Ivy League playoff game. Addition games can be seen on FS2, Fox Sports Regional Networks, and Fox College Sports…

…This weekend’s Saturday Night Football broadcast on ABC, featuring No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 6 Baylor, will air the exclusive debut of the live video accompanying the single “Night’s on Fire.” From platinum-selling recording artist David Nail’s new album Fight, clips from the live video will accompany bumps at the end of the game’s first and third quarters, with an extended clip played during halftime. The song will also be featured during Sunday’s “Plays of the Week” segment on SportsCenter and be used the rest of the college football season on ABC/ESPN games…

…World of X Games, a weekly program on ABC and ESPN platforms featuring a variety of X Games and athlete-focused content, will roll out new winter-focused episodes beginning with the return of Real Snow Backcountry, an hour-long show featuring five of the world’s best back-country snowboarders. Athletes will compete for medals and winners will be announced in on Sunday, Nov. 22, on ABC. In addition, World of X Games will feature additional winter-focused shows leading up to X Games Aspen and the X Games Oslo in 2016…

…Uncle Drew is back with Chapter 4 of the Pepsi commercials, and the character played by Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving. The commercial includes Louis (played by former NBA star Baron Davis), Angelo (played by actor JB Smoove), and Walt (played by Ray Allen). The story begins when Drew finds out Walt is in town, as they head to a local outdoor basketball court for a showdown in a game of Horse.