Horizon League Announces #FridayisHLMBB Television Schedule
INDIANAPOLIS – The Horizon League announced on Tuesday the League’s television schedule for the upcoming 2019-20 men’s basketball season, including nine games airing on ESPN’s linear networks.
Six Horizon League matchups will air on Friday nights with two contests shown on ESPN2 and four matchups airing on ESPNU. The games will be a part of the League’s “Anything Can Happen on Friday” campaign and fans can follow along on social media by using #FRIDAYisHLMBB. Last season, the six Horizon League matchups on ESPN2 and ESPNU had an average margin of victory of five points and five of the six games ended as a one- or two-possession game. In addition, two games on ESPNU this season will be “wild card” selections to ensure the best matchups possible.
The 2019 Horizon League men’s basketball tournament champion, Northern Kentucky, will have at least three games featured on ESPN2 and ESPNU, including both regular season games against Wright State, last season’s co-regular season champion.
All eligible teams will compete in this year’s Horizon League Basketball Championships and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #ReachTheHorizon March 9-10 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The entire Horizon League Basketball Championships will appear on the ESPN family of networks, with Semifinal No. 1 on ESPNU at 7 p.m. ET and Semifinal No. 2 on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. ET on March 9. The championship game on March 10 will be shown on either ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.
Continuing a partnership that began during the 2014-15 season, ESPN+ and ESPN3 will be the home for the League’s live streaming game content and last season nearly 850,000 viewers consumed Horizon League action on ESPN+ and ESPN3. The Horizon League has scheduled to stream every conference basketball game for an industry-best 13 consecutive seasons, beginning its streak in 2007 with the groundbreaking Horizon League Network.
2019-20 #HLMBB National Television Schedule
Friday, Jan. 3*
Wright State at Oakland OR UIC at Green Bay, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU Wildcard)
Friday, Jan. 10
Northern Kentucky at UIC, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Friday, Jan. 24
Northern Kentucky at Wright State, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Friday, Jan. 31*
Oakland at Detroit Mercy OR Northern Kentucky at Green Bay, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU Wildcard)
Friday, Feb. 14
UIC at Wright State, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Friday, Feb. 28
Wright State at Northern Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Monday, March 9
Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinal No. 1, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinal No. 2, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Tuesday, March 10
Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Game, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN/ESPN2)
*One game will be selected to air on ESPNU as part of the ESPNU wild card selection process and will be announced 21 days in advance of the game.