Pac-12 Networks unveils 2016-17 men's basketball telecast schedule
151-game slate features all 12 Conference home openers and eight Pac-12 Tournament games
SAN FRANCISCO – In its fifth season of live events, Pac-12 Networks will bring viewers 151 live men’s basketball telecasts, culminating in eight Pac-12 Tournament contests from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Once again this season, Pac-12 Networks will feature each Pac-12 team at least 12 times: Arizona (14), Arizona State (15), California (14), Colorado (15), Oregon (14), Oregon State (19), Stanford (17), UCLA (13), USC (20), Utah (18), Washington (12), and Washington State (21).
The telecast schedule tips off with Arizona’s annual McDonald’s Red-Blue Game live from McKale Center on Friday, October 14, followed by Utah’s pre-season showcase “Night With the Runnin’ Utes” live on Tuesday, October 18.
Other exhibition match-ups on Pac-12 Networks will include Northwest Christian at Oregon, Master’s University at UCLA, College of Idaho at Arizona, and Chico State at Arizona.
Full Court Friday is set to return as the regular season tips off on Friday, November 11 with eight games across the Pac-12 Networks, including defending conference-champion Oregon’s season-opener against Army on Veteran’s Day.
Pac-12 Networks’ slate of non-conference games includes notable opponents like Butler (at Utah), UNLV (at Arizona State), Xavier (at Colorado), and a matchup with San Diego State (vs. California) at the Golden 1 Center, the new home of the Sacramento Kings.
Of the 151 total games on Pac-12 Networks, 49 of those will be regular season conference matchups, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 28 with USC visiting Oregon State at 8:00 p.m. PT. Regular season conference match-ups will continue throughout the season, including three quadruple-header Saturdays and two triple-header Saturdays. Pac-12 Networks’ broadcast schedule will culminate in coverage of eight of the 11 Pac-12 Tournament games from T-Mobile Arena.
The Pac-12 is coming off a historic men's basketball season in 2015-16. A record seven teams earned bids to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, nine teams finished the year ranked in the RPI Top 100, all 12 teams posted Top 100 Strengths of Schedule, and league play featured seven matchups between AP Top 25 teams, the most for the conference since 2007-08.
This year promises to be another great year with top student-athletes returning and fresh talent arriving on campus. The Pac-12 will feature four preseason All-Americans according to Athlon Sports, including a national-best three first-team selections in OREGON's Dillon Brooks, WASHINGTON's Markelle Fultz and CALIFORNIA's Ivan Rabb. 2015-16 Pac-12 All-Conference performers Brooks, Rabb and Isaac Hamilton (UCLA) headline the list of the league's top returners, while Fultz and fellow McDonald’s All-Americans Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf of UCLA and Kobi Simmons of ARIZONA lead a group of 18 freshmen rated in Scout's Class of 2016 Top 100 recruit rankings, the second-most of any league in the country.
The composite 2016-17 Pac-12 men’s basketball schedule, including television assignments, can be found here (PDF) and the online schedule can be found here.