Thursday, March 20, 2014

ESPN Plans Full NCAA Coverage

Buccigross, Melrose return as Frozen Four commentators; Selection Show airs Sunday at noon ET.

ESPN Plans Full NCAA Coverage
ESPN has covered the NCAA championship game every year since 1980.

ESPN announced its comprehensive coverage plans for the 2014 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, featuring all 15 games on the ESPN family of networks.

John Buccigross and Barry Melrose return as the play-by-play man and analyst, respectively, for the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn., and the Frozen Four. Buccigross will host the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, March 23, at noon ET on ESPNU and will also be active on social media, where his @Buccigross twitter handle has built a tremendous following of hockey fans.

Joining Buccigross and Melrose in Bridgeport and Philadelphia will be rinkside reporter Quint Kessenich.

ESPN’s other regional broadcast teams include: Joe Beninati and former Cornell goaltender Darren Eliot in Cincinnati, Joe Davis and former Michigan forward Billy Jaffe in Worcester and Clay Matvick and former Michigan forward Sean Ritchlin in St. Paul.

The ESPN studio features veteran college hockey broadcaster Dave Starman, with Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos returning for the second year in a row to offer his analysis.

All regional games will be seen on either ESPN2 (two games), ESPNU (8 games) or ESPN3 (2 games). The semifinals will be on ESPN2 while the championship is on ESPN.

All games will also be available on the WatchESPN app.

ESPN has televised every Frozen Four championship game since 1980 and televised the entire Frozen Four, live, since 1995. The 2014 tournament marks the 10th year that ESPN has covered the entire tournament live.