Penn State basketball will get its fair share of time in the national spotlight this season, the conference and affiliated networks announced tip times and respective broadcast assignments on Thursday afternoon.
In total the Nittany Lions will appear on TV for at least 27 games this year, the Big Ten/ACC Challenge TV assignments are due out at a later date according to the conference. Penn State’s 2019 television debut will take place during the Nittany Lions road trip against Georgetown on Thursday, November 14. That game will air on Fox Sports 1, Penn State’s opening two games of the season will be broadcast online as part of the BTN+ package.
Penn State will appears on FS1 on three occasions this season including a home date against Illinois. Additionally the Nittany Lions will make national TV appearances on the family of ESPN networks at least six times this season including four games home dates on Penn State’s schedule, five home games if an ACC Challenge game against Wake Forrest is slated for a television audience.
Of known games on the ESPN networks, The Nittany Lions will first play as a part of the NIT Season Tip Off in Brooklyn against Ole Miss before playing again two days later against either Oklahoma State or Syracuse.
Back in State College, Penn State will host Maryland, Ohio State and a late season meeting with Michigan State all on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. An out of conference meeting with Cornell will also air on ESPNU.
For comparison, Penn State appeared on an ESPN network five times in 2018-19, but only one game -the Nittany Lions’ Big Ten/ACC Challenge win over Virginia Tech- the lone home game to make a national [non BTN] broadcast.
Remaining games on Penn State’s schedule will air on the Big Ten Network.
