The MEAC announced its 2007-08 basketball television schedule today unveiling an exciting lineup of 14 regular season men and women’s basketball games on the ESPN platform. As part of the seven-year partnership with ESPN, the MEAC will highlight 10 men’s and three women’s regular-season games on the ESPNU, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic networks.

“We are excited about the 2007-08 men and women’s basketball season and our TV package which includes games not only on ESPNU but ESPN Classic and ESPN2,” said MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas. “This schedule gives our institutions, athletic programs, coaches and student- athlete’s tremendous national exposure to further showcase our competitive and entertaining teams.”

The 2007-08 television schedule tips off with a live broadcast on Monday, January 14 as the Norfolk State Spartans host the Morgan State Bears beginning at 7 p.m. The women’s television debut is slated for Saturday, January 19 as the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs host the Hampton Lady Pirates beginning at 12:00 p.m.

ESPN2 and ESPN Classic will each broadcast one men’s regular season game including the preseason favorite Hampton Pirates against the 2006-07 regular season champion Delaware State Hornets on ESPN2, Saturday, Feb. 9 and South Carolina State versus Norfolk State on Saturday, Feb. 23 on “Classic”.

The 2008 MEAC Championship Tournament will also broadcast on ESPN networks with the women’s championship game slated for a taped-delayed broadcast on ESPNU while the men’s championship game will broadcast live on ESPN Classic. The 2008 MEAC Basketball Tournament is scheduled for March 10-15 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC.

ESPNU, which was launched in 2005, features extensive studio programming and live coverage of games. ESPNU has secured distribution agreements with Charter, Cox, DirecTV(Channel 609), Echostar’s DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Time Warner, and Verizon, along with many smaller affiliates, and is close to distribution agreements with others. ESPNU reached 20 million households at the start of the 2007 college football season.

Click here to download the 2007-08 MEAC Basketball Television Schedule.