IRVINE, Calif. --- As Big West Conference basketball approaches, the Big West and ESPN have released their schedule of games to be featured on the ESPN family of networks with as many as eight regular season contests to feature UC Irvine.
 

Date	Time	Matchup	Channel
Thurs. January 10	7:00 PM	vs. UC Davis	ESPN3
Wed. January 16	7:00 PM	vs. Long Beach State	ESPN3
Sat. January 31	8:00 PM	at UC Santa Barbara	ESPNU Wild Card
Wed. February 6	7:00 PM	vs. Cal State Fullerton	ESPN3
Sat. February 9	TBA	vs. Hawai'i	Wild Card
Sat. February 16	7 or 9 PM	vs. UC Santa Barbara	Wild Card
Thurs. February 21	7 or 8 PM	vs. Cal Poly	Wild Card
Thurs. February 28	8:00 PM	at UC Davis	ESPNU Wild Card
Thurs. March 14	TBA	Big West Tournament Quarterfinal	ESPN3
Fri. March 15	TBA	Big West Tournament Semifinal	ESPNU / ESPN3
Sat. March 16	9:00 PM	Big West Tournament Championship	ESPN2

ESPN and the Big West have announced five conference dates where a Wild Card game will be selected from them to be featured on ESPN2 or ESPNU with UC Irvine appearing in all five groupings. The 'Eaters' home meetings with Hawai'i and Cal Poly, road visit to UC Davis, and both contests with UC Santa Barbara will have the chance to be shown on on live television with the decision coming 2 to 4 weeks prior to the matchup.

In addition to the potential network broadcasts, the 'Eaters will make multiple appearances on the online streaming ESPN3 channel which includes three of the network Wild Card matchups - February 9, 16, and 21 - all having the chance to land on ESPN3 if not picked up by ESPN2 or ESPNU. The Anteaters currently have three ESPN3 broadcasts locked in starting with two early January home meetings with UC Davis (Jan. 10) and Long Beach State (Jan. 16). The 'Eaters then welcome in Big West Tournament champions from a year ago, Cal State Fullerton, into the Bren Events Center on February 6 for another ESPN3 showing. In all, eight of the 16 conference contests for UC Irvine have the potential to be featured on ESPN.

As with every season, the Big West Tournament stretching from March 14-16 will be exclusively shown on the ESPN networks starting with the Quarterfinals on ESPN3. The tournament upgrades to ESPNU for the semifinals leading to the championship game on Saturday, March 16 on ESPN2.