ESPN 3D Unveils Early-Season College Basketball Slate

ESPN 3D has revealed its early college basketball coverage for the 2010-11 season, offering the 3D treatment for three of the biggest early-season tournaments. ESPN’s 3D network will provide live telecasts of The Old Spice Classic (Nov. 25-28), the Jimmy V Classic (Dec. 7), and the DirecTV SEC/Big East Invitational (Dec. 11).

The 2010 Old Spice Classic will be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the HP Fieldhouse at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. ESPN used the venue in February for one of its first 3D productions, shooting a Harlem Globetrotters contest with a single crew for both the 2D and the 3D production. The fifth-annual Classic will feature Boston College, California, Georgia, Manhattan, Notre Dame, No. 22 Temple, Texas A&M, and No. 24 Wisconsin. Five of the eight teams reached the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Jimmy V Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday Dec. 7 will pit No. 19 Memphis vs. No. 7 Kansas at 7 p.m. ET and No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 13 Syracuse at 9 p.m., both on ESPN. It will not be MSG’s first trip to the 3D party:  the arena served as the setting for a regular-season Rangers-Islanders game produced by MSG Network in 3D in March. It was the first live U.S. sporting event to be delivered to viewers’ homes in 3D.

On Saturday Dec. 11, the second half of the DirecTV SEC/Big East Invitational will be featured on ESPN 3D from the new CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Rutgers will take on Auburn followed by No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. No. 20 Tennessee.

ESPN 3D, which is currently available in approximately 45 million households, has delivered a college football game nearly every week this season, dating back to Boise State vs. Virginia Tech on Sept. 6.