Thursday, September 25, 2008

A marathon of 14 college basketball games on Nov. 18 -- spread over 23 consecutive hours -- will help kick off the 2008-09 college basketball season on ESPN.

The games open at midnight ET with national championship game runner-up Memphis hosting Massachusetts, where Tigers head coach John Calipari once coached. It wraps up with the two winningest programs in college hoops history -- Kentucky and North Carolina -- meeting in Chapel Hill at 9 p.m. ET.

There are games featuring teams in 14 conferences and one women's game (Iowa at Kansas, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN). It also includes four NIT semifinals and two games in the CBE Classic, including defending national champion Kansas hosting Florida Gulf Coast (9 p.m. ET, ESPN U).

For the fourth straight year, an Atlantic Sun school appears on the defending national champion's schedule. Each of the last two years, UNF, Jacksonville and Stetson faced Florida and during the 2005-06 season Gardner-Webb took on Connecticut.

Every game on ESPN and ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN360.com.

There will be two studio shows, including a four-hour special beginning at 6 a.m. ET. College GameDay will be in Chapel Hill at 8 p.m. ET.