INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA Division II announced 28 men's and women's basketball games that will be streamed live during the 2017-18 season on ESPN3. Grand Valley State will travel to Ashland for a January 11th doubleheader matchup selected for national exposure as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase.
The basketball showcase unveiled today will initially feature 14 doubleheaders starting with Chico State and Humboldt State on Saturday, Nov. 18. An additional four flex doubleheaders (eight games total) will be finalized later, and the games are expected to highlight premier and pivotal matchups toward the end of the season.
Ashland is coming off a perfect season going 37-0 and capturing the 2017 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship, while GVSU posted a fine 24-8 record a year ago and a run to the regional semifinals where they fell to the Eagles by a 77-62 decision.
On the men's side, Ashland finished with a 19-10 record with GVSU posting a 16-13 mark. The Eagles were the No. 6 seed in last year's GLIAC Tournament and made a cinderella run at the title before Ferris State won a suspenseful GLIAC Tournament Title contest at home. The Lakers claimed the No. 7 position and fell in the first round of the conference tournament at Findlay.
"Division II's continued collaboration with ESPN provides an exciting opportunity to share the accomplishments of our student-athletes with a broad national audience," said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II. "We are thrilled to continue to promote the efforts of men's and women's basketball student-athletes on the court, in the classroom and in their communities."
The currently scheduled games will feature 14 of the 24 basketball-sponsoring conferences in Division II and are selected from a pool of conference nominations. One conference has signed a separate broadcast agreement and will not be included this season.
ESPN3 is ESPN's live multiscreen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and streaming devices through the ESPN App. The network currently is available nationwide at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. It is also available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.