USC’s ‘Takeover’ day on SEC Network won’t include baseball national titles
South Carolina’s day on the SEC Network will run without two of its signature moments.
The Gamecocks’ 2010 and 2011 College World Series championships will not be shown on Thursday, when USC “takes over” the SEC Network for a 24-hour run of programming.
The network’s initiative of having each SEC school honored with a day came with a catch – ESPN has to have the rights to the games.
“NCAA championships were unavailable for schools to air this year during their Takeover day,” ESPN said in a statement. “We are evaluating options to air (NCAA championship) games in future years should a school want to include.”
Because the NCAA has the rights to the College World Series and other postseasons, USC will be unable to show those games during the takeover. That means that Kentucky was unable to show any of its NCAA basketball championships, and Tennessee won’t be able to show its NCAA women’s basketball championships. Alabama, though, showed its BCS national championships because those have different rights availabilities.
Despite the omissions (the women’s basketball team’s run to the Final Four last year is likewise prohibited), USC should have a sturdy schedule. Other games that weren’t on ESPN – such as a CBS football contest in 2010 when the Gamecocks dethroned No. 1 Alabama – are eligible to be selected. USC will have several sports represented with championship moments, and original programming highlighting USC’s overall athletic program.
“We tried to have some diversity in all of our sports,” said Charles Bloom, senior associate athletic director/external affairs. “We’ve intertwined some stuff we’ve done on our website and re-packaged it for a show.”
President Harris Pastides and athletics director Ray Tanner will host the day and games will be cut to fit into two-hour windows. The schedule will be released on Tuesday.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 10:36 AM with the headline "USC’s ‘Takeover’ day on SEC Network won’t include baseball national titles."