It’s Showtime: BIG EAST Tournament Tips Off Tonight on FS1

Iconic Event Celebrates 35 Years at Madison Square Garden

2017 Tournament Features Virtual Reality Stream, Rail Cam, ChampCast, 24K Magic and More

NEW YORK, NY – Madness is in the air with college basketball tournaments tipping off across the country, and FOX Sports presents exclusive and expanded coverage of one of the nation’s most iconic and historical events. Tonight, the BIG EAST Tournament tips off at New York City’s Madison Square Garden for its 35th consecutive year, airing on FS1 and culminating Saturday in prime time on the FOX broadcast network.

FS1’s lead college basketball game crew of Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery call first-round games tonight, Wednesday, March 8, and evening quarterfinal matchups on Thursday, March 9, joined by sideline reporter Lisa Byington. Justin Kutcher, Jim Jackson and Steve Lavin have the afternoon games on Thursday, and Johnson, Jackson and Byington are courtside for the semifinals and championship game on Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11.

In addition to the action on the court, FOX Sports is live from Madison Square Garden for pregame, halftime, bridge and postgame coverage throughout the entire tournament. Host Rob Stone is joined by analysts Steve Lavin and Donny Marshall, as well as Nick Bahe on Thursday afternoon, to present top highlights from the tournament and poignant features on the conference’s teams, coaches and players.

BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are streamed live in virtual reality through the FOX Sports VR app. Presented by Jeep®, the immersive, four-camera VR effort includes user-selected views and original 360-degree content managed from the FOX Sports VR app’s “Virtual Suite,” as well an additional director’s cut, which automatically moves the viewer’s vantage point around the court. The FOX Sports VR App can be used without special “glasses” through the interactive, 360-degree viewing experience built specifically for iOS and Android devices or with a Gear VR or cardboard headset. Viewers can access the BIG EAST Tournament VR experience by downloading and installing the FOX Sports VR app and signing in with their television-provider credentials. For more information on how to watch BIG EAST Tournament games in virtual reality, click HERE.

FOX Sports’ game coverage also includes the network’s first use of ‘Rail Cam,’ a robotic camera that runs on a track alongside the sideline, bringing viewers closer to the action. The 2017 BIG EAST Tournament is the first time outside of a Final Four telecast that this technology has been used in a college basketball game.

On Saturday, as the BIG EAST prepares to crown its tournament champion, FOX Sports GO provides special access via BIG EAST ChampCast, a behind-the-scenes, backstage pass showing team arrivals, inside the locker rooms, player warmups and school bands, hosted by Bahe from 4:30-5:00 PM ET. FOX Sports GO also offers complete coverage of Saturday night’s net-cutting ceremony, once the FOX broadcast network has concluded its coverage, and both teams’ post-game press conferences. Pregame and post-game coverage on FOX Sports GO is available to all users unauthenticated.

Continuing to put its unique stamp on the BIG EAST Tournament, FOX Sports highlights the conference on the sound stage as well as the basketball court. In what has become an annual tradition, players from each of the BIG EAST schools participated in FOX Sports’ lip-sync music video, this year set to the Bruno Mars hit single “24K Magic.”

College basketball games televised on the FOX broadcast network and FS1 are live-streamed on FOX Sports GO through participating pay-TV providers. FOX Sports GO is available on FOXSportsGO.com or on the FOX Sports GO app, which can be downloaded from iTunes, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Windows Store. Streaming is also now available on several connected devices, including Apple TV, Android TV, FireTV, Roku, Chromecast and Xbox One.

For more information on FOX Sports’ coverage of college hoops, including photography, broadcaster information and more, visit FOX Sports Press Pass.

The full BIG EAST Tournament schedule, including broadcaster information, can be found below.