Oct. 8, 2007

Chicago, Ill. - After waiting six months to hear the echo of a leather ball bouncing on hardwood, Big Ten basketball fans can take heart. Midnight Madness is here.

The Big Ten Network will be live on the campuses of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin for their versions of Midnight Madness. The network show, BIG TEN TONIGHT: BASKETBALL TIP-OFF EDITION, airs at 9:30 PM ET Friday, Oct. 12.

The 90-minute program will feature live coverage from Illinois' "Illini Madness," "Hoosier Hysteria" at Indiana, Michigan State's "Midnight Madness," "Tubby's Tipoff" at Minnesota and Wisconsin's "Night of the Grateful Red."

Dave Revsine will anchor the show from Big Ten Network studios in Chicago. On-site reporters will provide live look-ins from Champaign, Bloomington, East Lansing, Minneapolis and Madison for team introductions, three-point and dunk contests, and the pep bands, and all the hype and hoopla that come with a new basketball season.

Reporters will conduct live interviews with selected Big Ten players and coaches Bruce Weber of Illinois, Kelvin Sampson of Indiana, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Tubby Smith of Minnesota and Bo Ryan of Wisconsin.

The network's full season preview show, BIG TEN HOOPS HYSTERIA, will premiere Wednesday, October 18 and examine all 11 teams and handicap the Big Ten championship race.

The Big Ten Network is the number one destination for hoops fans this winter with 140 men's basketball games, 64 conference match-ups and three Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament games. The overwhelming majority of those contests will be televised in stunning high definition.

During the conference season, the Big Ten Network will feature games on Tuesdays, a double-header every Wednesday night and a heavy dose of games on the weekends, including double-, triple- and quadruple-headers.

All intra-conference games will be distributed nationally, which means the end of the split-regional broadcasts that occurred in past seasons.

Through distribution partnerships with DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight Communications, WideOpenWest, RCN, AT&T U-Verse and more than 140 other cable operators, the Big Ten Network became the first new network in cable or satellite television history to reach 30 million homes in its first 30 days. In fact, no other new cable or satellite network has surpassed 30 million homes in its first year, and only five others have achieved that milestone within their first two years.

About the Big Ten Network: The Big Ten Network, dedicated to covering the Big Ten Conference and its 11 member institutions, launched August 30, 2007. The network provides unprecedented access to an extensive schedule of conference sports events and shows; original programs in academics, the arts and sciences; campus activities; and associated personalities. Sports programming includes live coverage of more major men's and women's events than ever before, along with news, highlights and analysis, all complemented by hours of university-produced campus programming. The network is available to all cable companies, with most programs offered in stunning high-definition television (HDTV). The Big Ten Network is a joint venture between subsidiaries of the Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Networks. For more information regarding the Big Ten Network, visit www.BigTenNetwork.com.