Florida Southern College men’s and women’s basketball will be featured as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase, the NCAA office announced on Wednesday. The Moccasins’ Feb. 15 doubleheader at Nova Southeastern has been selected as one of 14 men’s/women’s basketball doubleheaders to be featured exclusively on ESPN3 and the ESPN App. The women’s game will feature a rematch of last year’s NCAA South Region championship game between the Mocs and Sharks, while the men’s game will be a rematch of last season’s Sunshine State Conference Tournament title game.
The two schools will meet in a doubleheader in Lakeland earlier in the year (Jan. 4). On the women’s side, Nova Southeastern was selected to finish second in the SSC Preseason Coaches Poll, while Florida Southern was picked third. On the men’s side, the Sharks were selected to repeat as SSC regular-season champs while Southern was picked second.
“Being selected as part of the Division II Basketball Showcase is great exposure for our program and our college,” said Florida Southern women’s basketball head coach Betsy Harris. “It will be a great game to watch between two conference rivals.”
Now in its second year, the division’s media agreement features two distribution models for basketball and football. For basketball, 18 games will stream exclusively on ESPN3, available on espn.com and the ESPN App.
“Having the opportunity to have a game broadcast on the ESPN platform is exciting,” said Moccasin men’s basketball head coach Mike Donnelly. “It is terrific exposure for our student-athletes and both basketball programs, and fans across the country will be treated to some great basketball that day.”
Eighteen additional games are part of the hybrid model, and they have the flexibility to be distributed on TV and online. The division will work with the TV partners of participating conferences and schools on the opportunity to air games on TV. These games also will be distributed online through NCAA social media accounts — specifically, Division II Facebook (facebook.com/ncaadivisionii) and Twitter (@NCAADII) — and could be distributed through conference and school digital networks.
“The basketball season is off to an exciting start,” said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II. “We’re looking forward to another great Division II Basketball Showcase that highlights our student-athletes’ achievements on and off the court. Before we know it, we’ll be celebrating the women’s Elite Eight in Birmingham and the men’s national championship game in Atlanta as part of combined championships with Divisions I and III.”
The current showcase schedule, which spans November through February, features 14 of the 23 basketball-sponsoring conferences in Division II and was created from a pool of conference nominations.
The basketball showcase begins Nov. 24 with a doubleheader between East Stroudsburg and Indiana (Pennsylvania) in the hybrid model. The women’s game begins at 1:05 p.m. Eastern time, with the men’s game scheduled to start at 3:05 p.m. The ESPN3 portion of the schedule opens Dec. 14 with Southern Nazarene hosting Southeastern Oklahoma State in a doubleheader, starting with the women’s game at 2:05 p.m. Eastern time.
ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multiscreen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on espn.com and the ESPN App across computers, smartphones, tablets and connected streaming devices. The network is available at no additional cost to fans who receive a pay TV subscription from an affiliated provider. The network 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.
Full schedule (all times Eastern):
| 1:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 | East Stroudsburg at Indiana (PA) (Women) — Hybrid |
| 3:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 | East Stroudsburg at Indiana (PA) (Men) – Hybrid |
| 7:35 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 | MSU Denver at Colorado Mesa (Women) – Hybrid |
| 9:35 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 | MSU Denver at Colorado Mesa (Men) – Hybrid |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 | Southeastern Okla. at Southern Nazarene (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 | Southeastern Okla. at Southern Nazarene (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 1:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 | Cedarville at Walsh (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 3:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 | Cedarville at Walsh (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 | Jefferson at Dominican (NY) (Women) – Hybrid |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 | Jefferson at Dominican (NY) (Men) – Hybrid |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 | Lenoir-Rhyne at Catawba (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 | Lenoir-Rhyne at Catawba (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 | Barton at Emmanuel (GA) (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 | Barton at Emmanuel (GA) (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 5:35 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 | Virginia Union at Bowie St. (Women) – Hybrid |
| 7:35 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 | Virginia Union at Bowie St. (Men) – Hybrid |
| 3:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 | Tex. A&M Int’l at Midwestern St. (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 5:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 | Tex. A&M Int’l at Midwestern St. (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 | Charleston (WV) at West Liberty (Women) – Hybrid |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 | Charleston (WV) at West Liberty (Men) – Hybrid |
| 6:05 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 | St. Thomas Aquinas at Daemen (Women) – Hybrid |
| 8:05 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 | St. Thomas Aquinas at Daemen (Men) – Hybrid |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 | Florida Southern at Nova Southeastern (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 | Florida Southern at Nova Southeastern (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20 | Lee at Union (TN) (Women) – ESPN3 |
| 8:35 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20 | Lee at Union (TN) (Men) – ESPN3 |
| 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 | Lewis at Southern Ind. (Women) – Hybrid |
| 4:35 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 | Lewis at Southern Ind. (Men) – Hybrid |
| Monday, Feb. 24-Sunday, March 1 | To be determined |
| Monday, March 2-Sunday, March 8 | To be determined |