Game of the year
The first Baylor-Texas A&M meeting of the season was the best game of the season that nobody saw on TV.
Baylor outlasted Texas A&M in January, winning 116-110 in five overtimes behind a career-high 36 points from Curtis Jerrells. But if you weren’t there, you didn’t see it, thanks to an unlikely set of circumstances that left this game with no television coverage.
The rematch tonight will be on national TV, and finally, so will the original. ESPN Classic has pieced together a complete game telecast using footage from Texas A&M’s in-arena cameras that the school uses to show games on its Jumbotron. The network then matched the game footage with play-by-play and commentary from the Aggies’ radio broadcasters.
The original game will air on ESPN Classic at 6 p.m., followed by the rematch at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon might want to change the channel, but Baylor coach Scott Drew said he is encouraging everyone he knows “to Tivo it or record it and check it out.”
“The best part for Baylor fans is they don’t have to chew their nails because they know how it ends,” Drew said.
The teams set or tied six conference records, including points by a team and combined points. Other records set included Baylor’s 70 rebounds, 97 field-goal attempts, 39 made free throws and Jerrells’ 20 made free throws.
Perhaps the only thing more unusual than a game with five overtimes was a Big 12 game with no television coverage.
Under the Big 12 TV deal, the big national networks get first crack at games. After that, the conference’s syndicate package gets to choose which games to air regionally on ESPN. If the syndicate passes on televising a game, local channels, in this case Fox Sports Southwest, get to televise the game.
For the first game, everyone passed. It could have aired locally had both schools agreed to move the game from Wednesday night to Tuesday night. But that was held up because Reed Arena was booked with, of all things, an engineering job fair.
Odder still, both teams were ranked at the time. Baylor (20-8, 8-6 Big 12) was No. 25 and the Aggies (21-8, 7-7) were 18th. The schools have been playing since 1914, and it was the first time both were ranked, Drew said.
“I’m disappointed for our fans that didn’t get a chance to see it,” Drew said. “And I’m disappointed for the Big 12 conference from the standpoint that we would have gotten a lot more national attention.”
ESPN Classic has pieced together telecasts of old games “but never on a modern-day game,” said Brian Kweder, senior director of programming and acquisitions for the network. A production team used footage from a center-court camera and cameras under each basket to create what Kweder said looks “almost like a typical college basketball game.”
Drew said he is pleased that what he calls “the game of the year” will get to a national audience.
“A lot of people were talking about it,” Drew said. “I think after it is televised, the buzz really will hit.”
On the Court
(1) North Carolina 90, Florida State 77: At Chapel Hill, Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and Ty Lawson added 10 to help the Tar Heels (28-2, 13-2 ACC) beat the Seminoles (17-13, 6-9). Marcus Ginyard added 13 points for North Carolina. … (9) Texas 70, Nebraska 66: At Austin, Texas, D.J. Augustin scored 22 points and the Longhorns (25-5, 12-3 Big 12) went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to hold off the Cornhuskers (17-11, 6-9). … Ohio State 80, (15) Purdue 77 (OT): At Columbus, Ohio, Othello Hunter hit two foul shots and made a big defensive play down the stretch as the Buckeyes (18-12, 9-8 Big Ten) upset the Boilermakers (23-7, 14-3). … (21) Marquette 67, Florida Gulf Coast 37: At Milwaukee, Lazar Hayward had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles (22-7) past the Eagles (10-21).